became lost in the moment and he looked so good.”
“I would have done more than kiss him, Jeannie. You have more will power than I do. I would kiss Kane the day of my husband’s funeral,” she laughed.
“You’re nuts. I better keep him away from your slutty ass. That’s if I ever see or hear from him again. He thinks I’m a nut.”
“No, not this guy. He’ll be back. I can see his lust in his eyes. He’s smitten with you. Give it a few days and call him.”
“I don’t know, Marsha. It feels like I’m cheating on Vince and I think about Lydia, and I’m faced with so much guilt. I’m going to a bad place again.”
“You have to stop. Lydia and Vince are on a whole other plane. They are in a place where there’s happiness and they want you to be happy. We get too bogged down on thoughts about what the dead think and see. They are so far advanced than us they don’t see what we think they do.”
“Thanks, Marsh, for talking to me. You make me better.”
“That’s what I’m here for, man. Take it easy and enjoy the ride. God, how I would like to ride him,” she laughed again.
“Shut up. He’s hot isn’t he?”
“Hot is not the word. Scorching is better. Did you touch his package while you were kissing him? Give me something to think about while I lay in bed alone knowing my husband is with another woman in her bed.”
“Marsha, I’m selfish wanting to talk about myself and here you are with John and his issues. I thought you marriage was getting better.”
“No, it’s not getting better. In fact it’s moving towards us not being married much longer. John told me his friend and her husband divorced. If my marriage was getting better, that wouldn’t be happening. Oh well, what are you going to do?”
“Drink,” said Jeannie, sipping more wine and feeling pretty good.
“I have taught you well,” she laughed, reaching across the table to grab Jeannie’s hand.
After drowning her sorrows in wine, Jeannie went to bed. Even after slurping down an entire bottle of pinot noir, sleep was not easy to come by. She tossed and turned all night and her dreams were filled with both Vince and Kane. At one point they were both the same person and Jeannie finally got up and took a shower. It was barely dawn when Jeannie walked downstairs with a book to get her mind off what happened.
Marsha was up early and as they talked over coffee, and she handed Jeannie an envelope. To Jeannie’s shock inside the envelope was two tickets to New York City and they were leaving that morning. Marsha arraigned the trip and even contacted Jeannie’s employer to tell them she would be in on Tuesday. Jeannie had not been there in years and the idea of getting away from everything sounded too good to be true.
Jeannie whispered as she wiped a tear away. “Marsha, this is too much. You shouldn’t have done this.”
“Shut up. It’s what you’ve been needing. We’ll have a blast. I have to warn you, I hate flying. So with that being said, I’m drinking now.” Marsha threw back a shot of whiskey as Jeannie watched in horror.
“How did you get me out of work?” Jeannie was working at the newspaper full time and had not once called off since she had been back. Her job was through her temporary agency and she was doing such a good job they wanted to hire Jeannie as a full time employee.
“I pretended to be you and said that I had to make an emergency trip to New York and I would be back Tuesday. No problem. Now go pack and quit asking questions.”
“What about Michael?” Jeannie asked. She wasn’t comfortable leaving him for two days.
“Already arranged. I was going to tell you last night, but you were too upset. John will be with him and he has a ton of guy crap planned. He may be a shitty husband, but he’s good for something. Now, go get a suitcase and put a few outfits in and be ready in about an hour.”
Marsha wasn’t kidding about not being able to fly. She drank half a bottle of whisky and still was a mess when the plane took off. Digging her fingernails into Jeannie’s leg was not pleasant for an hour. It took Jeannie several attempts to get Marsha calmed down each time the plane dipped from turbulence.