The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality? 

CHAPTER 15

Stephanie folded the towel and put it away. All done.

It was Saturday. The place was spotless, her closet was in perfect order, the groceries were bought and stored, and she was bored to tears.

Having finished the last book on her reading list, even there was no help forthcoming from that quarter.

She never did any work over the weekend, but right now she was tempted to dig out her computer to start working on one of her clients' accounts.

No. Then the week will be too long. Work was for getting through the week.

Her own little business was thriving enough that she could afford to hire help, but she was reluctant to do so. She didn't start the business to employ people, she did it for her own sanity and to generate enough money for her own expenses. She didn't want to touch the money from the sale of the business and the house for herself. All of that was only to look after him.

If he died before the money ran out, the trust was set up in such a way to help other families where the husband couldn't support them because he was suffering from Alzheimers.

She had met one such family and it was heartbreaking to know those children would never get to know their father.

She sighed. Still bored.

Her phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Mrs. Jackson? It is nurse Stephens from St Agatha's. Mr. Jackson is asking if you have a chance to come and visit him today?”

She blinked. “Really? He did?”

The nurse laughed softly. “He did indeed.”

Her voice became serious. “Ma'am, if I may? It would really be a good time to come if you want to see your husband.”

“Of course. I understand. I am on my way.”

She rang off quickly and rushed to find her purse and car keys.

On the way, she wondered why he made the request. Even when he had good days before, he had never specifically asked her to come.

Catch the earlier chapters on Wattpad

The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality? 

CHAPTER 14

Early the next morning, he looked in on his daughter, who was still sleeping soundly. She must have gotten in late since he hadn't heard her come in.

Since she was a star student, he didn't impose a strict curfew, but he was still her father.

With a smile, he left a note for her in the kitchen and texted the boys to let them know he was going out of town for the day and to help their sister if she needed anything.

She had still to get her driver's license and he didn't want her to feel she was too isolated with him not being there.

The eldest's reply was almost instantaneous since he too was an early riser.

No problem, Dad, Drive safe.

He smiled at the text. He knew better to say anything, but both his boys would make excellent fathers one day. Their sister was another story, but he thought it was more the feeling of being abandoned by her own mother that scared her, than an actual aversion to having children. But he was not going to decide for her.

After checking that all the doors were locked behind him, he got into his car and put the envelope on the seat next to him.

Taking a deep breath, he put the key in the ignition.

“This is it,” he said aloud as he turned the key.

Three hours later he took the off-ramp from the highway. The commune was located on the outskirts of the town and he drove straight there. Although he had looked up the address, he was surprised that the maps of the GPS had the coordinates already programmed.

Probably because the place was actually well-known even though it was off the beaten track.

At the reception area, he asked to see Lena. Since it was also a tourist attraction, they had added the building, to give their residents some privacy from prying eyes.

“Who?” the young woman asked.

Shit. He rubbed his face. She started using a different name after she left him, and for the life of him he couldn't remember what it was.

An older man came in holding two bags, one over each arm. They looked heavy. The word 'salt' was visible and he wondered why anyone would need salt in such a large quantity.

The young woman looked at him but pointed with her finger towards Nick.

“This man is looking for Lena. He says she lives here, but I don't know any Lena.”

The man put the bags on the counter and peered at him. “You're Nick?”

He nodded. “I am.”

The older man turned to pick up the bags once more.

“Call Starr,” he told the young woman and promptly left again.

Shrugging she lifted the phone and called her.

“She said you can go in. Number seven on the left.”

After thanking her, he returned to his car and drove into the commune. He had been here once before, many years ago. While the cottages still looked much the same, he was surprised to see the gardens well kept and the whole place clean and neat.

“Tourism,” he muttered when he spotted a few people walking towards a large building on his right.

Not much further he spotted Lena's place.

He parked the car, got the envelope and got out.

The front door was open, but he knock in any case.

“I am in the kitchen!”

Accepting the call as an invitation, he stepped into another world.

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The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality? 

CHAPTER 13

Nick sighed into the blessed silence of his backyard. It had been a long week and the emotional difficulties of Sunday were still haunting him. Added to that he had come to realise that he was in love with Annie.

Stephanie. Her name reflected the elegant and mature woman she was, but he would always think of her as the carefree Annie of their youth.

Maybe he had always been in love with her and just never realised it until now.

He swirled the whiskey around the ice cubes rapidly melting in the summer heat. Apparently they were going to get some more rain, but when he looked at the empty sky, he wondered if the weather guys saw things.

His mobile phone beeped.

