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The next day, Gina showed up at Tim’s apartment.
“Gina, what brings you by? Have you changed your mind?”
“My marriage is over thanks to you!”
“What? But we didn’t...”
“It doesn’t matter,” she interrupted. “Frank hates me the same as if we did. He feels hurt and betrayed and mad as hell. I broke his heart.”
“So, you told him about us?”
“First of all, there is no ‘us!’ And second, I wasn’t planning on telling him. I didn’t want to hurt him, but he figured it out, so I had to confess. Did you expect me to lie to my husband? Frank was your partner. How could you do this to him? You knew how weak and vulnerable I was, and you tried to take advantage of me.”
“I’m sorry, Gina. I can’t help myself when I’m around you.”
“You watch our kids, Tim! Don’t you know what this will do to them? But you don’t care, do you, as long as you get what you want?”
“Hey, I made no secret of the fact I wanted you from day one. I thought maybe you finally wanted me too. At the very least, you seemed interested. Was I wrong?”
“Maybe I thought about it for a minute, but only out of desperation. I love my husband, and I’ll do whatever it takes to save our marriage, including beg for his forgiveness. I need you to respect my wishes, and stay out of my way! I don’t need you making things worse.”
“Alright! You’ve made yourself clear! I’ll keep my distance. So if you ever change your mind and want things to be different, you’ll have to come chase me.”
“Don’t hold your breath, Tim, because it’s not going to happen! You need to move on with someone else, anyone else! This obsession of yours is not healthy and will only end up hurting people, namely my kids. Obviously, Frank and I won’t need you to watch them anymore, which means I better not see you standing on my doorstep ever again. Do you understand?”
“Perfectly, but for the record, I do care about you, and your kids. You may not believe that, but it’s true.”
Gina’s anger subsided when she considered Tim’s words. She dropped her tough façade and pleaded, “Please, Tim, if you care about us at all, you’ll do the right thing and leave us alone.”
“Then I guess this is goodbye, Gina,” Tim said, but Gina did not acknowledge him. She simply turned to leave.
Later that evening, Tim received another visitor. “I knew you’d show up,” Tim sighed when he answered the door and found an agitated Frank standing there. “Your wife was here earlier.”
Frank responded with a fist in Tim’s face.
“Hey! Relax, Frank! Your marriage vows are still firmly intact.”
“And I’m here to make sure they stay that way!”
“What I meant to say was that Gina was here to tell me off. She beat you to it,” Tim explained, rubbing his sore jaw.
Frank almost smiled. “She told you off?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, that doesn’t mean I’m done with you yet. We’re just getting started,” Frank threatened before ramming Tim into the wall and pinning him there.
“Easy there, buddy!”
“I’m not your buddy! So, did you enjoy playing house with my wife and pretending she was yours? Did you like comforting her?”
“Well, someone had to. You sure weren’t! Gina was lonely. We both were. I merely gave her a little attention and a shoulder to cry on.”
“I trusted you to come into my home. I trusted you with my wife and kids. I trusted you because Gina was willing to give you a chance. She felt sorry for you and needed the help, so I gave in against my better judgment.”
“I never claimed to be trustworthy.”
“I’ve got to hand it to you, Tim. You’re actually more clever than I gave you credit for. You studied Gina and our lives day after day until you knew just how to get to her. Then you made your move.”
“You’re saying what I did was premeditated?”
“Yes, like a murder of our marriage, so you could have her all to yourself.”
“I know it looks that way, but it really did start out innocently enough. We became friends, good friends. Then I wanted more, but she didn’t. End of story.”
“It actually makes no difference what happened. I still love her no matter what. I always will. I’ll love her until the day I die, so if you want her, you’ll have to kill me first. Carlos tried, but things didn’t end well for him, did they?”
“Is that a threat?”
“I’m warning you not to cross me. If you ever try again to take what’s mine, you’re in for one hell of a fight! I’m a force to be reckoned with, and I’ll throw everything I’ve got at you. Just remember, I might be your boss one day, so you better watch your step.”
“Well, you might try paying more attention to your wife’s needs, because if it’s not me, it’ll be some other guy you might like even less than me, if that’s possible.”
“She knows I love her.”
“Does she? You haven’t really been around that much.”
“You know being a lieutenant is taking everything I’ve got right now.”
“Careful, Frank! This is starting to sound familiar. How did your first marriage end exactly?”
“Alright! That’s enough!” Frank growled, finally releasing his grip on Tim.
“Why? Because I’m right? You brought this on yourself! Wake up, Frank, before it’s too late! For reasons I don’t understand, your wife’s heart still belongs to you, for now. I wouldn’t take that for granted if I were you.”
