“I have known your parents a long time, Travis,” Carl said in a very skeptical tone, “And I don’t think they will ever figure it out.”
“Fair enough,” I agreed, “They are kind of head-in-the-sand people. But that’s not the point.”
“So, what’s the point?” Carl asked the stress beginning to show on his face and in his tone.
“The point is,” My eyes began to well up, “I am getting tired of being your dirty little secret.”
At that moment Carl’s phone rang. He instinctively put the phone to his ear. I moved away towards the door pissed as hell that he took a call in the middle of a very serious discussion.
“Carl,” Carl said.
I sulked.
“You could at least put that on speaker, you know,” I said more than a little testy.
Carl complied and Riya’s tinny voice came through the phone, “…to move all of your pickups that you were supposed to do tomorrow to the day after. I have a strange one and I wanted to ask you about it before I said OK. Miss Lewis called.”
“Is the mirror done?” I asked perking up a little at the thought of seeing Miss Lewis again.
“Yes,” Riya confirmed, “Miss Lewis says she needs help moving it and will only work with us. She seemed a little odd on the phone. Are you sure you want to work with her?”
“Odd but harmless. She was assaulted several years ago,” Carl explained, “She has very bad PTSD.”
“Oh. Poor thing.” Riya said empathetically.
“She’s very nice,” Carl went on. “Tell her we can get her mirror moved for her.”
“OK,” Riya said and then went on, “I pushed back a few other things next week so you guys will only have to do morning jobs.”
“What?” Carl asked, “Why?”
“Because it is going to be in the 90s with 200% humidity all next week and I do not want you or Travis to die of heat-stroke,” Riya explained, “Well at least not Travis,” she amended in a joking tone, “You, dying of heat stroke would be fine. I just paid your life insurance premium. Besides, then I could finally, marry Judy.”
“You can’t marry someone that is already married,” Carl argued back a little too loud in my opinion.
I could help but wonder if the thought of losing Riya was the real reason Carl seem to be so on edge lately. Was he afraid of losing her? Arthur had been talking a lot about coming out, divorcing Judy, and marrying Jason lately. Carl said Arthur had made similar promises to Ethan and it had never happened but we had been spending a lot of time at Arthur’s and Jason’s lately and Arthur seemed pretty genuine.
“She proposed to me again last night at dinner…” Riya reported, her voice completely serious now.
“That’s great.” I rang in.
“Thank you, Travis,” Riya responded.
“Judy says Arthur promised he would be giving her a divorce soon,” Riya explained. “He wants to stop hiding.”
“But hiding is so much fun,” I said sarcastically.
Carl asked, “What did you say?”
“I’m sorry,” Riya asked confused.
“You said, ‘Judy asked you to marry her again’. I asked, ‘What did you tell Judy?'” Carl reminded her.
“I said I would have to talk it over with you first, and of course, It would depend on if and or when she and Arthur got divorced,” Riya answered.
Carl pressed his hands to his forehead and mumbled, “Oh Arthur. You never make anything simple.” He then took a deep breath and looked over at me.
“Hypothetically speaking,” my heart began to beat faster, “How hard would it be for us to get a divorce?”
“Carl Richard Khan,” said Riya in her all-business voice. “If you’re messing with me…”
“I’m not. I promise,” Carl said into the phone. “I think it may be time for us to stop pretending too.”
The cab of the truck was silent. Carl took several more, deep breaths. “I want you and Judy to be happy. You have put up with me for over 30 years. You have more than served your time.”
“Oh, Carl…” Riya responded, “I’ve never thought of our life together that way. I do love you. You’re the best husband in the world. I could never have hoped for…”
“I know,” Carl cut her off. I think I stopped breathing a couple of times I was so excited. “But Judy is the one for you. She always has been and always will be.”
“How hard would it be for us to get a divorce?” Carl asked again.
“Since we don’t have any children,” She paused and then added, “Other than, Travis. And I am pretty sure which of us he is going to want to go with. The only thing we would have to worry about is dividing up our assets.”
“And how hard will that be?” Carl asked looking gloomy again.
“Pretty easy,” Riya answered, “since I don’t want anything except, my car, my clothes, a few pictures.” Riya paused, “Oh, and the waffle iron.”
“But that’s my favor waffle iron,” Carl argued back. I was not sure if he was joking or not. We could hear Riya starting to laugh even through the crappy speakerphone, “Why don’t you start putting the paperwork together. That way when Arthur divorces Judy you two can get married right away,” Carl suggested. “Besides, I’m sorry to have to tell you this over the phone,” Carl reached over and took my hand, “but I’ve met someone. Someone very special.”
“I know,” Riya said with a sniffle. “Give Travis a kiss for me.”
Carl, always the loyal husband did what his wife told him and gave me a kiss.
So many things were going through my head at that point. I was shocked Carl and Riya were even talking about this. I was so happy for Riya and even happier for Jason. I have to admit I almost missed the fact that Carl said ‘when’ not ‘if.’ Carl was Arthur’s best friend. Could Arthur have already made up his mind? Did Carl know something Riya and I didn’t? I made a mental note to ask him about it later.
“OK,” Riya sniffled, “if you’re sure?”
Carl began to massage my hand, “I’m sure.”
“Drive safe,” I could hear the joy in Riya’s voice, “I love you both.”
“We love you too,” Carl and I said together. Carl was about to hang up but then I mouthed ‘Mrs. Thorn.’ “Oh, we also have a new client Mrs. Thorn. She will be calling here soon to schedule a total house and business move.”
“OK. I’ll block off a week next month. Are we going to need a big rig?” Riya asked back in business mode.
“Yes, and you need to be very careful when talking to Mrs. Thorn.” Carl looked over at me, “Travis thinks she may be a Sith lord.”
“Come again?” Asked Riya.
“I’d say she’s probably like Darth Talon level,” I spoke toward the phone, “So you will only have to be a little cautious. I mean we’re not talking Darth Zannah here,” I explained.
“I’ll explain when we get home,” Carl said shaking his head.
“I know the Sith Lords, Carl.” Riya said a little testy, “I’ve read all the books and played most of the games,” Riya remarked. “Don’t worry Travis I’ll be careful. Love you, boys.”
And with that, Riya hung up.
“I’m thirsty.” I said almost in a whisper, “I’m going to run into that Dollar General and get a drink. I will be right back.”
“Good idea,” Carl said looking tired. “I’m just going to sit here and check out for a minute.”
Knowing Carl need to check out for more than just a few minutes I took my time and returned about thirty minutes later. “The bad news is they only had those little bags of chips from a company I have never heard of,” I said getting back in the truck. “The good news is that had your favorite tea.”