He opened the message. Come tomorrow. Bring the papers with you. L

He took a sip of the whiskey and deleted the message before putting the phone back in his pocket.

He understood Stephanie's situation much better than she knew. He was raised with the idea that one never abandoned one's family, but having been on the receiving end, he understood why she couldn't let her husband go.

But he could and one day when she was ready, they could have a future.

“Hey, Dad.”

He smiled at the cheerful face of his daughter. “Hey, yourself.”

“I am off to study group. I brought some Chinese if you feel hungry. See you later?”

He nodded. “Thanks, sweetie.”

She waved and turned to go back inside.

He called her name.

“Yeah?”

“Break a leg!”

With a shake of her head and laughter still tinkling with youthful cheer, she left him to his thoughts.

Alone in the house, he went to his study and dug out the key to a small safe hidden away in the desk. It contained but one thing and this was the first time in seventeen years that he was going to open it. He only hoped the documents were still intact.

He had to blow out some dust from the lock, making him sneeze twice, but the key still fit and the door opened on the first attempt.

Reaching inside he withdrew the envelope. He pulled a face. Judging by the smell the mothballs have done their job keeping nature away from the documents.

After closing and locking the safe, he returned the key to its hiding place and sat down behind the desk.

Giving his hands a quick wipe on his jeans, he opened the envelope and pulled out the documents.

Due to their dark and sealed storage space, the paper was still white and crisp as the day he had put them in there. Only the smell gave away their age.

Seventeen years. Sometimes it felt like yesterday. Other times it felt as if it had happened to someone else and he was only an observer to the result of that fateful day.

Whatever he had felt back then, was not relevant anymore. It was time to move on.

It was time to finally cut the ties to his wife.

Read the story from the start on Wattpad

The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality? 

CHAPTER 12

She felt his chest vibrate with silent laughter. She had to smile too. For a moment.

“Yeah, he might not have been the best husband, but he was a smart businessman. Although he knew his decision could be contested due to the Alzheimers, he assembled a panel of people to attest to his state of mind, when he signed the papers. There were lawyers, psychiatrists, and medical doctors. I think he even had a tax consultant present. His family was livid, but there was nothing they could do about it.”

She fell silent and breathed him. There had been no judgment on his side. Had he always been this open minded? She couldn't remember and sighed.

He pulled back and looked down. “Hey, what was that for? I think your husband was a genius. Still an ass, but a genius. By giving you control, he made sure you would be financially secure and not have to worry about his family giving you any grief.”

“Except that the company was already in financial trouble, and I was not equipped to do anything about it.”

“Ouch.”

She stepped away and sat on the stool at the dressing table.

“I knew I had to do something since he had deteriorated by that time and had to be placed in special care.”

“So soon?”

“If he had gone for treatment sooner, the medication could have slowed down the process, but he had been too stubborn. They put him on meds, but the damage had been done. It still slowed down the progression, but he couldn't go back even a year to what he had.”

“If I understand this correctly, he had been in special care for what, fifteen years...”

“Sixteen,” she added quietly.

“...and you have been the one to pay for his care during all this time? With no support from his family?”

He was stunned. This woman was amazing.

“His family was ashamed of his illness. Since they couldn't contest his decision, they shunned me too. It was hard, but I coped.”

“What about the business?”

She shrugged and got up once more. “I asked an independent forensic accountant to check the books. They were sound, but the company had been bleeding money.”

“The family?”

“Yeah. Very expensive parasites they had turned out to be. Houses, cars, clothes, it was disgusting. I stopped all those payments and had the assets sold to recover some of the losses. By the end of that year, the company was back in the black and doing well, but his medical expenses were high and I couldn't afford them on my salary. I sold the house and the business as soon as I could to set up a trust to ensure that he would be taken care of for the rest of his life.”

“And to ensure that it happens you have to remain married to execute the power of attorney.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

She turned around and looked at him. “I am sorry. I never thought I would...,” she stopped and looked away.

“Don't worry about that now. Come here.”

She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his waist. He felt her fingers dig into his skin but didn't object. She was sacrificing so much of herself and her future, she had to love this guy.

Today they became lovers, but could they go back to being friends again? Or was he going to step away permanently?

He rubbed his cheek against her hair.

“We don't have to figure out everything right this minute,” he murmured. “I still want to see you, but it will be up to you how we are going to define this—”

“Affair?”

He grimaced. “I was going to say relationship.”

“Same thing.”

“Okay. Technically you are right, so let's not argue about semantics, shall we? What we need to do is get some sleep and think about this. What do you say?”

