Now it was Dr. Jonathan Katz’s turn to lead the discussion.
“So, Leslie, you’ve taken up residence with your brother in Charleston, South Carolina. Is that right?”
“With her brother, Harlan. Who is a cream puff,” Wes said, for no good reason at all except that Wes’s homophobia was a disgrace to the twenty-first century and all humanity.
I thought Katz and Saunders were going to collapse. Katz turned red, and Saunders turned white.
“It’s precisely this kind of cruel prejudice and Wes’s lack of respect for my family that led me to take up residence with my brother. And, for the last time, Wesley, if you insult my brother once more? You’ll regret it,” I said.
“Oh, please,” Wes said and rolled his eyes to the ceiling.
“Look, Wes, I’m not the same girl you married.”
“Boy, I’ll say,” he said and sort of coughed.
I wanted to grab him by his shoulders and shake him to make him stop.
“There’s no reason to be insulting, Wes,” I said. “Listen to me. The purpose of this therapy was for you to satisfy yourself that leading separate lives is the best thing for us to do. I think it is, and with every day that passes, I believe this more and more. I’m not angry with you, Wes. And it’s not that I don’t care about you, because you know I do. We just want different things in our lives at this point, and I think we ought to be able to pursue those interests. Look, maybe we have twenty years left before we’re dead. Shouldn’t we do the things we want to do?”
“Well, I intend to,” he said. “And what do you want, Leslie? Some stud like Danette’s got herself?”
“Actually, no. I want to travel all over Europe, Wes. I want to hear an opera at the Vienna opera house and La Scala too. I want to learn about wine and cheese in France and Italy, and I want to go to all the great museums. And I want to listen to chamber music in my house, morning, noon, and night, until I have memorized every single quartet, sextet, and octet ever written, and I want to recognize who’s playing them. And I want to laugh, Wes. I want to laugh and have fun. I have earned it.”
“This is about that man I saw you with, isn’t it?” Wes turned to Katz and Saunders and said, “I saw a picture of my wife with a man in the background of a photograph in the AJC. Nice, huh?”
“The man was Jonathan Ray, an old high school friend, and he has absolutely nothing to do with this entire ordeal.”
It was true.
“You view this as an ordeal, do you?” Wes said.
“Because it is. What about your hookers, Wes?”
“Hookers don’t mean anything. It’s just sex. It’s not like Harold and Danette.”
I turned to Saunders and Katz and said, “The idea of my husband picking up hookers is completely revolting to me. It’s still infidelity. And, Wes, you cannot possibly compare their marriage to ours.”
“Maybe, but you’re right; we’re not like them. And right again, I hate chamber music. It’s like funeral music! And I’d rather take a bullet than sit through an opera—cats screeching! Apparently, we don’t want or like the same things anymore.”
“I’m not sure we ever did.”
“So this is it? You want a divorce?”
“No, I don’t. Not today or in the foreseeable future either. I just want to do what I want to do in the same way you want to do what you want to do.”
“Oh, I see, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander?”
“If it helps you to understand my feelings, then yes. Look, I have a proposal for you that won’t make the lawyers rich.”
“Well,” Wes said, “I’m all ears for that.”
“I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking, Wes. A lot of time. And I want whatever happens between us to be fair. Maybe this is too modern for your blood, but how’s this? You keep the house and everything in it except for my mother’s silver and my personal belongings like my clothes and so forth. I’ll find a house of similar value in Charleston, and you’ll buy it and pay the cost to furnish it. Not with period antiques and all that, but with reasonable furnishings.”
“Wait a minute. Since when did I say it was okay for you to go buy another house? Did you earn the money?”
“Wes. Wake up. Thirty years of marriage. I don’t need your permission to do anything.”
“Fine.” Wes exhaled deeply enough to muss our hair. “Continue.”
“Half the bank account is mine, except for the Coke stock you inherited. So you keep that and put half of the rest of the assets in my name. Then we rewrite our wills to say that whoever dies first will inherit the other’s estate. I remain your executor, you remain mine, and you’ll keep me covered with medical insurance. Then we go our own ways. Should the time come that we want a divorce, we’ll get together and discuss it. Meanwhile, we will let our respect for each other be obvious to our children and friends and continue to watch our family grow. If you need me for anything, just call me.”
“But, Leslie, if I deduct the furnishings of this new house of yours from my share, then you wind up getting more.”
“Then get a lawyer, Wes.”
He was quiet for a few minutes.
“You’ve really thought this through, haven’t you?”
“Yes, I have.”
Saunders and Katz were completely silent. I knew that they thought Wes was a horse’s ass. The bigger question was, would Wes ever realize it? And given his Ebenezer streak that was as wide as I-95, Wes had to realize this arrangement would save him a fortune in legal bills.
“Let me sleep on it,” Wes said.
“You do that,” I said. “You have one week to decide.”
“You’re threatening me now? What if I don’t?”
“This is not a threat, Wes. If you have a better idea, I’d like to hear it.”
“No, I don’t. And yours is pretty fair. I just don’t like you telling me I only have one week. You’re not in charge.”
“And neither are you, Wes. Those days are over.”
He looked at me with the strangest expression, like he was seeing me for the first time.
“And what if I don’t get back to you in a week?”
“I’ll hire a divorce lawyer that will find the five dollars your aunt Teresa gave you for your fifth birthday and anything else you have stashed away someplace. And I’ll take much more than I’m asking for now, Wes. So you sleep on it. Okay? How’s that?”
For the first time since Charlotte announced her unplanned pregnancy, I saw that little vein next to Wes’s left eyebrow begin to pulsate.
“Since when did you get so ballsy?”
“I finally learned to love myself, Wes, and I just want what’s mine.”
“What about the wedding, Les? If we don’t go together, everyone will talk.”
“Wesley, for God’s sake, people are always going to talk. Who cares?”
I looked at my watch and realized our time was up, so I stood and gathered up my purse and scarf.
“Well,” said Jane Saunders, “I think we’re all done here for now. You two don’t really need us at this point.”
“I think that’s right. Thank you,” I said. “Thank you for everything.”
“You’re welcome,” Saunders said.
“Yes,” Dr. Katz said, smiling. “You call us if you need us. You have my card, don’t you?”
“Yes, thank you,” I said. “I do.”
It was a little bit like getting the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Our work was finished. I felt an enormous sense of relief. And I was very proud of myself.
Wes followed me out to the garage. I clicked my key in the right spot and the lights of my new car flashed. I opened the door to get in, tossing my purse across to the passenger seat.
“You’re really leaving me, aren’t you?” he said.
“Pay attention, Wes. I already did.”