Chapter 2 of 3 today …

(17/03/2019)

CHAPTER 45

Jack came home late on Thursday night from his afternoon shift to find the bedroom door locked and a sticky note stuck on the outside.

You neglected to tell me about Shelly. She says your amazing in the bedroom and you're a great catch. I thought things ended badly but the question is, did it really end?

Jack exhaled slowly as several expletives ran across his tongue. He knew he should have told Elizabeth everything that Monday but he hadn't wanted to rush the conversation and they hadn't had a lot of time together since that day. Almost two weeks later, only now did Jack realise the whole Shelly thing had totally slipped his mind after the events of the last weekend.

"Beth, sweetie?" Jack said knocking quietly.

There was no answer.

"I'm sorry, baby. I was going to tell you, I promise."

Still nothing. He rattled the handle of the door again before he decided to take matters into his own hands. He went towards the kitchen to look for something to open the bedroom door but stopped short when he saw the couch in the lounge room. There was a suitcase on the floor and his pyjamas were sitting on top of it. Jack stared at the suitcase for a long time. That was not a good sign at all.


Next morning was a Friday. Jack had been up late thinking about Elizabeth. He finally fell asleep after flicking through photos from their honeymoon. His favourite was one of them up on the mountain when Elizabeth had her arms wrapped around his neck and she was kissing his cheek. They both looked so happy. Who would have thought just a few months later they wouldn't be talking because his ex-girlfriend had reappeared out of nowhere?

More than anything Jack was angry with himself. He should have cancelled his shift that Monday and spoken to Elizabeth immediately but instead he had stupidly presumed Shelly would keep her mouth shut until Jack could bring it up with Elizabeth himself.

Jack finally drifted to sleep but woke the next morning to the sound of a door closing. He startled awake and realising it must have been Elizabeth, he rushed to the door but was too late as her car hurriedly pulled out of the drive.


Jack waited for an hour, hoping Elizabeth would come back but she didn't. Jack called her mobile but there was no answer – she ignored him. By that time, he assumed she would be starting work.

Jack got up and got ready before riding his motorbike to his childhood home. He unlocked the door and walked into the kitchen to find Frank eating breakfast on his own with Lulu at his feet.

"Jack. What are you doing here?"

"Where's Abigail?"

"Just dropping Cody and Becky at school."

"Oh. Are you heading to work?"

"Soon. You okay?"

Jack sighed. "I need ... help" he said as he slumped into a seat opposite his adoptive father.

"Okay. That sounds serious."

"It is. Elizabeth isn't talking to me."

"You had a fight?"

"Not exactly." Frank waited for him to continue. "It's all because of Shelly."

"Shelly?" Frank said in surprise. "How on earth does she fit in?"

Jack filled him in on the whole situation, how he spoke to Shelly on Monday and his reluctance to bring up the issue with Elizabeth until they had time to discuss it.

"Oh Jack. Why didn't you tell her immediately? It sounds like Shelly approached her at work and she was put on the spot."

"I just wanted to have enough time to discuss it properly. I wasn't keeping it from her forever."

"So, this is better? Jack, you have to be honest all the time in marriage. One little lie or misunderstanding can destroy a marriage."

"It wasn't a lie exactly."

"It won't seem like that to her. You kept something from her. Now she will wonder what else you have kept from her."

"What do I do?"

"I'm not sure. You need to explain everything to her, but how you get her to listen? I don't know. Flowers and chocolates aren't going to help right now."

Jack groaned.


Jack still had one more afternoon shift that day but deciding to make his marriage the only priority at that moment, he called in and requested leave for personal reasons. Jack waited at home for Elizabeth to come back from work but by 8 pm he was worried when she didn't appear.

Jack hung his head in his hands before grabbing his keys. He walked outside and seeing that the sky had opened up and was dumping its contents, Jack decided riding his motorbike wasn't an option. But after stewing all day, he needed to do something. Instead he called a taxi and directed it to Lee and Rosie's new place.

As soon as he knocked, Lee flung the door open.

"Jack! I was wondering what you were up to tonight. Come in."

Lee ushered him into the lounge before going to the kitchen and pulling out a beer. "Here, man."

"Where's Rosie?"

"Didn't Elizabeth tell you? They organised a girl's night this week because we had a boy's night last week."

"Oh. I must have forgotten that. Thanks." Jack took a swig and rested the bottle down on the coffee table.

"How have you been? It feels like ages since I've seen you."

"Alright. Until last night."

"Why? What happened last night?"

"I stuffed something up with Beth. She's not talking to me."

"Oh no. What did you do?"

"You knew Shelly was back … you saw her last Friday right?"

"Yeah."

"I had a chat with her last Monday but I didn't tell Elizabeth about it and she found out yesterday – probably directly from Shelly."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"Well, I should say that Elizabeth didn't know that Shelly was THE Shelly."

"Ohhhh" Lee said slowly. "Now that could be a problem."

"That's an understatement." Jack took a long sip of his beer.

"You never told me what happened with Shelly. One minute you two were crazy for one another and the next you split."

"I was crazy about her. Not so much the other way around." Lee looked at him puzzled. "She cheated on me with another guy. I walked in on them after I finished my shift from work early."

Lee's eyes widened in shock. "You're kidding?!"

"Nope. And you know the worst part? She blamed me for working too much. Said that she was lonely and needed company and it's not her fault that I didn't communicate or tell her that I was coming home early."

"Seriously?"

"Uh-huh."

The two men were silent for a moment. "That's screwed up."

"Tell me about it. Now she showed up here, giving Beth a hard time in her classes. Beth never said the teacher's name when she complained about her co-worker giving her a hard time and then she told me Shelly's name and I got the shock of my life. I confronted her the Monday before last and after that everything has gone downhill. Elizabeth is furious with me."

"She's probably not angry exactly. More like disappointed."

"I guess. But right now it is manifesting as anger."

"Oh Jack. She'll come around" Lee said as he slapped him on the back.

"I just need her to listen to me. She isn't even giving me the chance."

"Just give her time. She will calm down."

"I hope so."