As he poured himself a glass, he moved to sit on the couch and flicked on the TV to search for anything that would help him take his mind off of his current situation. The longer he sat there and sipped the amber liquid, the easier it went down numbing him in the process. He continued to refill the glass until he eventually passed out.
ooooooooo
As another week passed, Katie consistently refused to talk to her husband. He’d shown up a few nights prior in a drunken stupor, banging on the door. Matt had to drive him home, and he’d yet to try to come back and talk since.
Katie was finishing up her last week of work before she left for maternity leave. She still had a few weeks before the baby was due, but she was so uncomfortable because of her size that she decided to go ahead and take her official leave. She was currently gathering her clothes to toss them in the hamper, and noticed that she still needed to gather some things from her house.
“Hey Hannah?” she called out the door.
“Yeah?” Hannah groaned. It sounded as if she was struggling with something, but Katie couldn’t tell.
“Can you come with me to get some more of my stuff today?” Katie waddled out into the hallway just as Hannah was reaching the top steps carrying what looked like a portable crib.
“Sure,” Hannah huffed as she carried the large object toward Katie. “Mom sent this for you.”
“What is it?” Katie wrinkled her forehead.
“It’s Cora’s old pack-and-play. I have no idea how long you plan to be here. I was kinda hoping you two would have worked this out already, but we need to be prepared. I don’t have a crib. Charlie was in a big bed when we got him,” she groaned as she struggled to make her way into the guest room where her sister had been staying.
“Thanks,” Katie huffed as she stepped out of the way. “I don’t know what I would do without you. You’re the best sister ever,” Katie’s smile was forced as she observed her sister. “I’m sorry if I’m putting you out. I know you’re probably tired of having me here.”
“Nonsense, I just know how much you’re hurting, and I wish there was more I could do. I still think you need to talk to him,” she pleaded.
“We’ve been over this. There’s nothing to talk about,” Katie rolled her eyes. “He cheated on me…with her,” Katie spat out the words as if they left a bad taste in her mouth. “There’s nothing he can say that’s going to change that.”
“Matt doesn’t think he did,” Hannah mumbled.
“What?” Katie narrowed her eyes.
“Matt went to see him last night while I was talking to you. He said that Patrick was vehemently denying that anything happened,” she stepped closer to Katie and tentatively reached out to touch her arm. “He said he didn’t do it. He didn’t sleep with her. You need to talk to talk to him…please? For me?”
“I don’t think I can,” Katie shook her head.
“Please? You can do it here. I’ll even stay if you want,” Hannah coaxed.
“Fine,” Katie sighed as she dropped her chin to her chest. “Tell Matt when he goes over there today to tell him that he can stop by tonight, and we’ll talk,” she groaned in a bored tone.
Hannah gave a silent nod and slipped back out of the room to call her husband. They were going to fix these two if it was the last thing they did.
ooooooooo
“Ok, I will,” Matt clicked his phone shut and stuffed it into his pocket. “Katie wants you to come by tonight to talk.”
“Huh?” Patrick’s head snapped up as he rubbed his weary eyes. His head was pounding, and he felt like crap.
“Hannah convinced her to talk to you. You can come by our place tonight around nine. Charlie will be in bed by then. I don’t want him seeing or hearing whatever might happen. You two can sort out whatever this is,” he waved his hand in the air, “just don’t screw it up,” he warned.
Patrick’s head whipped back, “Me screw it up. She’s living with you. You’re enabling this to continue,” Patrick scowled as he looked up from his seated position at his best friend, the one person who was always supposed to have his back.
“Whoa! Don’t even start with me,” Matt shook his head. “You screwed this up all on your own. You let that woman get close to you. You admitted to me that you flirted with her and that you liked the attention. You told me that you felt the thrill of being pursued that it made you feel desirable,” Matt scowled. “You may not have had sex with her, but you still betrayed your wife. Your heart may have remained faithful, but your brain didn’t.”
