Stealth

by Stan Mason

  Suddenly he heard a noise in the hallway and he went out to investigate. To his utter astonishment, Elizabeth had entered the house and she was leaning down to take hold of her suitcase.

  ‘I’m glad you’re here,’ she told him without remorse as he stood watching her from the entrance to the lounge. She glanced momentarily at the telephone table. ‘I see you got my note.’

  ‘I presume the man you’re going off with is the person named Cole,‘ he advanced, without any emotion in his voice whatsoever.

  ‘You were so wrapped up in your work you didn’t even notice I was having an affair,’ she admitted freely. ‘Cole shows me tenderness and he gives me all his attention. People can’t help falling in love, you know.‘

  ’They’re not suppose to do that with other people when they’re married,’ he snapped, ‘Why didn’t you say something? We might have been able to work something out.’

  ‘I’m sorry. I must go,’ she said urgently, lifting her suitcase and moving towards the door. ‘We’re catching a plane from Heathrow to fly to New York tonight.’

  Her husband looked at her with surprise. ‘New York!’ he managed to say.

  ‘My taxi’s waiting,’ she said finally. ‘My lawyer will be in touch with regard to a divorce. Goodbye, Neil. I wish you well.’ Without another word, she turned holding her suitcase and closed the front door behind her.

  Waverley shook his head in disbelief. ‘Why didn’t I see this coming,’ he told himself as blame began to overcome him. If only he had paid her more attention... if only he hadn’t spent so much time studying for his banking examination... if only... ! His mind tailed off into infinity as he punished himself for her indiscretion.

  He sat on the first step of the stairs holding his head in his hands as the noise of the taxi could be heard being driven away. A few moments later, the front door was pushed open and Jay Walters walked in.

  ‘Hi, Neil!’ he greeted cheerily. ‘The door was open.’ He paused to look at his friend. ‘Are you okay? You know you look like you’ve lost a fiver and found ten pence.’ He waited for a a response but there was no reply. ‘Are you okay for poker tonight?’

  ‘I don‘t think so,’ bleated his friend weakly.

  ‘Hey... snap out of it, man! What’s got into you?’

  ‘Liz left me.‘ he explained tersely. ‘She’s been having an affair with another man. They’re flying off to the States together tonight.’

  There was a long pause as Jay allowed the news to become absorbed by his brain. ‘You’re kidding!’ he said shortly. ‘How can that be? You’ve got the best marriage of anyone I know.’

  ‘Not any more I haven‘t!’ The words sounded exceedingly pitiful.

  ‘But you two were the life and soul of every party. Liz... well she was Liz.’ He paused and silence prevailed for a short time’ I really don’t know what to say,’ said Walters. ‘Look I can’t leave you here like this on your own. Come with me to the game. It’ll take your mind off it. Come on! Up on your feet!’

  He took his friend by the arm to help him up and led him to the door. They went outside and Jay drove him to the venue where his other friends had met to play cards. However the banker knew that he would never be able to concentrate after all that had happened. As far as he was concerned, it was the end of his life as he had known it. Indeed, much to his chagrin, his horoscope had been absolutely correct... there were serious problems with his relationship.

  ***

  The four men sat around a green-baized card table as Henry Trucker shuffled the cards. Each one had a can of beer in front of him and they chatted and laughed at leisure. They met only one evening each week to play poker and let off steam. They had all known each other for many years, in fact three of them were in the same class at school many years earlier.

  ‘What’s up with you?’ Tucker asked Waverley, noticing the sadness in his friend’s face.

  ‘Leave him alone!’ cautioned Walters sharply.

  ‘He’s looking like a wet-week. What’s happened?’ continued Trucker.

  ‘His wife left him,’ came the brief reply.

  Trucker shrugged his shoulders aimlessly. ‘Wish mine would leave me,’ he joked, although in the circumstances no one else found the comment particularly amusing.

  ‘What happened?’ asked Wayne with an element of interest.

  ‘She left me to go off with another man with whom she worked,’ explained the banker glumly.

  ‘Why else would a woman leave her husband?’ cut in Trucker.

