Today People

by Barbara G. Tarn

  2.

  Work distracted Rick from obsessive thoughts about Penny's message. After lunch he tried to call her again. Still offline and phone out of reach. Same with Robbie, so he had nobody to talk to. Sometimes he really hated technology.

  He left at 5pm sharp and squeezed himself back in the trains until he reached his car. When he got home, the kids were running everywhere and his mother looked like a wreck.

  "Fred, Mandy, Harry, quiet!" he shouted. "Don't you see Grandma is sick of your screams?"

  "You had promised to be good while Mom was away," his mother added with a scolding tone.

  "Sorry, Grandma," Mandy said. At eight she was the middle child. Fred was ten and Harry only five.

  "Why didn't we go all together?" Fred asked. "Why did she go alone with her friend Roxy?"

  "You'll have to ask her when she comes back," Rick answered quickly.

  "When is she coming back?" Harry asked.

  "Saturday. Now sit down and do your homework while I try to fix some dinner with Grandma."

  Mandy opened her mouth to ask more questions, but he glared at her. She looked away and went to her room to pout.

  "Rick, what's going on?" his mother asked, worried. "Did Penny forgot to call you for your birthday?"

  He showed her the message on his phone – which left her gaping.

  "Have you tried to call her?" she whispered, eyes wide.

  "All day," he answered, looking in the fridge and in the pantry. "Damn, I think I'll take the kids to Pizza Hut."

  "I didn't have time to go to the store," his mother apologized. "Or to cook."

  "It's okay, Mom, junk food won't kill us for once." He quickly hugged her. "Thanks, you can go home now. I can do it." He smiled bitterly. "Don't worry, Mom, I'm not really in the mood to celebrate."

  "Forty already!" She sighed. "Where did time go? You'll always be my baby, even though you have babies of your own!"

  "Mo-om!" He rolled his eyes, pushing her out of the kitchen. "Dad will get mad at me if you don't make his dinner on time. It's getting late. Go home. We'll be all right."

  She sighed, caressed his cheek and finally left.

  Harry squealed and Rick looked up the stairs to the bedrooms. "Guys? What are you doing?"

  "Fred is taking advantage of Harry, as usual," Mandy reported.

  "Come here, right now! We're going out to eat!" he ordered taking off his tie and throwing it on the low table by the front door.

  Three children rushed down the stairs with delighted screams. One wanted pizza, one wanted ice-cream and the third just shouted to add to the confusion. Rick loved his kids, but sometimes he wished they were quieter.

  "Has Mom called?" Mandy asked.

  "Ah, no. Not yet," he answered.

  "She forgot your birthday?" Fred asked, outraged. At that, Mandy and Harry remembered it was Dad's birthday, and improvised a chorus that brought tears to his eyes.

  "Come on, let's eat," he said, grabbing Harry's hand.

  They all followed him to the car obediently. He had no further trouble with them, and later he put them all to bed – Mandy in her room, and the boys in their bunk bed, with Harry curled up on the lower mattress and Fred with his feet dangling from the upper bed.

  "How come Mom went on vacation without us?"

  "I don't know, Fred. Just go to sleep now, will you?"

  "Don't worry, Dad, Saturday is not that far away," Fred said before lying down for his good night kiss.

  Harry was already sleeping.

  Rick retired to his own bedroom and started to undress, feeling exhausted. He stared at Penny's side of their double bed and sighed. He decided to give one last try. Penny's phone was still off, but Robbie answered this time.

  "Hey, pal, happy birthday! Can't talk right now, can we talk tomorrow?"

  "Oh. Sure." Rick was disappointed, but also tired. Maybe things would look different in the morning.

  Sleep won him as soon as he put his head on the pillow.

  ***

  The alarm clock sounded, and Rick got out of bed. No struggle for the bathroom, nobody in the kitchen preparing coffee. It had felt weird on Monday and yesterday, but now the feeling got worse. A simple glance at his iPhone was enough to remind him the message from Penny.