Patrick scrubbed his palms down his face, “You haven’t told Katie all of this have you?”
“No, you’re going to,” Matt shook his head. “If you want to fix this, then you have to start from the beginning and tell her everything.”
“I don’t know if I can,” Patrick mumbled. “It’s going to break her heart all over again.”
“You have to. You need to tell her about how this all started, and why you didn’t tell her to begin with. What exactly happened?” Matt’s eyebrows rose in question.
“What do you mean?” Patrick turned slightly on the couch.
“You said that you didn’t sleep with her, so what did you do? What is she alluding to?” he cocked his head to the side.
Patrick puffed out a breath, “Remember that night…back in the winter…when you found me drunk at O’Bryan’s?”
“Yeeeaaahhh,” Matt dragged it out.
“Well...” Patrick paused and then looked away muttering, “This is hard.”
“It’s going to be a lot harder telling Katie,” Matt sighed.
“You’re right,” Patrick nodded before continuing, “Well, Tinsley was there with some other doctors from the office. They all left, and it was just the two of us. I was mad. I’d just found out that Katie was hiding the pregnancy. Anyway, I started drinking…a lot…and Tinsley got really forward and started offering a night with her. A night where we didn’t have to think about anything but pleasuring ourselves,” Patrick squeezed his eyes shut as it was all coming back to him before continuing, “well, we kinda kissed and felt each other up like teenagers in the hallway.”
Matt hissed and shook his head in frustration.
“I stopped it before it got any further, and tried to stay away from her, but she wouldn’t leave me alone,” Patrick leaned forward placing his head in his hands. “It just seemed to spiral out of control from there.”
“You can fix this,” Matt nodded. “If I was able to fix things with Hannah after Megan blew into town, you can fix this.”
“Maybe,” Patrick mumbled. “Now that she’s at least going to talk to me.”
“Yeah…speaking of which…you need to shower. You kinda smell,” Matt shoved him in the shoulder causing Patrick to rock to the side.
“You’re probably right. I guess the boozed up doctor look is getting kinda old,” Patrick glanced down at his rumpled clothes and then back up at his friend. “Thanks man…I owe you.”
“Just don’t screw this up tonight,” Matt glared at him before heading to the door to go home. “See you at nine.”
“Yeah…see ya,” Patrick sighed.
Chapter 20
As he nervously paced the living room, Patrick looked up at the clock on the wall once again. It was only eight, still an hour to go. He’d showered, shaved and dressed himself in one of his wife’s favorite shirts. He knew it was lame, but he was silently hoping that she’d take notice. Any small inkling of attention she tossed him tonight would be a win in his book.
He sat down on the couch and flicked on the TV. As he rubbed his hands down his thighs, he glanced at the clock again, willing time to go faster. Only five minutes had passed. His stomach was in knots, and revolting over the scotch he’d consumed earlier in the day. Most nights he’d be passed out drunk by now. That had become the routine. Come home from work, pour a glass of bourbon or scotch, drink it, refill and continue until the hurt went away.
He rubbed his jaw as he leaned forward,
and rested his elbows on his knees. The conversation that he’d soon have with his wife had been running through his head for most of the day. All the possible reactions he could get from her fresh on his mind. Would she forgive him, or at least try…or would she kick him to the curb vowing to never speak to him again? He chuckled to himself at that fact that he was even in this situation. No one had ever mattered this much. No woman had held his heart like Katie. Before he met her, he wouldn’t have cared if a girl or woman was mad. He would have moved on by now, and found someone else. But Katie, she was special. She saw below the surface to whom he was on the inside. She’d given him a chance to be a better man. She had trusted him, and he’d screwed it up. Had he really changed as much as he thought he had? Or was he still the playboy he used to be, only now older? Was he trying to be someone he wasn’t? Had Tinsley seen the old Patrick and tried to coax him out? He shook his head as the thoughts continued spinning around. If he didn’t stop, he was going to drive himself crazy.
