A Dreamer's Today

by E. L. R. Jones

  “I understand,” she said. He looked quizzically at her. He stared at her for a moment and the realization took hold of him.

  “So, I haven’t been the only one unfaithful all of this time. I wondered why you never questioned the amount of time that I was away. I thought you were just happy to get me out of your hair. I didn’t know just how happy you were?” he said with a bit of a rye laugh.

  “Should I sign these then?” she asked, lifting the papers up again.

  “Only if you don’t want us to be together anymore. If you are willing to try and work on our issue, then don’t,” he said looking her directly in the face once again.

  “What about your lady friend? Won’t she…” she began.

  “She understands. Do you need to talk to your gentleman?”

  “No, I told him I needed to be alone today,” she said pulling her gaze from his.

  “So…we are…we’re saying that we are willing to work on this?”

  “Yes, I am. If you are…”

  “Agreed”

  “Agreed”

  “About the baby thing, I am willing to take it off the table for now, if you are willing to possibly consider it at a later date.”

  “I can do that. I just wanted to not feel pressured,” she said honestly, but she knew that this wasn’t a subject that she was going to cave on.

  They spent the next month working on their relationship, promising not to see their lovers. She kept to her word. She told Shaun all about her plans to go to Prague and he said that he would love to join her, but it would be a while before he could actually get away from the office. He told her that maybe she should go and take one of her friends. It had been a while since she had a girls thing and thought it might be fun for her. She tried to get at least one of her friends to go with her but no one could get the time that she wanted to take off. She even tried to get them to do a couple days, but they all said that it wouldn’t be worth it to do less than a week. So, she set her plans in motion for a two-month journey all by her lonesome.

  The day she was to leave, Shaun took her shopping and they had lunch together. They had their goodbye love making session the entire day before, so she was more than satisfied. She was excited to be going and Shaun was excited for her. He couldn’t accompany her on the trip to the airport, so he arranged for a car to take her. He kissed her goodbye and headed to work after their meal.

  Kym checked her luggage and went to the gate to where she was to board the plane. As she sat down, a familiar smell wafted by her. She looked up to see Jared standing before her.

  “What…what are you doing here?” she said.

  “I came to see you off. I was hoping that you would be alone,” he said setting down his bag.

  “So, if you came to see me off, then why do you have what suspiciously looks like a carry on?” she asked.

  “I was hoping that you wouldn’t mind if I traveled with you. Every woman needs a traveling companion, no?”

  “Not every woman. Especially not one that is trying to give her marriage a fighting chance,” Kym said as she moved a couple seats away.

  Jared stood up and moved over to her again. “I miss us and our time together. I miss what we had and judging by your showing enthusiasm, I know that you miss me,” he said as he slid his hand up her thigh.

  She looked incredulous and stood up to walk away. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his lap and kissed her. She melted into him and wondered why she ever let him go? Kym had actually convinced herself that she’d been satisfied with Shaun, but having Jared near again made her realize the truth.

  As Shaun is driving to work after leaving Kym, his phone rings. His assistant calls him to tell him that he needs to meet clients for dinner that evening. He will need to fly out in the next hour. She says that his flight has been booked and she had someone at the hotel gathering clothing for him to wear. Shaun changes courses to head for the airport. He was a little excited because he might actually get the chance to see Kym off now. His phone rang again and he quickly answered hoping it was Kym and he could share the good news.

  “Hello,” he said quickly into the receiver.

  “Hi, Shaun. It’s Ming. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  “I am on my way to the airport, right now. Is something wrong?”

  “I really don’t know how you are going to take this.”

  “Take what,” he said. He was thinking that he should pull over, but he knew that he needed to get to the airport quickly, especially if he wanted to catch Kym.

  “I’m pregnant,” she said quickly.

  “What? I didn’t quite catch what you said.”

  “I said that I’m pregnant,” she repeated loudly.

  “You’re what?”

  “I’m…”

  “No, I heard you. I am just a bit taken aback. I didn’t expect to hear those words anytime soon.”

  “So, you aren’t happy about it?” she sounded concerned.

  “It’s not that. I just didn’t think that I would be a father by someone other than my wife, that’s all,” he said it, but it didn’t seem as if that was the best way to put it. “That didn’t come out right. I didn’t think…I was hopin…”

  “I didn’t think that my first child would be with a married man. I thought that the man that I fell in love with would be available to be with just me,” she yelled and then he heard nothing but a dial tone.

  He knew that he should call her directly back, but he also knew if he delved too far into it right then without at least discussing the situation with Kym it would be all the more worse. Plus, he’d just arrived at the airport. He parked his car, grabbed his wallet, and ran through the airport. He stopped once to ask what gate would the flight to Prague be leaving. Armed with that knowledge, he ran as quickly as possible to the gate. As he arrived, he heard them calling for all passengers to board. The people in the area began to line up and were boarding quickly. Shaun watched as everyone except for a couple near the front was making their way toward the gate. The couple were seriously locked into one another. He scanned the room looking for Kym, he then heard her giggle. He made his way toward that sound, only to find that it was coming from the woman entangled in some Italian man’s arms, sitting on his lap.

