A Small Indiscretion Ch. 02

"Okay, Dave, have it your way. By the way, I have sent across some more reports and a couple of draft replies on matters raised by the Head Office. Have you gone through them?"

"Just setting up my laptop, hang on."

The next hour or so went by as Dave read the various reports forwarded, requisitioned the Head Office for additional funds, and rescheduled the CPM/PERT deadlines per the actual progress at the site. Finally he was done. He shut his eyes and leaned back on his chair. He had been working almost non-stop for the last twelve hours since driving down from his in-laws' house. But the night shift was yet to begin.

Scotty walked in with his mobile pressed to his ear.

"Stella darling... look I'm real sorry. But we have an inspection fixed for Monday and we will be working during the weekend also... it's a kinda 24x7 routine as of now."

Dave smiled. That would be Scotty's wife. She loved the theatre. They normally attended the weekend shows. Stella loved the shows while Scotty just about survived the sittings. But like he said, the sex afterwards was out of this world.

"Look, why don't you ask Janet to accompany you. She does like the theatre doesn't she? I promise the next weekend we will... " continued Scotty as he walked out of earshot, but not before looking over to Dave and rolling up his eyes.

Dave smiled. Scotty must be getting a real earful. Stella loved the theatre while Scotty liked to watch the classic movie reruns on the cable. Dave watched Scotty enter the room with a rueful smile on his face.

"Chief, next Friday you gotta give me a day off to take my lady to the theatre or else she' gonna throw my bag and baggage out onto the driveway," he said as he finally lumbered back to sit across his boss.

"Consider it granted. Just mail your application for formality's sake," replied Dave as he gave Scotty a playful punch.

At least he has a home to go to, thought Dave as his attention wandered to his personal live.

He missed his family. He wondered what was going on back home. After Cyndi had told him about his medical report, his first instinct had been to call up Sherry. But then he had hesitated. Perhaps he should take things slowly, that would give time to Sherry to get over her initial state of anger. No, Dave realized it was more than that, she must also feel rejected, that he had tired of her.

On the other hand, he had been honest with her. Perhaps the truth hurt more. He would have to approach her with utmost care.

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Back home, Ma Harding watched her daughter-in-law wash the dishes. She sighed. Sherry was soaping the same dish the second time over with that far away look in her eyes.

Ma's mind went back to the time when she had been cleaning up Dave's room and had come across a pair of knickers' under his bed. She knew immediately to whom it belonged. She had had it washed up and then wrapped it in a brown paper along with the other packet.

A couple of days later, she had asked Sherry to help her bake doughnuts. While going about with the preparations, she casually told Sherry that there was a packet for her on the kitchen table. She watched Sherry open the packet to find her freshly washed knickers and a packet of Trojans. The look on her face had been priceless. She had then quietly come up behind the embarrassed girl and hugged her tight. Sherry had spent the rest of the time furiously kneading the dough, refusing to make any eye contact with her, her face a crimson red.

Ma Harding smiled. The doughnuts had really come out well. Both the families had praised their culinary skills. She had passed on the entire credit to Sherry. Oh! How the girl had blushed. Ah yes, Dave had been a bit fidgety that evening. No doubt Sherry O'Brien had let him have a piece of her mind.

And now here she was with that deathly pallor on her face. She looked so frail, so fragile, just not like the girl she knew.

"Ma, do you think he no longer finds me desirable? Give me an honest answer."

"Sherry, I know something terrible has happened. We have discussed all that before. Now you have to make a real decision about what comes next in your life. Are you going to be a victim and wander aimlessly, or are you going to step up."

"Ma, how could he do this to me?"

Ma Harding nodded her head sympathetically. "Dave is a good man and a good father. He has worked hard to reach the position he is in today. He is paying off the installments for the house loan and you two are planning to send DJ to one of those better public schools in the future. Now, Sherry, with my lifelong experience I can definitely say that guys with such traits do not go messing around. They are just not wired that way.