  ‘The circumstances may change but the pain always hurts the same,’ related Wayne philosophically.

  ‘Deal the cards,’ intervened Forrest Harman sharply, becoming eager to start the game.

  Trucker shrugged his shoulders again and dealt out the cards to each player. ‘Well I’m sorry to hear that, Neil,’ he said sympathetically. ‘It’s tough when that happens.’

  ‘I’ll take one,’ stated Walters in an attempt to change the subject.

  Wayne Butcher stared at the cards in his hand and pulled a face. ‘Hey,’ he criticised. ‘What kind of cards are you dealing, Trucker?’ He wasted no time in folding them, throwing them face down on the table to opt out of the round.

  Walters stared at Waverley with concern. ‘Are you all right, chum?’ he asked.

  ‘Jeez!’ uttered Wayne to Waverley. ‘Didn’t you have any idea it was going to happen? There’s always signs of infidelity when a woman’s having an affair.’

  ‘Not a clue,’ replied the banker sadly. ‘There’s none so blind as those who don’t see.’

  ‘I’m glad I’m not married,’ declared Walters candidly. ‘I don’t know how I’d feel if my wife left me.’

  ‘I know how it feels,’ intervened Forrest. ‘My first wife left me. It hits you hard. I was devastated for the best part of nine months.’

  Wayne stood up and picked up a can of beer which he placed in front of the banker. ‘There’s something stronger over there if you want to get drunk. Jay can drive you home.’.

  ‘I’m not feeling too good,’ declared Waverley, running his hand over his face which had turned white.

  ‘Why don’t you rest on the couch over there for a while?’ suggested Trucker trying to be helpful.

  ‘Yes,‘ agreed his friend. ‘I think I will.‘ He rose from his chair and left the table to go over to the couch, laying down on it and closing his eyes. The other men in the room stared at him not knowing whether he was asleep but they continued with their game.

  The three men played for a further three hours and then Forrest stretched, raising his arms high into the air, and yawned loudly.

  ‘It’s eleven o’clock,’ he said after glancing at his wristwatch. ‘I’m bushed and I’ve just about come out even. Gloria will have my guts for garters if I don’t get home soon.’

  ‘Well I ended up winning after all those duff hands that Trucker dealt me,’ boasted Wayne, after issuing a giant yawn.

  ‘Better wake up Neil,’ suggested Trucker going over to the couch. ‘Poor guy! What’s he going home to except for an empty house.’

  ‘I’ll stay with him tonight,’ stated Walters. ‘He’ll need someone to be with him. After all, what are friends for?’

  They woke up the banker before Walters took him to his car and drove him home. It was the first night in many years that the banker would be sleeping by himself and he recognised that it would be something he would need to get used to in the future!

  When he arrived home, he climbed the stairs and went into his bedroom. He opened the wardrobe and looked inside noting that all of his wife’s clothes had been taken. She had cleared everything out earlier in the day while he was at work and had either taken them to a charity shop or dumped them somewhere else because all she took with her was a single case. Everything that had belonged to her was
gone. As he was about to climb into bed, he saw something sparkling on the floor near to his wife’s side of the bed and he bent down to pick it up. It was a beautiful expensive necklace which had obviously slipped from her grasp and fallen to the floor. She hadn’t notice it in her rush to remove all her possessions.

  ‘This is all she left you, Neil, old boy,’ he muttered to himself. ‘All that there is to remind you of her.’

  He slumped back on the bed and fell into a deep sleep. Shortly afterwards, Walters entered the room to look in on him and he placed a blanket over his friend’s body to keep him warm. He was there to take good care of him. After all, he thought to himself, what were friends for?

  Chapter Two

  On the following morning, the banker awoke to face the reality that his wife was no longer with him. It caused him to feel felt devastated yet in his mind, despite her betrayal, he hoped that she had arrived safely in New York for he did not wish her any harm. His mouth felt as though it was full of cotton-wool so he went downstairs to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. Walters was already there helping himself to a bowl of cornflakes.

