Secret Wednesdays

She had many secrets, most of which she kept because of the pain they produced. She kept them hidden in a dark corner of her mind. If she kept them hidden they would not return later in life to haunt her.

A quick glance at the clock and she noticed she was late. Someone would be waiting on her in less than an hour. That someone she would meet was one of her many secrets. She meets him every Wednesday by the old covered bridge in the next town. From there they would walk thru the woods to his secluded cabin. Her husband Mark knew nothing of this secret meeting. That’s the way they both wanted to keep it.

She got in her car and as she was driving she recalled the way her husband Mark had treated her after they were married. He was a loving and considerate man. Over the years since they were married the man she loved and had married seem to vanish right before her eyes. Although she still loved him the need to be caressed and loved back was much stronger than her fidelity. Mark was a so called executive of a secretive company and this took up much of his time and energy. Of course, he still had the sexual desires as any man does, but without the time for any other activities she had loved and enjoyed with him, it was plain and simply sex for her. This was why she had gone astray; it wasn’t for sexual gratification, for if that was all she wanted she got it from Mark. Luke on the other hand was very different from her husband. He gave her all of himself which in turn make the sex enjoyable to her.

All of the attention Luke gives her seems to supply the lasting strength to make it through another week of torture Mark puts her through at home. She sometimes wished they could run away together, just the two of them. This way they could spend all their days and nights together. It just didn’t seem to be enough, Wednesdays, the weekly fling between them seem to be more than she could stand sometimes. She constantly dreamed of Luke holding her all through the night. The safety and loving caress of his arms around her, the time spent just talking and learning about each other. This was although a dream, Mark would never let her leave. After all she held in the back corner of her mind not only her secrets but one of her husband’s darkest secrets. No, he would never let her go; there was no need to dream about it for she knew it would only make her crazy. She was stuck with Mark; perhaps this was her cross to bear for what she had done.

She parked across the street across from the covered bridge. Before getting out of the car, a quick glance around was always needed to maintain her secret. She had to make sure no one she knew was around to witness the Secret Wednesday meeting with her lover. Although this town was a two hour drive from her home, caution was always needed to assure both of their safety. Her heart sank when she thought of what Mark would do if he ever caught them together.

When she exited the car her heart was fluttering when she looked up at the bridge and seen Luke standing poised there. He had a loving smile on his face. With one more look around she proceeded toward him. The anxiety building up within her was almost unbearable. She had waited on this moment all week and now it was time. They would only have six short hours but all six would be well spent.

2


As she walked closer, she felt as if her entire body was shaking. Then he spoke softly to her. She thought she would faint when he said, “hello beautiful”. The honesty in his voice seemed so right to her. He had a deep yet loving voice, whenever he spoke to her it gave her chills. She replied, “hello handsome”.. Without any other words they both turned to walk across the rustic old covered bridge. When they came to the pathway to his cabin a few feet away where the huge trees and lush undergrowth of the forest hid them away from the world, he strongly but tenderly took her in his arms. She knew for sure if he hadn’t held her up she would be on the ground. She melted into his arms. He looked deeply into her green eyes, she gazed back into his. ‘Why are you shaking so”, he said to her with a true concern. “Is something wrong my love” he said. Nothing’s wrong she replied. She was ashamed to tell him she was shaking from just the thought of him. She had longed for his touch all week and now she was shaking from the simple excitement of his arms around her. The feelings which she had never experienced all at once, usually these feelings only came one at a time. They were all bound together; this made her feel so out of control the feelings of, love, longing, excitement, dread, hate, and anxiety, they were overwhelming her. When at last came the long awaited kiss, she knew her heart would explode it was beating so fast. Then all at once as quickly as the feelings appeared all but one had vanished. The one feeling she had now was a deep aching, an aching and yearning to make love to Luke. After all, 6 days is a long time to be apart from someone you love so deeply. He took her by the hand and led her to the cabin. ‘I have something to show you, it’s a surprise” he said. As they walked down the long and winding pathway she wondered what surprise he would have for her this week. As they drew closer to the beautiful log cabin with its huge front porch which went around the corner to the bedroom, she could hear a whimper. She knew very well the whimper was coming from, something she longed for but could not have, a puppy.

