Gayle, you are indeed my Literotica savior! Much love for all the care you pay to my work.
RW2
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I was sitting in my cubicle at work one Tuesday afternoon a few months back, when I received a call from my older sister, Sarah. She rarely called me in the office, so I gave her a few minutes fearing something might be wrong. At first, she just made boring small talk, so I figured things were fine after all. Candidly I found the conversation annoying since I was under a deadline to finish a project, so I cut her off and told her I'd have to phone her back later. I was a bit exasperated when she said, "Wait, Jon, I have something to tell you."
I tried not to let my frustration show too much, and as calmly as possible replied, "What is it?"
"Mom and Dad are getting divorced," she stated solemnly.
I was stunned! In my head I thought this just had to be some kind of joke or misunderstanding, but her tone of voice said she was deadly serious. A thousand questions instantly began swirling around in my head but I didn't know which one to ask first. Finally, I muttered, "How do you know?"
"I just got off the phone with Mom, she's really upset."
"Did she tell you why?" I asked, still thinking this couldn't really be possible.
"She didn't want to talk about the specifics, but apparently Dad's already moved out," Sarah responded softly, her voice cracking as if she'd been crying.
"Already? I asked in disbelief. "Where to?"
"He moved in with his buddy Mark for the time being."
I had to ponder that in silence for a while, wondering how it could all be happening so fast. "Jesus, Sarah, did you have any idea something was wrong?" I asked, still somewhat in shock.
"Not a thing. She only told me because I was bringing the twins down to see her tomorrow night and she didn't want to catch me off guard in front of them."
I let her words settle in for a moment before I asked, "Should I call her?"
"No, she made me promise not to call you, but I just had to. She wants to tell you herself, she's just not ready yet," Sarah responded, sniffling every now and again. We spoke for a few more minutes before I apologized, telling my sister I had to run. She said she'd call me later after she put the boys down for the evening, and said good bye.
I sat at my desk for a long while as I tried to process what I had just heard. For many years I assumed Dad had won the marital lottery when he landed my mom, and would do everything in his power to keep her happy. Yet reading between the lines, it almost appeared that he was the one ending the relationship. I could almost see Mom in my head, and I pondered how anyone in their right mind could ever let her get away. I know I wouldn't anyway.
I walked to the water cooler to get a drink and clear my head a bit, and then forced myself back to the project. At first, the spreadsheet on my monitor looked Greek to me as my mind was swimming with the news, but somehow I settled down and focused on the job at hand. After I e-mailed my boss the finished product at about 6:00 PM, I headed out the door for home.
Home, at that time, was a crappy two bedroom apartment I shared with a friend from school. Aaron and I graduated from college together two years before, and we remained friends. We both worked near one another in Seattle, so just under a year ago we signed a lease on a place nearby both our jobs.
Aaron thankfully was out, so I just sat in silence on the couch trying to figure out what may have happened between my parents that led to this. I knew no marriage was perfect, but my folks always seemed like they genuinely enjoyed one another's company. What's more, I couldn't remember them even raising their voices towards one another more than a couple of times my entire life. Compared to most of my friend's parents, mine always seemed like a dream couple.
I was in the apartment for an hour or so when Sarah called after putting her twin three year old sons to bed. We talked for hours, with Sarah breaking out in tears a few times, but mostly we tried to figure out what happened. I didn't want to be the one to say it, but since it happened so fast, I could only think of one possible motive. "Think Dad had an affair?" I pondered aloud.
"That's what I was thinking too," she replied, and then we speculated if and how it may have happened for a while. We said good night after I promised not to tell Mom that Sarah had broken the news.
I decided to lay low for a couple of days, and then stopped back home Saturday morning, unannounced. Mom was, of course, surprised to see me, and appeared quite disheveled. She welcomed me with a hug as always, then led me to a seat at the kitchen table where we usually spoke.
Tears welled in her eyes as she said, "Jonathan, I have some news to share with you." I wanted to tell her I knew, just to spare her a measure of pain, but kept my word to Sarah. "Your father and I are getting divorced."
I reached my hands across the table and took her hands in mine, and responded, "I'm so sorry, Mom."
It was impossible not to love my mother, and my own eyes began to run as I felt her deep pain as it tore me to bits. She was without a doubt the sweetest person I had ever known, and I wondered how my dad could have hurt her so badly.
I let her talk when she wanted to and offered support and encouragement, but mostly we just sat in silence. She never mentioned my father or gave any hint as to what happened, and I knew it wasn't the time to ask. Mom kicked back into caretaker mode a while later, demanding I stay for lunch, and made us both sandwiches. She broke down in tears again when I left, just as I pulled her into a long, tight embrace.
It was gut-wrenching seeing my mom that broken in spirit, so I made it a point to check on her daily. She lived in a suburb just to the east of Seattle, so it was not difficult for me to pop in every couple of days, but I called all the time. I gently prodded her from time to time for details on the split, but she always managed to change the subject.
I was surprised that I still had not heard from my dad, so in my mind that made him the guilty party, if there was one. I debated whether I should call him or not, but figured it was his place to make the first move.
Two weeks later, I again stopped in on Saturday afternoon, and was pleased to find mom in a bit better spirits. Later that day, I tried to take her out to dinner, but she flat-out refused and soon was cooking a meal for us both. I ran out to the store and picked up a bottle of wine, which we enjoyed with our meal. I had hoped Mom might open up after a few glasses of vino, but she remained pretty tight lipped about the divorce.
Sarah and I spoke almost daily as well, and she had been unable to get much out of Mom either. We, of course, still hatched our little conspiracy theories, and pretty much had come to the conclusion that Dad was either sleeping with a work associate or client. We just wondered how it was that Mom found out.