Looking up one last time, he noticed it was eight-thirty. “Time to go,” he muttered as he stood, turned off the TV, and made his way out to his car.
ooooooooo
“I’ve put Charlie to bed, so you guys can have the living room to talk. Do you want me to stay in there, or would you rather be alone?” Hannah whispered in the hallway.
“I’m alright. Go enjoy your night with Matt. I’ll see you in the morning,” Katie sighed as she waddled down the steps and into the living room.
After settling herself on the couch, she picked up a file from work, and began scanning it. She knew she wasn’t really able to pay attention to what she was doing, but she wanted to keep her mind off of the impending conversation with her husband.
Before long, she heard a knock at the door followed by Matt’s soft voice as he had let in what she had assumed was Patrick.
“She’s in there,” Matt murmured.
“Thanks man, I owe you one,” Patrick had responded.
Katie listened to the footsteps that led upstairs, probably Matt giving them some privacy. She took a deep breath and steeled herself for the confrontation that was about to happen.
As his footsteps loomed closer, Katie’s body stiffened. Patrick moved to take a seat across from her. Once seated, he placed his elbows on his knees and waited.
ooooooooo
“I hope you’re right about this,” Matt sighed as he climbed into bed beside his wife.
“Me too,” Hannah glanced up at him as she shifted to lean her head on his shoulder. “Those two were meant for each other. She just needs to let him explain.”
“Well I hope he’s honest with her. After the conversation I had with him this morning, I’m not so sure he can be,” Matt mumbled.
“What do mean?” Hannah furrowed her brow.
“He’s just worried he’s gonna make it worse, that’s all,” Matt took a deep breath and sighed as he slid down in the bed. “We’ve done everything we can now. They’re gonna have to do the rest.”
ooooooooo
Katie peered up through her lashes, and then darted her eyes away as she mumbled, “Hi.”
“Hi,” Patrick sighed in return. “I’ve missed you.”
Katie only nodded and lifted one shoulder. “You wanted to talk…so talk.”
“I’m so sorry,” he pleaded as he rose to move closer to her.
He knelt down in front of her and went to place his hand on her knee. Katie recoiled under his touch as her eyes flashed with what looked like fear.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled as he jerked his hand back. “I wasn’t thinking…I didn’t mean…”
“Don’t touch me,” she ground out. “I don’t want your hands on me…EVER!”
Patrick eyes began to well with unshed tears as he nodded and moved back to where he’d been sitting. He huffed out a breath as he prepared to have the hardest conversation he’d ever attempted.
“I didn’t plan for this to happen. I didn’t want her, not like you think anyway,” he glanced over at Katie to make sure he had her attention. “We were friends, at least that’s what I thought. She seemed to genuinely want to just be friends. I mean…she was HR. She knew I was married, she’d read my file. I talked about you constantly,” he rambled.
Katie rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms over her chest, “Go on.”
“Geez, you aren’t making this easy,” he squeezed his eyes shut before continuing. “Anyway…we went to lunch a few times. Then the calls started. She’d call me when we were out together. It was always work related. She even called when we were at the cabin.”
Katie winced, and Patrick dropped his head, so they lost eye contact.
“I thought it was odd that she kept calling me when she knew I was with you,” he shrugged. “But she always had a reason. It was always connected to the office in some way…a procedure, a meeting, the drug study…there was always a good explanation.” Patrick swallowed before he began to talk about the night at the bar. “Then you told me about the baby…” he grit his teeth together and cringed. “The way I found out…it sent me over the edge. We’d already been fighting about it, and then you kept it from me for so long…”
“Stop!” Katie cut him off. “This is not my fault. You’re the one that screwed up, not me,” she pointed her finger between the two of them as her voice rose.
