Meanwhile.
After dropping off both his daughters at school, Mack swung by his apartment needing to collect his gym bag on his way to work. Upon pulling into a parking spot semi-close to the stairs he was spotted.
A car door a few cars down slammed, and Tiffy stormed over to him. No sooner had Mack closed his own car door did he notice his furious soon-to-be-ex-wife.
"Where were you last night? I tried calling your cell phone and the apartment! Did you have the girls out with you?"
Digging into his pocket, "They were at a sleepover. What's wrong?"
Her blue eyes narrowed, "A sleepover?"
He met her gaze but said nothing.
Disbelief crossed her face and he headed toward his building. Checking his watch. He had just under an hour before he had to get to work. Plenty of time to make himself breakfast, grab his bag, and get gas on the way.
Tiffy stormed after him, "I called Michelle's mom and Kim. The girls weren't at their houses."
"What do you need Tiffy?"
She followed him, "Did you take them on a bootycall with you?"
Almost to his building, Mack stepped onto the sidewalk. Keys in hand, "What do you want Tiffy?"
Glowering she hissed, "Oh that is just great parenting Mack! Do you take them to the bar too? Who is it?"
"Tiffy, nothing happened last night. There was nothing inappropriate. Why are you here?"
An elderly couple walked by and the door stayed open, and then closed. Mack waited while she boiled. Not really wanting her in the apartment. It was not exactly in pristine condition.
"Lissy has a dentist appointment at three this afternoon," she seethed.
"Is that all? You could have left a message on the answering machine."
"Who is she," Tiffy demanded.
She crossed her arms and waited, letting Mack know she was not budging, "I think I deserve to know who she is."
Mack felt emotion well up.
Knowing just how she was feeling: frustrated, hurt, angry, betrayed…
"Is it that woman Lissy was talking about? Charles's sister-in-law? The Army girl?"
His silence and glare was her answer.
Her jaw dropped, "She is a child Mack! She just became legal last year!"
A million replies came back to mind.
All were sharp and hurtful.
He wasn't quite ready to go there yet. "Why do you care Tiffy?"
Flabbergasted, she looked around at the early morning. There was still a chill in the air, yet, he made no move to enter the building. "So! So you are just banging some girl you work with? What kind of example does that show our daughters?"
"I'm sure you've already introduced them to that," he snarled.
Her blue eyes darkened.
"She's not a child. She has a real job, owns her own home, has a stable family and was happily married."
Tiffy laughed, feeling inept till that last part, "Was? That's just great Mack. You introduce our girls to some girl who runs off and gets married and divorced before the ripe age of twenty-five."
A businessman walked from the building. Waving to Mack, checking Tiffy out, and then headed to his Beamer.
Mack leant closer to her.
Letting her see his hurt and anger, "She never left her husband. She's a widow. The love of her life died and left her life, it wasn't a choice."
hours later…
Sarah sat at her desk, earphones on her head, writing away on her notepad from the recording she was following. A cup of pens sat securely on her desk and had been when she arrived.
It was a good morning.
There was a swell under her green camo sleeve from her cast.
Beneath her desk her black combat boot was in a bucket of ice. Her foot was essentially. She had her timer set for ten minutes. Ten minutes in and ten minutes out, thus preventing frostbite.
A small manila envelope was dropped on her desk as one of the personnel officers walked by.
The envelope read, Sarah W. Mendez.
She grabbed the envelope and prayed it was what she had been waiting for for months. The Army was so slow. Still paying attention to the tape, she ripped the envelope open.
Out fell five Velcro name patches.
All read Mendez.
And her new Military ID fell out with her name correction.
Sarah W. Mendez.
Officially Armando's wife according to the Army.
Immediately she ripped the nametag that read Wilkes off her chest, and then put the Mendez tag on. Quite pleased with herself. She put the other badges in her purse and then exchanged her IDs.
She then went back to work.