He knew what he wanted. What he had to figure out was how he was going to go forward and how he was going to stop his own secret from destroying that glimmer of hope?

Catch all the previous chapters on Wattpad

The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality? 

CHAPTER 11

He sat upright but remained in bed sensing that she needed some space.

“What happened?”

She kept looking out of the window even as the words came.

“We had been married for three years when he started to change. It wasn't obvious at first. He would forget small things, and get angry when he realised that. If I tried to help, he would shout at me.”

“Did he—”

“Get violent? Hit me?”

He saw her reflection grimace. “No, but only because I made sure to keep my distance when he became like that.”

“Go on.”

“Most of the time he was fine, and things were normal again. When I remarked to his mother or sisters that he was behaving differently, they told me I imagined things.”

“Did he lose it in front of them?”

She turned suddenly and went to her closet to retrieve her dressing gown. He suspected she was playing for time to collect her thoughts.

He sat forward. “He lied to them, didn't he? Made up some story that put you at fault instead of the illness?”

She turned her back as she put on the lilac gown. She had always loved the pale purple colour. To his mind, it made her look young and beautiful.

“Well?” he prodded. “That's what happened, isn't it?”

She turned slightly but avoiding looking at him. “Yes. He confessed later that he told them that I gave him poisonous mushrooms to eat, by accident, and that it was causing him some difficulties.”

He gasped. “And they believed him?”

She shrugged and moved to pick up her hairbrush. “Why wouldn't they? He was the goose that laid the golden eggs, so everything he said had to be true. I only realised then that they were all financially dependent on him. I was so naive. So stupid.”

He got up and wrapped his arms around her from behind. “You were not stupid.”

“Naive then.”

He tightened his arms slightly. “Maybe. But it is a husband's duty to support his wife and protect her.”

“Even against his own family?”

“Especially against his own family,” he growled.

“But—”

“But nothing. They practically called you a liar to your face, and to satisfy his foolish pride, he let them think they were right. You should have divorced him right there.”

She turned and looked up at him. Her eyes shattered with the memories. “I couldn't. To appease his mother he went for a blood test to prove that I poisoned him...”

“When they found the real problem. Alzheimers?”

She nodded. “Yeah. It was more advanced that we had thought.”

“What did his family do?”

She dropped her head to his chest. “Nothing. Nothing to help him. Nothing to support me. All they wanted was control of the company so that they could continue to get their money.”

His eyebrows shot up. “I don't suppose he was happy with that situation?”

Her head moved side to side against him. “He did the one thing to guarantee that they couldn't get their hands on the business he had to rebuild after his father screwed it up: he gave full executive control to me.”

Catch up on earlier chapters on Wattpad

The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality? 

CHAPTER 10

Three hours later she knew they had crossed some boundary from which there was no going back.
Some instinct made her lift up on her elbow to look him in the eye.
There was no smile or teasing glint in their blue depths.
“We just burned a bridge, didn't we?” he asked glancing over her shoulder at the photograph on her bedside table.
She laid back down with her head on his shoulder. There was no point in denying it.
“Yes.”
He looked around the room. Earlier they had been too lost in each other for him to pay any attention.
“You live alone.” It was a statement. Again there was no point in arguing. It was obvious from the decoration and layout. One person occupied this bedroom.
He half-shifted, half-rolled to his left and cupped her cheek. “Tell me about him.”
She blinked. “Why?” her voice cracked.
He took her left hand and drew a finger over the wedding rings.
“You are not the kind of woman who would wear these unless you were still married and your husband was alive.”
She pulled her hand away and got up not bothering to find her dressing gown. At her age, she was no longer worried about what a man thought of her naked body. If young women knew how little men cared for perfect legs and perfect breasts, they would be much happier. All three her previous lovers had been younger, and they had been the ones to do the chasing.
He was older, as was her husband. She glanced at the picture. It had been taken just days before he was diagnosed.
She turned back to the window. It overlooked the city. When the sun shone bright, as it did now, you could almost see the end of the world. The apartments were built on a hill, and she had been lucky to find this place.
“I cannot desert him, not like his family did.”

Read Chapters 1 to 7 on Wattpad

The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality?

CHAPTER 9

Dropping the backpack, Stephanie stepped over rocks right up to the edge as far as she dared. Then looked down.

She had to sit. Her mind was incapable of comprehending what she saw.

“Amazing, isn't it?”

Gasping she slipped from the rock holding her hand to her heart.

He had steadied her before she reached the ground.

He sat next to her.

“Sorry, didn't mean to scare you.”

She looked back at the waterfall dropping into the whirlpool below.

“Is this thing for real?”

