The Anniversary

“What’s got into you, Toby? You’ve been acting strange all week and it’s beginning to scare me.”

“Well, you’re the one who keeps dodging the question right now.”

“Just like you avoiding me so far.” Simone snapped back. She planted her hands on her hips and faced him defiantly, her patience wearing thin. “Okay, then, if I’ve been having an affair, who do you think I’ve been sleeping with?”

“Emil.”

That Simone hadn’t been expecting.

“What? You think I’ve been sleeping with Emil?” She couldn’t help but laugh. This resulted in a growl from Toby and she stopped. She reached towards him. “Don’t be ridiculous. Emil knows I’m off-limits.”

Toby stepped away from her hand. His jaw tightened even more, anger burning in his eyes.

“Other married women are supposed to be off-limits but he doesn’t care.” He snapped back. “You could easily be one of them. You spend enough time with him.”

“Because he’s my best friend as much as he’s your best friend.” Simone shook her head. “I don’t know what’s got into you, Toby, but this has got to stop. You’ve trusted me in the past. Trust me now when I say I’ve never had an affair and I certainly haven’t slept with Emil.”

“That’s what they all say.”

That sounded strangely familiar. And Simone knew why. She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Mike’s called you, hasn’t he?” The flickering behind Toby’s eyes was her confirmation. “He’s put stupid ideas into your head again. And you really believed him this time.”

Toby snarled and leaned forward. His hand went up to Simone’s face. She flinched, waiting for him to hit her. A bout of fear hit her. Toby had never hit her. She braced herself but Toby’s hand stopped inches away from her face. His hand clenched into a fist and he lowered it with a growl.

“If you’ve been cheating, Simone, I want you out of here.” He said in a low voice. “You’ll get nothing from me.”

Simone’s heart broke. She had lost him. He was finally believing all the bullsh*t Mike had been giving him over the years. She wished she had been more forceful in getting him to cut off contact years ago.

She blinked back the tears that threatened to appear.

“And if I had cheated I’d want nothing from you.” She croaked, anger overtaking her broken heart. “I don’t give a damn about the money. You should know that.”

She stepped into the house and pushed past him, shoving him in the chest to move him out the way. Toby grabbed her arm and swung her around.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to have a shower.” Simone chopped sharply at the inside of his elbow. Toby flinched and let go. “And then I’m going to give Carl a lift to see a friend. After that I’m going to come back here and pack a bag.”

“So you can go to your lover?” Toby sneered.

“I’ll be staying at Maria’s until you get your head together and realize people have been yanking your chain.” Simone swiped angrily at a tear that dared to escape. “I haven’t been married to you for this long to throw it all away and I want you to see some damn sense.”

She turned away and walked towards the bedroom.

“I didn’t say you could go!” Toby shouted.

Simone shivered. She didn’t like this side of Toby. She wished she could find Mike right now and beat him to death. He was the reason they were arguing now. He had a lot to answer for. She turned back and glared at her husband, wishing she didn’t love him so much right now.

“I’m not dealing with this when you’re like this.” She snapped. “You wallow in whatever you believe I’ve done and I’ll get on with my life. Just let me know when you’ve come back to reality and you’re ready to apologize.”

Then she stalked into their bedroom and slammed the door. It was only when she was in there, stripping down to get into the shower, that she broke down.

*****

Carl knew there was something wrong when Simone came to pick him up. She looked pale, her eyes red and watery. Tear tracks were still coating her cheeks. She had been crying.

Carl wanted to know what was wrong but he had a feeling his mother would brush him off and assure him that nothing was wrong. He wanted to help. If his parents had been fighting, he wanted to be there for his mother. While he would never believe Toby would actually hit Simone, Carl wanted to be his mother’s protector and look after her.

He couldn’t go and meet Louise when Simone was this upset. Carl leaned over and touched her shoulder.

“Mom?”

She didn’t respond. Carl nudged her.

“Mom.”

Simone jumped. She shook her head and rubbed her hand over her face. Then she glanced at Carl with a sheepish expression.

“Sorry, honey, I was miles away. Did you say something?”

“Are you okay? You’ve been off in your own world since you picked me up and you’ve been crying.” Carl turned in his seat to face her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

Carl snorted.

“Bull.”

“Carl!”

“Well, something is wrong. You and Dad have been acting strange all week.” Carl grimaced. “Normally you’re all over each other in a way that make us want to gag. But Dad is going out of his way to avoid you and you’re getting upset over it. Plus Dad is sleeping in the guest room and he’s never done that, not even when you’re ill.”

“How do you know he’s in the guest room?”

At that Simone had looked embarrassed. Carl rolled his eyes.

“We’re not stupid, Mom. We know something’s wrong. I’ve asked Dad about it and he quickly changes the subject.” Carl could see Simone was about to cry again. “What’s going on, Mom? Have you and Dad had a fight?”

That was unusual in itself. His parents never fought. He had barely heard them raise their voices. Evidently the harmony was becoming strained but nobody would tell him why.

Simone looked torn at what to say. Finally she gave up.

“No, we haven’t had a fight. Quite the opposite, really. Your father seems to be trying to avoid a fight. Well,” she added, “He was until today.”

“What’s he trying to avoid?”

Simone glanced at him. Carl saw the torn expression in her eyes and took her hand, giving it a squeeze.

“I’m seventeen, Mom. I’m not a little boy anymore. You can talk to me.”

Simone smiled weakly. She returned the squeeze, focusing her attention back on the road.

“I set up a special surprise for him for our anniversary. I wanted to keep it quiet so he won’t know anything until I want him to know. But he found a text message from the guy helping me with the surprise and now he thinks I’m having an affair.”