Zac returned home that day, earlier than usual. He stepped into his house and immediately found Kate asleep on the couch, the T.V. still blaring from whatever show she'd been watching. He walked over and looked at his wife, sadness coming over him all at once. His day at work had been chaotic, but it had served as a good distraction for him. He'd contemplated in his head what he'd say to Kate once he got home. In his mind, their talk had gone fine. He'd convinced himself that since Kate had been the one to bring up moving out, it was okay for him to not feel as guilty as he had been about him not being more upset about it. He played out various scenarios as he sat as his desk, barely getting enough work done to not consider the day a total loss. Now, however, as he watched his wife sleep, finally looking peaceful after what had been the worst few months of their marriage, he questioned his decision. He reached over and grabbed the T.V. remote from her hand, and flicked it off. The sudden change from noise to complete silence caused Kate to stir. Zac watched as she opened her eyes and gathered her bearings.
"Sorry," he said softly, "I thought I was being helpful."
Kate smiled warmly, "it's okay," she said.
"You don't have to sleep in the basement, Kate," Zac said as he took a seat next to her on the couch. She took the blanket that had been laying over her and wrapped it around her body as she crossed her legs.
"I know," she replied softly. "That's not why I'm tired."
Zac looked over at her but didn't say anything.
"I was worried you weren't going to come home," she admitted. Zac's heart felt as though it had broken instantly.
"Why?" he asked.
Kate took a deep breath, "I just wasn't sure if you left because of what we'd talked about, or..." she trailed off.
"No... well.... yes," Zac replied. It was Kate's turn to not reply, "I think I just had a hard time with you saying you want to move out."
It was now her turn to ask why.
"Honestly?" Zac asked. Kate raised her eyebrows, signaling that it was what she was asking for, "I felt a little ashamed that you want to leave. That wasn't easy for me to hear even if things aren't that great right now."
"It has nothing to do with you. I mean it does, but I don't want to just get away from you. I just don't honestly think that I can work through whatever it is that I'm going through here, and not cause more damage than there already is," she defended.
"I know," Zac answered quickly. "I get it. I got it last night, I just..."
"Didn't feel like coming home, yet, once you did?" she asked.
Zac nodded.
"Look Zac," Kate began, "This isn't going to be easy. I'm not expecting that. I do think it's necessary though. Whatever the outcome is, at the very least it can help us individually." She paused, as she met Zac's eyes. He nodded silently.
"There's, um, also something else I wanted to talk to you about," Kate squeaked out. She lowered her eyes for a moment before returning them back to Zac, "I'm sorry that I went to Kayla's house." Zac stiffened instantly. "I don't even know why I did that. I came home from that dinner for work and when I got here, I was drunk and you were gone, and I got mad. I didn't even make it in the house. My car was at the restaurant, so I just started walking towards Diana's house. Like that's where you were going to be. When I got there and didn't see your truck, I got more mad. I looked over, saw her house, and I guess I just... went. If I wasn't so embarrassed about falling asleep on her couch I'd be glad about it just because that means I didn't have enough time to embarrass myself more." Zac could tell by her tone that she was being sincere. It only made him feel more guilty about his own visit to Kayla's house.
"I'm not mad at you for that," he finally said. He reached over and grabbed her hand, caressing it for a few seconds, "That's just... complicated. We've never really talked about that. So I get it. I never offered you resolution about that so," he finished as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Do you want to talk about it, now?" She asked. Zac couldn't tell if she was being sincere or just being nice.
"Do you?" he countered. She sat quietly. He watched her face as she processed the question.
********************************************
"Ike!" Taylor called out from his office.
"Yeah?" Isaac called back, faintly. They'd been working in mostly silence for most of the day. Zac had sent them both a text the night before letting them know he wasn't going to be able to make it into the office. Neither of them were surprised by that. They knew Zac was going through a lot and it was only a matter of time before it all caught up to his brain. They figured he was taking some time to process.
"Come in here!" Taylor finally yelled back as he sat back in his chair. A few seconds later, Isaac was standing in his doorway. "Did you get that text from Zac?"