She had to shout to make herself heard, even though he was sitting with his shoulder touching hers.

He grinned and nodded.

The water was deafening and yet she felt as if she could just sit there. Sit and listen to the forces of nature. Sit and watch the destruction taking place right before her eyes.

She looked up. The tree canopy was dense, and she could hardly make out the cloudy sky between the foliage.

“Where does the water come from and go?”

He got up and helped her to her feet.

He collected her backpack and started back into the direction of the cottage. At least, that was where she thought they were going. Her mobile was in the pack.

“There is an underground river that runs the length of the city.,” he replied once they were away from the noise. “This is the only place where it runs above ground. It is dangerous, and you shouldn't come here alone.”

She frowned at him. “You were alone. Doesn't make it less dangerous to you.”

He stopped and turned around. “You are right, but I grew up here. I know there is a gorge, not visible because of the plants, not far from where you sat, that drops straight down into the water below. If you stepped into that, you would have died.”

She paled. “You are right. I am sorry.”

She looked over her shoulder. From this angle, she could see a rusted metal grid between the rocks on the opposite side.

She pointed at it. “What about that?”

He sighed. “It wears away. Replacing it has become too dangerous and costly.”

“Shouldn't there be warning signs or something?”

He looked grim. “There were. People still ignored them.”

“How many?” she whispered sensing that this place haunted him somehow.

“Five.”

He abruptly turned and started walking again.

Since he didn't use the path she had, she rushed after him.

When they reached the cottage, they had exited the trees not far from she had entered, he kept on walking.

“Please wait.”

He stopped but didn't turn around.

“I am sorry,” she whispered.

“Why?”

She came closer and touched his arm. “Because this place is very personal to you.” She pointed in the direction of the waterfall. “And something happened there to make the memories painful.”

He nodded. “You're right. Three teenage boys ignored the signs and fell into the gorge. Two of the guys working with my dad saw what happened and went after them. They all drowned. The bodies were never found.”

“And they blamed your father?”

He took a deep breath. “Yeah. There was nothing anyone could have done, but the families of the boys blamed my dad because their children did something stupid and died. It was the last time he ever came here.”

She held her tongue and followed him back to her car.

He handed her the pack and watched her put it in the trunk.

“Don't go there again, please.”

She reached up and cupped his cheek. “I won't. You have my word.”

She stepped closer and hugged him as hard as she could. He only hesitated a moment before his arms enclosed her smaller frame.

He stepped back. “You're shivering. Please go home and take a warm shower before you get sick.”

She stepped closer once more and put her hand on his chest. His heart was still racing.

“Come with me.”

He closed his eyes for a long moment. When he looked at her, there was a heat there that had nothing to do with fear. “Are you sure?”

She smiled and stood on tiptoe to give him a soft kiss. “Yes. I am sure.”

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The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality? 

CHAPTER 8

With her chores and shopping done for the week, Stephanie felt that the walls of the apartment were about ready to crush her. She missed the space and the garden of the house, but she couldn't afford to stay there with all the bills.

Medical insurance covered Frederick's care in the centre, but while he was still being treated at the initial stages of the illness, there were a lot of expenses.

At least, she had gotten a good enough price on the house, to get rid of all those debts.

She grabbed her keys. She had to get out.

It had finally started raining, relieving some of the oppressive heat of the past few days. It was still drizzling, but she didn't mind as the car almost drove itself to the fairy garden.

Since the locals didn't want the place advertised, there was no parking in the direct vicinity. She drove to the coffee shop and left the car there.

Flipping open her umbrella, she adjusted the small backpack she bought in the week. It was a pleasant walk, and she was hopeful of a quiet stroll because of the weather.

She wasn't disappointed at all.

The garden smelled fresher and even looked greener with the rain. At the fifth bench, she turned off the main path and changed direction towards the cottage.

It was still there.

He had told her the building wasn't safe to enter, so she stayed outside looking into the windows wondering who had lived there.

“How on earth can you keep a secret like this?” she mused when reaching the back of the cottage. From here the rot was more visible, and she understood his warning. There was another path leading away from the cottage.

Activating the recording function on the navigation app on her mobile phone, just in case she got lost, Stephanie stepped into the unknown.

In this part of the park, the trees and plants were so dense that the umbrella was a hindrance more than an aid. She stopped and shook out the water as best she could, before putting it in a side pocket of the backpack designed for the umbrella.

It was still drizzling, but she decided it wasn't worth fussing about as she started walking again.

Unlike the footpaths in the public spaces of the park, here it was paved with stones and more uneven.

