That night, all four couples gathered for dinner again, including Mike.
"What a miraculous recovery." Katherine said sarcastically as he took his seat beside her. He gave her a look, wishing she would keep her comments to herself. Before any of them could attempt a new topic of conversation, Benson appeared.
"Good evening. I've come to make an important announcement. You will not be spending tonight with your spouses."
Bree breathed a sigh of relief. The previous night had been awkward, with no guest room or couch for Orson to occupy. She'd spent most of the night awake, worried that Orson would try to snuggle or make a pass. He hadn't even turned toward her, or made a peep the entire time. Mike was also relieved. He could feel the divide between himself and Katherine growing every day, even though she tried and tried to stay closer. Their marriage was ending and neither of them wanted to admit it. Gabrielle and Lynette, on the other hand, thought the arrangement was total crap.
"What?" Gabrielle said, eyes widening in mild despair. "I don't want to be alone!"
"It's a very important part of the program, Mrs. Solis." said Benson. "I must ask that you respect the process and trust in its ability to help you. And you won't be alone, you will be spending the night with one of your friends of the same gender."
"Can you at least tell us why?" asked Lynette. "Tom and I really made some progress today and we were looking forward to talking about it."
"Aww." Gabrielle said, leaning over Carlos to touch Lynette's wrist. Lynette smiled at Gabby, but Benson was regretful.
"While I am ecstatic to hear that Mrs. Scavo, I must say no even to that simple request. To explain the program's intricate details would be to violate its principles. What I mean by that is you shouldn't be thinking about why. Just take in the experiences the program is providing for you and learn from your feelings."
Lynette and Tom smiled sadly at each other, knowing they would miss each other that night.
"Does he even know what ecstatic means?" Gabrielle whispered to Carlos.
* * *
They were moved to different, temporary rooms down the path from the regular suites, guys with guys and ladies with ladies. They all went to bed early, tired from their long day.
"Two therapy sessions, a three hour hike and yoga. Why does this vacation feel like a labor camp?" Mike was venting to Orson as they brushed their teeth before bed.
"They're certainly keeping us busy." Orson agreed. Mike heard a different kind of exhaustion in Orson's voice, an emotional one. One that Mike had become very familiar with lately.
"How are you and Bree doing?" Mike asked. "She seems..."
"More uptight than usual?" offered Orson.
"...No offense."
"None taken." Orson said lightly. "It's not as if she tries to hide it anymore." He stared into space, and decided to admit something scary. "She wants a divorce."
Mike froze. "...Oh." he said. It was the first he'd heard of it, but it sure made sense now that he knew.
"How did you know it was over with Susan?" Orson asked. "Was it a sudden realization, or did it happen over time?"
"Oh, buddy...that is the million dollar question." said Mike, not sure where to start.
"You don't have to answer."
"No, it's fine..."
"It's just..." said Orson. "I've been holding on for so long, not letting her go, and I'm starting to wonder whether I'm doing the right thing."
"I wish I could answer you," said Mike. "But I really don't know. I was never sure about divorcing Susan. It just kind of...happened."
Orson pondered that thought. He'd never felt that way about Bree, no matter how upset he got. The thought of really leaving her had never been an option. Then again, they hadn't gone through what Mike and Susan had gone through.
"Katherine asked me today if I regretted marrying her." Mike admitted out of the blue.
"Oh dear."
"I hesitated, Orson. I actually had to think about it. I said no eventually, but then she told me I was lying and...I don't know, maybe she was right. I feel awful, but in a way I think getting married again was the wrong decision."
Orson already knew that of course. Everyone did, but out of respect for their friends (and fear of Katherine's wrath) no one had ever said it to their faces.
"You want to hear something terrible?" Mike asked.
"Why not?" Orson said with a shrug.
Mike stared out the window and let out a heavy sigh. "I wish I was here with Susan."
Orson's eyebrows shot up. "You're right." he said. "That is terrible. But it's the truth. You can't help the way you feel. Maybe you should tell Katherine? Or bring it up in your sessions?"
"It would destroy Katherine. She's really trying."
"But if her efforts aren't going to get you anywhere, won't it destroy her eventually anyway? There's no time like the present."
"Yeahhh..." Mike said, not sure if he agreed.
* * *
"Tell me about your progress." Gabrielle said happily when Lynette emerged from their shared bathroom. Lynette smiled, and sat on her bed across from Gabrielle.
"I finally realized what was wrong." said Lynette, and she filled Gabrielle in on the details.
"I'm so happy it's working out for you." Gabrielle said.
"Now tell me about you and Carlos. Is the counseling really that bad?"
