Navy Wives
Chapter 2-Darien Chandler
Darien Chandler's life was an endless cycle of deployments, preparing young Navy wives for those deployments, and being a stellar wife and mother. It was what she had been born for and she never wanted anything else. She was the daughter of a high ranking Marine general. And she came from a long line of military spouses. She knew all the ins and outs.
But in the back of her mind; she wished she could be like Christine. Not the cheating or splitting up with her husband, but Christine knew exactly who she was. She might have acted the part that Darien knew so well for years, but she had always knew exactly who she was and what she wanted. Darien was slightly jealous of Christine, and she really missed her best friend.
Sam and Ashley never handled Tom's deployments well. After getting home from the dock, Darien spent the rest of her day comforting the two kids, answering emails from young wives and talking to Jed about them spending part of the summer at his cabin.
The first night of deployment was the hardest for Darien. She always had trouble sleeping and at two am, she finally got up, having decided to do a bit of baking. Ashley had mentioned craving apple cinnamon muffins. She happened to look out her kitchen window and noticed a Norfolk County Sheriff's Office patrol vehicle drive by, rather slowly. It made her smile because she knew that Christine was probably working. She wasn't even sure why she decided to text, because she and Christine hadn't talked in three months, but she did, missing her best friend.
"I couldn't sleep and saw you drive by. I'm making apple cinnamon muffins and can put coffee on, if you can stop by?" Darien asked.
"Can't stop but thank you." Christine texted back. It honestly shocked Darien.
"We should meet for coffee sometime?" Darien suggested.
"No time and money is tight. I don't think its wise anymore." Christine texted.
It actually hurt Darien a bit, but she had caused some of it. Darien could have been a neutral party. Supporting both Mike and Christine. Tom immediately had chosen Mike and Darien had felt she needed to support that decision. It had meant ostracizing Christine. Mike had even told Darien that he had made mistakes too and Christine wasn't the only one who had cheated. But Darien knew something neither Mike or Christine could figure out–they both still loved each other.
She missed the days when the kids would play together and she and Christine would spend the day cooking, gossiping, making up baby gifts for someone or planning for some dinner. Picking out dresses for the annual Navy ball and Christmas shopping together. She wished she could have a do-over, where she didn't judge Christine.
No marriage was perfect. The only reason Darien and Tom's marriage was a success was because Darien deferred to Tom when he was home and was able to handle things when he was gone. Mike and Christine were very strong willed people. Darien hadn't had a career. Just an Art History major. Christine had had a career she loved and gave up. But Mike and Christine had had the one thing Tom and Darien lacked–passion. And that was something Darien was jealous of.
She had to wonder if they could repair their friendship. It was like losing a sister. Darien had actually been closer to Christine then she was with her own sister. It all just hurt. The kids were kind of lost without the 'Slattery trio' as they had been dubbed. Hell, so was she. She was just totally lost as to how to handle it.