Chapter 12
After a few more days on the road, Glen returned home, prepared to have a long talk with Susan. He knew that she would be more than a little upset with his decision, but he was determined to stand his ground. This was his child too and he had every right to be a part of his or her life.
It was early afternoon when he finally reached his house and he debated whether or not it would be better to contact Susan that evening or wait until the following morning. He finally decided it would be better to wait. He was tired from all of the week's travel and he thought it would be best if he got a good nights sleep first. That way he would be calm and refreshed and less likely to say something that he would regret. Once he got unpacked, he headed out to the store to buy some groceries and run a few more errands. Then he headed back home, prepared to spend a nice relaxing evening alone.
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Susan rubbed her throbbing head as she pulled into her driveway, surprised to see that her husband was home so early in the afternoon. He usually didn't come in until late in the evening and an afternoon off was nearly unheard of. Susan assumed that maybe he wasn't feeling well…after all, she wasn't feeling so great herself. She had been scheduled to work until late that evening, but after fighting with a nagging headache all morning, she had finally convinced one of her co-workers to trade schedules with her. All she wanted to do now was take a nice, hot bath and then crawl into her soft bed and take a nap. That was always a surefire cure for her headaches.
Susan approached the front door and turned the knob, surprised when she found it locked. She knew that David never locked the doors when he was home. It kept him from locking himself out when he went outside. She dug through her purse for her keys, then unlocked the door and stepped inside. She was even more surprised to find that the house was completely quiet and there was no sign of her husband.
"He must really be sick." she thought, as she headed toward the stairs. She hoped that it wasn't anything too serious. She knew how much of a baby he could be when he wasn't feeling well.
She climbed the stairs and moved quietly down the hall, not wanting to wake him if he was asleep. She noticed that the bedroom door was slightly ajar, so she tiptoed forward and peeked inside, expecting to see David asleep in their bed. But nothing in the world could have prepared her for what she was about to find.
Her husband was in bed alright but it certainly wasn't because he was feeling bad. Susan stood frozen in place as she watched her husband make love to another woman. They were so caught up in each other, they didn't even notice that she was in the room with them. She watched helplessly as she listened to their moans and cries, her legs nearly crumbling from beneath her when she heard her husband tell the woman that he loved her.
Susan's mind was a whirlwind of emotion. How could he do this to her again? He had promised to no end that something like this would never happen again. And now he was here with….her! He was holding her…kissing her…telling her that he loved her!
"What about me?" Susan thought frantically, trying to digest the sight that was before her. "What about our family?"
Susan quickly clamped her hand to her mouth as a strangled gasp was torn from her throat.
Startled by the noise, David turned his head, his eyes growing wide when he saw his wife standing in the doorway.
"Susan? I…uh…I can explain. It's not what you think." he stuttered, as he clamored from the bed and tried to find his clothes. The woman sat upright in the bed and covered herself with the sheet as she flashed Susan a satisfied smirk.
Susan gazed frantically back and forth between them before blindly grabbing at the doorframe and stumbling back into the hallway. When they were both out of sight, she turned and ran back toward the stairs, David still yelling at her as she went.
"Susan wait! I'm sorry babe! It was just an accident. I never meant for this to happen! Can't we at least talk about this?" he called out, as she ran out the front door and climbed back into her car.
Susan backed out of the driveway and raced back down the street. She had no idea where she was headed…all she knew was that she had to get away from that house before she did something terrible. Sobs racked her body and her tears began to blur her vision, eventually to the point where she could barely see at all. She continued to drive until she felt that she was far enough away from them, then she finally found a place to pull over beside the road and she let her tears fall freely, holding nothing back as the anger and betrayal washed over her.
She couldn't believe that David could do something like this to her again. After everything she had done….all the trouble she had gone through to keep the family together. Now he had gone and thrown it all away. How could he possibly be so selfish?
Susan lost track of how long she sat there but she cried until she didn't think she could cry anymore. When she finally got herself under control again, she pulled back out onto the highway and headed on down the road. She drove around for several hours, not really knowing where she was going or what she was going to do. She wasn't about to go back home, that much she knew. She couldn't face her husband right now. Not without causing him severe bodily harm. And she didn't feel like facing anybody else right now either. She didn't think she had every felt so humiliated. How would she ever be able to face her friends and family again?
Susan continued to drive around until late in the night, her mind replaying the day's events over and over in her mind. She wondered if David was with HER right now. If he even cared that she was gone. Eventually she began to get tired and she found herself pulling onto a familiar street. She scanned the area around her as she tried to figure out exactly where she was at. Even in her distraught state, she knew that she had been here before, although she couldn't remember exactly when or with whom.
Almost as if it were second nature, she found herself pulling into the driveway of one of the houses. She stopped the car and got out, studying the front of the house for a clue as to who lived there. Suddenly, the memories came flooding back and she realized that she was standing in front of Glen's home. She wondered how she had managed to wind up in his driveway. She hadn't given him a conscious thought all day.
She turned to get back into her vehicle, determined not to bother Glen with her problems. After the way she had treated him, she was sure that he wouldn't want anything more to do with her anyway. She climbed back in behind the wheel and started the car again before she remembered that didn't have anywhere else to go. She had left the house in such a hurry, she forgot to grab her purse on her way out. She had no money, no credit cards, nothing to pay for a hotel room with. She began to cry again as she realized that she had nowhere else to go. Nobody else to turn to. Taking a deep breath, she got out of her car again and slowly made her way to Glen's door. She wondered if he would find it in his heart to help her after everything she had done to him.
She stood outside his door for a long time, trying to pull herself together before she knocked. Finally, she took a deep breath and raised her hand. She knew the worst he could do was tell her no and turn her away.
Susan waited for several moments, then knocked again when she didn't hear any movement from inside the house. She was just about to walk away when Glen jerked the door open. Susan stared at him for a brief moment, trying to find her voice to speak. Unable to hold back her emotions any longer, she threw herself into his arms and began to cry again.