"No!" said Gabrielle. "Although, our counselor seems really obsessed with giving us issues that we don't have. She keeps bringing up the affairs, like it's any of her business. We keep telling her we don't want to talk about it."
Lynette nodded. "But...do you?"
"Well, I don't. Carlos said something this morning, but...whatever, we're over it. I'm just so proud of you and Tom!"
* * *
Tom laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Carlos, on the other bed, was doing the same.
"We should get the band back together." Tom said randomly.
"Hm." murmured Carlos, thinkin' about it.
"Now that you can see, you could play the drums."
"I could."
"And we could get some really hot female back up singers." Tom said with a grin.
"Annnd, how would we explain that to our wives?" asked Carlos.
Tom chuckled. "We wouldn't. We could just...hide them until a gig popped up."
"Great idea." Carlos said, deadpan. "Let's get on that right away."
Tom laughed again. "G'night, buddy."
"Good night."
* * *
Bree was in bed before Katherine even got there. She couldn't sleep, and she was in a rare state - she really needed to talk to someone. Bree laid on her side, her back to the room, and listened as Katherine got ready for bed. Finally she heard Katherine climb into bed across the room and settle in for a good sleep. Bree turned her head, and saw Katherine's small blanketed frame, a dark shadow in the moonlight.
"Good night, Katherine."
She knew Katherine was still awake, so the silence that followed meant Katherine was ignoring her. Bree waited a long time before turning back and setting her head back down on her pillow.
*
An hour later, Bree was still awake. She was sick of thinking, and she needed a distraction. She got out of bed and resolved to find a telephone. They had to have a landline somewhere on the island, and fifteen minutes of stealthy searching later, Bree's resolve was rewarded. Nothing was locked, so it was easy to sneak into the resort's main office and find the phone tucked away on the director's desk. Quickly, Bree dialed Karl's number, wondering if he'd be in bed, awake and thinking of her. It was 2 a.m. where he was.
It rang twice, and then there was the sound of the line opening.
"Hello?" a girl's voice came through clearly. Then the bitch giggled. "Who's Bree?" she asked teasingly, her voice far away like she was holding the phone away from her face while she checked the caller ID.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Bree could hear Karl in the background, his voice getting closer as he intercepted the call. "Bree!" he said, obviously surprised to hear from her.
Bree was quiet for a long time, fuming.
"Who is she?" she asked eventually, not wasting time asking about what she already knew.
Karl sighed. "Bree..."
"Goodbye, Karl." said Bree, before hanging up on him in an attempt to preserve what little dignity she had left. She'd been dragged through the jungle by the man she so desperately wanted to get away from, and now she'd been betrayed by the man she'd been preparing to jump into a relationship with. Bree regretted hanging up on him then, wishing she still had a chance to tell Karl all the ways he'd messed up and everything he'd be missing now that he'd picked some stupid young slut over her, but at that point, calling him back would just seem pathetic. Bree's number one priority now was convincing herself she didn't care. It was difficult with the tears streaming down her cheeks, reminding her.
* * *
Katherine woke up when Bree came back to their room. As much as Bree tried to hide it, Katherine could tell she was upset. She knew what it was like to cry in silence.
"Bree? What's wrong?" Katherine asked softly.
"Nothing." said Bree. "Go back to sleep."
"Bree." Katherine said again, not taking no for an answer. "What's wrong?"
Bree was crying again, too hard to respond. The silence of it put a lump in Katherine's throat.
"Tell me." she said, pushing blankets aside. She stood, crossed over to Bree's bed, and sat next to her in the dark.
"No." said Bree, the word coming out in a sob. "You hate me enough already."
"I don't hate you." said Katherine. She put her arm around Bree's shoulders.
"You should. You all should." Bree whispered.
The next morning, Bree would wonder why she'd gotten so upset. In the daylight it was easier to be cold and content, pretending nothing was wrong, but in the night time, when she had time to think about the truth and how lonely she truly was, emotions surfaced that she had to let out. So she put her head on Katherine's shoulder and Katherine hugged her, and for a few hours they were best friends again.
* * * * *
After another early morning therapy session in which Katherine and Mike continued to pretend, Gabrielle and Carlos continued to side step, and Tom and Lynette continued to make progress, Orson caught up with Katherine before they all made their way to the next yoga session.
"Hi, Orson." Katherine greeted him with a smile when she saw him walking up the path to the suite she shared with Mike.
"Can I ask you a question?" said Orson. "It's about Bree."
"Uhm...okay..." Katherine said slowly. She was suspicious, because if she knew Bree at all, she was sure last night's crying wouldn't have come up in the couples counseling session.
