Chapter 15: Lie of Omission

Trisha had made arrangements with Mark to spend the weekend at her house the weekend after seeing her attorney. Her boys were at their dad's so she would have time to talk with Mark, alone.

"Hey, Sweet, what do you want to do for dinner? We could go out or order take out?"

"I don't care; whatever you want to do."

"Are you sure you want to do anything? Would you rather I leave you alone tonight?"

"Oh, no; I'm sorry. My mind is still stuck on this battle with Jeff. I'll try not to be so distracted, I promise."

By breakfast on Saturday morning, Mark could stand no more. Trisha had continued to be uncomfortable and distracted since the night before.

"What's going on, Sweet? I hope you're not thinking about breaking up with me because of this thing with Jeff. We're going to fight him, and I'll stand by you; you know that."

"Thanks. It's nothing like that. But, we do need to talk."

"Uh, oh. Famous last words. Let's go get comfortable." Mark placed his arm around Trisha's shoulders as they went to the sofa. He didn't lose contact when they sat down, and proceeded to pull her close to him.

When she pulled out of his embrace, he got worried.

"I need to tell you something and I'll understand if you're mad; or if you hate me afterwards."

"I could NEVER hate you, Sweet!" Mark interjected, not being able to imagine what she could tell him that would cause her to feel this way.

"I remember soon after I started working at the Call Center. I had overheard some of the ladies talking in the restroom one night about me - that I was a single mother, and that it must be hard on me raising my boys. I'm sure you heard the rumor mill, too." Trisha began a little nervous. "Well, everyone just assumed I only had the two because I only talked about Greg and Peter. But, there's another one."

Trisha paused to read Mark's expression. When she couldn't, she continued slowly, only occasionally looking at him. Mostly, she just concentrated on her hands wringing in her lap.

"My son, Jeremy, is twenty now. He had just turned 16 when Jeff and I split and he took the split and the divorce the hardest of the three. He was such a great kid before that. I was expecting that, by the time he was a junior and senior in high school that I would be able to rely on him more and concentrate on helping Greg and Peter, but that just wasn't the case. We got into continuous fights over stupid things; I brushed most of it off as "typical teenager syndrome". He wouldn't do his homework or go for extra help, unless I was yelling at him. And, Jeremy refused to do any homework at his dad's. Jeff was no help, what-so-ever. Jeremy started getting into trouble at school, too, which required me to take time off work to conference with this teachers and dean. Again, Jeff was no help and no where to be seen."