Cheater

Connie prepared for work and ignored the envelope which had lain on her table unread for two days. Its mere existence was an affront.

‘Just throw it away…’

She recognized Rusty’s initials on the return address but couldn’t care less what he might wish to say. It had been too long. ‘Why now?’

Over him long ago, and with no thought of him for years, had she seen him in a decade?

She’d been crazy for him then. He ended it suddenly with a rushed, mumbled explanation. He was gone from her life. But not her head.

‘What happened… what went wrong, I’ll never know.’

The envelope drew her. She stopped herself.

‘Did I do something? Why didn’t he say something? Could I have done something? Why can’t people just communicate?’

So, why stir up things better left in the past?             

‘Talk about sleeping dogs… It couldn’t have been over calling his sister a bitch. He knew I didn’t mean it literally. And she was…’

The letter lay on the table, a crisp white envelope addressed in Rusty’s precise hand.

Connie mused, a late/early Christmas card? One of those annual letters sent to people on a list (rarely talked to and never seen), about all they’d missed that year?

Not possible.

‘What business could he have with me after all this time?’

He wouldn’t gloat over his wonderful life. Not his style. Getting married…? Oh well...

‘He sent it to me by mistake? How insulting… Who is he writing instead of me?’

Connie stopped obsessing.

‘What’s wrong with me?’

She never seemed able to gain traction with anyone she dated. Of course, it took forever getting over Rusty. No one could rise to his level with her. Will she ever let them? Even now?

Her therapist advised her to learn to sit with her discomfort. She told him, ‘I can’t sit all the time… I’d never get anything done.’

But did she need to reopen that can of worms sealed so long ago?

She dropped the envelope into the trash and left for work. Connie spent most of her day thinking about Rusty’s letter.

She returned home and immediately retrieved it.

‘Now or never…’

She ripped the envelope open and pulled out his brief letter to her.

It read, “Dear Con…”

Connie stopped. He always called her that. One of their riffs, he’d say she was his favorite con.

 “I need to apologize to you. Have needed to forever. I know this is unexpected after so much time. That’s on me. But it’s the least I can do to make up for the shoddy way I treated you. I never forgot how great we were for each other. That it ended was all me. You may suspect I’m merely feeding my ego by dumping on you again. But I really want to make things right. I dare not hope we have any future, even as friends, at this late date. But if there is anything I can do to make things right between us, consider it done.”

Connie couldn’t believe what she was reading. ‘All this is over his sister?’

The note continued. “So, I apologize for cheating on you way back when.”

“WHAT!”

Connie couldn’t believe what she read. She threw the letter. She’d never suspected Rusty of cheating.

‘Such a betrayal. And he’s apologizing? After ten years? What a putz!’

She grabbed the letter and got his contact info.

Connie texted him, “Got your letter. Need to talk. When and where?”

Following her therapist’s advice, Connie sat. And waited.

She could not let this go unanswered. But she was not going to get into a texting war. She had to tell him to his face.

Rusty suggested meeting that night at a favorite place they’d frequented.

She texted, “You’re on.”

Connie had mixed feelings. She’d been hurt. And then he waited ten years to blindside her and, oh, by the way, apologize.

She recognized her anger was tempered somewhat, by actually wanting to see her old flame. And not only to blast him about the past. Connie also recognized her decade of pain was shaken awake by this latter-day nose tweak conjured up for the hell of it.

She dressed to look good, but didn’t want to betray any effort put into it, or that she cared about the meeting.

Entering the restaurant, she saw Rusty wave. He’d been watching for her.

He looked alright. ‘Some guys turn thirty and it’s, ‘Hello couch potato.’’

Smiling, he stood and moved to embrace her but she balked. Recovering, he pulled her chair out.

They sat.

He said, “Hi… been a while… You look great… Would you like a drink?”

Connie said, “You cheated on me?”

“Oh, that. I thought you knew.”

“How would I know?”

“Uhm… Everyone knew.”

‘This is so bad…’

Connie said, “Who with?”

“Michelle…”

“My best friend… Unbelievable…”

“I actually don’t think she was that great a friend.”

“Yeah… haven’t seen her recently…”

“Me neither…”

Connie looked at him with eyes open. ‘Is he really this clueless?’

“I couldn’t believe it when I read it. I thought you broke up with me over what I called your sister.”

“My sister? No. She’s a bitch.”

“Focus Rusty. How could you?”

His expression said, ‘We still on this?’

He said, “It was a bet.”

Connie gasped. “You cheated because of a bet? With who?”

“She bet me.”

“So, she bet you’d cheat with her. And she won?”

“Yeah…”

“So you betrayed me and paid her for the pleasure…”

He thought for a moment. “Yeah. That’s about it.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying… Hope it was worth it.”

Rusty shook his head. He looked genuinely contrite.

“It didn’t mean anything.”

Connie laughed. “That’s like the lamest excuse…”

He couldn’t believe it. “It is?”

“Everyone uses that.”

“They do? I just made it up.”

“I think it’s even in the Bible.”

“I’m not lying though.”

The waitress came. Connie ordered a diet coke. ‘Then it won’t scald when I throw it on him…’

Rusty ordered a beer.

He said, “Yeah, well, everyone cheats.”

“No. They don’t. If everyone did, they wouldn’t call it cheating.”

“You never cheated?”

“No.”

“What about Benny?”

“Nothing happened. Not cheating. Just messin’ around. Flirting.”

“Well, then consider mine, heavy flirting.”

Connie cracked up. Rusty joined in.

The waitress served their drinks. “You ready to order?”

Rusty looked at Connie.

She said, “I haven’t even looked at the menu. I’m fine with this, for now.”

The waitress withdrew.

Connie leaned in. “Rusty, if it didn’t mean anything, why’d you apologize?”

“I felt bad. Didn’t you read it?”

“You felt so bad you waited ten years?”

He nodded at the obvious lapse. “Thought it’d go away but it kept nagging at me.”

Connie looked at him over her drink. She’d missed being with him.

‘But now what?’

Rusty said, “Then why’d you break up with Benny?”

“He’s a jerk.”

“Well, yeah…”

They smiled.

Rusty hesitated and then said, “I’d like to see you, Con.”

“Hello… I’m right in front of you.”

“Right. I mean to spend more time.”      

“Rusty… We used to do that. And then we didn’t for… ten years? What? You saying you miss me?”

He straightened up. “Yes. I miss you. You didn’t deserve what hap… what I did. And I miss you.”

Connie took her time sipping her drink.

‘Who else can I talk to like this?’

She set her drink down. “So, you buying me dinner? Or what?”

A smile lit Rusty’s face. He nodded and signaled the waitress.