Mark would not allow animals of anykind, he didn’t like them and they usually felt the same about him. Therefore animals of any kind were banded from their home. As soon as Luke opened the door, the small ball of fur tumbled out onto the porch. She picked him up hugging him she said I love him so much. He’s such a little cutie. Luke said, “He’s a Golden Retriever and you get the job of naming him. She looked up at Luke and said I think we should name him Wednesday. They both laughed as they entered the cabin. As Luke shut the door behind her he took the puppy from her and sat him on the floor. The he lifted her up and carried her over to the oversized sofa. As Luke tried to lie on the couch beside her his height made it uncomfortable for him. He was 6’4” this was a big height difference for she was only 5’3”. She thought her husband was tall but Luke would tower over him. Mark was 6” and handsome, but sometimes when you got to know someone they were not as handsome as you first thought. Luke wasn’t a bad looking man at all, but if you got to know him, he was the most beautiful person you would ever meet.

The puppy made his way over to the makeshift bed in the corner of the room, and with a small thump he lay down and went directly to sleep. “Too much excitement already”, she said. He put his arms around her tightly and pulled her close to him. This is what she really longed for, connecting to someone, being held and truly loved. This is something Mark hasn’t had time for, he is always too busy. To him such as this is a waste of time and energy. Therefore, this is where she got her attention, every Wednesday just the two of them. It was times such as this, the time with Luke that really made life seem worth living; it always made her feel whole again, something which she had been searching for. Since she had met Luke life had changed for her, she wouldn’t take anything for their time together. She wouldn’t want to go on if she didn’t have Luke; it just wouldn’t be worth it.

3

As they lay there embracing each other as they did most of their time together, they caught up on the time they had lost with each other. She never understood why Luke wanted to know what she had been up to during their time apart; she thought she was a boring person. Why would anyone want to know about her? Luke’s week was always filled with adventures but hers was a dull existence. Luke had money and lots of time on his hands to spend it. He had no wife or kids to consume his time so he kept himself busy in other ways. They money he has was left to him by his parents, his father owned a Company in New York and in his senior years sold the company so he could retire and be with his wife. She had spent years waiting on him to retire so they could travel and be together. He was always away on business. When the company was sold they took a second honeymoon to Canada. His father had his own jet so the day the business was sold they packed up and set off for a two month stay in Canada. On the way there was a terrible accident. The jet crashed and both were killed. Luke always hated the fact they never got to spend the time together which his mother had longed for. She deserved the time with her beloved husband of 45 years. He always knew his father spent too much time working and not enough with his mother. But she was a very patient woman he would say. Sometimes patience does not pay, take what you have and don’t put it off, not for love or money, for life is too short to precede in life waiting until the time is right to do what you really desire to do. Luke inherited 9 million dollars from his parent’s estate. The sad thing was as much in love as they were money couldn’t buy what he wanted the most. He couldn’t buy her freedom from Mark, so what use was it to him. Luke often told her with his money they could leave together and never be found by no one not even Mark. She simply did not believe it. He would hunt them down to the end of the world if he had to. All Luke had was Wednesday just like her. He would travel and see places he wanted to go, but never was he away on Wednesday he never missed their time together.

After an hour of catching up on their time spent apart Luke got up and led her through the kitchen to the back yard where he had sat up a picnic for them. He got the basket from the table and followed her out. As she sat on the quilt he sat up lunch for them. He had even had candles and wine glasses for them. As he sat everything up she got pleasure out of watching him, it never mattered what he was doing. It gave her some kind of peace just having her eyes on him, it soothed her inside, took away all the pain of the past. For lunch they had chicken, potatoes and wine. They finished and she said “that was the best meal I had all week”. “My compliments to the cook” she said laughing. “I will be sure to tell the Cook” he said. She looked at her watch, only four hours left she thought. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong, did you not enjoy the picnic?” he said. “No” she replied, “There is only four hours left”. Luke stood up and took her hand then he led her back into the house through the kitchen then the den, where the puppy was still fast asleep on the towel. He took her into his arms and said, “Don’t waste the time we have together by dreading what is to come.” He laid her gently onto his bed and lay beside her. “You know I love you very much and my offer still stands.” She shook her head, she was afraid to talk afraid she would begin to cry and not be able to stop. He gently took off her pink sweater, then the shorts, he always undressed her so tenderly. The loving tenderness in his touch was enough to achieve what took her husband an hour. She knew Luke had never been with many women, but what he did to her was nothing she had ever experienced before. She often wondered why he never married. Most of the time when his mother was alive he spend countless days taking her places trying to make up for times his father spent away from her. His father never had much time for his mother and he knew she was a lonely person. There was one woman in Luke’s life but come to find out she only wanted Luke’s fortune. She got sent on her way three years ago not long after she and Luke met. Luke knew she did not want his money, she felt the same as he did in the regards to money. Neither of them cared for it much. As long as they were happy, they didn’t care if they were living in a tent along a nice quite stream, which in fact would be a dream for both.