“What am I supposed to do? Give up on my career now? I’m next in line to be the captain when Michaels retires.”
“That’s great news, but remember it’s awfully lonely up there at the top of that career ladder. You need to decide what’s more important to you – your job or Gina?”
“Both.”
“Good luck with that. I’m not sure Gina will share your logic, or lack thereof.”
“I can handle my wife. You just keep your hands off her, or you’ll have to answer to me!” Frank warned Tim, slamming the door on his way out.
After taking some time to cool down in his hotel room, Frank decided he was ready to go home and face Gina. He also missed the kids and wanted to make sure they hadn’t suffered any ill effects from the events that had taken place. Fortunately, they were probably too young to know what happened.
“Frank? You’re home!” Gina exclaimed and rushed to greet him.
“I’m here. That doesn’t mean I forgive you. I know we need to talk, and I didn’t give you much of a chance before.”
“I hope you’re doing alright and taking care of yourself.”
“I appreciate your concern. I’m fine. How are the kids?”
“They’re good, Frank. They’re in bed already, and they don’t have a clue. I try not to cry in front of them.”
“Gina...” He reached out to comfort her but stopped short.
“Frank, the problems we’re having aren’t Tim’s fault. He just thought he saw an opportunity and went for it. There’s nothing between us.”
“But there must have been something there for him to get as close to you as he did.”
“Tim was nothing more than a substitute for you, and I stayed faithful to you even in my weakest moment. When temptation was practically shoved in my face, I chose you! That should mean something. I’m so sorry that I hurt you, and I hope you can forgive me for a moment of confusion, but if you had been in my shoes these past couple years, you might not be so hard on me. I held it together for as long as I could, but I’d finally reached my breaking point. Leaving me the night of our anniversary was the last straw.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I tried to make it up to you.”
“But you can’t, Frank, and I can’t go on living like this. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life alone. When you are home, your time belongs to the kids, but you forget I need you too. Whether our marriage survives this or not, depends on you.”
“Was this all about getting my attention? Because, you have it.”
“Good, because this isn’t just about what I did. You either need to start making some changes or I’m gone. Obviously, your ex-wife couldn’t take it either. I thought you learned your lesson and would never do this to me, but clearly you’re an addict and can’t help yourself. I know you never intended to hurt me, but you have.”
“We’ve both hurt each other. You knew Tim would make me insanely jealous.”
“I assure you it was unintentional. Tim was simply there. Listen, I don’t want things to end like this, but you need to get your act together and start paying attention to your family or we’re done.”
“I hope you’re not thinking about running to him because the grass seems so much greener on the other side. It isn’t! Tim’s going to take what he wants, and then he’ll dump you. That’s the kind of guy he is, so don’t say I didn’t warn you. If you’re looking for him to respect you, then you’ve got another thing coming.”
“That really shouldn’t be your main concern right now.”
“Gina, are you wanting a divorce? I hope I haven’t been such a bad husband that things have come to that.”
She looked at him, and her eyes filled with tears. “I’m not looking for a divorce, Frank. I still love you. I just want back what we had.”
“Good, because I don’t want one either. I’ll never stop loving you.”
“Then fix this! Fix this because I’m tired of trying to do it alone. I can’t save our marriage all by myself. You saw where that got us.”
“What needs to happen, Gina? Are you expecting me to quit my job?”
“No, Frank. Just find a way to make room in your life for me like you used to. Until then, I think it’s best we stay separated.”
“I don’t see why I can’t come home. We can work on this together.”
“Don’t worry. Tim’s not welcome here. That’s not the reason I’m pushing for this. I feel we both need some time apart to take a break and think about what we want and what really matters.”
“Alright. That makes sense,” Frank agreed. “Some space to cool down and figure this out couldn’t hurt.”
“Thank you, Frank, for not fighting me on this.”
“I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Just don’t let me down.” Gina turned to hide the tears that were about to fall. She wasn’t sure she could hold it together until he left.
Frank made another attempt to comfort her, this time not stopping short. He moved closer, tenderly rubbing her upper arms. Instead of pulling away, like he feared she might, Gina stayed there enjoying the comfort of his touch but kept her back to him.
“You should go,” she suggested gently, feeling herself growing weaker. In this moment, Gina knew it would be so much easier to go back to the way things were than to take a stand and fight for what she needed, but she had to hold her ground.
“I don’t want to, but you’re right. I’ll just grab some of my things and look in on the kids. Then I’ll leave.”
