Pearls

The company for which I work sent me to Brazil for a few months, ten to be accurate. I had to develop the network for our new office there. I do that a lot, throughout the world.
There are good and bad things about leaving home. Do I need to tell you? I get to stay in the best hotels, have lots of free time for me, have extras added to my pay check, and get to know different cultures. But, on the other hand, I miss my family, home and friends very much. Sometimes it is for too long! Well, I guess there’s no need to complain much because there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s simply what I do.
When I returned, right after the cab turned to our street and I took a first glance at our house, I was nailed to the ground! The house, painted in a tone of grey as I remembered it, was now white! Carol has been keeping busy, I thought! What more surprises could she have for me?
Strangely, although I had informed her about my arrival, she wasn’t waiting for me by the garden gate – I had told her not to bother waiting for me at the airport. Well, I just paid the driver, got my bags out, and faced the house as my heart beat hard in my chest. I was now sure she had arranged for a welcome party, and as soon as I entered the house lots of people would fall over me shouting WELCOME HOME! I was so tired. But I couldn’t let Carol down after all her trouble, and so I grabbed the bags and headed for the door.
My second and third surprises came right when I got in. Second: no one was waiting to welcome me – but that was not bad at all! Third: the furniture was almost all been changed into a new style, more modern and functional. In the hall was now a Mackintosh chair, imagine! Carol has definitely been busy.
I missed her so much that immediately I dropped my bags and went searching for her. I had to hold her in my arms again and kiss her as if for the first time. The first place I went searching was the living room. And there she was! Beautiful as only she can be! It’s amazing how after nine years of marriage she still makes me feel like a teenager in love. And she had on a very smart outfit too: high heels, black tight skirt and a purple blouse I gave her for her birthday – she never wore it because she said it was very provocative!
– Hello Love! I missed you so… – I said reaching for something I had in my pocket for her. – I brought you a present!
– John, I want a divorce! – was the answer she gave me back as she took my offering in her hands.
After the initial shock, she told me about some other man she had met as she unwrapped the package paper and stared at the white beads and shells of the necklace that I had bought for her so full of passion. She told me that she couldn’t cope any more with my long absences from home and all that… She told me she was a human being who had needs and desires too and all that… She told me our daughter needed a father figure and not a picture of some stranger in a foreign country and all that…
As for me, I stood there in front of her listening with a stupid smile on my face and just kept thinking: I definitely should have bought her pearls.

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