It was sometimes hard to hold her composure when they made love. He never jumped into it like Mark. Luke took the time to give her every pleasure she longed for; time was not an issue with him. Sometimes she felt as if she could not wait any longer before they made love, she would want to scream, the excitement, pleasure and intensity was unbelievable sometimes. Then just when she could not bear any more, the moment when their bodies met, the intensity was enough to make the heavens shake; sometimes she thought it did shake the heavens. This moment should never be denied to anyone on this earth. It definitely should not be denied to people in love as much as they were. When they had both been satisfied they were week and shaking, holding each other as if it would be the last. As they lay two people in love made whole by love, speaking tenderly to each other her dreadful feeling came again, this would occur several times before the day was over and they had to part. Was it the love they shared that made it last or the feelings building up for the previous week? She did not care which it was she always enjoyed it, even if it was once a week it would be a Godsend for her.

Luke got up and went into the other room, as she turned over she noticed the clock on the nightstand beside her. Only two hours left with her precious lover. When Luke came back into the room he was carrying the wine glasses from earlier, he sat them on the nightstand and turned the clock down on it face. “That’s enough of the time keeping” he said. She sat up in the bed beside him and took the wine glass; she took a sip then leaned over to Luke and kissed him. “I love you so much it sometime hurts, and it always hurts to be away from you so long,” she said. “You must not think of how little time we have together, it makes it go so much faster, just cherish when we are together and it will always seem to last longer,” he replied.



As the time neared the dreaded departure they dressed. They could not seem to be able to touch each other enough to satisfy the lonely week ahead of them. “Please take me up on my offer, anywhere you would like to go, it will be arranged.” He said. She looked up into his blue eyes, they were truthful eyes. “No” she replied. The thought of what Mark would do to her beloved Luke, it was to risky, a chance they could not take. “We could never go far enough to hide from him, he would catch us” she began crying. Luke held her close to him, “Please don’t cry” he said. It kills me to see you like this. What if I could arrange it so it would be impossible for him to come after us? I could hire someone no one would ever….”Stop” she cried, I will not put you into that position anyway, it wouldn’t matter he would have others come after us. There would only be one way to stop him and I would never want you involved in something of that nature. “O.k., I won’t bring it up again, I just miss you so much while you are away” he said. She knew this was hard on Luke, she knew how tormented he was about his father being away so much. He really wanted a wife and children. He had mentioned children on more than on occasion. She deeply wanted children too, but for years she begged Mark for children. He always told her he did not have the time to bring up children and it would be for the best if they had no children. It was about a year after this conversation things went wrong at home and since that day she was physically unable to have children. Mark knew of this and knew she could never have children, since he had found this out he never mentioned it again. So this whole situation was unfair to her beloved Luke.

Maybe we should stop seeing each other, it’s really not for the best, she said. How can you say that, the past three years have been the best of my life? There is nothing I want more than you. You really must believe that, he said. With a look of solitude in her eyes she said, I would only want one thing more than you that is for you to be happy either with or without me. I only want what would be best for you. My life has already been shattered but yours has not. You can go on free, free from any guilt or shame. I love you so much, I could never put into words and I could never show you how much I do. That’s why I want what would be best for you; this is why I would let you go because I love you so much she said weeping.

