It Didn't Work Out Ch. 10

This is the tenth of twelve chapters. To really understand it, you should read the previous chapters before reading this one. Once again, I want to thank my editor Terry for his valuable help! I hope you enjoy the story.

It was cold wet day following on one just like it. Bridget looked out the window. The overcast skies seemed to reflect her mood. Ever since Valentine's Day, the atmosphere at home had been dismal. It contrasted sharply with the times she spent with Sian. She sighed.

Even before she told Don that she was going to spend Valentine's Day with Sian, something seemed to have changed with him. His enthusiasm about her being with Sian had disappeared. He surprised her by not asking any questions or wanting to talk about the date he watched. When they woke the next morning, she and Sian were alone in her bedroom. Even when they got up to get some coffee and a little something to eat, Don didn't come out of the guest bedroom. Finally Bridget stuck her head in to say goodbye since she and Sian had a lot planned for the day but the room was dark from the curtains being closed and it looked like Don was still asleep. Backing out, she quietly shut the door and the two of them left.

When Bridget got home on Sunday morning after spending the night at Sian's, Don wasn't there. That was unusual too. He was typically waiting for her, eager to see her and eager to hear about her day and night with Sian. She was surprised at how nice the house looked. Since the pattern of her staying with Sian all Saturday had started, Bridget felt like Don had taken it as license to be a slob for a day. Typically that meant the two of them cleaned the house on Sundays. She didn't mind terribly since he didn't make a huge mess, most of the time. But that Sunday was different. Don not only didn't make a mess, he apparently had used his Saturday to do the normal weekly cleaning. When she went into the bedroom she realized he had done the laundry too. Her clothes were neatly folded and placed on her side of the bed for her to put away. He had already put his away.

Bridget busied herself with unpacking her things from the overnight stay at Sian's and then dealt with her clothes. She was just pouring herself a cup of coffee to drink while reading the newspaper when Don came in with some groceries.

"Hey Sweetie, there you are!" Bridget said with a smile. She went over and gave him a hug and a kiss as soon as his arms were free. With her arms around his neck, she looked at him as the kiss ended. "The house looks great! That was so nice of you to do all the cleaning yourself," she told him.

"It's no big deal, Honey. I know most of the mess is usually mine so I just decided to deal with it myself. Anyhow I was just thinking it might be nice to have some free time on a Sunday, rather than doing chores," Don said as he returned the smile.

"Well it is a big deal," Bridget said as the two of them disentangled. Don started to put away the groceries, leaving out just the things he needed to make them something for lunch. Bridget continued talking. "Honestly I wasn't looking forward to cleaning today. Sian and I went to the art museum like we talked about and we must have walked every foot of it." With her back to Don, Bridget missed the smile slip on his face a bit.

"Oh I hope you aren't too tired. I was thinking we could go to the waterfront and walk around before getting some dinner down there," Don said. "We haven't had a lot of time to do something together and I would really like that." His voice was hopeful and Bridget turned around to look at him. She really was fairly tired and her feet hurt a little from how far she walked on Saturday. At the same time, Bridget hated to let him down. Being in this three-way relationship had to be tough on him at times as much as it was on her and Sian.

"I guess we can do that, Sweetie. Just not too much, I don't think I can walk a really long way," Bridget said with a smile that was only slightly forced. She thought to herself that she could grin and bear it to make him happy.

Deciding to do something today reminded Bridget that she needed to talk about Valentine's Day with Don. She wondered if she should hold off talking about it until later. She didn't want to do anything to ruin their day together. On the other hand, it was less than a week. The longer she put it off the more likely it would be that Don set up something for them. The more that Bridget thought about it, the more she thought talking about it soon was best. At least then, she would have the time together today to help Don feel better. If she talked about it tonight, it might take away the nice feelings that she hoped they would get from spending the day together.

"Sweetie?" Bridget said as she put her coffee cup back down on the island.

"What is it, Honey?" Don said looking over at her from where he was putting the last of the groceries away.

