Just Perfect..

I wake up in the morning to find that Terry is still gone; it does worry me to no end not knowing where he went off to, but I know he can handle himself alright. I spend the day tryin' to keep my mind off our argument, but I keep thinkin' about the way Terry looked when he stormed out of the bar. I just don't understand why he could think he means nothin' to me all on account of a silly picture.

With Coby, Lisa, and Mikey off at the Bellefleur mansion until tomorrow morning, since Terry's family offered to watch my kids while Terry and I work, I hop in the shower and get ready a couple hours early before work so I can do a few errands. I wash my hair and scrub up; I stay in the shower a little longer than intended, but I still got time to do what I need to do.

Since I left the bathroom door open, when I step out of the shower, I can hear a quiet knocking on the front door. Muttering a few choice words, I throw on my robe and walk out of the bathroom and to the front door. Wishing I had a peephole I could look through to see who is knocking, I slowly crack open the front door and look out. I gasp when I see who it is.



Heath is standing at my front door with those gray-blue eyes of his. "What are you doin' here?" I ask him, not opening the door any further.

"I just came to talk and to see my kids, Arlene."

The last time he "just wanted to talk" I turned up pregnant a month later. "Coby and Lisa aren't here, they're at some family's house." I sigh, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, that's too bad," he says. "I just wanted to explain some things to you and to catch up on what I've missed. I would like to know my kids, Arlene, and I'd like to..." He drifts off and looks around tryin' to find the right words. "I'd like for us to be friends again, Arlene."

"Yea, I heard that before." I sigh. "Give me a minute," I say to him and shut the door in his face. I walk to my room and pull out some clothes to put on. And, once dressed, I walk back to the front door and open it. "Come in," I gesture towards the couch. Since we were only able to get a couch and no chairs, I either had to stand or sit next to him. Figurin' there couldn't be much harm, and not wantin' to stand, I sit on the couch beside him. But, I was far enough away from him so he couldn't get any ideas. We begin talkin' about Coby and Lisa, and how life has been since he left. I'm a little uneasy since Terry had just expressed being upset and insecure about Heath because of that picture, but since Terry is not here right now, I don't see the harm. It ain't like I'm doin' anythin', we're just talkin'.

Terry slept at Fort Bellefleur that night, he looked up at the stars and talked to the heavens asking for some kind of sign of what to do. The night was quiet, he felt bad for yelling at Arlene, but he was hurt. He knew there had to be a reason, more than she said for why she kept the picture. After all they'd been through maybe she realized he wasn't worth it. Truth was he didn't deserve her and he knew it. Maybe now she realized it too. Sleep finally found him that night, but it was restless.

The morning sun woke him up, rubbing his eyes he sat up and looked around at the Fort he used to come to when things got tough. Same place he took his cousin Andy to sober him up. It had healing effects he thought. He had to make things right with Arlene, there was a hole inside his heart where she belonged. Hating to argue with her, maybe she was telling the truth. Maybe he was wrong. He grabbed his duffle bag and stood, retrieving his keys from his pocket as he tossed the duffle in the passenger side of the truck. He was going home where he belonged, they'd get through this...he over reacted.

A smile came to his face when he pulled up, quickly vanishing when he saw another car there. He didn't recognize it and it had Georgia plates. Who the heck did they know from Georgia?? Walking up the steps, he opened the door and spoke, "Arle--" Once he turned after shutting the door, he stopped dead in his tracks. His fists clenched at his sides when his words were cut off. There he sat, next to his wife...Arlene's ex-husband that was in the picture. "Am I interruptin'? Should I leave?"

Terry startles me when he comes in the door and I jump. It breaks my heart when I see the expression on his face when he sees Heath sitting here, I know what he must think. I try to show Terry nothin' is goin' on by introducing him to Heath. "Terry, honey, this is Hea-" Terry's expression pulls me up short, and I stop talking, knowin' now it ain't doin' any good. I wish I could get Terry to see he ain't got nothin' to worry about. I think Heath knows better than to say anything, though I can tell a couple times that he'd like to.

He scowled at her as his eyes darted from Heath to Arlene. She stood and tried to introduce him all calmly and sweet. Her hair was in a towel but she was dressed. Had something happened before he got here? He shook his head and stepped forward, giving Heath a look very hard, very threatening like. Heath stood and held his hands up. "Hey man, I just came to talk to Arlene. Who are you? Terry...aren't you Andy's cousin...the crazy one?" Heath chuckled and looked at Arlene. "You married him?" With that he rushed up to Heath and grabbed him by his shirt with both hands and swung him until his back hit the wall. "Look here, I'm not crazy, but I sure can become crazy real quick. Wanna see?" His eyes were mad with anger and craze, he lost control.

I shriek when Terry grabs Heath. Panicky, I tell Heath he better go. He looks over at me as if I was supposed to defend him, like I'd choose my ex over my husband. I can tell Terry's rage is boilin' over, it scares me since I ain't seen Terry this angered before. Heath says he'll go, and Terry lets releases him. After Heath walks out the front door, Terry turns towards me with so much anger and hurt in his eyes, and I just wanna grab him and tell him he is all wrong and nothin' is what he is thinkin' it to be. But, instead I stand there and watch as Terry turns around and walks off, grabbing his bag and going out the front door. I sigh, realizing I needed to leave for work, so keeping the tears in, I leave for the bar.