Isaac shook his head, "No. I don't even think I know where my phone is," he replied as he turned towards his office.
"No, just," Taylor began as he rose from his seat, "Here," he said as he handed Isaac his phone. Isaac took it and looked at the screen.
"He wants us to meet him at The Maya?" Isaac asked as he read through Zac's text. "Why?" He looked up at Taylor.
"I don't know!" Taylor replied. "That's why I asked him, 'why?' right there," he continued as he pointed to his reply. Isaac rolled his eyes as the incoming message alert chimed.
"I need to talk to you about something," Isaac read out loud.
"Just don't even bother. Ask him what room he's in. I'm gonna call Nat. He's buying us dinner!" Taylor yelled as he took back his phone and called his wife. He walked back to his chair as Isaac walked back into his office. He patted around his desk until he found his phone. He grabbed his keys and made sure he had his wallet. He flicked the light off on his way to the back door. As Taylor walked into another suite to let the occupants know they'd be leaving for the day, Isaac pulled out his phone to let Nikki know what was happening. He sent her a quick text as Taylor walked passed him and through the door, then stuffed the phone back in his pocket.
***********************************************
Taylor and Isaac sat in Zac's hotel room as he explained the conversation he'd had with Kate the night before.
"So what did she say?" Taylor asked after Zac had advised that he'd admitted to Kate that he'd seen Kayla.
"Not a lot," Zac replied. "She cried. But she said she wasn't surprised. I know she was mad, but it was like she was trying to hide it." Zac chuckled bitterly, "Like she felt bad for me."
"At least she didn't speak out of anger," Taylor said.
"I almost wish she would have," Zac replied. He walked over to the refrigerator in the hotel room's small kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. "Want one?" he asked his brothers. They nodded and he grabbed two more before making his way back to the couch. He handed out the water bottles, "I feel like shit."
"You should," Isaac said.
"Thanks." Zac replied.
"That was pretty shitty, what you did. You should feel bad about that. But not about you telling Kate the truth," he finished.
"I know," Zac replied softly, "I think that's why I told her. This whole thing started because we want to do counselling to save our marriage. I can't let her make that decision without knowing my whole side."
"So you stayed here last night?" Taylor asked.
"Yeah," Zac began. "I told her it's probably easier for me to leave than for her to. I work closer. I have less shit. I think she still wants to leave though. She probably just needs to get out of the house for a while too. I don't know, so I just told her to let me know what she decides. If she wants to stay, I can stay here. If she wants to leave, I'll just go back after she's gone. She's gonna send me the list of appointments. We go to the first one together. Then after that, I think it's like 10 weeks alone or something. After that we decide what we wanna do. If we choose to stay together, we start the couple's sessions. Which is like another 12 weeks. If not, we do it until we feel is necessary so that it ends the best possible way for the both of us. If we feel it's necessary."
"When do you start?" Isaac asked.
"A few weeks," Zac replied. The three men fell silent. "You guys hungry?" Zac finally asked.
"Yup," Taylor said as he grabbed the room service menu from the table in front of him. Zac laughed softly at him, grateful for the change of energy.
***************************************************
Kayla sat on her living room couch, a blanket over her legs and a pile of magazines on the coffee table. She aimlessly turned the pages, relishing in the quiet her house offered her. When her phone alert went off twice in a row, she closed the magazine and tossed it on the top of the pile. She reached for her phone and looked at the screen. It was a text from Zac.
Can we talk?
Her phone chimed out again. She hit the notification bar at the top of her screen and the image flipped to her door step. She held the phone closer to her face to see who it was. She looked at the door before she looked back at the phone; locking it and setting it back on the table. She threw the blanket onto the back of the couch and got up, adjusting her sweatshirt, then making her way to the door. She took a deep breath before she swung it open.
"Kate," Kayla greeted.
"I'm not going to fall asleep this time," Kate replied. Kayla remained still. "Can I come in?" Kate finally asked.
Kayla rose her eyebrows momentarily, the tone of Kate's voice taking her by surprise. She stepped back as she opened the door all the way and Kate stepped inside.