  ‘You know,’ joked his friend, ‘I once was out on a date and I asked the woman what she normally ate for breakfast. She said: “I always murder a bowl of cornflakes each morning.” I thought, no, this woman’s not for me. I don’t want to get involve with a serial killer.’ He paused but Waverley failed to be amused. ‘Serial killer,’ repeated Walters. ‘Cereal killer!’ There was still no response from his friend. ‘How are you feeling?’ he went on, a little deflated.

  ‘Don’t even go there!’ came the glum answer. ‘I’m going to make myself a cup of coffee and then telephone my mother to tell her the news.’

  ‘That’ll be a laugh,’ responded Walters. ‘I know how your mother felt about Elizabeth. She’ll be very pleased, that’s for sure.’

  ‘The sad thing is that you’re absolutely right,’ returned the banker, pressing the start button on the electric kettle. ‘The worst thing is that I have to admit to her that she was right.’

  ‘Water off a duck’s back,’ retorted his friend. ‘I wouldn’t worry what she has to say. She’ll probably be on the lookout for another woman for you... one of whom she approves.’

  ‘I don’t think women are any longer on my agenda,’ declared the banker tiredly. ‘Once wronged, shame on you. Twice wronged, shame on me! I’m never going to let it happen to me again!’

  ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself. Things change in time. It’s a fact of life. There’s someone out there waiting for you to come along. Someone with whom you’ll fall in love with and have a really happy life.’

  ‘Huh,’ uttered Waverley miserably. ‘Don’t hold your breath!’

  ‘Give it time and circumstance,’ came the advice. ‘And listen to your mother next time.’

  Walters was pleased to see a smile touch the banker’s lips. He had been in the same class at school with the banker and had always liked him as a friend. Indeed, he would do anything to help him in his time of need and this was the first time in his life he was able to show him his loyalty,

  ‘Are you going to work today?’ he asked. ‘Only I think, in view of the circumstances, you ought to take a break.’

  ‘If I didn‘t go in, I’d only sit around thinking about it,’ said the banker tiredly. ‘No... I have to keep going. I’ve got to keep busy to take my mind off it.’

  ‘We could go for a drive in the country... look at a few sheep and cows.’

  ‘Where are there any sheep or cows around?’ enquired his friend quizzically.

  ‘Just checking that you’re still thinking straight,’ laughed Walters. ‘At least you’ve not gone completely off the rails.’

  The kettle began to boil and Waverley poured the water into the coffee cup. He put it to his lips, blowing gently to cool it down, and then took a sip.

  ‘I must phone my mother,’ he said slowly, placing the cup down on to the table. He picked up a mobile telephone from a shelf and dialled a number.

  ‘Hello, mother... it’s Neil,’ he began. ‘I’ve got something to tell you.’

  ‘Well make it quick, Neil. I’ve got to go out!’ she retorted coldly.

  ‘You’ll probably be pleased to know that Liz has left me,’ he told her lamely. ‘She was having an affair with someone else and now she’s gone. I know what you’re going to say.’

  There was a short pause at the other end of the line before his mother responded to the news.

  ‘I knew it wouldn’t last. It was only a matter of time. I told you so! I know it’s probably hit you hard but I can’t say I’m sorry.’

  ‘You don’t have to rub it in, mother. I just rang to tell you.’

  ‘Well there’s one thing I have to say,’ she retorted emphatically. ‘If things don’t work out with her lover, don’t take her back! I don’t care what you do but don’t take her back!’

  ‘That’s not likely to happen,’ returned Waverley sadly. ‘She’s gone to live with him in New York. She won’t be coming back.’

  ‘If you ask me, it’s not far enough away,’ uttered his mother unsympathetically. ‘I never liked the woman and I always made my thoughts known. But you wouldn’t have it any other way.’

  ‘Yes,’ he agreed readily with chagrin. ‘You kept telling me what you thought.’

  ‘She was trash. I could see it right from the start. Now I’ve been proved to be right.’

  The banker screwed up his face in ostensible pain. ‘Yes, mother, I have to admit. You were right.’