No more words of this he said, it torments you too much. I just want to be with you and love you, forever. I could never want anything more than you, he said. After a few moments had passed she regained her composure and pulled away from him. I have to go now, I have to go back. If Mark gets there and I am out he will come looking for me. He pulled her back close to him and whispered in her ear, please don’t be upset everything will work out and one day we will be together forever, you will see. She held him so tightly; she felt she could never be close enough to him.

As they walked back into the den Luke noticed the front door was open. He looked back at her and gave a confusing smile and said, we must of really gotten carried away we never shut the door. She looked over to the corner where the puppy was lying earlier; he was still there sound asleep. She turned back toward Luke, no she replied you closed the door I remember you doing so. Her mind started racing, could someone have been here and seen them together? A sudden rush of fear ran through her body which caused her to shake inside. What if Mark had followed her here and found out about Luke and their secret Wednesday’s they spent each week. Luke looked into her eyes, “what is wrong did you see a ghost” he chuckled. No she replied, what if ….Before she could finish he said, “no one has been here I know what you are thinking and it’s not possible. We took every precaution we always do.” She still did not feel good about the entire situation; it seemed odd, she had definitely recalled Luke closing the door.

5

On the way out the front door and onto the pathway back to the bridge they walked closely holding hands. This was the part she hated and dreaded all week leaving the man she loved so much to return home to be with a man so cold and uncaring. How could this be why was she being so punished in this life, the entire thing made her feel sick inside. Going back to Mark was a torment but leaving her beloved Luke was worse than anything God could ever do to her. The only thing she could hold onto now was her Wednesday’s with Luke. As they reached the end of the pathway within sight of the road they parted from each other as usual. There would be no passionate kisses, no touching the man she truly and deeply loved for another week.

As they came across the old covered bridge he spoke softly to her, “I love you so much you will never know, I will only dream of you until our next visit together.” She turned to him and replied, I love you and I will see you next week. With all being said until their next meeting she turned and headed toward her care. When she reached the car she looked around to make sure there was no familiar people who might have see her. She opened the door and entered the car, then she looked up at the covered bridge where Luke stood she thought about going back to him, if she could only stay with him she thought, live would really be worth living once more.

While driving back she couldn’t help but think someone had been there in the cabin. She couldn’t recall anything out of place when she looked around. Maybe Luke was right, he must of just forgot to close the door but she specifically remembered him closing the door. I is possible she thought that the door was not completely closed and just came back open. Whatever it was she couldn’t keep worrying about it she had to get home before Mark or he would be upset and start in on the questioning.

As she pulled into the drive she felt relieved when Mark’s car wasn’t there. She went inside and immediately started dinner. If there was one thing Mark hated was coming home and no dinner on the table. This was just one of many chores she was to complete each day. She really longed to have a job but he wouldn’t stand for it. He wanted her home so he knew exactly where she was. She only left the house two days a week one to go to the market and on Wednesdays to meet her beloved Luke. Although of course Mark thought on Wednesdays she was at art class. She always came up with some type of class to enlist in on Wednesdays. This is how Luke and she meet in the first place. They were enrolled in an art class together and were naturally drawn to each other. Their personalities were so close they loved the same things and it wasn’t long before things just happened.

As she finished placing the silverware on the table she poured herself a glass of wine and proceeded to the den. She sat on the sofa and was looking at the pictures on the table beside her. As she was looking at the pictures of her and Mark together she was noticing her smile in the pictures. The older pictures when they once in love there was a woman who at one time was happy and proud of her husband. As she looked at the newer pictures a lot had changed. The woman in these pictures seemed lonely and tormented, actually unhappy to be with this man. It seemed to her they had been married forever but in fact they had only gotten married 5 years ago. Funny she thought how rapid things can change. Mark was once a caring and giving person, but now he was a truly evil and hateful man. A man she could hardly bear to be around, most of the time she stayed away from him in another part of the house just so she could get some peace. He was constantly yelling at her about something it was slowly killing her but either he didn’t realize or did not care what he was doing to her. She was once a spirited and happy person full of life but Mark had taken all of that from her. Now her only hope was her Wednesdays with Luke but there too Mark controlled her for at 4pm sharp she had to leave the one thing in her life that truly mattered and return home to him. He had taken everything in life from her, her freedom, her spirit, her love and her peace within herself. It was scary to think what else he could take from her but then again what else mattered in life.

