I couldn’t face her. I also couldn’t break Bridget’s heart by telling her that the man she had been married to wasn’t the man she thought he was. I’d be opening up old wounds that would never get a chance to heal. But how could I not tell her? Brendan could possibly have a sister.
My head was spinning so fast after the deposition that I needed to take some time to think things through. In hindsight, it might not have been the best idea to spend that time thinking in a pub. Nothing was any clearer with my brain marinated in alcohol. I was a bigger mess now than I’d been earlier in the evening. Hence, the reason the alarm was going off at nearly four in the morning, and I was trying to climb in through the living room window. In my drunken haze, I couldn’t remember the code to punch in.
Nigel came to the front door carrying a bat and found me wedged half in, half out of the living room window.
“What the hell, Simon? You could have gotten your head bashed in.”
I lost my balance and fell face first through the window and yet somehow landed on my very drunken arse. “Good thing you didn’t lock the window.”
Nigel walked to the keypad and punched a code in. “Yes. We could have kept out an intruder. We wouldn’t have wanted that, now, would we?”
I stumbled attempting to get up just as Calliope walked into the living room to join us. She pulled her bathrobe shut and squinted. “What the hell, Simon?”
“That’s exactly what your better half said.” For some reason, I found that hysterical and started to laugh.
“Are you drunk?” Calliope asked
“Are you?” I responded, still laughing.
Nigel sighed, “I’ll put some coffee on. You two have fun.”
I managed to get myself to the couch and plopped down on it.
“What’s going on, Simon? What are you doing here in the middle of the night climbing through our window?”
“You changed the alarm combination?”
“We didn’t change the combination, Simon.”
“Well, then it must be broken.”
“Sure, it’s broken. But why aren’t you at Bridget’s? Did you two have a fight or something?”
“Nope. Everything is brilliant.”
“If that’s the case, then why are you here?”
“Ah.” I held up my pointer finger. “Because incest is bad. They could have a two-headed baby. I went to medical school. I know these things.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Suddenly feeling like the room was spinning and a giant weight was crushing my chest, I leaned my head back on the couch and shut my eyes. “I love her, you know.”
“Who are we talking about? Bridget or the two-headed baby?”
“I’d love the shit out of a two-headed baby if it was Bridget’s.”
“Okay, Simon. It’s four in the morning and you’re talking in drunk circles. Why don’t we go into the kitchen and have some coffee. Whatever is going on, we’ll figure it out.”
The following morning, Bridget was already dressed in her maroon scrubs, getting ready for work when I walked in the door. I’d texted her last night before heading to Calliope’s, explaining that I was too wankered to drive. Thankfully, Calliope’s house was only a half-mile walk from the pub.
Leading Bridget to believe that it was simply the deposition that had me stressed, I knew she was probably confused as to why I’d chosen to drown my sorrows alone in a bar instead of coming home and relieving my stress inside of her. That was uncharacteristic of me, for damn sure.
I placed my hand around her cheek and kissed her forehead. “Brendan’s at school?”
“Yes. I just got back from dropping him off.” Bridget seemed oddly sympathetic when I had expected her to be more pissed at me for not coming home. “How are you feeling? Want some coffee?”
“Sick. I nearly honked on their couch. No coffee, thanks.”
“Honked?”
“Vomited. I was stupid to drink so much.”
“Well, you were stressed. We all deserve an escape once in a while. As long as you don’t do it all of the time.”
“Believe me, I don’t intend to, my luv. I’m fucking miserable away from you at night. Thank you for being so understanding.”
Her warm lips covered my stale mouth. “I missed you.”
Anticipating what was to come, my heart was breaking as I whispered, “I missed you, too.”
I longed to return to the days before this mess came about.
She frowned. “I wish I had more time to spend with you this morning, but I’m already late for work. I just stuck around long enough to say hello. You’re off today, right?”