“I need to get some sleep. I’m exhausted. Goodnight, Frank.”
“Goodnight, Gina.” He watched her head up the stairs without him, suddenly feeling like an intruder in his own home. Visions of his first marriage and the mistakes he’d made flooded his mind. Frank knew his marriage to Gina was headed down the same path if things remained the same, yet he wasn’t sure what he could do to change the situation. If he had known how to fix the problem, he might still be with Angela. His addiction to work was a disease Frank knew no cure for, but he was grateful he at least had a second chance to figure it out. His first wife had not been nearly as patient or forgiving. Over the years, he had become quite set in his ways, but if there was ever a woman who could inspire him to change, it was Gina.
A week passed with no increase in clarity for Frank, and then things got even worse. Tim was finally asked to return to work, so they would be running into each other on a daily basis. The upside was that Tim wouldn’t have time to bother Gina, and Frank could keep an eye on him. Fortunately, he was no longer Frank’s partner. Tim would be paired with Darryl, the rookie Frank had been working with before the promotion. Frank hoped that arrangement would provide enough breathing room to keep the two of them from tearing each other apart.
While looking at his calendar, Frank remembered that a work social event was rapidly approaching. He and Gina were expected to attend. Frank did not feel like going to a party, but as the second in command, attendance was mandatory. He knew he would have a lot of uncomfortable questions to answer if Gina was not there by his side, like she had always been in the past. He was pretty sure she would not want to come in light of their current situation, but he decided to give her a call anyway.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Hey, it’s me. I don’t know if you remember or not, but we’re supposed to attend that thing on Saturday, and I was hoping you would still be my date.” He paused and waited for a response that did not come. “If you don’t, I understand, and I won’t bother you anymore about it. It’s really just an overrated cocktail party anyway.”
“Yes, I’ll go,” she said finally. “I promised you I would.”
“Great. Should I pick you up or...”
“I’ll meet you there.”
“OK. See you Saturday at seven. Bye, Gina.”
The night of the party arrived, and Frank was feeling apprehensive. He wondered if Gina would actually come or if it would end up being too much for her. He felt strange showing up alone and hoped she wouldn’t be long.
It seemed like forever to Frank, but only a few minutes passed before he saw her walking toward him from across the room. She looked so beautiful he could barely resist the urge to race over to her, take her into his arms, and give her a kiss. But he certainly did not want to appear pushy. She had requested her space, and he would honor that. He realized he was lucky she was even there and would let her call the shots.
Gina could feel her anxiety building with each step she took toward Frank. What should have been a fun evening would now be torture. She would have to keep her distance from him, yet they still needed to look like a normal, happy couple. It was a difficult balancing act, but she would do her best for the sake of appearances. Gina had gone the extra mile to look good tonight. She wanted to remind Frank what he’d be missing if he lost her.
“You look beautiful, Gina,” Frank complimented. “I really like your dress.”
“Thank you. Nice suit, Frank.”
“It’s new. I wanted to look my best tonight.”
“I noticed.”
“Thank you for coming.”
“You know I wouldn’t embarrass you, Frank.”
“Perhaps we should make the rounds, and then you can do whatever you want. You don’t have to stick with me if you’d rather not,” he said awkwardly.
“We’ll see how things go,” she replied, taking the arm he was offering. Frank was always a gentleman, and she couldn’t help but smile in appreciation. It was a quality she had grown to love, something that seemed so rare among men these days. It was just one of the many things that made Frank special. He was such a good man, yet he came with some major flaws. How she hoped he would do the right thing!
After Frank and Gina were done greeting everyone, they split up and went their separate ways. Gina saw a couple acquaintances of hers and decided to go join them. Frank took a seat at the bar.
“Frank? Can I have a word with you?” Captain Michaels requested.
“Sure, boss.” But before they could begin, Frank was distracted by Tim passing by.
“Frank,” Tim greeted him coolly.
“Tim,” Frank replied, acknowledging him in a similar fashion. They locked eyes for a moment like enemies on opposite sides of a battlefield. Frank watched as Tim made his way across the room to where Gina was standing. Her friends disappeared, and the two of them were left standing together talking by themselves.
“Frank, I wanted to talk to you,” began the captain, “because, as you know, my health is failing, and I’m sure you’ve wondered if I’m thinking about retiring. It’s because of you I’ve been able to stay on as long as I have, but it shouldn’t take another heart attack for me to realize the time has come to step down. I think you should be the one to take my place. You’re my number one choice, Frank. I’ve known you for a long time, and there’s no one else who will do this job better than you.”
“Thank you, Captain. That means a lot, and I appreciate your confidence in me.”