6

She heard the door open then shut. He was here her peace for the day had abruptly ended with the closing of the door. As she made her way back to the kitchen her stomach sank the dread of being around Mark had become an everyday occurrence for her over the past three years. As she neared the entryway to the kitchen she heard an unfamiliar voice. She entered the kitchen where there was a strange man standing beside Mark. Mark looked coldly as always at her and said. “Rebecca meet Lou a good friend of mine, we have some things to discuss tonight and would like to be left alone. “Pleased to meet you Rebecca”, Lou replied as he looked her up and down. This made her very uncomfortable for two reasons one was the smirk on his face when he looked at her and the other reason was she never liked for anyone to look at her at all much less like that. She only nodded her head and proceeds to set another place at the table. Before she was finished Mark said to her, “did you not hear what I said?” We have things to discuss you need to go upstairs and eat we need to be alone. She took up the place setting and placed it back into the cabinet. Then she turned to Mark and said, if you need anything else let me know I will be upstairs. Mark replied, close the door on your way out. With all being said she proceeded upstairs to her bedroom. She wasn’t really hungry anymore after Mark came home all was lost including her appetite. She didn’t want to hear what was being discussed anyway; it was all business and bad business at that. She wanted no part of it. She only wished she have never found out anything about Marks dealings anyway she could of slept a lot better at night not knowing the problems he caused in others lives and the grief these people must of faced because her husband. She wished she could just go ahead and get a nice hot bath and retire for the night. But if Mark wanted anything she would be called upon. So she just decided to sit in her room and read. As she sat down she heard a crash in the hallway downstairs. She returned back down the steps and seen Mark standing there. He had turned over a table which her most beloved music box was sitting. This was a beloved item of hers; she had received it from her father on her wedding day. He always told her that whenever she felt alone during her life after he had passed on that she could play the music box and think of him and how much he loved her. Tears came to her eyes as she proceeded to the pieces lying on the hardwood floor. Mark apologized to her in his own uncaring way and told her to bring them some more wine. She stopped picking up the pieces of the music box and proceeded to the kitchen to do as he asked. She took the bottle into the dining room and shut the door upon her exit. She couldn’t help but over hear them as the conversation proceeded between the two men. Lou said “I have visited the client you asked me to. He is residing a couple of hours from here. You are correct he has quite a large amount of assets including one which may be of much interest to you.” Mark replied, “What other than money could be of any interest to me?” “Well that will only be shared after we have reached an agreement on my payment for this job. I will tell you this while I was at his cabin today there is a woman he is involved with and this friend will be revealed to you only if the price is right.” Lou replied. She felt as though she would faint where she stood, could this be who was at the cabin, could this be who left the door open. Or is it only her imagination running away with her. Then Mark spoke again as she picked up the last piece of the broken music box. “Luke Withers money will be mine and it is no concern to me who he is seeing, although this could serve us well as ransom. Actually this is the winning ticket, do you think he is truly attached and loves this woman. If so all we must do is take her and he would pay any price we ask for her. He gets the woman he loves and we get our money. Lou said he would check this out, he would watch the meetings but he had only seen this woman there on Wednesdays so it would be next week before he could have more details. Mark said that the only catch is both would need to be extinguished to insure their safety. Lou agreed. Rebecca quickly returned to the kitchen with the music box, she couldn’t breath her heart was pounding so hard she felt as though her life would end right there. She quickly ran through everything again in her mind and knew she would need to go to Luke tomorrow to tell him the awful things she had overheard.

Mark opened the door to the dining room and she quickly regained her composure as the two evil men came into the room with her. She stood against the counter for she felt as though she would fall into the floor at any minute. Lou immediately made eye contact with her as he rounded the corner, she noticed the smirk on his face this was just another confirmation to what she had overheard. She kept her head held high as he greeted her good evening and she went to the dining room to clean the dishes before she retired. Mark walked Lou to the door as she left the kitchen. She wanted to cry she was frightened and felt as if she had gotten her beloved Luke into this mess. She wanted badly just to go to him tonight but she knew this was impossible.