31 Chapter 31: Soul Mates, Part 5

He sat in the driver's seat, dazed. My God, he thought, can I do this? He looked down at his waist, a waist that was just now approaching what he deemed presentable. Could he allow any chance of becoming that butterball again? No way, he decided, no way in Hell.

He pressed the garage door remote and turned the ignition key simultaneously. The clanking of the closing door drowned out the starter. He stepped inside the house, and listened. He could not hear the engine at all.

He had attempted to forge a suicide note, but he could not make it sound authentic. Perhaps it was just as well; his wife had put on such a show at the musical that people would believe anything. He ventured up the stairs, wondering how to convince her to go to sleep.

Denise roosted in the center of their bed, wearing a little red nothing that was three sizes too small. It cut pink lines into her shoulders. She held two glasses of champagne. She fluttered her eyelashes, and held out the one in her left hand.