"When Sian and I were out on Friday, we talked about what was going on for Valentine's Day. I hadn't really been thinking about it before but she had. And I'm guessing you have too." It was a somewhat safe statement to make. She was pretty sure Don wouldn't admit it if he hadn't yet thought about Valentine's Day.

"Of course, I'm looking forward to taking my Valentine out," Don said. His tone was light but his face showed a more troubled visage. His eyebrows drew together and little creases came at the ends of his mouth as his lips tightened.

"I know. That's why I wanted to talk about it now," Bridget said before pausing for a moment. She was unsure exactly how to tell him. She couldn't think of a gentle way to put it so she decided to just get it over with as fast as possible. "I want you to know that I am going to spend Valentine's with Sian." Don's face got stormier as he heard Bridget. She kept talking. "We spent New Year's together and, this is my first Valentine's Day with Sian. It's only fair."

Don just stared at Bridget. She saw him swallow. She could tell he was very angry from the look in his eyes. He didn't often get like that but she felt like his glare could start a fire from the sparks coming out of his eyes.

"Jesus, Bridget! I've been okay with you spending this much of your time with her. I think I have been supportive and done what we agreed to. But you and I are married. I'm sorry that it isn't fair all the time for her, but there are things that you do with your spouse. You spend your anniversary together. You go to New Year's parties together." Don stopped his angry torrent of words for a moment, and then he said very slowly, "And you spend fucking Valentine's Day with your fucking husband!" He slapped his hand down on the counter next to him.

Bridget felt the color drain from her face. She had expected him to be unhappy and maybe a little mad. But this was way beyond that. Don was furious. His face was screwed up and beet red. She was thankful that the island was between her and him. She didn't really think he would ever resort to violence but at that moment, she was glad there was a little space.

"You spend all the best time with her, which leaves only garbage time for the two of us. I get Sundays when usually we do housework, and you are often too tired to do anything else. And I get some weeknights. Did you even notice that the last two weeks, you have spent way more time with her than with me? And now she is going to get you for fucking Valentine's Day?" Don wasn't yelling but his tone was cold and biting.

"Sweetie, you knew what it meant..." Bridget started to try and say something.

"Yeah," Don interrupted her. "I fucking know I agreed to the fucking ground rules. I just thought that our marriage was going to mean more to you than it clearly does." After throwing that out at Bridget, he shut up and just glared at her.

Standing there, Bridget's mouth opened and closed without any noise coming out. She blinked as she tried to hold back the tears.

In the back of Don's head, he knew he wasn't being fair. He shared the responsibility with Bridget for where they were. But the discomfort with the situation had been slowly growing inside him, even though he had been ignoring it. It had just been simmering, barely noticeable. Friday night had changed things and now it was boiling over and he didn't care that he wasn't being fair.

Raising her hand up to her eyes, Bridget wiped away the few stray tears that had escaped. This was so far from how she thought this would go. She bit her lip a little as she looked away, trying to get her emotions under control. When she looked back, it was clear that she wasn't doing very well with that. Some more tears were running down her cheek.

"This was your idea, Don. I get that you are unhappy right now, but I didn't want to do this. You kept after me. I said no and no and no, but you didn't accept my answer. I told you what it would mean if I said yes." Bridget's voice was full of her pain. There were little sobs as she spoke.

"I love you, Sweetie. I do. You are my husband, and you are the man I love," Bridget said, wiping the tears away again. She only had a little mascara and eyeliner on but they were both now smearing under her eyes. "Just because I love Sian, doesn't mean I love you less. But I love her too."

As she said that, Bridget saw Don's face clench up with a new flash of anger. It was something completely new. There had been a few moments of jealousy but they passed quickly without any lingering resentment. Most of the time, she thought he had enjoyed hearing about her feelings for Sian, feeding into his fantasies.

"I can't change how I feel about her, Don." Bridget softly said. She looked at him. Her eyes still were shining with tears. "I told you that once things started, they wouldn't be controllable. Just like I can't change how I feel about you." She was quiet for a moment, then she turned away to walk back to the bedroom. As she left the kitchen, she looked back at Don. "You can do that though, Sweetie. How you treat me; you have the power to change how I feel about you."

