Free Yours Unfaithfully by Geraldine C. Deer

demanded, “Where is McDonalds?” ...as an afterthought he added, “please.”
    “Well, I expect they’ll have gone to the big one by Sainsbury’s, that’s the one we always use, you can’t never park at the one by the station,” said one woman to the other, ignoring Tim.
    “Please... can you tell me the quickest way to get to it?”
    The woman began again, still addressing her friend rather than Tim.
    “Well, I’d go out of here and turn left, down to the roundabout, go right round, then down past B & Q and turn into the car park for Sainsbury’s. Or he could go along the dual carriageway and over the railway; he’ll see McDonalds then, won’t he?”
    “Thanks”. Tim left before they could debate the relative merits of another route.
    He drove out of the school, turning left as instructed. Two minutes later he was at the roundabout. Did she say first turning? Go right round she’d said – what does that mean? I’ll end up going back the way I came. Just then he saw a Sainsbury’s lorry coming towards him, so that had to be the road to go down. Within seconds he saw McDonalds. Frantically he searched for his wife’s white Mondeo, but it wasn’t there. He hurried inside, desperately hoping to find them, but he already knew they’d left.
    Despondently he trudged back to his van to start the journey home. The Westcombe Road traffic was just as bad in the homeward direction. What had started out as a rotten day had steadily deteriorated into a disaster. His sense of loss at having missed James’s piano performance and missing out on eating with them now made him inconsolable. He tried Mel’s phone again but it went straight to answerphone. He felt sick at the thought of spending another hour to get home. He’d succeeded in wasting a day, a precious day he could have spent with Melanie, with James and with Amy and instead he’d spent it alone. He hadn’t even made it to the playing field to watch Henry kick a ball about with his mates.
    At ten to six he walked in the kitchen door, starving hungry and as fed up as he could be. The Mondeo was on the drive, so at least he could spend the rest of the evening with them. He forced a weak smile when he saw Melanie.
    “Good of you to show your face before you disappear down the pub,” she said.
    “Hey slow down Mel, I’ve had a terrible day, at least let me explain.”
    “Explain what? Did Ben beat you at pool or something, I suppose that’s where you’ve been all day, right?”
    “No, wrong actually Mel, wrong, bloody wrong, listen ...please! After you’d left I wished I’d come with you. Nina told me you’d gone to Westcombe – this was after I’d cleared up the place a bit – so then I drove over to the school hoping to get there in time to hear James play, but the traffic was horrendous. Then I went to McDonalds to look for you, you know, the one by Sainsbury’s, but you’d already left and then I got stuck in the bloody traffic again trying to get home. I’m totally pissed off but at least we’re together now.”
    Melanie knew by the look on his face that his anguish was genuine. She felt a small measure of compassion for him even though it was entirely his fault.
    “We didn’t go to McDonalds. I wanted a few things in Sainsbury’s so we ate in there. The traffic was bad but we’ve been in for over an hour, so you were much too late to have seen James play. He was brilliant. His music teacher is recommending him for a big schools concert in London later this year. You should’ve been there, I was so proud; honestly it brought tears to my eyes.”
    This was just what Tim didn’t want to hear. Not only had he missed the performance but it was a very special performance. He sank into his arm chair and reflected on his day. What now? ‘I’m so sorry Mel, I wish I’d got up earlier, I wish you’d asked me to come with you.’
    “Tim, I’ve asked you fifty times, but you’re always too busy fixing someone’s car or doing whatever