It’s like they’re mocking me. Can’t they do that somewhere else? Making out; right outside the window. I hate them.
It was one minute past midnight and he still has not showed. This wasn’t the first time. And there was always some excuse. The kids were sick. The wife needed him to do something. What was it going to be this time?
I don’t have to put up with this. And I’ll tell him that. I’ll just get me another place. I should’ve never let him move me into that apartment anyway.
Gloria watches cars go by. She can only see headlights out there in the dark. But if the lights do not turn in, it’s not him and his Vette, as he calls it. His wife wanted him to get rid of that fancy silver sports car. Gloria loved it.
He’s been late before. Maybe. Maybe he’ll still come. He’d better come.
She looks around the diner. The old couple had left, headed home after their long trip. Gloria had not spoken with them but they talked so loud she could not help but overhear.
At least it was peaceful now. Quiet. Lonely.
I wonder if he’s been lying to me all this time. Maybe his wife isn’t sick and dying. Maybe they still love each other. Maybe she is a good mother to those kids, those smiling kids in that photograph I saw. Maybe everything is just a lie.
Gloria had been so pleased at her good fortune, landing that great job, then falling in love with her boss. Things were going so well she didn’t want to think about whether some of the things she believed might not be true.
But now, it’s midnight. She has driven almost 40 miles just to keep from having to worry about being seen by someone who knew them, trying to accept that as normal. But right that moment … it did not feel normal.
I’ll just get another job. And another apartment. He’s not getting the jewelry back. That’s mine. I deserve that. No more lovely trips. No more fancy clothes.
And no more lies. To hell with that lying SOB.
Headlights turn off the highway into the diner’s parking lot. Gloria’s heart jumps.
Is that him? Yes. That’s him. He did come. Oh how I love that man.
She quickly pulled out her compact and lipstick to fix her face.
The car door slams. That seems a little odd to Gloria. He always treated his beloved sports car so gently.
She looked out the window just as someone stepped into the light. That’s not him. That woman … I think that’s his wife. What is that she’s carrying? A baseball bat?
Before Gloria could move an inch, the woman opened the diner door and stormed in. She walked straight to Gloria’s table and sat down across from her, slamming the bat onto the table top.
“I guess you’re her. In your pretty little dress. Waiting for him, like you always do. How sweet.”
Glory didn’t say a word. The woman’s tone sent a chill through her. Then she noticed the blood on the end of the bat.
“You’re pretty. And young. He likes them that way.”
Still nothing from Gloria. She felt frozen solid.
“I am going to have to ask a favor of you.” The woman pauses for a moment. “Do you hear me?”
“Yes.” Gloria’s voice squeaks.
“Your secret boyfriend has learned the error of his ways. And he’s hoping that you will understand why he has to stop seeing you.”
Gloria’s red face is full of confusion.
“Is that OK with you? If he goes back to his wife and stops seeing you … Gloria? Yes, he told me your name … without a moment’s hesitation, once I got his attention,” she said, looking down at the bat.
“Okay.”
“Good, then. Guess I can retire this bat.” She stands up, slams the bloody tip of the bat against the tabletop one more time, this time very close to Gloria. “You will need to move out of the apartment this week. He will send you your last paycheck. I’m sure you understand why you can’t work for him anymore. Right?” The woman glared down at Gloria, softly tapping the bat against the table top.
Head down, Gloria silently nodded her reply. She sat there, still in shock, as the woman took her bat and left, jumped in the Vette and drove off into the night.
A few miles down the road, the woman reaches up and pulls the gray wig off her head and drops it behind the seat, covering the bat.
“That should take care of that,” she laughs.
“You did good,” says a man’s voice.
“Thanks. Anything for you. You know that, honey.”
“Take me back to the motel. I won’t be able to stay long. The wife will be back from her mother’s in the morning.”
“You’re going back to your wife? Tonight?”
“I just need to get there before she gets home in the morning.”
“I thought you would spend some time with me tonight.”
“When we get back to the motel I’ll pay you. Then I’ll need to go.”
“I told you I would do this one for free.”
“We need to keep this at a professional level.”
“Why? You don’t have to keep paying me for sex. I told you that.”
“We can’t change our arrangement now.”
“But you told me … you said you loved me. You said you would take me out of the life.”
“We were drunk.”
“You said I could have her apartment when she moved out.”
“Can’t do that. I need it. Are you driving a little fast?”
“So I’m just a whore to you.”
“Now that’s not so. You mean a lot to me, especially when I’m in between girlfriends.”
“To hell with you.”
“Hey! You missed the cut off.”
“After all I’ve done for you. I’m just your paid whore.”
“Don’t say it like that. You need to slow down.”
“You said you loved me.” Road signs zoomed past the car at an alarming rate.
“Stop this damn car!”
“See that bridge abutment up ahead? Watch this.” There was a wild look in her eyes. “Say you love me. Say it!”
“I love you. I love you!” He screamed.
“Too late.”
——————————-
Back at the diner, Gloria pays her check. She’s stopped crying now. She has no idea what just happened on the highway.
Tomorrow I’m going to call mother. She’ll know what to do. She never liked that guy. Never even met him. And I certainly didn’t tell her he was married. She just knew something was wrong.
When Gloria arrived at the apartment, the tears started again. She longed to be back home with her parents, where she knew they loved her. It was almost 1 AM. Too late to call; too late to drive over. So she laid down on the bed, in her clothes, and stared at the ceiling.