Continuing to walk to the bedroom, Bridget used the palm of her hand to wipe off the last few tears. Before going inside, she turned around. "Don, I'm sorry but I am going out with Sian on Valentine's Day. It isn't open for discussion. We can talk about the division of time. You're right; maybe I'm not spending enough time with you. But I am going to spend Valentine's Day with Sian.

"I've changed my mind. I think that I need some time alone this afternoon," Bridget said and then went into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

For a long time, Don just stood there staring at the door. His thoughts were a mixed up jumble of anger, regret, fright, and shock. He wasn't shocked at Bridget so much as at himself. Once he started to let go, he hadn't been able to control himself. All of his frustrations and emotions just came pouring out. He couldn't stop them. Don thought about what Bridget said about her feelings towards him. He had no doubt that Bridget was saying he had just damaged those feelings with his tirade. He turned and kicked one of the empty shopping bags standing up on the floor. It didn't fly far and it didn't feel very satisfying.

From then until Valentine's Day, Bridget had maintained a somewhat reserved attitude towards Don. She was polite and they didn't have any further arguments about her going out with Sian, but she pulled back in her interactions. She did all the appropriate tokens of affection; hugs goodbye in the morning and kisses hello in the evening, and a kiss goodnight before turning off the lights. But they didn't go beyond that and there was rarely a true feeling of warmth to them. And Don didn't dare try to initiate making love. Two or three times in their relationship before she ever met Sian, Bridget had acted like this and he had learned to not make that mistake.

Don wasn't completely correct in his reading of Bridget. She was not so much angry as hurt. It wasn't about Valentine's Day for her. Don had pushed her into this despite all her warnings. And even then, she had been completely honest and open with him about her developing feelings for Sian right down to asking him if he wanted her to continue. Now it felt like this had come out of the blue and he was angry at her for doing what he convinced her to do. She felt like he owed her an apology for what amounted to an ambush. And so far, he hadn't given her one.

As Bridget sat on the couch and looked out at the grey day, she thought back to Valentine's Day and smiled. That had been a very bright spot for her. Sian had gotten a reservation at one of the hottest new restaurants in the city through a soccer team connection. The chef there played for a team that Sian occasionally helped out when they were a player short. After talking with the chef, Sian just left it up to the chef to come up with the meal. Sian had given her complete freedom to experiment and do whatever she wanted.

It had been a magical night. Bridget had worn a wonderfully fancy new dress she bought for the occasion and Sian had gotten a new women's suit. She had kept everything secret from Bridget so the entire night was one of surprise after surprise. After an amazing dinner where they were treated like royalty, Sian took Bridget out dancing at a ballroom that was playing swing tunes. It was in the gay district of the city so the vast majority of people there were gay.

When they were done dancing, Sian took Bridget to a little boutique hotel that had recently opened up. Again it was a soccer connection that helped her find out about a last minute cancellation. It was a long time before they went to sleep. Bridget showed her appreciation to Sian again and again.

Thinking back, Bridget tried not to compare what Sian did with Don taking her out the next night. For a Valentine's dinner with Don it was very nice. She liked that he was trying hard. She hadn't told him a thing about what she did with Sian and he hadn't asked. She enjoyed it and when they came home, she made love with him for the first time in a week. It almost felt like they were back close to where they were before. Only she knew that wasn't quite true. She still felt like he should apologize at some point for his tantrum.

Overall, the weeks that followed had been without the fireworks of that day. Don had been making an effort to be more attentive and she had adjusted the division of her time between her two lovers. Bridget sighed. She didn't want to try counting the number of times she had used the word fair over the last few weeks. Folding her arms on the top of the couch, Bridget put down her head. It seemed like fair meant everyone including her was a little unhappier.

