Chapter 2

Next week would be Mike's birthday. In the past, Mary had done a variety of things to celebrate this day with Mike. She had planned birthday parties, romantic evenings out at four star restaurants and overnight stays in nice hotels. In fact the overnight stays in hotels was Mary's favorite. Sex in a hotel room seemed to really get her going and when she got going, it was really good sex. This time it was different. There were no elaborate plans for a party or night out on the town. There was no mention of the upcoming date. Nada, Zip, Zero, Zilch, Nothing. On the morning of his birthday, Mike again sat in the kitchen alone, having coffee and trying to get his head straight for the upcoming day at work. Actually, he was just pissed. "How could Mary forget this date, Mike thought. He never forgot her birthday and sure as hell never forgot their anniversary.

"Damn, Damn, Damn! What the fuck is going on here", Mike thought to himself. He was sitting in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee. It was still early and Mary was sleeping as she always did until the last possible minute before jumping out of bed, dressing hurriedly and dashing out of the house on her way to work. Mike didn't know of Sean was still asleep or had already left for work. "I can't believe that she actually forgot my 30^th birthday. This really sucks." Mike had helped the kids get off to school. This was a regular thing for him and he actually enjoyed it most of the time except when he thought about how nice it would be for Mary to help. "Maybe she has something planned for later and will call me at work and tell me then." Then, Mike made his transformation into his "Work Mode" where he focused on work and put all thoughts about his marriage aside for the day. He picked up his briefcase and car keys and went out the door, got into his car and left for work. Curiously, it never crossed his mind about leaving Mary and Sean alone together in the house. At work that day, Mike continued to focus on his job. It wasn't until almost quitting time that he remembered that it was his birthday and that Mary had not called about any plans. Picking up his phone he called her cell. When Mary answered saying "Hi Mike" since she obviously recognized his work number on her caller ID, he asked "Are we doing anything tonight?" Mary paused for a second thinking "No I don't have anything planned, why are you asking?" Mike frowned and decided to play with her mind a little just in case she was pulling his leg. "Well, something has come up here at work and I have to stay until it's finished." "How late are you going to be" Mary said peevishly, since she didn't like having to take care of the kids without his help. "I don't know, but if it gets to late I just may have to sleep on my couch here in the office." "Ok but call me if and when you head for home cause I'll worry about you driving home that late" Mary said. "Well I have to go now, love ya by" and Mary hung up. Mike sat there just stunned for a second, then slammed the phone down on the receiver. "Well shit, I guess I am well and truly fucked now" Mike leaned back in his chair and tried to figure out just what he was going to do now, since he didn't have any work that needed his attention and now he couldn't go home because he had lied to Mary about having to work late. As he sat there, he started to change out of his focused "Work Mode" and began to think about what he had just talked to Mary about. "She really has forgotten my birthday or worse yet she really doesn't care" "She didn't complain about me being late and again, she really didn't seem to care if I was coming home or not" Mike started to get pissed. And then he began to think. He didn't like what he was thinking about much. He hated himself when he got like this. He couldn't put his thoughts together coherently and his stomach started to burn like it was on fire. His heart felt like a leaden lump in his chest. His cell phone rang and it was his mother-in-law calling. "Hello Shelly" Mike wondered why she was calling him since he could remember less than a dozen times in the last several years that she ever called him. "Hi Mike, I was just calling to let you and Mary know that you can bring the kids over tonight and I'll be glad to watch them for you." "Shelly, I didn't know that Mary had decided to bring the kids over. You can call her at home or on her cell. I'm still at work and won't be getting home until late." Shelly sounded puzzled "Oh, I thought that you and Mary would be going out tonight?" "Well I'll just call her and find out if she still wants me to watch them, good night Mike and don't work to hard on your birthday." Shelly cut the connection and Mike thought sarcastically "well at least someone remembers my goddamned birthday!" About eight that evening, Mike decided to call home and just check on how the home front was doing. He wondered if the kids had gone to grandma's or not. The phone rang until the voice mail picked up and he got to listen to the stupid recording that Mary had insisted on putting on the machine. "Hello, you've reached Mike, Mary, Uncle Sean and the kids, we're not home so just leave a message and we'll get back to you!" "Shit" Mike thought "I really hate that stupid recording and I still can't figure out where she came up with Uncle Sean, he's just my fucking cousin." "Well I might as well just go home. There is no reason now to just sit here and there is really no actual work to be done." Mike got up from behind his desk, turned out the lights and locked his door. Walking slowly and his head hanging down, he left the building, got into his car and drove home. Still feeling pissed and hurt, when Mike arrived home he decided to park in the alley behind the house knowing that Mary would never see his car and would assume he wasn't home yet. "Sometimes I feel like the third wheel in my own home" Mike groused to himself. Mike roamed restlessly around the house for about half hour, then, after getting a soda he sat down in front of the TV and started watching a typical evening mind numbing show about nothing. Just as the show was ending, he heard a car door shut and he knew that Mary and Sean were home. "God Damn them. I hope they had a good time on my birthday." Suddenly, without even a conscious thought, Mike jumped up and ran into the kids bedroom and hid in the closet. "What the fuck am I doing? Why the hell did I just hide in the closet. If they catch me here, I'll never in a million years be able to explain this." He heard them come in the front door, laughing and carrying and talking about how much fun their evening had been. Mike kept getting more uncomfortable in the closet and then with as little thought as when he had first hidden, he came out of the closet and walked into the kitchen where Mary and Sean were standing. "Did they just jump apart? Is that a guilty look on their faces? Am I loosing my mind?" All these thoughts went through his mind at the speed of light and then immediately Mike felt guilty about having thoughts like this about Mary. He KNEW that there was NO WAY that Mary would be fooling around with Sean. "What are you doing here? When did you get home? Mary almost shouted at Mike. "I've been home about an hour and I was in the back when I heard you come in." "I'm a little hungry, is there anything for dinner?" Mary said "I didn't make any dinner since I knew you wouldn't be home and Sean and I just ran out and got something quick to eat." Mike asked "Where are the kids?" Even though he knew but he wanted for some perverse reason to hear what Mary would say. "They are at my mom's. She had called and asked if she could have them for the night and they do love their grandma so I said ok." "Now why would she lie about that?" Mike thought. "This is just to hard! I can't seem to think straight right now and I'm suddenly so tired I can hardly stand" "I'm tired and I'm going to bed" he told them. As he left the room he grumbled loud enough for Mary to hear "What a really crappy birthday this has been for me" Mike didn't see the look on Mary's face as he walked from the room and frankly at that moment he flat didn't give a shit either. In looking back, he could only hope that she had shown some guilt but he never knew.