A Paradoxical Affair

Carla Dixon pulled her sliver Miata into the parking lot of the Twin Pines Motel and turned off the headlights and wipers. She closed her eyes lowered her head. She was about to throw away her marriage of twenty four years for a man she’d never met. Carla was so tense she couldn’t move. She looked down at her hands on the wheel and saw that they were still at ten and two o’clock.

Slowly she peeled her fingers from the wheel and noticed the freckles on her arm. She thought of how her father used to draw imaginary lines with his finger connecting them into shapes. He had died of a heart attack when she was twelve years old. Tears came flooding in with the same intensity as the rain outside. Carla could barely make out the flashing red vacancy sign in the motel window. She worried that if this didn’t work out she would wind up all alone again.

She leaned back and put her head against the soft leather seat. She took in a large gulp of fresh mountain air letting the strong scent of pine linger before letting out a slow exhale. She looked in the rear view mirror and brushed her hair behind her ears. She noticed that her eyes were almost as red as her hair. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing,” she asked. Carla stared at the swollen eyes looking back hat her expecting an answer.

The hypnotic drum of rain took her back to the argument with her husband Stan a few months ago. She had just walked in the door and was standing in the hallway. His face scrunched into a scowl, arms crossed and feet planted firmly, like a large troll guarding a bridge.

“You work too damn hard,” he said. “I made dinner over an hour ago. We haven’t had dinner together in months.”

Her new position was very demanding, but the last straw had been when she refused to go away for a weekend. Stan threw up his hands, shook his head and stormed into the den slamming the door behind him. That was the last time they spoke. She tried to work at home more hoping he would eventually come around, but he never did. It was Stan now that was never home.

Startled by the sound of a car horn, Carla wiped the tears from her eyes as she looked outside. The rain had stopped and she could see the motel is in dire need of repairs and had been for some time. There is trash everywhere and the wood underneath the pealing paint had signs of weather damage. The railing on one side of the stairs was broken and dangled free. It did not look safe and Carla doubted that OSHA even knew this place existed. She noticed a light was on in room 134, the room that Thor917 was in.

Carla wondered why he wanted to meet at this dilapidated old motel. Surely after a few months of on-line chatting he knew she would prefer the Hilton. Carla never meant for this to be more than harmless on line flirting, but over the months it had grown as her marriage crumbled. She didn’t want to be alone, so here she was, sitting outside a rundown motel ready to run away with a man she barely knew. Although she had just met him she felt an immediate connection, as if she knew him forever. In some ways he reminded her of Stan. She felt her mood lift at the thought of being happy again. She smiled as she reflected on some of the things that Thor917 wrote to her.

Carla straightened up and looked in the rear view mirror. She wiped the smudged mascara from under her eyes then opened the car door. Taking a deep breath she grabbed her handbag off the seat next to her and stepped out. She stood next to the car for a moment smoothing out the wrinkles of her slacks. Combing her fingers through her thick hair, she walked towards room 134.

Stopping just outside motel room, Carla reached into her handbag and pulled out her phone. She thought of calling Stan but then deciding against it. She snapped the phone closed just as the door to room 134 opened. Carla looked up and gasped bringing her hand to her mouth. She fumbled with the phone nearly dropping it as she took a few steps back. There in the doorway stood Stan.

“Stan!” she said. “What are you doing here?

He had his hand propped against the door frame looking down at her like a muscular statue beautifully chiseled out of stone. His eyes were as dark as coal and she realized just how handsome he really was.
“Carla, I am Thor917.”
“What?” Carla stood frozen eyes wide and unblinking. Her knees started to shake as the color drained from her face. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Carla, I’m sorry I had to deceive you, but I couldn’t get you to listen to me. You were never home and when you were home you were either on that damn computer or we were arguing. I had no choice dear. I had to reach you somehow.”
“Stan, I’m so sorry. I had no idea how bad it was until you were gone. I missed you Stan. So, where do we go from here?”
“First you come in and we talk. But you must agree to listen and not interrupt. And no arguing?”
She look down at the ground, “Okay.”
Stan moved out of the doorway gesturing for her to enter. “There is a lot we have a lot to talk about, but I believe we can fix this.”
“I would like that.” Carla stepped into the room. “So you couldn’t pick the Hilton, huh?” She looked at Stan with a half smile as he shook his head and closed the door.