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seen from Russia
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seen from Maldives
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When Poppy arrived, Clay was already there with a bottle of Jack Daniels, her favorite. She knew she had to tell him it was over. But, when he came over and kissed her, it wasn’t long before they had moved to the bed.
POPPY- “This has to stop Clay. I am not leaving Marco, I am not destroying my family.”
CLAY - “Shhhh, let’s not talk about it right now, okay. I understand. We need to just enjoy this night, if it is really going to be our last.”
POPPY - “It has to be.”
POPPY- “I said I would call you later. No, I am not saying it. We are not teenagers. NO! I am not... Okay then if I say will you hang up? I love you too. Now goodbye...”
POPPY- “MARCO!? How long have you been standing there listening?
MARCO- “Long enough. Who was that Poppy?”
POPPY- “Marco, I do not need to tell you everyone I am talking on the phone with.”
MARCO- “If you are telling them that you love them, I think I do.”
POPPY - “It was no one, Marco. My cousin Debbie...
MARCO - “Don’t lie to me, Poppy. We have been married for ten years and not once have you mentioned your “Cousin Debbie”... It was Clay, wasn’t it? “
(There will be no post tomorrow due to the live stream / announcement)
You can tell by the packed bags, near the door, which option she chose. I knew it was over. I knew it was over for a while, I just was hoping against hope. For the kid’s sake if nothing else. But she made the choice, it seemed.
She went to kiss me goodbye, and I turned to give her my cheek. I wish I would have kissed her and held her and told her not to go but to stay. If I would have, maybe...
MARCO - “Quit playing me the fool, Poppy. It is obvious you are having a thing with Clay. You haven’t had sex with me in at least five weeks. You are constantly working late, working out of town and you have your phone in your hand almost 24 / 7. Just stop hiding it and lying. It does not suit you.”
POPPY - “I am not playing you the fool, Marco.”
MARCO - “Then tell me who you were talking to just now.”
POPPY - Alright. Yes, it was Clay. It doesn’t mean anything. We are leaving for a weekend show tonight and I was going to break it off with him. I was hoping you wouldn’t find out.”
MARCO - “A show, yeah. Right. I tell you what. How about you go to this so-called show and do what you just said you were going to do, then we can discuss the next steps we need to take.”
POPPY - “What do you mean?”
MARCO - “If you HAVE to go to this show, then it is obviously not over, Poppy. One last rendezvous I suppose. You make the choice, leave with Clay tonight or not. That will determine the substance of the conversation we will entertain, when you return.”
About 2 am, Poppy was startled when she heard something or someone in the room. She flipped on the light and was immediately pulled from her bed. It only took a few minutes, but Poppy was now gone.
Life was never going to be the same for the Castro’s again.
One of the routines Poppy and I had was that she would help them with their homework in the evenings, while I would make dinner. But for some reason, Rosa was needing some help and Poppy wasn’t anywhere around...
MARCO - “Where is your mother, Rosa?”
ROSA - “I have no idea, her boss was here when we got off the bus and then she said she had to make a phone call, but that was a while ago.”
MARCO - “Okay, that’s fine, I can help with homework.”
A few minutes later I found Poppy in the study on the phone...
POPPY - “Fine, I can go, but not for the entire weekend. I know... Okay. I will call you later.”
That afternoon like every afternoon, Poppy got home right about the same time the twins did, and she greeted them at the door.
ROSA- Mama, someone is here to see you.
POPPY - Oh, Clay?? Okay kids go on inside I will be there in a minute.
POPPY - Clay, what are you doing here?
CLAY - You didn’t give me an answer about tomorrow evening.
POPPY- “I will give you an answer later, Okay? I need to see how things are here at home before I go out of town. Now go, Marco will be home anytime.
CLAY - I will wait for your call then.
As they headed out to catch the bus, I tried to give them each a goodbye kiss and they both made a face.
ROSA- Dad, please, no need to do that EVERY morning.
RAFE- Ewww, Dad, we are in second grade now.
When did they grow up???
They were fine with my goodbye kisses last week...
