The Affair by Freedman Colette

Author:Freedman, Colette [Freedman, Colette]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp
Published: 2013-01-29T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 25

“I never did ask you what I should do.”

The two men shivered as they came out of the Oyster House. The temperature had plummeted, though that seemed to have had no effect on the line of people waiting to get in, or the milling crowd of smokers gathered on the street.

“That’s not a question you should be asking me,” the older man said.

Robert offered to walk Jimmy back to his apartment, but in light of the new information, refused his offer of staying over. They headed down busy Hanover Street, passing the brightly lit window of Mike’s Pastry. The air smelled of baking and sugar.

Robert dug his hands into the pockets of his long black overcoat. “I just don’t know what to do. I’ve never been in this situation before and—”

“I have.” Jimmy smiled, but there was nothing humorous in the twisting of his lips. “Believe me, I have. But you know something? All of the affairs I had—and I’ll not deny that there were many—none of them tempted me to leave Angela. Except Frances. And, I’ll admit this to you and to no one else, if she hadn’t gotten pregnant, I’d not be in the mess I’m in now. Angela and I never had children. We tried; we wanted them. We got medical advice, but there was nothing wrong; we just never conceived. We talked about adopting, but my life was too erratic; I was all over the place; the money was too irregular. Even if we had managed to adopt, it would have meant Angela would have been left to raise the child herself. We kept putting it off, and suddenly that option was closed off to us. But when Angela learned that Frances had given birth, that was the last straw in our relationship. She had forgiven me so much over the years, but I think she saw that as the ultimate betrayal.”

“You’re saying I shouldn’t leave Kathy.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“I love them both!” Robert said loudly, shocked by the sound of desperation in his own voice. His voice carried on the chill air, and tourists, taking pictures of Paul Revere’s statue, glanced over at him.

Jimmy gripped his arm and hurried him across the road, weaving through traffic, which was at a standstill. “So what? Love is not some exclusive emotion that you give to one person. We love lots of people, our parents, wives, children. We love them unconditionally. I’m not talking about love. I’m talking about commitment. Which one of the women are you committed to?”

They turned right past Nico Ristorante heading down Hanover Avenue. The narrow avenue was jammed with smokers spilling out from the restaurant, some sitting on the icy curb. A bachelorette party in matching Santa outfits that ended high on their thighs was click-clacking its way across the street. Their bare flesh looked blue and alabaster with the cold.

Jimmy paused at an entranceway. “Here’s where I leave you. Are you sure you won’t come up for a nightcap?”

“I’d better not; I’m driving.

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