The Horse Farm - Chapter 2-41

The rain was still falling when Louise dashed from Antonio's car into her own. "Gross!" she exclaimed as she pulled the door shut and wiped the water from her forehead. She set her purse on the floor, slipped out of her jacket and hung it carefully on the back of the passenger seat. 

Louise started the engine, turned on the wipers and headlights, and switched the fan to the Defrost setting. She waved to Antonio; he waved back and pulled away.

Louise took a deep breath and let herself relax back into the driver's seat. The air in the car had a moist, fresh smell. She gazed past the raindrops and the wipers that struggled to keep the windshield clear. Her thoughts weren't focused. She felt an urge to call Terri but decided against it.

"Terri has her own problems," she thought to herself. "Besides, she's probably with Francisco."

Calling Jo was out of the question. Those feelings were too raw. Louise couldn't even think about her. The conversation with Antonio brought it all back, her own infidelity and Walter's counter-infidelity with her close friend. 

"God, what a mess!" Louise said to herself out loud.

The windows were relatively clear now; the Defrost setting was working. Louise checked traffic carefully in both directions and pulled out of the space. 

Louise thought over her conversation with Antonio as she waited for the traffic signal to change. She felt remarkably tranquil, almost as though they had met for sex instead of a drink. 

Seeing him again was surreal after all that had happened. Thankfully, she still felt comfortable in his presence. He showed no animosity toward her despite the harshness of the breakup and the unfortunate way that he had found out about Walter. 

Louise always enjoyed listening to Antonio; she liked to watch his eyes and hands as he let his thoughts flow. The accent and the imperfect English were cute, but the appeal ran deeper that that. He was expressive and open. He didn't seem to fear the judgment of others. He just said what he wanted to say with confidence, at least to the degree that he could while communicating in a second language. This directness was one of the qualities that had attracted her in the beginning. He always made her feel at ease. It's probably why she fell in love with him.

Louise reached over and powered on the radio. She dialed down to the jazz channel at the lower end of the FM dial. Jazz is the perfect soundtrack for introspection - the warm chords of the guitar, the breathy urgency of a wailing saxophone. Jazz expresses emotion without the distraction of words. It raises the spirit and makes you feel as though you're floating toward heaven.

And it does this very well until an ad for an online dating service comes on and kills the mood. 

"God damn it!" shrieked Louise as she slammed the radio's power button with her fist.

Louise suddenly felt an uncomfortable tension tugging at her face. She choked back the urge to cry as she dialed Terri.

The phone rang several before Terri answered. "Hey, Lou, are you okay?"

"Hey, I'm so sorry!"

"No, it's okay, what's up?"

Louise began to cry. "I think I'm just really upset."

"Lou, were are you? Are you driving?"

"Yes," she sobbed.

"Well, maybe you should pull over."

"It's okay, I'm almost home."

"Do you want to call me when you get there and tell me what happened?"

"Okay," Louise sobbed.

"Louise, is Walter back?" Terri asked.

"No. Tomorrow."

"Hang on a sec." Terri covered the phone. Louise could hear muffled voices in the background. "Louise, I'm coming over."

Louise started to regain some of her composure. "Are you with Francisco?"

"Yeah," Terri answered. "But it's okay. It sounds like you need to talk."

"No, you should..."

"It's okay, Lou. I'm gonna come over and stay with you tonight."

"Are you sure?"

"It's okay, Lou. Really!"

"Okay."

"All right, listen," Terri instructed. "I want you to hang up and drive very carefully. It's raining hard."

"Okay."

"And I'll see you in a little while."

"Okay," Louise said softly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Lou. Just get home safely."

"Okay."

"Okay, bye!"

"Bye!"

  

'The Horse Farm'

Copyright © 2016 Daniel R. South

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