"Did she say anything to you last night?" Orson went on. "Or, did you say something to her?"
"About what?" Katherine asked, even though she and Bree hadn't really spoken about anything at all. The answer to Orson's question was a simple no, but Katherine sensed Orson knew something was wrong anyway.
"About anything." said Orson.
"Sorry, no. We still aren't really speaking."
"Ah."
"Just a quiet night of ignoring each other and pretending we've never met."
"I see." said Orson. "It's just..." He briefly contemplated sharing his worries with Katherine. "Nevermind." he said instead, turning to go.
"Orson, what's wrong?"
Orson sighed. "For months now, she's been nothing but cold when she's around me. I'd gotten so used to it that today I could tell something else was wrong. She wasn't just cold, she was..."
"Depressed?"
"Devastated."
Katherine thought about that distinction, remembering how hard Bree had sobbed on her shoulder the night before. As angry as Katherine still was at Bree, she still felt that sisterhood they shared. She couldn't rat her out, not even to Orson, not if she was feeling that bad about her secrets. So Katherine played dumb, using their estrangement as an excuse as to why she had no idea why Bree would be acting that way. Orson said thanks, anyway, and told her not to worry about it.
"But..." Katherine said suddenly as he turned to go. "Orson?"
Orson looked at her expectantly.
"Don't give up on her."
Orson smiled, sadly and appreciatively. "Never." he said.
* * *
At the beach, on the yoga platform, Mike could tell right away what Katherine was doing. Smiling, flirting, asking Todd for help and advice for the simplest poses. She was trying to make him jealous, and Mike didn't know how but it was actually working.
"Hey, Todd." Mike called out. He got the instructors attention but he certainly couldn't ask Todd to help him. "Uh, I think Orson needs your help."
"Thanks Mike, but Tanya just answered my question." Orson replied, oblivious to Mike's real issue.
"Mike," said Katherine. "If you don't like seeing another man touching me, you can say so."
"Fine, I don't like another man touching you." Mike said. Todd backed off immediately, and Katherine smiled smugly.
"There. Was that so hard?"
"This is good!" said Todd. "Communication!"
"Yeah," Mike said. "Just quit communicating with my wife's ass, okay?"
"Funny." said Katherine. "I only feel like your wife when you want to claim ownership. Usually you want nothing to do with me."
Everyone could feel the tension building. It made it difficult to concentrate on clearing the mind of worry and doing their yoga poses.
"Kath, don't start..."
"But I thought communication was good! Right, Todd?"
"Well," Todd said, backtracking. "Actually, this is one of those 'quiet times of reflection' Benson told you about..."
"Katherine." Mike said warningly.
"Don't worry, sweetheart." she said nonchalantly. "I don't want to cause a scene. Not in front of all of Susan's friends."
Everyone, even Todd and Tanya, stopped what they were doing and looked at Mike and Katherine. Mike stared at Katherine, wondering what the hell was wrong with her. Then he noticed everyone else watching them, and he knew they'd ruined the session.
"I think I pulled something." Mike murmured, putting a hand to his lower back. He left the platform, and Katherine fumed as she watched him walk away yet again. She went back to stretching and pretending nothing was wrong. No one else could think of an alternative, so they followed suit and continued with their yoga.
"...Don't forget to breathe." Tanya said quietly.
* * *
"You look beautiful today." Orson said as they were walking back to the suites. "Your hair, in the sunlight. There's really nothing like it."
"Stop that." Bree said, emotionless.
"Stop what?"
"Just stop it."
"Complimenting you? I can't help it, Bree. I love you, and you won't let me express it any other way."
"Why couldn't you have been like this a year ago?" Bree asked. "Instead of stealing you could have been praising me on my color coordination."
"I was still angry at you then. I'm not angry anymore."
"Well you played your I've-been-to-jail card one too many times, Orson. Now I'm angry at you, and it's over."
"It doesn't have to be over, Bree. There's no one else for me. I look at Mike and Katherine and I think, what a shame, but it was doomed from the start. There will always be someone else coming between them. There's no one between us, is there?"
There had been of course, and Bree's eyes betrayed that fact. She felt a wave of shame as she remembered hearing another woman's voice answer Karl's phone, when she'd realized how big a mistake she'd almost made. Orson could see a reaction register on her face, and his heart broke a little more.
"No." said Bree, denying it anyway since Karl was no longer between them after all.. "There's no one else. But I'd rather be alone than with you."
It hurts too much to be with you right now. she should have added. But that would have meant she still cared.