“Good thing, my hiking boots still fit,” she muttered as she pushed yet another branch out of the way.

Was that a river?

She knew the city had a river or two still flowing, but she had never heard of one in this part. Maybe it was a water channel left over from the days when this was still farmland.

Intrigued she kept going. The louder the noise, the more careful she stepped.

Quickly checking that her mobile phone was still operational, she continued.

Stepping into a small clearing, she stopped and gasped aloud.

Missed any chapters? Find them on Wattpad

The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality?

 

CHAPTER 7

They met the following Sunday afternoon at the coffee shop.

“How has your week been?”

“Rough, but I managed. Yours?”

Nick smiled at the memory of his kids' visit two days earlier. “Splendid actually. Work was busy as usual.”

Stephanie pointed to his mouth. “That smile tells me there is more.”

A few minutes later she was laughing with him.

“Sounds like your children want you to be happy.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I think so too.”

They finished their coffee and decided to go for a walk in the fairy garden. They didn't go to the cottage but stayed on the public paths.

There were more people in the garden, some even with dogs or baby strollers out to get a breather from the heat.

They didn't talk much, each lost in their own thoughts.

He wondered what she would say to a change in their relationship. The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted to kiss her, hold her, make love to her. And yet something was holding him back. She was not like the others. They were friends and he wanted that connection to stay.

Maybe it was people always saying that you lose the friend if you gain the lover.

He watched the sun sprinkle highlights in her red-brown hair, and wondered why they hadn't been lovers all those years ago. She was highly intelligent and beautiful on top of that. They were almost the same age, and yet time had been her friend when he compared her to other women of his era.

When the path might a tight turn, they were almost enclosed by trees and shrubs in their own little world.

He caught her looking at him.

“Will you—”

He cut her words off by sealing his lips to hers.

And then the world exploded in an array of colours and flavours.

* * *

Stephanie caught herself smiling at the oddest moments. Even her oldest friend knew something was up when they met for lunch on Monday.

While Denise knew about her husband, Stephanie never told anyone about the affairs, fearing her friend's censure and loss of friendship.

With a great deal of effort, Stephanie managed to get through lunch without making a fool of herself.

Neither did she tell Denise about meeting up with him again. She too knew him at uni, might even have dated him once or twice. But Nick was her secret. Something she didn't want to share with friends and family. Her own happiness.

Stephanie stopped in her tracks. Happiness?

When was the last time she felt something even remotely resembling that emotion?

She opened the door to the building of her afternoon appointment. After signing in at security, she got into the elevator.

Many people returned after going out for lunch and the car stopped at every floor. She stood at the back and watched the numbers of the floors slowly roll over.

Her cheeks heated with the memory of the kiss in the garden. She touched her lips remembering the way his moved and teased hers. Even her body recalled its heated reaction.

Nick wanted to be lovers, he made that clear, but he didn't kiss with sex on his brain. There was desire, and heat, which they shared once she got over the shock of that first touch. She wanted him too. All because of a kiss that made her happy. Happy? Could a kiss do that? How could he do that?

The floor number rolled around that woke her mind to the reality of getting back to work.

Missed the previous chapters? Read them on Wattpad

The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality?

CHAPTER 6

“Hey, Dad. What's up?”

Nick smiled at his youngest holding out a beer to him while she sipped her soft drink.

“I am good. So how was the last official day of school?”

“Surprising,” she replied. “I thought I would be ecstatic, but there is a lingering sadness too. Too weird.”

He nodded. “I get that. It is a phase of your life that will soon be over. I think it's okay to feel a little sadness about that.”

Lindie curled her legs up on the chair. “I guess.”

She took a long drink and pointed the bottle top at him. “So what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean? I will still be here.”

“You should get married again. Then you won't be so alone all the time.”

He almost snorted beer through his nose. Luckily most of it went down the right hole. After wiping his nose with a handkerchief, he eyed the young woman. When did she grow up on him?

“Did your brothers put you up to this?”

She grinned. “Nah, but we all agree.”

“Agree on what?” two more, deeper, voices echoed.

After a lot of hugging and teasing, the younger men settled down and popped their beers. Both having detoured through the kitchen on their way to the outside patio. Neither lived at home, but they always seemed to pop in at the right, or was it wrong, time.

“Dad needs to get married again,” Lindie supplied the belated answer.

The guys tapped their bottle necks together and took a long swallow.

Ñick swallowed around the tightness in his throat. He was so proud of them. Gary and Albert both went to university on scholarships for which they had worked their butts off, saying that he should save his money for their sister. Lindie wanted to go to medical school, and scholarships were rarely awarded to students right out of high school. The boys went into engineering, albeit different disciplines.

