Guy ran a hand along the cat's back. The low rumble of the cat's purr filled the air. "It's you and me against the world, cat."
The cat got up, shook its tail, and walked off. Guy said, "Okay, wise guy. It's me against the world."
His wife, soon to be ex-wife, had not contested the divorce. It had taken less than fifteen minutes to come to an agreement about the terms of the divorce. She hadn't even tried to get custody of the kids once they said that they wanted to live with him. Money was not an issue. She was living off the substantial income from the cheating spouses website. She had grabbed the money he gave her for half the value of the house and paid cash for a one bedroom townhouse located in a gated community.
According to the kids, Maggie was a happy woman. She took a trip for one week each month to some location that would catch her fancy. It wasn't that she was living a decadent lifestyle. She flew coach, stayed at reasonably priced hotels and took bus tours to see the sights. She was keeping busy, but didn't appear to be overspending or entertaining too many men. According to Ellie, Maggie had two boyfriends that she saw with some regularity. Fortunately for Ellie's peace of mind, Fred was not one of Maggie's boyfriends.
He often wondered what her true feelings about the website were. As far as he knew, she was embarrassed by the videos of her entertaining her boyfriends, but she liked the money. She really liked the money. His thoughts often turned to Cody and his reaction to his daughter's website. It seemed to him that there was a type of woman who saw the money more than the degradation.
The fact was that Guy didn't need to work. His involvement in the two internet companies was bringing in more money than he knew what to do with. He was plowing some of it back into the company, giving some to charities, and setting up a college fund for the kids.
The cheating spouses website had gone viral. They now had over seventy-five thousand subscribers. Apparently, it filled some desire by people to watch a real life drama featuring poor saps whose lives were spiraling out of control. They had so many subscribers that they actually reduced the subscription fee. There were five cheating spouses being featured at the moment. It even made the cable news when a new cheating spouse was added. He hated the website.
The other websites featuring specialized topics had grown substantially over the past few months. He felt they would never earn the same kind of money as the cheating spouses website, but he was proud of them. The fact of the matter was that the income from them was more than sufficient to support him and his family.
Guy worked because he didn't know what else to do. His life had settled into a simple routine of work and watching the kids. He didn't go out on dates. As far as he was concerned, he was still married. There were still a couple of months to go before the mandatory six month waiting period for the divorce to be official passed.
If asked, he would say that he was happy, but he wasn't. He had enjoyed being married until he had discovered his wife's infidelity. Sure, he missed the sex, but what he really missed was the companionship that a wife provided. He missed being seen off to work and welcomed home. He missed discussing adult kinds of topics that were beyond the understanding of the kids. He missed having dinner out and going dancing.
"Hello, gloomy Dad," Ellie said cheerfully.
"Hello, altogether too cheerful Daughter," Guy said.
For some reason, he didn't trust her cheerful good mood. It didn't bode well for him. She was planning something. He would have sat up to talk to her, but the cat climbed back onto his chest.
Ellie said, "It's Friday night."
"I know."
Ellie said, "It's date night."
"I know. I've got a date with the sci-fi movie at nine o'clock," Guy said. "It's a disaster film. A huge asteroid is headed towards earth and will kill everyone unless they can stop it."
"You've seen it," Ellie said.
"So?"
"It's date night. You are supposed to be out on a date with a woman," Ellie said stretching out the word woman so that was more like 'wooooommmmmaaaan.'
"My divorce isn't final," Guy answered curtly.
"Like that has stopped mother," Ellie said.
"Don't compare me to her," Guy said sharply.
"I'm sorry. I just meant that no one cares that your divorce isn't final. No one would think twice if you were to hook up with some sci-fi lovin' babe," Ellie said.
"I care," Guy said.
Ellie said, "You're a fool."
"Why?" Guy said.
"Do you think she's going to wait around forever?" Ellie asked.
"Who?"
"Selena, that's who," Ellie said.
"We're just friends," Guy said.
Ellie laughed. "You're just friends who never talk to each other. You talk to Marylou and Marylou talks to her. Then Marylou talks to you and the cycle repeats."
"It's complicated," Guy said.
Ellie asked, "Is Max your friend?"
"Yes," Guy answered.
"Do you and Max go out and have a beer occasionally?"
"Yes."
"So why don't you and Selena go out and have a beer or three?" Ellie asked.
"She's not married," Guy answered.
"Do you mean you wouldn't go have a drink with Max if he wasn't married?" Ellie asked.
"It's different," Guy said.
"It's different because you don't want to kiss Max," Ellie said.
"Hey!"
Ellie held up a package of DVDs. She said, "Here are fifty classic sci-fi movies. Take them over to Selena's apartment and don't come home until you've watched them all."
"That could take the whole weekend," Guy said pointing out the flaw in her argument.
"Duh!"
"No," Guy said realizing that she knew how long it would take to watch that many movies.
"Do it, Dad," Bill said.
"Please," Sean said.
Guy said, "I've got to stay here."
Ellie said, "Mom has agreed to watch us this weekend."
"What?" Guy asked while starting to sit up from the couch. The cat dug its claws in. He settled back down. "You talked about this with your mother?"
"She said you needed to get laid. For once, I agree with her," Ellie said.
"I'm not going," Guy said.
Ellie crossed her arms and looked down at her father. She asked, "Is that your last word on the matter?"
"Yes," Guy said.
"I guess we have to go with plan B," Ellie said with a nasty smile.
