I Get It
“I get it Michael;
I’ll see you in a few days.” I grumbled into the phone before slamming it down
on the desk. The husband with the growing empire, I get it…he had a business to
run and things that needed his attention in Florida. In the meantime, here I
am, stuck in Wisconsin’s Northwood’s for another weekend alone. Good thing he
bought me a nice house on the lake and a boat so I could enjoy myself with
absolutely no one to talk to for days at a time. I slammed my coffee cup on the
counter and rolled my eyes as the tears streamed down my cheeks. Good thing we
are three hours away from my friends and family.
I decided to
take a walk. We really did have a beautiful home, and I really liked
Rhinelander. I thought about all the positives as I walked down the long
winding gravel driveway kicking at the fall leaves as I went. I had everything
most girls dreamed about. I had a handsome husband who was successful, a home
on a pristine lake, and if you didn’t know me you’d think I was spoiled. Michael
made sure that I had every material thing a girl could ask for. Massages,
manicures, pedicures, a lovely sports car, and I could spend as much money as I
wanted. I carried a check book and a debit card that his manager balanced. I
never seemed to run out of money. My bookshelves were over flowing, I took a
weekly pottery class, and I could write out charitable donations without a
second thought about our budget or keeping the lights on. When I was sad, he
took me on vacation, bought me new shoes, jewelry, or whatever the latest trend
was.
I was
kicking myself harder than I was kicking those leaves. I thought ‘Bianca, how
can you be unhappy? You have no right to be unhappy.’ I was unhappy because he
just didn’t understand me. He was once my best friend and now he thought all
these THINGS would make me happy. I had never been about things and I felt
betrayed because he didn’t know me anymore. I smiled at the memory of a time
when he had…a time when I believed in so many things:
“Justin is a lucky man. Do you
remember meeting me?”
said the tall blonde with the blue eyes standing across the counter from me.
“I know you look familiar, are you a
friend of Justin’s?”
I asked as I studied his broad shoulders and admired his dimples as he smiled.
“We graduated together. I think I met
the two of you at a picnic. You’re engaged to Justin Krueger, right?”
“Well…we were…” The smile fading from my lips as I
held up the hand where my enormous diamond previously sat.
“I’m really sorry Bianca. Please don’t
look so sad. I didn’t mean to upset you.” He said tenderly as he reached across the counter to
touch my hand gently.
“I’m okay,” I lied. “it’s, it’s, it’s
not your fault.”
“If you need to talk, let me know.
Here’s my card and I wrote my cell phone on the back, okay?”
I nodded. I
was afraid that if I spoke I would cry and since I was at work and he was a
customer, that’s the last thing I needed. I put the card in my sweater pocket
and watched him walk away. What a nice guy, I thought to myself.
A few days
went by and I picked up the phone and dialed his number.
“Michael?”
“Bianca?”
“Yes.”
…silence…
“Do you need to talk?” He asked and I was relieved that I
didn’t have to explain myself.
“Yes.”
“Can I pick you up at the dealership
at 5?”
“Yes.”
I can’t
imagine what he is thinking. I’m calling him to talk and I could hardly say a
thing on the phone. What a mess…
At 4:58 he
walked into the service department at the dealership with a vanilla latte, a
pink carnation, and a big smile. He walked right up to me and said “You’re too beautiful to be this sad, do you
know that?”
Before I
could answer, he had grabbed my hand and we were headed to the parking lot. He
apologized for picking me up in a work van and explained it was this or his
parents van with shag carpeting. His truck was in the shop, but he couldn’t
bear to say no when I called. We laughed as I assured him that I wasn’t the
kind of girl that cared about what type of vehicle he drove or how much money
he made. He said he appreciated how down to earth I was and we spent hours
concentrating on nothing but one another as we enjoyed a meal, dessert, more
coffee, and a ridiculous amount of laughter and smiles.
The next
day, two dozen roses arrived at work with a note that read: To the most amazing
and beautiful woman I have ever met.
I found out
later that he had confided in a friend saying “this is the girl I’m going to marry”. He hadn’t even kissed me,
but after one night of conversation he already had made up his mind that I
would be his wife. I had been flattered when he revealed this to me…not
realizing then that I was just another acquisition, not all that different than
the properties or businesses he bought and sold. With stars in my eyes, I
thought ‘he’s going to love me forever, I get my happily ever after – I really
get it!’
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