“Yeah, Dad. You have been taking care of us all this time. It is time to find someone of your own again.”

“I thought you should have done so years ago, but now you cannot use us as an excuse anymore,” the cheeky chirp came from his other side.

He coughed, even though he had nothing in his mouth. “Why this sudden matchmaking scheme?”

The three siblings laughed together, but it faded into the quiet Friday afternoon. “We know how tough it has been to raise us after our mother had left, but we thought to tell you that we are okay with you getting married again.”

Still trying to get over the shock, he stared at his children. They were laughing and joking about something else, but he simply watched their faces. They were all technically adults, but his eyes had opened to the incredible people his children had become.

Too bad their mother would never see that. Even though he had tried to make their marriage work, it had been clear that she had no interest in doing the same. Lindie had barely been a week old when Lena packed her bags and asked for a divorce.

He had never told them where she was, although they had only kept in contact out of necessity.

He smiled when the youngest and oldest conned the middle one into getting everyone another round. Yeah, they turned out more than just alright.

Missed the previous chapters? Read them on Wattpad

The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality?  

CHAPTER 5

Stephanie knew she was running late, but had warned Nick of the possibility earlier in the day. The meeting had taken longer than usual since the client had misplaced an invoice she had needed to calculate the VAT.

She rushed forward a few steps, then stopped to consult her tablet for his directions.

Five minutes later, she stopped again, this time, to admire the view.

Like the week before, she couldn't believe this place existed.

A tiny cottage, hidden from view in the fairy garden. She had passed several people on the main path.

“For a secret, this place was popular,” she muttered to herself.

Only when she reached the fifth bench situated on the left-hand side of the path did she pause to look around. Once she was sure she was alone, she quickly stepped off the path and slipped into the trees behind the bench.

The trees and bushes were denser, but it wasn't too difficult to find the overgrown footpath.

He was waiting at the entrance.

“Glad you made it.”

She ran a hand through her hair, pulling out a few leaves that were caught in her curls.

“Me too.”

He waved a hand to his left. “Shall we?”

They walked a few meters away from the cottage into a small clearing.

“A picnic?”

“Had to offer you at least something to drink in this heat. Make yourself comfortable.”

While the pencil skirt wasn't exactly suited for casual wear, she managed to sit down on the blanket without making a fool of herself. Of course, holding his hand had helped. That was after she almost let go when she felt an electric current sizzle up her arm.

She only relaxed when it appeared that he hadn't noticed.

After making himself comfortable, he reached into a cooler camouflaged as a backpack and pulled out a bottle with two long stemmed glasses.

Her eyebrows rose. “Are we celebrating something?”

The bottle opened with a pshh.

“Yep,” he replied as he poured and handed her the first glass.

Bubbles tickled her nose when she smelled it.

“Sparkling apple juice. How appropriate.”

He grinned. “Can't have you drinking during working hours now, can I?”

He touched his glass to hers. “I ended it with Danielle.”

She took a sip of the refreshing juice. It was better than anything she had had before. Or maybe it was the surroundings.

“Why? I thought you kissed and made up after the previous time.”

He reached into the backpack and pulled out a prepackaged platter with cheeses and an assortment of crackers beautifully arranged around slices of apples and pears.

Waiting until she had helped herself, he leaned back against a tree trunk.

“I found someone better to spend my time with.”

Nick's words followed her the rest of the week.
When she was updating the books for her clients, or doing the laundry or shopping, it was as if he was haunting her. Not in a bad way, but somehow his presence was everywhere.
When she called the hospital, a sense of guilty relief enveloped her, when the nurse reported that “he was not having a good day”. Those good days were becoming less and less frequent.
She sighed after thanking the woman.
In the beginning, she naively thought that he would remember her and be the man she had married. Now she called first. It was painful to see him as lifeless as a dummy, or so aggressive that she often feared he would hurt her.
Shaking her head to let go of the depressing thoughts, Stephanie poured herself some iced tea and got back to work.

~ Read Ch 1  Ch 2  Ch 3 Ch 4 

~ Next week: Chapter 6

The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality?

CHAPTER 4

“Hi Annie, have you been waiting long?”

Two bright red spots appeared on Stephanie's cheeks. “I happened to be in the vicinity to see a client.”

He sat. “Did you change your appointment to another day?”

Both knew Nick didn't need to elaborate on who the appointment would have been with.

She waited until the waiter, a young woman today, delivered his coffee, before replying. “I broke it off. Last week. After our talk, I realised that he was getting involved.”

