Peter’s Predicament – Part 4

“Lisa, that sounds great. It really does. But I’m sorry, I can’t. I need to get to my wife and to my son,” Peter said looking down at his hands.
To begin with, Lisa didn’t know what to say.
“You are beautiful and any man would be lucky to be with you. But I am a faithful husband and I would like to be the best father I can be, “ Peter said. After a pause he added, “Believe me, Lisa, I was tempted, but it’s just not me.”
She smiled and nodded.
“Well Peter, you always were a dream. When I saw you in the supermarket, I thought I had struck gold. It really would have been too much good luck in one go if you hadn’t mentioned your wife. Although we never met at uni, I never forgot you Peter. The truth is that no man has ever lived up to you and this is why I am single. Nobody comes close to being as good as you,” she said with tears in her eyes.
Peter was confused. “How did you come to that conclusion though? You didn’t even know me. How were you able to compare other men with me?” he asked her.
She looked at him as if he were being silly.
“Come on Peter. You just know don’t you? Didn’t you just know when you met your wife?” she asked him very matter of factly.
Peter thought of his wife and the early days. In all honesty, he didn’t just know, like women always said they did. He still didn’t know. Peter wasn’t convinced that anyone was meant for only one person in this world.

“I’m not so sure, Lisa. Perhaps after being with someone for a while, you might know you want to be with them for a long time. Maybe after seeing them at their worst as well as their best. I know you wouldn’t be so sure of yourself if you’d really known me properly,” he said gently, hoping this would begin to soften things for her. Peter was surprised to say the least. He was surprised by this run-in. He was surprised by the turn it took. He was secretly happy that it went the way it did. It gave him an ego boost. He felt good about himself. He was also surprised by his response to it all. He turned her down. He turned lovely, delicious Lisa down. It was almost disappointing. She was juicy, perfectly formed, just short of being plump. Ripe.

“I highly doubt that, Peter,” Lisa said shaking her head. She sounded rather sure of herself, as though she knew more than she had so far let on. “You’re the only man I have ever wanted to be with. I have gone on dates with men. I even had one long term relationship with one man,” she trailed off.
Peter prompted her, curious now that she had decided to tell him something a bit more interesting and exciting about herself. “What happened? It fizzled out?”
“Actually it had been going really well. He asked me to marry him and I said yes. We planned our wedding. We booked the venue, booked the band, I bought my dress, Tim got fitted for his suit. It was one month before the wedding when we were booking the honeymoon that I told Tim I couldn’t go through with it. I had been thinking about you the whole time. As the date got closer, I got more and more anxious. It was like, the closer the wedding got, the further I got from a chance to be with you. It was the thought of the honeymoon with Tim rather than with you that made me bring everything to a halt. My Mum still hasn’t forgiven me. Every time I speak to her I get an earful about it,” Lisa explained looking down at her skyscraper heels, wriggling her toes inside them.

Peter didn’t know what to say. Had he been responsible for the breakdown of Lisa’s relationship? Had he married the wrong woman? He tried to shake off these thoughts. Peter never believed in soul mates. He never believed the love story that Hollywood always tried to sell. He didn’t believe that two people were only meant for one another.
“Lisa, I am sorry to hear that things didn’t work out with your ex. And I really appreciate that you didn’t feel ready to go into marriage with someone you didn’t feel 100% sure about. I really respect that. Marriage isn’t easy. And it’s not all romance and butterflies all the time. It’s hard sometimes and if you’re not convinced, then don’t do it,” Peter explained, getting rather sidetracked. “But I don’t think it’s me you’re after Lisa,” he added carefully. “People are discontent in life for all sorts of reasons and we like to put the reasons down to things that are usually totally unrelated to what is really going on.”
Lisa looked at Peter, confused. He could see that he was quickly losing her focus.
“All I’m saying is that I’m not that easy to live with. I think that the person you used to see at uni is rather different to the person I’ve become and the person I am today,” he said, satisfied with his answer and hoping that this will also help Lisa see that she cannot be as infatuated by him as she thinks she is.

“I know you are different, Peter. Aren’t we all?” she asked with a twinkle in her eye.
Peter didn’t know what to say. “I know you’re not the same young, carefree man that I knew at Uni. You’ve grown into a rather stern man,” she continued. “I know about your mood swings and your frustration at home.”
Peter frowned, starting to get confused. What was she talking about?
“I know how you get in your car after work every day and wonder whether to go home or to drive right out of town and never come back. I know that when you pretend to listen to your wife rattle on, you’re really daydreaming about what could have been. I see you when you go into the shop near your office to imagine the things you would have bought if there was nobody at home to question you about them. And your mrs, Diane isn’t it? Gosh, isn’t she hard work?” Lisa had started to get carried away. Her voice was rapidly getting louder and she was getting visibly more excitable, frantic almost.

“Wait, wait, wait a minute,” Peter said, having to raise his voice slightly to interrupt her. “How do you know Diane? How did you even know that my wife’s name is Diane?” he asked, puzzled.
She looked him square in the face and narrowed her eyes. “I know you’re married to Diane. I know you work at Nelson’s Accounting Firm. I know you live about half a mile away from here. I’ve seen your Facebook page a few times. I know you’re not happy here Peter. I know you’d be happier with me,” she said, starting to look rather desperate.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about Lisa. So you’ve seen my Facebook page. You can’t tell much from that,” Peter said, losing confidence while trying to work out what was going on. At which point during the last 10 minutes did Lisa go from the lovely-looking and well-mannered lady to something that quite frankly gave Peter the creeps? He felt uncomfortable, in a different way to before. Before the last couple of minutes, he was a bit nervous and partly excited at the prospect of an affair or a quick one-off escape. Now he just felt uncomfortable and uncertain.

*Part 5 coming soon!*