  He showered, shaved and dressed, then tried to call Penny again. Still no response. No further messages. Nothing. As if she'd vanished from the face of Earth. And she was supposed to be away for a week only. Maybe by Saturday she'd change her mind. Hopefully.

  He went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. The children were slowly getting out of bed. All three were quite grumpy and asked about Mom.

  "She hasn't called yet," he answered.

  "She reached Yosemite Park, didn't she?" Mandy asked.

  "Yes, she told you she saw the giant sequoias on Monday," Rick replied.

  Thinking back to that short phone call, she had sounded distant already. Barely speaking to the children, telling them things that seemed straight out of a travel agent's brochure. What if she hadn't gone on a photo safari with Roxy to the Yosemite Park?

  "And then where did she go?"

  "I have no idea, she didn't call."

  "Will she call today?"

  "I don't know. If she does call me at the office, I'll let you know."

  Mandy sighed, Fred nodded thoughtful. Harry seemed to be on the verge of tears, but Mandy hugged him.

  The usual rush took him out of the house and to the office, this time two minutes early due to some blissful timing when switching trains. The first thing he did was calling his mother-in-law, who lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

  "Hi, Millie, it's Rick. Is Penny there with you?"

  "No, why?" she answered, sounding puzzled. "Aren't you all in California?"

  "Nope, I'm in Chicago and she left me a strange message yesterday..."

  He read her the "birthday wishes" and heard her exclaim in surprise.

  "Oh my God! I can't believe she left the kids behind! I'm so sorry, Rick! All I know is that she's doing a photo safari with Roxy and their group of photographers. I thought she had brought you and the children along!"

  Rick sighed. "If you hear from her, will you please try to find out more? She isn't picking up the phone or answering any of my messages."

  "I will, Rick. Call you back as soon as I hear from her."

  "Thanks, Millie, appreciate it."

  He hung up and stared at the files and folders waiting for him. There was no way he'd be able to work if he couldn't talk to someone. He tried to call Robbie again.

  "Rick, I'm at an audition, I'll call you back!"

  Rick frowned at the iPhone. Even his best friend was elusive now? What was wrong with people? He wasn't going to talk to his coworkers about his private life.

  During a coffee break he managed to get hold of Leo, who at least had been married. Another former member of the boyband, he'd married his girlfriend the same year Rick and Penny tied the knot, but Leo and Giselle split two years later, childless. Lack of babies was probably the reason for their divorce, although Leo had never talked about it.

  "You gotta be kidding me," Leo said when he heard the news. "She just left? Like that? She must have done something to make you understand something was wrong... did you cheat on her?"

  "No!" Rick protested. "That bitch Roxy tried to get into my pants but I didn't let her. I'm thinking she's the one who made Penny do this!"

  "Yeah, Roxy never got over the fact that you rejected her." Leo chuckled. "You should have screwed her, like I did!"

  "Leo! I'm married! You know how much I love Penny..."

  "Then she's cheating on you," Leo said. "She has a lover. And she eloped with him."

  "What? No, it can't be..."

  "Rick, you've been together for how long? Fifteen years? People change. You might not have noticed, but you've grown apart." Leo sounded sour. He'd had other girlfriends, but had never remarried. "Nothing is forever."

  "But we have kids! She can't be so
... irresponsible!"

  "Maybe she's had enough of playing mommy... have you talked to Robbie?"

  "He's at an audition." Rick snorted. "I can't believe he's still trying to break into the music business at forty!"

  "I was surprised you quit," Leo said. He sounded amused now. "You loved the band more than any of us."

  "But I also loved Penny and wanted to marry her... there was no way I could start a family with that kind of job. So I gave up my dreams..."

  "To be with her. Maybe that's why she dumped you. Because she loved the singer and dancer of the boyband and doesn't like the white-collar husband she has now."

  Rick opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Could that be? That she'd fallen out of love for him because he'd given up his dreams to be the responsible husband and father of their children? Had he become boring? But why hadn't she said anything? Or had she?

  "Gotta go, Rick," Leo continued. "Talk to you later."

