Chapter 7

After hanging up with Charlotte, Jeremy couldn’t wait for his lunch “date”. Yes, he said date. That was what he wanted it to be, although, he knew that was what it could never be. He didn’t want to be one of those guys snuck around behind his wife’s back. That was why he wanted to be up front with her and tell her what was going on.

He made sure, first, that Mikey was situation at the table with his breakfast. For such a little boy, he sure had a healthy appetite. Whenever he was staying over, Jeremy had to make sure he had the fridge stocked.

Just then, Robin walked in. She went over to Mikey and kissed him on the forehead. “Morning shortbread,” she called out to him, using the nickname she branded him with when he was a newborn.

“Morning, auntie. You sleep late,” he told her. This was their routine whenever he was there. She would get up around 7 a.m. and he was always already eating breakfast.

“I know, Shortbread. You always beat me when it comes to waking up,” she told him as she walked over to Jeremy. “And how is my big man this morning?”

Jeremy couldn’t help but smile at her. No matter how mad or moody she got, she never let it show in front of Mikey. She was always nice and sweet to him. Not that she was mad or moody that morning, but it was refreshing that she would act that way when she was.

“I’m good, babe. What’s on the agenda today? Anything interesting?” Jeremy was trying to get a feel for what she was doing that day. He didn’t think about checking with her before he made his plans with Charlotte.

“No, I mean, not really. Just work stuff. I’ll be gone all weekend.”

“Huh? Gone where? What’s going on?” Jeremy couldn’t have been happier with that news. Not that he wanted her to be gone, but at least this way he had a little more time to catch up with Charlotte without Robin breathing down his back once he told her what he was planning on doing.

“I’ll be going to New York for the weekend to work on a project with some of the other Analysts. I have a flight to catch for 3 pm today. A car will be here to pick me up at one thirty. I’m sorry, babe. I just got the call this morning. Please don’t be mad.”

“No, I’m not mad. I understand. Mikey and I will just hang out here for a while before I take him home. No biggie. Anyway, it’ll be a little while before you go, so we still have a little bit of time.”

Inside, he was shooting off fireworks. This was perfect!
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After dropping Mikey back off and spending a few hours playing video games with David, Jeremy headed back to get ready to meet up with Charlotte. When he got home, Robin was gone, as well as her overnight bag she used for business trips.

He went to the kitchen to grab a beer when he saw a note hanging on the refrigerator:

Babe,
There’s been some kind of an emergency with my mother at the mall. I’m going over there to check on her and will call you later to let you know what’s going on, probably tonight if its nothing urgent. There are leftovers in the freezer. Talk to you later tonight, love.
Robin

So she was gone. He didn’t get a chance to tell her what he was going to do today, but it didn’t matter. He would be the gentleman that he always was. Robin didn’t have anything to worry about.

All that was left to do now was get dressed and go see his old friend. He couldn’t wait!
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“Hey baby, I’m ready, leaving the house now, but I have to stop off and check on my mother first. She’s having a fit about something. I need to see what’s going on with her before I can leave and go out of town,” Robin said into the phone.

“Okay, well call me when you get close. I’ll wait for you, but we don’t want to get to the airport too late. We still have to check in and everything,” the man said back.

“No problem, shouldn’t take too long. Oh, and please remind me to call my husband later. I told him that I would let him know what’s going on with my mom and I guess I would have to call and let him know I made it to New York. Oh, and please DO NOT put the room under your name, again. I don’t want to slip up again, just in case,” she said to the man, firmly.

“See, if you would go ahead and dump the chump and get with me, you wouldn’t have to worry about all this sneaking around. We’ve been together for almost 4 years now. I’ve waited long enough. You gotta do something soon, baby. I hate being without you all the time.”

“I know, Greg. I miss being with you all the time, too. But Jeremy is my husband and I can’t just up and leave him, at least not yet. I’ve been with him for almost five years too. I have history with you both, but I’m married to him. It’s not that simple to break up our home. It takes time. But I promise you, it will be soon,” Robin said into the phone as she pulled into the mall parking lot.

“Okay, babe, I’ll wait. I know you’re worth it. A little while longer and I can officially call you mine. I love you, Robin.”

“I love you, too, Greg. I’ll see you in a bit. I’m at the mall. I’ll call you when I’m leaving.”

“Okay baby. See you in a bit.”

Robin hangs up the phone and goes into the mall. She finally meets up with her hysterical mother. She rushes in to see what the commotion is, hoping to resolve the matter as quickly as possible so that she can get back to her “other” life.