50 PAGES (MICROSOFT WORD) WRITTEN IN CALIBRI FONT, (SIZE 11) WITH 1.15 LINE SPACING. Just a heads up. This story is approximately 2/3 the length of my previous story, "Rewriting Us." I was not aiming for any length. It just ended up this way. It will not take long to get to the fun stuff.
My characters are unrealistically beautiful. Some may find their athleticism unrealistic as well. I have made it this way for two reasons. The first is I like my stories like that. The second is a matter of plot. Please read and enjoy to find out what I mean.
Usual disclaimers (OnlyFiction, not for real life people to do, yadda yadda yadda.)
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She wore a thick formless bathrobe in the kitchen, and she stirred a small pot with care.
In that town, that house, she was "Catherine Porter." She had not called herself Catherine Sullivan in all the years since she'd married Mike. But her Sullivan blood ran through her veins as hot as it ever had. She would not use the name Catherine Sullivan ever again; not even after this wild week had passed. It was Thursday morning, so she was half way (plus half a day) through it. The move still lay ahead. Catherine was making sure everything and everyone was prepared.
Mike slinked into the kitchen, hopeful that his wife still had control of her temper. It had been four days since she'd gone into the laundry room and had her meltdown. Rocking the boat would gain him nothing. Even so, he couldn't restrain his response to the smell that hit him when he entered. "Phew!"
"What's the matter?"
She was still pleasant with him, if not as warm as she'd been before the laundry room fit. Best to still tread lightly. "I can see that's oatmeal in the pot. Looks delicious, really! But I smell this strong fishy smell."
Catherine took a deep sniff. "No. It must be those meds of yours."
"There was nothing in the heart medication about strange smells."
"No, I know. I saw something about it in your sleep meds, the ones to balance out some of the others that can keep you awake."
Mike reached out to stir the pot, but Catherine slapped his hand away.
Ooookay.
He backed off, but his wife turned to him, holding out a plate.
"Here. Try a bite of this toast. Does it taste okay?"
He bit into a dry slice of toast. "Yeah. Perfectly normal."
She smiled. She didn't hate him. At least she wanted him to be able to eat. That had to be worth something. But she was reserved in a way he wasn't used to.
Fair enough,
he thought.
I would have understood worse after Saturday night's fireworks.
"Let's skip the butter," she advised. "There's butter in the oatmeal. That may be part of the problem. Besides, I'm sure Dr. Chambal would approve skipping it. I put your tea in a thermos, but I also made you a cup of coffee if you want to a take a few sips before you go."
Mike chewed his dry toast and enjoyed the one coffee he could allow himself for the day.
"By the way," she added, "while you were showering, I used your phone to message Lou about a round of golf after work. He wrote back that he should be able to make it."
Mike stared at his wife, stunned. "Wow, Cathy, I can't believe you did that for me. These last few days, you've been so..." He let the sentence drift off.
She shrugged her shoulders and looked away. "You made it clear Saturday night that you meant what you said about 'enjoying your clarity,' and focusing on your golf game."
"That's not what I meant. I was trying to say..."
"Whatever, Mike. You can focus on other important things in life rather than...look...It's taken me some days to come to terms with it..."
Mike raised his eyebrows. This sounded like an understatement to him. After he'd begged off sex, she'd gone down to the laundry room on the first floor. There she'd let loose a major tantrum for two hours or so. There was crashing and screaming and screeching pretty much the whole time. She'd come back up without a word. Then she'd showered and come to bed. Sunday morning she had looked careworn, but by the afternoon she was even-tempered if a bit cool. He'd given her space, and she was brightening a bit more each day. She was trying to get what time she could with their son Randy before he moved two towns over to his new job. Mike didn't want to make this difficult time any harder than it already was. Now she was saying that she was making peace with the new normal.
"It's taken me some days to come to terms with it," she was saying. "But I'm finding my own ways of dealing with it. Maybe you golfing more will lead to even more activity. Maybe it'll help with your health."
"Yeah. I'd like that. You know, I..."
"Mom!" called a deep voice from upstairs. "Can you come up? Some laundry got mixed up here."
"I'll be with you in a minute, Randy," The mother called back.
She bustled her husband out the door. Was she rushing him? If so, he didn't mind one bit. That fish smell was killing him.
Randy called again in his shaking bass voice.
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" She grabbed the pot from the stovetop and walked it to the bathroom. When she dumped the foul smelling concoction into the toilet, many sardines could be seen plopping into the water. Holding her breath, she flushed it all.
Her hands shook with anticipation as she dropped the pot into the sink, and filled it with soapy water. As she waited for the bubbles to reach the rim, she thought to herself,
I can't believe how far gone I am. Just a couple of days. It's all so sudden.
The suds overflowed the pot. She cut the water and sprinted up the stairs full speed.
***