  Rick hung up and swallowed the lump in his throat. What had gone wrong between him and Penny? They'd been together seventeen years, living under the same roof for fifteen, married for thirteen, and now what happened?

  I shouldn't have let her go on that damn trip with Roxy! I bet it's her fault!

  3.

  Since Penny was scheduled to land Saturday afternoon, Rick called his sister, Sarah, to look after the kids while he went to the airport. Penny hadn't called them, and he hadn't found the courage to tell them she wasn't coming back.

  Maybe she has changed her mind and will suprise us, he hoped.

  It took some coaxing, since the kids wanted to come too, but he managed to convince them they could wait until he took Mom home.

  "He can do the yucky thinks with Mom in the car," Fred said as Rick closed the door behind him.

  "Fred!" Sarah scolded.

  Rick headed for the car and tried to forget about it.

  He and Penny hadn't had much time alone since the kids were born. Yes, Sarah happily babysat for them every now and then, but it wasn't the same thing. Was that the reason Penny had left? Although she had mentioned some kind of career... What sort of career was there for an almost-forty-year-old woman – whom, to her credit, looked ten years younger?

  He reached the airport and waited until he saw Roxy. She was on the expected flight with the people who were with them when they'd left the previous Sunday, but Penny wasn't with them. Rick waved at his wife's friend and she beelined for him, dragging her luggage behind.

  "Hello, Rick," Roxy greeted with her husky voice and her most dazzling smile. "How nice of you to come even though Penny isn't coming."

  He scoffed. "What is she up to?"

  "I guess she's exploring the world after all the years stuck with you..." Roxy shrugged. "Are you taking me home, since you're here?"

  Rick narrowed his eyes but he nodded. He might as well keep asking questions.

  In the car, Roxy told him of their photo safari as if Penny were with them. As he parked in front of her condo, she asked if he wanted to come up and see the pictures.

  "I have three kids at home waiting for their mother to come back," he snapped.

  "You haven't told them she isn't coming back?"

  "Of course not! Why doesn't she tell them herself? What was she thinking? When is she coming back?"

  "I don't know, Rick," she answered suavely. "Please, don't blame me. It was her decision to dump the hunkiest husband alive. If you feel lonely, you know where to find me."

  She leaned to kiss his cheek, barely missing his lips – on purpose, he was sure. He glared at her as she grinned.

  "Thanks for the lift." She got out of the car, took her luggage from the trunk and waved good-bye.

  "Damn!" he muttered, punching the wheel.

  He drove back home and stopped outside to try call Penny again. She didn't answer. Cursing under his breath, he saw his front door open and three kids pour out of the house, followed by Sarah.

  He got out of the car as they surrounded him, clamoring for their mother.

  "Uh... she missed the plane," he told them, pushing them back inside the house.

  "She wasn't at the airport?" Mandy asked with a shaky voice.

  "Roxy said she missed the flight," he lied as they gathered in the entrance and he closed the front door.

  "So when is she coming back?" Fred asked.

  "I don't know," he answered. "I'm waiting for her to call and tell me."

  "Did you fight with her?" Fred asked.

  "Did you hear us fight?" he replied with a frown. "I have no idea what happened to your mom, and if she doesn't answer her phone or my messages today, I'll go to the police and tell them she's missing! One shouldn't vanish like this, leaving husband and kids..." He realized he was thinking aloud and stared guiltily at the children. "Sorry, kids. Don't mind me, I'm a little upset. Like I said, she missed her flight. She will let me know when she's back."

  The children sighed and went back to their games. Rick met Sarah's worried stare.

  "She wasn't on the plane?"

  "Roxy was. She said Penny is still in Cali, but wouldn't say doing what," he grumbled. "And she tried to hit on me again."

  "Bitch." Sarah frowned. She'd never gotten along Roxy, and not only because Roxy had tried to get in Rick's pants when he was already married to Penny. "I wonder why Penny is still so close to her after all she's done."

  "Thanks for taking care of the kids. I'll have to hire a babysitter if Penny doesn't come back, Mom can't keep up with them."

  Sarah shook her head. "I better go before the kids overhear us. Call me if you want to talk."