“You’re right, but that’s how this started,” he shook his head in defeat. “After I left the house, I went to O’Bryan’s. Tinsley had told me earlier that day that everyone was going out for drinks that night. I knew they’d all be there, and I needed a distraction from our fight. I needed to stop thinking about what you did, and getting drunk seemed to be the logical choice that night. One thing led to another, and Tinsley made a pass at me.” When he looked up at Katie, he could see tears trickling down her cheeks. “I kissed her,” he muttered. “As soon as it started, I stopped it. I knew it was wrong when I did it, but I was mad, and it was my twisted way of getting even with you,” he dropped his gaze and slowly shook his head. “I’m so sorry. You have to understand…I never would have slept with her. I love you,” he glanced back up at her and tried to make eye contact, but she turned away.
“I don’t know what to say,” Katie sobbed as she wiped at her eyes.
“Can you forgive me?” Patrick pleaded. “Please?”
“I don’t know,” tears were now streaming down her cheeks as she sniffed and turned further away from him. “I don’t know if I can get past this.”
“Please,” he begged again as he moved to the floor in front of her. “I’ll do anything…I love you…and…” he trailed off as he reached a shaking hand toward her swollen belly.
“I need time, Patrick. I’m glad I know what happened, but I’m gonna need time,” she wiped at her eyes and released a deep breath as she pushed his hand away.
Patrick nodded, “Will you come home?”
“No,” she whispered. “I’m not ready for that.”
“But the baby’s going to be here soon. It needs to be home…with us…both of us,” he mumbled as he looked up at her.
“I’m fine here. If you want me to get past this, then I need to do it on my own time,” she squeezed her eyes shut before continuing, “and right now…I need to stay here.”
“Ok,” he gave a resigned huff. “As long as you promise me that you’re going to stop shutting me out, and we’re going to work on fixing this.”
“I’ll try…that’s all I’m agreeing to,” she gave a firm nod. “For him I’ll try,” she cradled her belly and sighed.
“For him?” Patrick’s voice trembled slightly. “Don’t you want to fix this for us?”
Katie bit down on her lower lip, and took a shuddering breath, “Can we fix us?”
His eyes widened as he took in the questioning look on her face, “Yes. Yes, we can.” He moved to sit beside her on the couch and reached for her hand. When she tentatively let him hold it, he continued, “Us being apart like this...its killing me! I’m willi
ng to do anything to fix us. I love you!”
Unable to keep him away any longer, she leaned into his side as the tears began again, “I love you too, but I think we might be broken. How do we glue the broken pieces back together? I don’t even know where to start.”
“I might,” he murmured. “Promise me you’ll hear me out on this. That’s the biggest thing we’ve got to work on…talking to each other.”
Katie nodded, but continued to lean on him, “Okay.”
This whole thing started with my job,” he released a breath and pushed on. “There’s no way I’m gonna be able to get rid of Tinsley, she’s the boss’s daughter. He sees her as perfect.”
Katie stiffened at his side as she listened to him ramble on about Tinsley. When Patrick felt her change in emotions, he placed his hand on her knee and rubbed it lightly.
“Anyway, I think I need to quit,” he cringed waiting for her reaction. Patrick was never a quitter, in fact he was just the opposite.
Katie sat up straight, and looked at him, “You’d do that for me?”
“I’d do anything for you,” he nodded resolutely. “I think it’s the only way I can get away from her.”
“Okay…then what?” Katie’s brow furrowed.
“Then I look for something else,” he shrugged. “Or I go back to the hospital,” he grimaced.
“But you hated it there,” she whispered.
“Yeah…” his head slowly bobbed up and down. “I need to get away from the clinic though, and I think this might be the only way,” he sighed as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
“If that’s what you want…” she trailed off.
“You’re what I want,” he stated firmly. “We can make it for a while on my trust fund. I don’t really want to use it, I’d like to sign it over to the baby when it’s born, but we can live off of it for several years if we had to.”
The Family Next Door Page 15