Roommates for the Next Two Months

[DifRent]

Cali, she's confused. I came home this afternoon, and she was upstairs in her office, talking to the OW about her real estate deal. She kept her voice down when she heard me, but when she hung up, not a word to me. She got right on the phone with the agent on the other end of the deal, and I could tell, she was feeling pressure from the OW to extend the due diligence period, which wasn't being received gracefully from the other side.

What did you mention earlier in HeavyD's thread about... pressure...?

A few calls back and forth, and I can tell she's stressed. The OW isn't pushing as hard as she probably would if they weren't "in love," but it's so clear to me that my W is pandering to her like a puppy. Sad, really.

After the phone calls ceased, I went upstairs with two glasses of wine. She looked at me - with an old familiar look - and said, "Oh, THANK YOU. I needed this. You would not believe the day I've had, babe. You want to hear? Oh wait... no. You said you didn't want to talk real estate with me anymore."

I smiled and sat down in my office chair.

She smiled back, reached over to caress my knee for the second time in a week. I let her. "So, how was your day?"

I decided to ask her the favor of helping me with my fashion sense for my job interview. She actually said, "Oh yeah? I think you look just fine." (Not what she was saying when she began breaking up with me...). I also told her I'd forwarded an email from another, possibly more responsive realtor, who claimed to have found land possibilities in my price range when my W could not. Asked her if she wouldn't mind looking into it, when she had the time. No rush. No pressure. I smiled and went downstairs.

I started to cook dinner. She got a call, I'm sure from the OW, and went outside to take it. When she came back in and smelled the food, she asked, "What are you cooking?"

"Just some meat, a salad, potatoes... you are welcome to join us if you like."

I left it at that as I continued cooking. When dinner was ready, I invited her. "Do you want to join us?" She hesitated, but accepted.

My son, wife, and I had a meal not unlike all the meals we've had over the years. She thanked me for my cooking, for bringing home her favorite bread ("I haven't had this in a long time!"), and we just had a pleasant meal time. After, she went back up to the office, and I went outside to call a friend.

Interesting to me... whenever she comes home at night, she always rummages through the fridge and pantry for food, like she never has dinner with the OW. I mean, maybe they do, but she's always hungry.

Here's the kicker for the night, and a bit of an aside: in early May, my W gave a talk at my mom's church (about an hour from here) on how we shouldn't take religious freedom for granted. She is an authority in that she grew up in a socialist/atheist country, and couldn't practice her faith till she was grown. (She is not an authority in that, at that time, she had already begun her emotional affair and was ruining our lives.) In any case, she posted a photo of the event on Facebook, and a mortgage lender with whom she works here in the area commented on the post, asking if she could give the same talk at her church in town.

My mom jumped on the comment thread, and she and this mortgage lender - both of them devout Catholics - formed a pretty quick bond. At the time, they wanted to get all four of us together for "Mass and margaritas," and the two of them talked and talked about it. My W said nothing, and of course, neither did I. I was still reeling from the BD shock.

Fast forward to this week, and my mom - who knows things are BAD but doesn't know about the OW or our pending separation - really wants to make this happen. I said, "You take the lead, Mom. I don't think she'll take my suggestions about anything these days." I also REALLY believed she'd continue to ignore and avoid us. Mom sent an email the other day, and my W sure enough did avoid us.

But... turns out that the mortgage lender happens to be working with the buyers on a house my W has listed two doors down from our own house (previously owned by our friend who suddenly died in February), so she and my W have been in particular contact. My W says it's a small world, and so she accepted the invitation.

The mortgage lender says it's the Holy Spirit.

I say it's the Holy Spirit, mixed with our friend looking down from Heaven, and a little of my own DB work the past few days.

Have hope, friends. Small steps, small miracles. You just never know where things will go.