"Plan B?" Guy asked when she pulled out her cell phone.
She hit a button and then held it to her ear. She waited a bit and then said, "Hi. This is Ellie."
"What are you doing?" Guy asked. He couldn't hear the other side of the conversation.
"I'm so sorry to call you at this time. I'm so worried about my Dad," Ellie said.
"Who are you talking to?" Guy asked afraid that she had called Selena.
"He's so depressed and has nobody to talk to. I know that you and Max are at Rat World with your kids. I didn't know who else to call. I'm just so worried about him," Ellie said. She dramatically emphasized the word 'worried.'
"Are you talking to Marylou?" Guy asked guessing that she was talking to Marylou. He started to relax confident that Marylou would talk some sense into her.
Ellie said, "I gave him a bunch of sci-fi movies to watch and he's just sitting here staring off into space. Even my brothers are worried about him. You know how clueless they are."
It dawned on him that Marylou was likely a conspirator in this plot. This conversation was just a little too scripted. He shifted to get up, the cat dug its claws in, and he relaxed back on the couch.
Ellie said, "He really needs a friendly shoulder to cry upon."
"You planned this, didn't you?" Guy said. "Give me that phone."
"Could you call her and ask her to come over here," Ellie said.
"Ellie! Give me that phone," Guy shouted.
"Yes. He's here and wants the phone. I'll talk to you later," Ellie said. She closed the phone and quite deliberately handed it to her father. "Here you go."
He hit redial, but Marylou's phone was already busy. Looking up at his daughter, he said, "I'm going to kill you."
"Can I have my phone back?" Ellie asked sweetly.
Guy handed the phone back to her. She smiled back at him while heading towards the door.
She said, "I'll see you Sunday night."
"What?"
"Mom's waiting for us out in the driveway. See you, Sunday night," Sean said heading towards the door.
"What about clothes?" Guy asked.
"We already loaded our suitcases in the car," Bill said.
"Have fun," Ellie said.
"Have a good time," Sean said.
"Enjoy the movies," Bill said. He snickered and then said, "Like they're gonna watch movies."
Guy sat there staring at the door. The cat climbed onto the back of the couch and curled into a ball.
"I wonder what Plan C was," Guy said to the cat.
The telephone rang. He answered it.
Marylou said, "Hello, Guy."
"Hello, Marylou."
"Selena is on her way over to your house. She mentioned that she had a set of fifty classic sci-fi films on DVD. Apparently there was a sale on them at one of the video stores. She's bringing them with her."
Guy said, "I hope you're happy."
"Be nice to her," Marylou said.
"I will be," Guy said. "I guess I better get in the kitchen."
"Why the kitchen?" Marylou asked.
"Popcorn. You can't watch those old sci-fi films without lots of popcorn," Guy said.
Marylou laughed. "I'd buy tickets to watch what happens when she gets there."
"Nothing's going to happen," Guy said.
He hung up since she was laughing too hard to continue talking.
Later there was a knock on the door. He answered it knowing it would be Selena. She had lost a little weight since he had last seen her, but she was still a stout woman. There was an uncertain smile on her face. She held up a package of DVDs. "I heard you a rumor that you were feeling a little depressed. I thought some classic sci-fi films would cheer you up."
"Come in," Guy said. "I've been expecting you."
Selena entered the house. She looked at Guy for a second and shook her head. She said, "Why is it that I think I've been set up by Marylou and Ellie?"
"Because you're a smart woman. They've been plotting," Guy said.
Amused, Selena said, "Marylou said that Ellie was in tears when describing how depressed you were."
"I think they were tears of laughter," Guy said. "They find this rather humorous."
"She said that you haven't shaved in a week and were just staring off into space." There was a twinkle in her eye.
"I shaved this morning," Guy said while rubbing his cheek.
"She said you haven't been to work all week," Selena said.
"I went every day this week," Guy said.
"So you aren't on the verge of suicide?" Selena asked.
"Only on the verge of murder," Guy said. "Is it still against the law to kill your own kid?"
"I don't know. You'll need to ask Ellie. She's the lawyer," Selena said with a smile.
Guy laughed, "They mean well."
"Now that I'm over here, do you want to watch a sci-fi film? This collection has some of those old classics – you know the really bad ones with monster costumes that have the eyes cutout so much that you can see the actor's face inside the costume," Selena said.
"I love those films," Guy said.
"Me too," Selena said. "I smell popcorn."
"I knew you were coming over with some films. I made some popcorn," Guy said.
"You can't watch these old films without popcorn," Selena said. She liked to throw popcorn at the screen when the film got really bad.
"Have to have something to throw at the screen when the acting gets too bad," Guy said.
Selena grinned thinking this was going to be fun. "A man after my own heart."
Guy said, "I pulled the love seat in front of the television. It'll be just like at the movie theater."
"Excellent. Let's watch a movie or two," Selena said.
"Or fifty," Guy said with a grin. "I made a lot of popcorn."
"Or fifty," Selena agreed with a laugh. Definitely, this was going to be fun.
The kids returned home Sunday evening to find Guy and Selena asleep on the love seat. The floor in front of the television was littered with popcorn. The coffee table was piled with pizza boxes and empty containers of delivery chinese food. There were a dozen empty soda bottles, the large ones, standing like sad soldiers along one end of the coffee table.
Bill said, "I can't believe it. It looks like they watched all fifty films."