Unexpected

A knock on her door woke her up from an interesting dream, it was of her setting her soon-to-ex-husband,Matt, on fire. Not an altogether bad dream, she thought bitterly, as she looked out the peephole. Sarah saw a rather handsome older Filipino man with an unusually elongated face, white peppering his black hair and trimmed beard. His charming smile was magnified by the peephole as she was taken aback. 

“Hi, I’m here to see Matt. My name is Henry,” he said. He must’ve heard her footsteps and assumed she was going to be safe before opening the door. With the recent departure of Matt from her life and home, she was a bit weary before her phone dinged with a message from Matt:

Henry’s coming over to help pack. Can you let him know I’ll be late?

Late was code for more than likely not coming in Matt’s secret language. 

She texted back yes and reluctantly opened the door. 

“Sorry, can’t be too careful nowadays.”

“No problem,” Henry answered; his voice was a smoky kind of cheerfulness like a cowboy sales rep.

“I’m Sarah, Matt’s wi.. soon-to-be ex-wife,” she corrected herself. 

“Henry, Sophia’s Dad,” he said with no reluctance or hesitation. Her mouth was agape as she stared at him. 

Sophia was the reason her marriage broke up. Well, not the only reason, but definitely the straw that broke the camel’s back. 

“The father of the mistress, huh? Coming to help your future son-in-law pack up his ruined home so he can live happily ever after with a younger, more naive child?” Sarah’s voice was clipped with each word, venom pulsing through her tone.

Now, it was Henry’s turn to be surprised… and a bit mad. 

Sarah ducked her head, “I’m sorry. I’m still a little bitter, but I guess I can’t be, I still have Isabella.”

Henry’s face was still red, but he seemed to soften as she mentioned her daughter who just turned 16. She wasn’t much younger than Sophia which surprised both Isabella and Sarah when Matt finally confessed after a year of seeing the girl. 

Sarah and Matt were young, barely 20 when they had Isabella, but after the lean years, Sarah and Matt’s hard work in their respective fields paid off with a nice house, two cars, and a good education for Isabella. There were many arguments between the young couple throughout the years, but they were a team. A unified front against bill collectors, the world, and sometimes even their own daughter. Which is why the affair and divorce came as a shock to everyone who knew them. Something was missing from Matt’s life though and Sophia was the answer. Maybe it was her age, gorgeous looks, or absolute free spirit, attached to nothing and no one, but whatever it was made Matt fall head over heels in love. It wasn’t lust for him and Sarah deserved better, everyone involved happily admitted that. 

“He’s not coming,” Henry said after a few seconds of awkward silence. 

“Figures,” Sarah said dismissively, “You’re not going to like this, but Matt insisted on packing everything himself.”

She took him to the room where she put everything for Matt to sort through and the red returned to his face. 

“I’ll help,” she said, “and I’ll also let him know that he owes us both dinner.”

Henry scoffed with a smile at her, “Sounds good.”

It was hours later when everything was packed into Henry’s truck and they were both sweating through their shirts. She had texted Matt that they were done and they owed him to which he happily agreed. Apparently, he had to work late. Hmmm, she thought, sounds familiar, but certainly, he wouldn’t dismiss his fiancee’s father for another affair. Still, she didn’t see this one so maybe she wasn’t the best judge of Matt’s character. Eighteen years meant nothing to him when he cheated so why would a year do anything to guard against his insatiability?

There was one good thing if she had to be honest with herself about packing Matt’s things with Henry. She had gotten to know a little more about him: he was 56 (and there was very little evidence except for his hair), lost his wife two years ago to cancer (his face lit up as he told her about their long marriage and loyalty until the end), and talked a lot about Sophia. Part of her heart broke at this topic, but this was a dad talking about his daughter and she knew from her own daughter that you loved your children no matter what. 

“I’m sorry if I’m talking too much about Sophia,” he said when he saw her face fall a little. 

“You love your daughter, I know the feeling,” she stated simply. 

She had to stop her thoughts from going a certain way a lot over the hours they spent packing. Henry was a dream guy: handsome, good father, and an absolute bright smile and hearty laugh. 

“Well, it was nice to meet you,” Henry began before his stomach audibly growled. 

Sarah laughed, “Let me feed you.”

“No need. I’ll pick something on the way.”

“Please, you helped me pack Matt’s stuff, let me treat you. Pepperoni pizza ok?” 

He nodded and went to wash up as she put the premade pizza into the oven. Not necessarily the most healthy meal, but she hadn’t planned on anything healthy with Isabella being at her mom’s for the weekend. 

Henry and Sarah sat at the dining room table, eating and more chatter filling the air. Eventually, the time came that dinner was over and Sarah felt disappointed. She wanted him to stay longer and without thinking, she kissed him gently on the lips. 

“I’m so sorry,” she gasped, her face in her hands in embarrassment. 

“Don’t be, you’re a beautiful woman. You’re just lonely, your husband leaving you like he did. You’re better off without him.” 

She smiled at him sadly and before he knew it, he was kissing her now. They were both surprised, but neither pulled away as passion rose between them. 

She felt both of them getting more aggressive as her entire body tingled and they pulled closer. 

“We should probably go to the bedroom,” she almost barked out a laugh at her audacity. She just met this guy and she was already trying to take him to bed. 

But he didn’t seem to mind as they walked up there, giggling and then stopping the giggling soon after they were both on the bed.

The next morning was awkward to say the least, but Sarah didn’t regret the night before with him, it was spectacular and something that neither of them had felt for awhile. They both acknowledged it when waking up. This could never work, not with significant people in their lives being together. Soon, he would be Matt’s father-in-law and she would be the jaded ex-wife. Another cliched scorned woman. 

But in a way, this made it hotter.

The summer was hot for Sarah and caused Matt to make several comments about her small change in appearance (aka not so matronly) and all around happier vibe. Seeing her, you wouldn’t think a woman about to undergo the end of her first marriage, but a giddy girl in love. 

Eventually, they had to be honest with themselves. 

“It’s time to tell them,” Henry was blunt. She loved that about him. 

She sighed, fighting with her inner voice that said this was a bad idea, but nodded nonetheless.

Matt and Sophia were holding hands at the table, much to Isabella’s disgust, as the group sat down together. Henry and Sarah were on the opposite side while Isabella was at the head of the table, glaring at her dad. She didn’t even notice that Henry and Sarah had started to hold hands as well, but Sophia did. 

“What are you doing?” Sophia demanded of her father, silencing Sarah with her finger as she tried to talk. While Sarah felt like punching Sophia, she held back. Not everyday you find out your father and husband have been with the same woman. 

“We’re in love,” he responded and Sarah had to pick her jaw up from the floor. It was true, but they hadn’t exchanged that yet. 

“What about mom?” Sophia pleaded, sounding like a child. 

“She’d want me happy. Us happy. Does he make you happy?”

She nodded and hugged Sarah. It was awkward for both of them, but there was some compassion. 

The fling grew into something more for Sarah and Henry, a child at 36 and 56, a partner whom she could grow old with while Sophia found herself much like Sarah.