  “Interesting. Here I am running like a gazelle trying to make it to my wife before she boards her plane and I find her like some giddy school girl in another man’s arms,” Shaun said, brimming to the rim with anger.

  Kym jumped up. “Shaun, it’s not what you think. I didn’t plan this. I was planning on going to Prague by myself. Jared came…”

  “Jared, isn’t that Italian lover boys name? It seems to me that it was planned, considering he has a carry on!” Shaun shouted.

  “Look, it is not her fault. I surprise her…” but before Jared could finish, Shaun punched him and he went down hard.

  “Jared!” Kym screamed.

  “The man that you’re concerned about right now is the man that you actually want to be with. I want those divorce papers signed by the time you land in Italy, Istanbul, or wherever you’re going. I will have them there to meet you,” Shaun said as he turned and left the area.

  It had been 5 months since Kym and Jared left for Prague. When they touched down, it was a whirlwind for quite a while. Kym wanted to celebrate being with Jared who made her so happy. She wanted to enjoy getting what she wanted. The papers were waiting for her just as Shaun stated they would be when she checked in to her hotel. He made sure that he recalled that information no matter what. He even provided the packaging for their quick return, next day. She couldn’t believe it was over, but she was happy that she wasn’t alone. She and Jared decided to extend their trip not only in time, but in space as well. They wanted to see Italy, Istanbul, Paris, and many others. They were free to be themselves.

  They went from Prague to Istanbul to Spain and Jared said that he wanted to show her Italy, so they went there next. The plan was to do the world in a year, but once they got to
Italy, they decided to stay a couple months. It was beautiful there! Kym enjoyed the lifestyle and the gatherings with Jared’s family. She enjoyed the homemade wines and food. She was learning so much about cooking. They made love often and everywhere possible. She truly enjoyed the independence. The ladies of the family wanted to treat Kym to an Italian tradition in their family. They took her to a small town and had some hand made fabrics put together for an outfit for Kym as a gift. She returned to house late that evening alone, as the other ladies wanted to hang out in the little town. She found Jared lying there with two different women, asleep. She nearly fell to her knees. She couldn’t believe it! She left her husband for this! She wanted to beat the smug look off of his face. She grabbed what she could, including all of the money that he had and found her way to the nearest airport to fly home.

  On her return flight, she reviewed everything that had happened over the past 5 months. She tried to recall how it was that she’d gotten to where she was in her life. She wanted to understand why she made the choices that she made. As the plane touched down in the United States again, she wondered where she was supposed to go? She forgot that she never returned to collect her things from the house that she and Shaun shared at one time. She didn’t even know where the items she’d left behind could possibly be. For all she knew, Shaun could’ve sold all of her clothing and the furniture she’d purchased. She had to figure out what she wanted to do.

  She decided that all she could do was go to Shaun and beg for his forgiveness and see what happened from there.

  Shaun sat at his desk reviewing a client file. He had finally had the opportunity to get everything of Kym out of his system. All of her clothing and furniture was in storage in her name. All of her writings and collections were out of his office. The ring she placed on his finger was at a pawnshop and was replaced with another. The pictures and notes that were left in his office and their old home were gone. He’d finally sold that house and the divorce was final. The final infliction of Kym was gone when the desk she had specially made for his birthday was removed and replaced with one he could truly enjoy. Shaun promised himself that his workspace was his own and he would be the one to decorate how he saw fit. Never would another woman call the shots in that space again.

  No more Kym! She was off living her life and he was living his with his lovely new wife and a baby girl on the way. Life was good! Life was great and getting better as Shaun turned to face the door and saw Ming standing in the doorway, glowing with beauty.

  “Hello Gorgeous! To what do I owe this pleasure?” he asked, rising from his chair and heading toward his wife.

  “Well, I wanted to see if my husband could pull himself away long enough for us to have lunch and make some decisions on the baby’s room,” she stated hopeful and with fingers crossed.

  “I can’t, babe,” he said as he kissed her, then her belly. “Daddy’s gotta have lunch with clients and then pitch them a new concept at a meeting downtown. Rain check?”

  “This place where you’re having lunch it wouldn’t happen to be where hot women are the tables you eat off of, would it?” Ming asked jokingly.

  “No, baby, it’s not. I only eat off of one person and one person alone,” he said as he kissed her neck. “See you at dinner though?”

  “Yes, I will be at home, in the kitchen, slaving away. Don’t be late!”

  “I won’t and I love you,” he said as he returned to his desk.

  “I love you too,” she said and turned to leave his office.

  As Kym entered the main entrance to Shaun’s office, she bumped into a pregnant woman exiting. The receptionist said “Goodnight Mrs. Turner,” but that couldn’t be right considering Kym had just entered the office. Did she hear her correctly? The woman responded “Goodnight” and excused herself as she began her exit again. Kym had to find out what was going on.

  “Excuse me, did she just call you Mrs. Turner?” Kym said as she pointed to the receptionist.

  “Yes, she did. Is something wro…” the woman said, but stopped as she took in Kym’s face.

