Chapter 17

Guy ran a hand along the cat’s back. The low rumble of the cat’s purr filled the air. “It’s you and me against the world, Cat.”

The cat got up, shook its tail, and walked off. Guy said, “Okay, wise guy. It’s me against the world.”

His wife, soon to be ex-wife, had not contested the divorce. It had taken less than fifteen minutes to come to an agreement about the terms of the divorce. She hadn’t even tried to get custody of the kids once they said that they wanted to live with him. Money was not an issue. She was living off the substantial income from the cheating spouses website. She had grabbed the money he gave her for half the value of the house and paid cash for a one bedroom townhouse located in a gated community.

According to the kids, Maggie was a happy woman. She took a trip for one week each month to some location that would catch her fancy. It wasn’t that she was living a decadent lifestyle. She flew coach, stayed at reasonably priced hotels and took bus tours to see the sights. She was keeping busy, but didn’t appear to be overspending or entertaining too many men. According to Ellie, Maggie had two boyfriends that she saw with some regularity. Fortunately for Ellie’s peace of mind, Fred was not one of Maggie’s boyfriends.

He often wondered what her true feelings about the website were. As far as he knew, she was embarrassed by the videos of her entertaining her boyfriends, but she liked the money. She really liked the money. His thoughts often turned to Cody and his reaction to his daughter’s website. It seemed to him that there was a type of woman who saw the money more than the degradation.

The fact was that Guy didn’t need to work. His involvement in the two internet companies was bringing in more money than he knew what to do with. He was plowing some of it back into the company, giving some to charities, and setting up college funds for the kids.

The cheating spouses website had gone viral. They now had over seventy-five thousand subscribers. Apparently, it filled some desire by people to watch a real life drama featuring poor saps whose lives were spiraling out of control. They had so many subscribers that they actually reduced the subscription fee. There were five cheating spouses being featured at the moment. It even made the cable news when a new cheating spouse was added. He hated the website.

The other websites featuring specialized topics had grown substantially over the past few months. He felt they would never earn the same kind of money as the cheating spouses website, but he was proud of them. The fact of the matter was that the income from them was more than sufficient to support him and his family.

Guy worked because he didn’t know what else to do. His life had settled into a simple routine of work and watching the kids. He didn’t go out on dates. As far as he was concerned, he was still married. There were still a couple of months to go before the mandatory six month waiting period for the divorce to be official passed.

If asked, he would say that he was happy, but he wasn’t. He had enjoyed being married until he had discovered his wife’s infidelity. Sure, he missed the sex, but what he really missed was the companionship that a wife provided. He missed being seen off to work and welcomed home. He missed discussing adult kinds of topics that were beyond the understanding of the kids. He missed having dinner out and going dancing.

“Hello, gloomy Dad,” Ellie said cheerfully.

“Hello, altogether too cheerful Daughter,” Guy said.

For some reason, he didn’t trust her cheerful good mood. It didn’t bode well for him. She was planning something. He would have sat up to talk to her, but the cat had climbed back onto his chest.

Ellie said, “It’s Friday afternoon.”

“I know.”

Ellie said, “It’s date night.”

“I know. I’ve got a date with the sci-fi movie at nine o’clock,” Guy said. “It’s a disaster film. A huge asteroid is headed towards earth and will kill everyone unless they can stop it.”

“You’ve seen it,” Ellie said.

“So?”

“It’s date night. You are supposed to be out on a date with a woman,” Ellie said stretching out the word woman so that was more like ‘wooooommmmmaaaan.’

“My divorce isn’t final,” Guy answered curtly.

“Like that has stopped Mother,” Ellie said.

“Don’t compare me to her,” Guy said sharply.

“I’m sorry. I just meant that no one cares that your divorce isn’t final. No one would think twice if you were to hook up with some sci-fi lovin’ babe,” Ellie said.

“I care,” Guy said.

Ellie said, “You’re a fool.”

“Why?” Guy said.

“Do you think she’s going to wait around forever?” Ellie asked.

“Who?”

“Selena, that’s who,” Ellie said.

“We’re just friends,” Guy said.

Ellie laughed. “You’re just friends who never talk to each other. You talk to Marylou and Marylou talks to her. Then she talks to Marylou, who talks to you and the cycle repeats.”

“It’s complicated,” Guy said.

Ellie asked, “Is Max your friend?”

“Yes,” Guy answered.

“Do you and Max go out and have a beer occasionally?”

“Yes.”

“So why don’t you and Selena go out and have a beer or three?” Ellie asked.

“She’s not married,” Guy answered.

“Do you mean you wouldn’t go have a drink with Max if he wasn’t married?” Ellie asked.

“It’s different,” Guy said.

“It’s different because you don’t want to kiss Max,” Ellie said.

“Hey!”

Ellie held up a package of DVDs. She said, “Here are fifty classic sci-fi movies. Take them over to Selena’s apartment and don’t come home until you’ve watched them all.”

“That could take the whole weekend,” Guy said pointing out the flaw in her argument.

“Duh!”

“No,” Guy said realizing that she knew how long it would take to watch that many movies.

“Do it, Dad,” Bill said.

“Please,” Sean said.

Guy said, “I’ve got to stay here.”

Ellie said, “Mom has agreed to watch us this weekend.”

“What?” Guy asked while starting to sit up from the couch. The cat dug its claws in. He settled back down. “You talked about this with your mother?”

“She said you needed to get laid. For once, I agree with her,” Ellie said.

“I’m not going,” Guy said.

Ellie crossed her arms and looked down at her father. She asked, “Is that your last word on the matter?”

“Yes,” Guy said.