"The problem is that you're not seeing the truth." Ma Harding paused to let the statement sink in.

"I am just an old woman and I'm not always going to talk to you the way a professional counsellor would."

"What exactly are you suggesting, Ma?"

"First, you need to know why this thing happened to you. Next, you need to decide what to do about it. Third," she paused again, looking at Sherry firmly, "You need to ask Dave to forgive you for treating him like you did."

If it wasn't for the shock that statement caused her, Sherry probably would have stormed out. Instead she looked at Ma stupidly, wondering if this was some kind of a joke.

"I'm not kidding, Sherry," Ma continued, "If you are going to recover from this, you need to realize how wrong you were and what it's cost you."

"Cost me? My husband's behaviour may just well cost me my marriage! My son keeps asking for his dad and I am never able to give him a proper answer. How can you talk to me about cost?"

"See, now that's the victim I was talking about. Your choices caused the predicament you just described. You made your decisions and are living with the consequences. I sit here listening to you talk about how great your life was, then one event causes a complete collapse of everything."

Sherry's anger began to build further, "So what are you suggesting, I'm wrong for being upset that he cheated on me? A complete betrayal of everything we had?"

Ma Harding gave her daughter in law a withering look but she didn't change her tone as she continued. "I never suggested you shouldn't be upset. I never even suggested you shouldn't divorce him. You are well within your rights to do both. I said you needed to find out about the reasons for his betrayal and you need to ask for forgiveness." Her look changed to something resembling the way Sherry looked at DJ when he was not behaving.

"People have such a wrong-headed view of forgiveness," Ma went on, "It's not the act of alleviating someone's wrongdoing; it's allowing the burden to be taken from you. Right now you are acting as judge, jury and executioner. You are doing it to a person you still love, and the guilt is ruining your life." When she was sure Sherry was actually listening and trying to make sense out of what she was saying, she continued.

"There is a true story of a mother whose son was murdered. She lived in grief for several years until she went to see the man convicted of killing him. After meeting him in jail, she forgave him. The simple act of giving up her hatred allowed her to go on with her life. It didn't make her like him or understand what he had done. It didn't change his punishment or the way society treated him. She just needed to get rid of the pain to do something constructive with her life.

"Think about all the good things you've told me about your Dave. How much you loved him and what a positive impact he has had on your life. You tell me if I'm wrong, but has this punishment made your life or DJ's any better or easier?" When she saw her daughter in law wasn't going to defend herself, she continued.

"Without having to get all Biblical on you, any mental health professional will tell you that holding on to your anger is a negative. This vendetta you're pursuing can only keep you mired in the misery you've been feeling. I like you and want to see you get better. I don't believe that's going to happen unless you confront your fears. I don't want to sit here and see you in pain when you have the power to improve things, maybe even get past it.

"I'd like you to take steps to get control of your life. I would also like to suggest you think about the idea of inviting Dave over for dinner some day. I think you might find it very helpful in finding a way to work through your pain."

Sherry sat in the kitchen trying to absorb everything her mother-in-law had said. She believed Ma was encouraging her to do what Ma felt would help the most, but she felt she just couldn't get her head around everything.

Surprisingly, she wasn't that upset by Ma Harding's statements. It was just that she just wasn't sure if she was ready to talk to Dave or how to go about it. She hadn't spoken to him since she asked him to leave. It was true she had received a couple of calls from him, but she hadn't really spoken much, only listened to him. Now, if she were to take her mother in law at her word that it would help her, how was she going to get past what he had done and actually ask him to forgive her? That would be like saying there was a way we could fix things and that was out of the question... or was it?"

She looked at the envelope containing his medical report. Maybe it will serve as a good pretext for calling him up. She looked at the wall clock. It was almost two in the morning! Ma Harding had retired to her grandson's room a long time back. Sherry had been sitting alone in the kitchen for God knows how many hours. Yes, she would definitely call up her husband first thing in the morning.

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To Be Continued...

ALEX

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