  ‘So what are you going to do now, son?’ came the rhetorical question.

  ‘I don’t really know. It happened so quickly I’m still in shock.’

  ‘I’m sorry, son, but I have to go now,’ related his mother sharply. ‘Mrs. Tailor’s ninety-two years of age and I look after her every Wednesday. She’ll be expecting me. Maybe we can discuss this later this evening... say about seven o’clock.’

  ‘Mother...’ continued Waverley but she had hung up the receiver at the other end of the line. He slumped into a chair watched by Walters who had just finished his cornflakes. ‘Oh, Liz,’ he muttered to himself. ‘What have you done to me? What’s this man Cole got that I haven’t?’

  ‘Hey!’ cut in his friend smartly. ‘Don’t go blaming yourself for any of this. I know you spent a lot of time studying for your banking exams but she’s your wife and she ought to have supported you. That’s what wives normally do for their husbands. She was the one who had an affair with someone else. You don’t need to reproach yourself for anything!’

  ‘I suppose you’re right,’ returned Waverley with a pitiful expression in his voice.

  ‘I know I’m right!’ insisted his friend.

  The banker’s mind hurtled into an imaginary scenario to reflect the past few months when his wife was having her affair with her lover. He could visualise them in bed together, touching each other erotically. It was as though he was watching the scene in a play on television.

  ‘Darling,’ he imagined Liz saying in a romantic tone to her lover. ‘Kiss me and hold me tight, I’ve never felt like this before.’

  ’You’re so fantastic in every way,’ said her lover.

  ’And you’re my Superman,’ he presumed that she responded lovingly.

  ’Didn’t you feel that way about your husband?’ he asked.

  ’You can forget him,’ she replied bitterly. ‘He was a dead loss. All those years we were together. They were wasted years of my life. All he wanted to do was to study for his work and gain promotion. One night a week he played cards with his friends and he went to rehearsals with the amateur dramatic company every Wednesday. There was no time in his life for me. Even worse, we hadn’t had sex for as long as I can remember,’

  ‘Well that’s not an issue now,’ exclaimed her lover
smiling at her.

  ‘You make me feel like a woman again, Cole. I love you so much. Tell me that you love me.’

  ‘Sweety-pie, you’re everything I want in life. You’ve stolen my heart. I can’t think of anything else but you.’

  ‘Kiss me again, darling. Hold me tight! I think you’re wonderful. I’ve always thought so ever since we first met, When are you going to tell your wife about us?’

  ‘At the right moment, sweety-pie. You won’t have to wait long. How do you feel about going to New York?’

  ‘On a holiday?’

  ‘No... to live with me there... for eternity!’

  ‘It would be Paradise,’ she cooed as he took her in his arms. ‘Kiss me again!’

  ‘Say please!’ he teased.

  ‘Please!’ she echoed sweetly. ‘Please!’

  Waverley continued to visualise Cole kissing her and caressing her body gently. He felt that it was a violation of his wife but she was totally in agreement with what she was doing.’

  ‘Hey! Snap out of it!’ urged Walters noticing his friend’s vacant expression. ‘Stop thinking about her or it’ll drive you mad.’

  ‘It’s easy for you to say. I’m living with reality,’ rattled the banker coming out of the dream. He shuddered at the thought of anyone else physically touching his wife, let alone seducing her on a regular basis. However he recognised that his friend was right. He shouldn’t blame himself for her betrayal but, in truth, he couldn’t help it. If only he had done this... if only he had done that... things might be different, but he realised that life wasn’t like that. A person made big decisions about the way he wanted to lead his life and, after they had been activated, there was no going back. It was necessary to live with the consequences whether they were good or bad. Where a serious tragedy occurred as a result, the problem remained with the victims who were left behind to suffer the pain and anguish. Such effects often trailed in the wake of disaster and there was no going back for them either. However, life had to go on but he still couldn’t get over the fact that the situation between his wife and himself had broken down. She was gone and he was the victim, left to have to get over it. He had learned that time heals all wounds. However no one told him about the scars that were left behind. No one told him about that!