“You’ve earned it. Your hard work, dedication, and talent are what brought you here. No one will care more and do more for this department and the entire bureau of detectives than you will, Frank. I feel safe leaving things in your capable hands.”
“I’m honored. I truly am, but...” Frank struggled to find the right words for this important moment, but he was too upset about the close proximity of Tim to Gina.
Captain Michaels noticed his distant and agitated demeanor. “Frank? What’s with you two anyway?”
“What?”
“I know you and Tim never liked each other, but lately things have deteriorated far beyond that. What’s going on, Frank? You’re not fighting over this promotion, are you? Tim should know he was never in the running. He doesn’t have the experience you do. In fact, no one else, including Sean, is remotely qualified. I’d have to go outside our precinct to find another candidate.”
“No, it’s not that. This has nothing to do with work.”
The captain noticed Frank nervously fiddling with his wedding ring. “Does this involve Gina? Tim’s always had a crush on her, and right now you look like you want to kill him. I know it’s none of my business, but Gina didn’t have an affair with him, did she?”
“Almost. As close as it gets, I suppose. It was a real wake-up call, which is why I can’t take the job. It’ll end my marriage. I can’t ask any more of my wife. I can’t do that to her and our kids.”
“Listen, I know this career path is not an easy road. I’ve been there. Just ask Heather. We’ve had our rough patches, but let’s not be hasty, Frank. People work their whole lives for an opportunity like this. At least think about it, talk it over with Gina, and get back to me.”
“OK. I will.”
Frank wasted no time making his way to Gina and Tim. When Tim saw Frank approaching, he quickly retreated. “Was he bothering you?” Frank asked.
“A little, but we need to let this go, Frank. Tim and I are going to be working together again, so we have to find a way to deal with him, as awkward as that may be.”
Frank was confused. “What?”
“I’m going to beg for my old job back. Now that Tim’s rehired, maybe there’s room for me too.”
“I thought you wanted to wait a year.”
“I changed my mind. I’m done putting my life on hold. If we’re to stand a chance, I need to make some changes too.”
Frank debated if this was the right time to share the captain’s offer with her. He was so close to having everything he’d ever wanted, but he knew it wasn’t that simple. However, if Gina came back to work, it just might change everything.
“The captain is standing right over there, Gina. You should go over and ask him,” he encouraged.
“I’m sure you would know if I’m setting myself up for failure. Is there enough in the budget for me?”
“There is if you’re willing to take a pay cut or work part-time. The captain talked about hiring another rookie, but I’m sure he’d much rather have you back. Knowing him, I’m sure he’d be fair with you and increase your salary the moment more funding comes through.”
“Alright then! I’m going to do this!” Gina proclaimed. “Wish me luck!”
“Good luck, Gina.” Frank watched her approach the captain, but she quickly returned looking rather puzzled. “So, what happened?” he asked.
“Is there any reason Captain Michaels would tell me to ask you for my job back? Do you have to check the numbers for him or something?”
Frank swallowed hard as the panic set in. He would now be forced to reveal his secret. “Captain Michaels told me privately that he’s retiring. He told you to ask me because he figures I’m your boss now.”
“You got promoted and you didn’t tell me?”
“He just asked me a few minutes ago, and no, I haven’t given him an answer yet. I didn’t say anything because you seemed all excited about getting your job back. I wanted a little time to figure out how to tell you.”
“But, you’re going to accept, right?”
“I want to. I really, really want to! I’ve never wanted anything so much in all my life, but I’m seriously considering declining his offer. In fact, I already tried, but he told me to take some time to think about it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. When I asked myself in that moment what was more important, I realized I needed to put you and our family first this time. You are what matters most to me, and I’d be lost without you. I don’t think there’s any greater demonstration of my commitment to you than my willingness to turn down the greatest job offer of my life.”
Gina looked Frank in the eyes and studied him a moment before speaking. She knew he was being sincere, and she struggled to keep her emotions in check. “As much as I hate this, I know you were meant to do this job, and I think you should take it. I don’t want to be the one who stands in your way. I have to let you do what you do best, but there’s only so much I can take, and I’ve reached my limit. The only way it’ll work...is if I let you go. I love you enough to do that.” Her bottom lip quivered, and unable to bear the thought of losing Frank, she turned and ran for the exit.
“Gina, wait!” he called out, but she did not slow down. Frank tried to chase after her, but he soon lost her in the crowd. He drove to their house thinking she’d be there, but she wasn’t. He desperately tried to reach her on the phone, but she didn’t answer. It was clear Gina did not want to be found.
