Interlude by Josie Daleiden Read Free Book Online Page B

as powerful
as you, I'd never even fit through the door!” Cal said as he
finished buttoning his shirt.
    The rest of the morning passed too quickly as
they both texted and Karen double checked her flight plans. She had
another terse conversation with the guy named Soren, but she tried
her best to keep it from Cal's hearing. Perhaps out of courtesy? He
thought to himself. They walked to their cars hand in hand, Karen's
luggage wheeling noisily behind them as it bounced off the cracks
in the concrete. After Karen loaded her bags, they held one another
for a longtime. Only the quiet chirping of birds, and their own
beating hearts, was audible in the secluded little parking lot.
    “I'm gonna miss you.” Karen said finally.
    “Me too.” Cal said. He wished they could just
stay together in some secluded place forever, hiding from the
waiting world and making love constantly. She reached up to kiss
him, her soft lips pressed against his as she held the back of his
head. Her fingers were still knotted in his hair when they finally
broke for air. “We'll be together again, I swear. I'll do whatever
to make it happen.” Cal stated with sincere resolve.
    “Promise?” She said.
    “Promise!” He said, giving her his boyish
smile and a confident nod as they finally parted ways.
    Cal tuned out most of the way back to his
house. He recalled all the sensations, all the wonderful times that
he took that hot, lovely woman as his own. Her own enthusiasm as
they made out like teenagers and screwed each other’s brains out
whenever they were alone. Cal noticed distantly that the porch
light was on as he pulled into the driveway. He knew he turned it
off when he left. As his key moved toward the lock, the door swung
open all on its own. Momentarily startled, Cal was relieved to see
it was just Alice. She was supposed to be gone until Monday
evening, but he guessed she came back early from Kelley’s. She had
a look that portrayed more than her usual displeasure with him. Cal
could feel his stomach flip-flop as she spoke through gritted
teeth.
    “Who is she?” Alice hissed slowly. Cal, not
really knowing what to do, simply slid by her in the doorway and
shuffled up the stairs to the bedroom. He threw his gym bag on the
bed and started unloading the weekend's laundry. Alice had followed
him up, her hands on her hips as she waited for the answer. “Well?
I'm waiting!” Her temper was oddly calm for someone suspecting an
affair, but then again, Cal was never good at reading her wild
emotions.
    “I saw your laptop when I came home.
“wewontell.com”? Are you kidding me?” She screeched. Cal pondered
as to how she could have known about the site. He had been so
careful, even going so far as to doctor the server logs at work
every day to hide the evidence of his and Karen's messages and
emails. Then he finally realized what he had done. He couldn’t help
what happened next: He started laughing! At first an uncontrollable
grin spread across his face that slowly built to a chuckle, then
finally loud guffaws as he realized that he had stayed logged on to
the very website that he had been so careful to hide! “What a
noob!” He thought to himself as he slapped his forehead, tears in
his eyes as his laughter finally tapered off. Alice was taken aback
by his odd response.
    “I've been having an affair.” he finally
said, wiping his eyes while still wearing that stupid grin.
    “A WHAT!” Alice shrieked.
    “You heard me. An affair. Jeremy signed me up
as a joke on some dating website because he knows how miserable I
am. Hell, every living thing on this planet knows how miserable I
am!” He said, throwing his hands up.
    Cal paused for a moment, his mind plotting
this new course. He now had a plan. There was no hiding this! He
grabbed his gym bag off the bed and began stuffing the contents of
his dresser drawers into it as Alice followed behind him. Her
little red face sort of cute to him as his bag was now filled to
bursting with his