Walking out of the room they used as a shared home office, Don looked over at Bridget. She hadn't noticed him coming out yet. She looked very melancholy, which wasn't unusual. He hoped that he could cheer her up with what he had been researching online. He went into the kitchen and made a couple of cups of her favorite herbal tea. He saw her look over at him as she heard the noises. She gave him a little smile.

Picking up both cups, Don wandered into the living room and sat down with Bridget. She picked up the tea and blew on it lightly for a moment. She smiled again. This time it had a little more warmth.

"Thanks, Sweetie. This is just the thing for a dreary day," she said as she looked back outside. It wasn't like her to get down from the weather but this year was different in so many ways. This was just one.

"I have something else that might be an antidote for dismal weather," Don said with a smile. He reached up and pulled a roll of paper that he had been carrying under his arm. It was a little wrinkled and he tried to smooth it as he put it down on the coffee table. Bridget looked down at it.

The first page was obviously an advertisement for a resort somewhere tropic. Taking another glance, Bridget realized it must be Hawaii. The resort was lovely and there were lots of pictures of sunny warm beaches. She looked up at Don with a quizzical expression on her face.

"I was thinking that we could go there next month. We both have a couple weeks of vacation and I calculated what it would cost for us to go there. It really isn't too bad and we would get two weeks of fun in the sun, away from all this. I think it would do us a world of good to get some time together away from all the distractions." Don smiled as he stopped talking.

Bridget looked down again. Her brain was moving very fast. It did look nice and she trusted Don when he said that they could afford it. He typically did a lot of research and would have been able to find the best deals. And she knew what he wanted out of the trip. It wasn't his fault that he was only able to see what he wanted, she thought. Her stomach felt unsettled all of a sudden. The last thing she wanted that day was a fight; and she frantically thought about how to talk to him without pushing his buttons. She didn't realize that she had closed her eyes, but Don did.

"Honey? What is it?" Don said. He wasn't even aware of how sharp the tone of his voice was.

Mentally Bridget shook her head. "There's no avoiding this, is there?" she thought to herself. She took another moment to think before looking at him.

"Don, this looks great. I think a couple of weeks in Hawaii would be fun," Bridget told him.

"But ..." Don said in that same way.

"Sweetie, I get two weeks of vacation all year. I haven't been there long enough to start earning more. If I go to Hawaii with you for two weeks, then ..." Bridget paused for a moment. She knew what she had to say and she also guessed the reaction. "... then I won't be able to go on vacation with Sian. I can't do that to her." She looked at him in the eyes. "I want to spend time like this with her too, just like I do with you. I want to be ..."

"Fair," Don finished the sentence for her. "Yeah, I've gotten that." He hadn't even really thought about that and he was kicking himself. He didn't want to fight either and he was struggling to not let his temper get the better of him. He leaned back against the back of the couch as he took a couple of deep breaths. "Honey, I just think it would be good for our marriage to have extended time together. Things needs some ... maintenance," he said quietly. If he could just focus on that then maybe he could keep it together, he thought.

Reaching out, Bridget put her hand on his. "I know. And I already told you I like the idea. And getting away for two weeks would be nice." A thought occurred to her and she blurted it out without thinking about it. As soon as she did, she realized it was a mistake.

"Maybe Sian could come along and stay on the other side of the resort. When she and I are together, you could do those things that I don't have interest in, like diving," Bridget trailed off as she saw Don's face lose its expression. "Oh shit," she thought.

"I so wasn't suggesting that you bring your lover on our romantic getaway vacation, Bridget!" Don said hotly. "What part of working on our marriage didn't you understand? How is that possible when the thing that is getting in between us is right there?" Don stopped talking and glared at Bridget.

His words stung Bridget. For the first time, Don had really put it out there that Sian was straining their marriage. Before she knew he thought that way but he hadn't said it to her. Bridget didn't need him to say it. She already knew it but she also didn't know what to do about it. But more than that, he was right that she hadn't even considered what he was trying to do with the vacation. He made an offer of something to help them and she had stepped on it. Bridget let out a long sigh. "Fuck," she thought. "Could I have screwed this up anymore?"

Looking up at Don, Bridget nodded. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."