  “I just didn’t know there was another Mrs. Turner, that’s all,” Kym said as she wondered why the woman’s demeanor changed.

  “Well, I’ve only been Mrs. Turner for about 3 months. Is your name Kym?” the woman said.

  “Yes. How would you know that?” Kym asked, growing more and more disturbed by the moment.

  “You know or knew…you used to be married to my husband,” the woman stated and stretched out her hand. “Hi, I’m Mrs. Shaun Turner. Ming is my first name and I believe this is the first time that we’ve met.”

  Kym was appalled by the fact that the woman that was standing before her was not only married to her ex-husband, but was evidently pregnant and stood there before her bold as brass with her hand out for her to shake it. Kym did just that. “Kym Turner, your husband’s apparent ex-wife. How far are you?”

  “Eight months and we’re having a girl.”

  “A girl! Congrats! Uhm…you wouldn’t happen to know where your husband put all my stuff, would you?” Kym asked as she turned to walk back to the elevator.

  “I don’t know exactly, but I can ask him. I do know that it’s all in storage.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Weren’t you going in?”

  “Nope, got all the info that I needed,” Kym said as she quickly boarded the open elevator. One month of building up the courage to go in the building and find out what happened to their lives and where they stood was not enough to prepare her for handling all that was laid before her. She was beginning to feel queasy and faint.

  While she is exiting the building, the feeling of faintness intensifies and her heart begins to race. She tries to regain her composure to hail a cab, but it isn’t working. As she steps back to try and lean against the building, she runs in to Jared, literally. He begins to speak rapidly saying how sorry he is and how he wants to try again. All she knows is that she needs to get to a doctor.

  The doctor came in and told Kym that she was fine. Her equilibrium was off due to the fact that she hadn’t eaten in a while and she hadn’t slept. Jared comes in questioning what happened with Kym. She brushes him off.

  “Jared, I really don’t want you here.”

  “Kym, you don’t mean that. I mess up, that’s all.”

  “You mess up big time and I am not going to deal with it.”

  “I want to be with you and only you.”

  “Oh well, you had your chance, now move on.”

  “You love me. I know you do.”

  “Jared, just go!”

  When Kym arrived at the apartment she was renting, she was still a bit weak. She went to sleep instantly. The next day she called up one of her friends to tell her about the day that she had. Her friend joked that maybe she was pregnant because she was showing a few signs. This concerned Kym because in that moment she realized that she hadn’t had her period that month. She also questions why the E.R. doc didn’t perform that test. Upon taking a pregnancy test, she finds out that she is pregnant.

  Kym decides to call Jared up and invites him over. They talk things over and decide to try again. After all, Shaun gave her another chance. She also figured it would better for her baby to have him as a father, than to have no father at all. She still hadn’t brought herself to telling him that she was pregnant. She was still deciding if she wanted it. If she did or didn’t, she wanted it to be a decision she made, so that when she told him, she would already have her mind made up.

  One day she came home to find him sitting at the dinner table, looking into space.

  ”What’s up babe?” she asked as she put her purse on the table next to the door.

  “When were you going to tell me that you’re carrying a child of mine?”

  “I didn’t know how to tell you. I knew you didn’t want a baby.”

  “Neither do you! Or so I thought.”

  “Things change! I felt like I never wanted to experience this before and now that is
all that I can think about.”

  “I need time to think about the whole situation,” Jared says as he leaves

  .

  5-weeks later, Jared calls Kym up out of the blue.

  “Are you still pregnant,” Jared asks her timidly.

  “What if I am, Jared? What if there was no more baby? Why do you want to know?” she asks disgusted that he is on her phone.

  He says, “I would be truly disappointed if you did ‘take care’ of it, because it turns out the baby is all I can think about.”

  “Stop! Stop it. Because I had finally gotten to a place where I didn’t cry when I thought of you! If you’re saying now you want to be here and then plan on disappearing later, then that isn’t going to do anything but send me into another tailspin and put the baby at risk!”

  “Please look out the window.”

  As she goes to the window to look out of it, she notices him there with baby balloons and gifts.

  Three months later, Shaun, Ming, and Shaunetta are walking down the street on their way to the park. They run into a pregnant Kym and Jared. Ming takes in Shaun’s initial response when he sees Kym and tries to calm him before he does something or says something stupid. Shaun walks up to Kym and congratulates her on her pregnancy as he squeezes Ming’s hand.

  He says to her, “I guess you just needed the right man to persuade you to have his baby.”

  Kym sees the hurt and disappointment in Shaun’s face and can’t help but feel guilty for all that she’d done to him and what she refused to give to him, but was more than willing to give to Jared. She nods her head in response thinking they were willing to bend but not for each other. As they went their separate ways once again, she realized that she was content with her life and Shaun seemed content in his. Their union had been one filled with an underlying secret that festered until they were willing to deal with the truth of it. It was the first time that she was truly happy that Shaun had decided to walk away from her. She wasn’t what he needed. He’d needed the family and she’d needed freedom in order to be willing to bring another life into this world.