She looked down at her hand resting on a picture of the lunch special. “I couldn't let it go on any longer.”

“Are you okay with that?”

She shrugged, turned the page on the menu and then turned it back. In the end, she pushed it away. “If you wonder about my emotional state, there is no need. I will find something else to help me forget for a few hours. Maybe join a book club. I saw a notice at the library—”

He took her hand. “Talk to me. We are still friends, aren't we?”

She nodded. They were friends. She could feel that.

He pointed to the door. “Let's get out of here and go for a walk. What do you say?”

He dropped a few bills on the table, and ignoring her protest, took her hand in his and led her to the door.

“There is a park close by,” he said and promptly turned right.

Two blocks down they entered the park and took the path to the left.

“It's like a fairy world,” she whispered turning around and around. Small twinkling lights were hanging from almost every tree. Next to the path were statues of gnomes and fairies. Even a dragon made its presence known.

“It is a local secret,” he said standing a few steps away watching her face.

“How do you know about it?” she asked when she joined him, still glancing here and there not to miss anything.

He laughed softly.

She stopped and stared.

He had a lovely way of laughing. Warm and sincere. “My Dad built this place when I was about nine years old. He was the city parks' landscaper. When the city wanted to build another exercise park, you know the kind with obstacle courses and jogging paths, the residents went up in arms. The city relented and brought my dad in to redesign the area. It placated the locals, and it has been a green area ever since.”

“It is beautiful. I think the kids must love this place.”

He nodded with a smile. “Mine sure did, when they were still children.”

She shared a grin with him. “Teenagers?”

“The youngest. She will finish high school this year. The boys are working already.”

She turned in a circle once more. “I would love to live in a place like this.”

“Quiet. Peaceful. Inspiring.”

She shared a sad smile with him. “Yeah. If only....”

Stephanie stopped and shook her head. This was her escape time. Reality wasn't going anywhere.

He waved her closer. “Come with me, I want to show you something.”

~ Read Ch 1     Ch 2     Ch 3

~ Chapter 5: Next week

The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality?

CHAPTER 3

“What happened?” Stephanie asked after they sat and ordered coffee. The region was gripped in a heat wave, but the coffee shop was blessedly cool, so coffee seemed okay.

Nick pulled a face and waited until the waiter had left. He glanced around, but the shop was not busy. Probably too early yet for the lunch crowd.

“Didn't come,” he replied quietly just in case. “She was pissed.”

She frowned. “You or her? Not coming, I mean.”

He shrugged. “Me. She did.”

Her frown deepened. “Why would that bother her?”

He snorted. “You have to ask?”

“Okay. The 'I am not sexy enough anymore' speech. Bitch.” Despite her words, her tone was just as quiet.

He nodded and for the first time looked at her. “You okay?”

It was her turn to avoid his gaze. “You're not the only one having a hard time.”

He took her hand. “That must have dented his ego.”

The electric heat from his hand surprised her. It took a moment to get her voice back. “Big time. I got fed up and left.”

She pulled her hand away. “What you are going to do?”

“Don't know. Break it off, I guess. You?”

She played with the empty sweetener packets. “Been thinking about it for weeks.”

“Same here. What an odd pair we are.”

Her lips twitched into some semblance of a smile.

“You guys want something else?”

They looked up at the waiter.

“Do you have time for a bite?”

Stephanie woke up her tablet and consulted her calendar. “Looks like I do.”

After ordering the quiche of the day for both of them, and more coffee, silence descended once more. It wasn't uncomfortable, so neither tried to fill it.

The coffee shop became noisier as they finished their meal.

When she tried to pay, he stayed her hand. “My turn.”

“Sorry. Habit.”

He waved it away. “See you next week?”

~Read Chapter 1     Chapter 2

~Chapter 4: Next week

The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality?  

CHAPTER 2

Stephanie reached out and touched his hand for a moment.

“Are you happy?”

Nick slowly shook his head. “Not really. Not that it would make a difference does it? It is not just my marriage.”
He leaned back and looked up at the ceiling of the coffee shop. It must have been one hell of a party; he wondered distractedly at the shoe prints.

He sat forward again and played with the teaspoon.

She could see he was not the same person she had met at university. They never had a relationship. It was funny, thinking about it now.

“Why did we never go out?”

He gave a short laugh. “I don't know. Maybe we are just meant to be friends.”

She smiled. “I know. We just never had that chemistry.”

“Yeah,” he replied, also smiling now.
Their smiles faded.

“Then again chemistry is overrated,” he muttered.