  Rick followed her with his gaze as she quickly walked to her car and waved good-bye. He waved back and closed the door. He'd try to call Penny again before telling the children their mother wasn't coming back...

  ***

  Monday morning Rick went to work still quite upset by the past weekend. Penny still hadn't taken his calls, Roxy was very flirty but unwilling to discuss her friend and Robbie was an asshole who was too self-absorbed to have even one nice or supporting word for him.

  He had told the children that Mom had prolonged her vacation, but Harry hadn't taken it very well. All three were quite morose that morning when he'd dropped them off at school, and as soon as he reached the office, he knew he had to make a couple of hard choices.

  He needed a few days off to figure out how to organize his family life and find a babysitter. His aging mother wouldn't last long as a substitute for Penny. She loved her grandchildren, but didn't have their energy.

  He knocked on Mrs. Gold's door.

  "I need a couple of days off, Mrs. Gold. I have trouble at home."

  "What kind of trouble?" Mrs. Gold frowned, signaling him to sit down.

  He checked the door to her office was closed, then obeyed with a sigh.

  "My wife dumped me with a text message. I need to find a babysitter for the kids. I'd be grateful if this stayed between you and me."

  "What is said in this office stays in this office," Mrs. Gold said. "Will you be able to work today?"

  "I'll try to finish what I have already started, but won't take on new files if you don't mind."

  "Sounds fair. Good luck, Rick."

  "Thank you, Mrs. Gold."

  Mostly he was grateful she didn't ask questions. He was already confused enough without having to give answers he didn't know.

  Rick was home by lunch time. The house was empty and unusually quiet. He slumped in his armchair and exhaled, but his heart kept beating faster and faster.

  This is not the time for a panic attack, he scolded himself, trying to control his breathing. He must get in touch with Penny. Find out what was going on. If she was ever coming back or what. If it was just a vacation or what. "If... or what" was an endless list right now.

  He picked up his iPhone. Are you ever coming back or what? Are you really out of my life? Why? What did I do?

  He put down the phone and sighed. He kept thinking back to his marriage but c
ouldn't for the life of him figure out what had gone wrong. What had made Penny run away with only a text message? What did he miss? Was she that unhappy? Had she fallen in love with someone else?

  How could you leave me? How could you leave our kids? he wrote, since there was still no reply to his message.

  He had done his best to help her with the kids, but he couldn't give birth in her place. Or take a leave from the company, since he was the only one with a steady job. Penny had been a stay-at-home mom until Harry had started kindergarten, and then she'd done part-time jobs, mostly writing for local newspapers and congregations.

  They'd met when he was still in the boyband, but then the band had failed and fallen apart, and everyone had left the music business, except Robbie. Rick had found a white-collar job because he wanted to marry her and start a family. It was their common dream and it had come true.

  Why did she leave? When did they lose the intimacy? When was the last time he'd made love to her?

  Too long, but I'm tired and we were afraid the kids would hear us and... She could have suggested we go on a date, Mom would have taken care of her grandchildren! Or we could have taken them to her mother's and have the house for ourselves...

  The house now felt so empty he was getting another panic attack. Well, a lump in his throat at the moment. And tears that really wanted to come out. Was she in danger? Were they all in danger? Should he start worrying for the kids? Did something happen to her?

  He gulped as the phone chimed.

  Yes, I'm out of your life. It's more what you DIDN'T do that bothers me. You're boring, Rick. You've become just like my dad. But I'm young and I still want to have fun!

  Rick gaped at the phone screen. He was boring? Because he worked all day to put bread on the table? Maybe they shouldn't have had three kids – one might have been enough.

  You have someone else? he typed.

  You're missing the point.

  Clenching his teeth, he hit Call. She answered immediately.

  "What the hell does that mean?" he demanded. "What didn't I do for you? And where the hell are you?"

  "It doesn't matter where I am, I'm following my dreams," she answered bluntly. "I'm sick of being a housewife. I want to be a model, or a dancer or... we could have both been dancers, you know? We could have danced through life..."