“What, what do you propose now?” She asked. “Go on as if nothing had happened? Not even talk about it?” Melissa had said the word “talk” as if spitting out something distasteful.
“No, I mean yes, that is we should most definitely talk about it,” Ivor meekly replied. His girlfriend had the upper hand. She was the dominant one. She would dictate terms. She would lead the conversation and she would emerge the satisfied party. It wasn’t fair. They were equally guilty. It was absurd for him to feel defeated and for her to act the aggrieved party.
Ivor walked toward her.
“Not too close,” Melissa practically barked the words. Ivor stopped in his tracks, then backed up to the doorway. He sighed deeply, sadly, profoundly. The young man couldn’t believe the situation he was in. Betrayed. A betrayer. The world seemed a perfectly marvelous place a few hours ago when he returned home a day early from a trip to visit his ailing mother. Ivor was looking forward to surprising Melissa, who he was sure was at home studying for mid terms. She’d been at home all right.
Ivor had parked on the street and walked softly to the door, opening the front door quietly. This would be a big surprise. He’d find her in their spare room pouring through her psychology books. Shoes off he tiptoed through the house, but he heard a most unexpected noise from the bedroom. It sent a shockwave through Ivor’s body when he realized it was the sounds Melissa made during love making, and that the bed springs were squeaking. He couldn’t believe it. She must be masturbating. Ivor opened the bedroom door slowly. Melissa was naked on all fours and a friend of theirs named Ron was humping her.
Upon catching his girlfriend in flagrante delicto, Ivor had dropped his backpack. The sound startled Melissa and Ron who quickly disengaged. Ron immediately scrambled to put his clothes on. Melissa buried her head in a pillow and Ivor stood limp. Not angry, not shocked, not hurt, just numb. No one said a word until Ron, having finished hastily dressing said, “if it’s any defense I only did this because you screwed Valerie.” Valerie was Ron’s girlfriend. Melissa sat up and tossed the pillow aside. “You cheated on me with Valerie?” She said in obvious anger and disgust.
Ron edged his way past Ivor and bolted out of the house. When he was gone Ivor finally spoke. “Just once,” he replied meekly.
“Once is plenty,” Melissa said, still angry.
“Wait a minute, you didn’t know that when you hopped into bed with Ron!”
Melissa turned bright red and could say nothing in response.
They’d cheated on each other. This is where our scene began.
The couple talked well into the night. They hugged, they cried, they eventually made love but mostly they talked. Ivor offered excuses for his infidelity and Melissa offered excuses for hers. They promised to be faithful. Over and over they promised. They apologized profusely. They spoke of how complex life in general was and relationships in particular. They talked about the pressures they were under as doctoral students. They recounted happy times. They nuzzled and cuddled and gave each other lots of quick kisses and shared a few long lingering kisses. It was past four o’clock when they fell asleep, exhausted.
In the following weeks Melissa and Ivor were both kept busy by their studies. While Melissa pursued a career in psychiatry, Ivor planned to be a history professor. They were both within a year of completing their Phds. But Melissa was nagged by the idea of Ivor having had carnal relations with her friend Valerie. She had trouble feeling comfortable around Valerie. Meanwhile Ivor could not get the image of his friend Ron screwing Melissa. “My god,” he would often think, “I actually saw them do it.” It began to sicken him.
Their relationship grew strained. There were no arguments, only a few petty differences here and there, but more troubling there was a coldness between them, if barely perceptible. The first few days after what they called their “confrontation” Ivor and Melissa made passionate love. It was as if they were desperate to convince one another that they were still a couple, that they still belonged to one another. Then the love making stopped and so did much of the affection they had enjoyed. They would kiss goodbye and hello perfunctorily.
A few months after their “confrontation” Ivor found himself longing for other women. This led to flirtations and eventually to some causal sexual encounters. Melissa started seeing Ron regularly after he broke up with Valerie. When their lease was up, their landlord informed them that he was selling the house and they’d have to move. Ivor and Melissa agreed — almost giddily — to live apart. Ivor found an apartment and Melissa moved in with Ron. Ivor stopped speaking to both Melissa and Ron.
Many years later Ivor was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. By this time he had been married and divorced twice. As he took stock of his life Ivor came to the conclusion that his one great love had been Melissa and that if he hadn’t come home early that night they might still be together. Melissa was living on the other side of the country. She’d never married and was now alone. Her psychiatry practice was thriving but her life felt empty for her never having found the perfect mate. Melissa often thought that Ivor had been her one true love and she wondered why they had never got past that night when Ivor came home early.
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