Thinking back at her own situation, she had no counter argument to offer. There were the general opinions she could mention, but it felt jaded, fake somehow, so she kept quiet.

They sat there staring at nothing for long minutes. It was both awkward and yet not. The world around them kept talking, drinking coffee, reading their mobile phones, typing away on their computers.

Was this what their lives had become?

“It is sad isn't it?”

She looked up when he spoke. There it was. The hopelessness of life sucking away at the happiness they were all supposed to find after uni.

Instead of replying she nodded in the general direction of the hotel where they ran into each other three days ago. “Does she make you happy?”

He waved to the waiter, and they ordered another round.

“How could she? How could anyone be happy with a few hours of forgetting every month?”

“Then why?”

He shrugged. “Why do you do it?”

She shrugged too. “Forgetting, is a good way to explain it. There is nothing else there for me. I doubt that he feels anything either.”

Their coffee came. He added sugar.

She tore open the packet of sweetener.

He played with the miniature milk jug.

She watched his fingers make the leftover milk bounce to the edges.

“How often?” he asked, avoiding her eyes.

She didn't need clarification. “Once a week. Sometimes more. You?”

“Standing arrangement. Twice a week.”

“Do you always go to a hotel?”

He shook his head. “No. She lives alone.”
He shrugged again. “Hotels can be risky. People start remembering your face.”

She nodded. “Yeah, he mentioned that.”

To her right a couple were holding hands and staring into each other's eyes. She didn't spot any rings. Still dating then.

“He's married.”

“Lots of lonely people out there.”

She stirred the coffee and patiently let the last drop fall from the teaspoon before putting it in the saucer.

“He loves fucking around. Thrill seeker I suppose.”

“Yeah, you get those too,” he replied before lifting his cup to take a sip.

Somewhere behind him, there were bursts of laughter. The kind sounding like students taking a break. It was loud, yet short. Almost too much.

“You want to take a walk?”

She waved her hand for the bill. “Can't. Have a meeting in half an hour.”

Holding her hand on the folder when he wanted to take it. Their eyes met.

For a moment, there was life in the battle of wills. It faded when her hand won.

“Next week?”

~Read Chapter 1

~Chapter 3: Next week

The Friendship Affair: Chapter 1

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality?

CHAPTER 1

“Stop! Just stop. Please.”

“But you're—”

He grimaced and gently rolled away to sit on the edge of the bed. He ran his fingers through his hair. The movement caught his eye in the mirror of the dressing table.

Ignoring her, he got up and closed the bathroom door behind him.

Leaning on the counter, the mirror even bigger than the one in the room, he saw a world-weary naked man staring back at him.

A man with salt in his pepper on top. Lines over cheekbones that hadn't been there the last time he looked. A stomach not as lean and hard as it used to be.

Abruptly he turned his back.

“Are you okay?”

He ran his hand through his hair again. It wasn't her fault, but the sympathy he heard in her tone didn't sit well with his pride.

Quickly disposing of the condom, he washed his hands not looking in the mirror.

“Yeah, I am fine. Just give me a second.”

Her, “okay,” floated away from the door.

He couldn't hide in the damn bathroom the whole day, so he went back to the room and started dressing.

She touched his arm. He swallowed and looked at her. She was a lovely woman and deserved so much more. But he bit his tongue. It wasn't the time.

“Next week?” she asked with a smile, albeit a little tentatively.

He smiled back and kissed her, but didn't linger. “Yes.”

He waited a few minutes after she had left, before doing the same.

The elevator pinged a minute later, and the door slid open.

Stephanie Ross-Jackson froze and slowly dropped her hands away from fixing her hair.

“Nick?”

Nicholas Granger blinked twice before recovering his composure and getting into the elevator on the fifth floor of the Regency Hotel.

“Annie? Is it really you? What are you...?”

He suddenly stopped talking and looked at the floor. She looked just as flustered as he felt. Fixing her hair. In a hotel elevator. Middle of the morning.

He grimaced. Just because he was, didn't mean she did.

He looked up when she shifted.

“I am...”

He held up his hands. “No judgement. Honest. And, it is none of my business.”

Her cheeks turned the sweetest pink, but she nodded. “Thank you.”

They stepped out into the foyer and headed towards the front door.

“Can I give you a lift?”

Stephanie smiled. It was a real one and yet he got the feeling she didn't do much of that.

“Thanks, but I have my car.”

He laid a gentle hand on her arm to prevent her from walking away.

“Do you want to grab a coffee sometime? Catch up?”

She looked surprised, and then she nodded. “I would like that.”

~ Chapter 2: Next week.