Sophie and Paul drift apart

A Cold, Winter Night
It was late February. It was a very cold, crispy winter’s night. Their garden was dotted with the bare branches of trees. The stars were sparkling all bright and clear in the lucid dark, sinister winter sky. All was quiet in the night.
It had been another of those very tiresome days working on their book. As they were having dinner, they were both exhausted but also happy with the book’s progress. Sophie went on, 
“Paul we’ve had a few terrible adventures in our life journey, I mean the hospital, your mother, Alain and Robert, and now look how peaceful and happy we are,” 
“As the Greek expression goes life must have its salt-and-pepper,” Paul replied. 
“You’re right Paul,” 
Sophie continued, “If you don’t experience the rough times, then you can’t appreciate the nice days, it’s a bit like the story of the Odyssey.” 
 
The clock struck nine and then, just after that the front gate bell rung. 
“Who on earth can this be at this godly hour?” Sophie asked. Paul got up and went to the gate TV monitor. Bobby, the security guard was on the screen, 
“There is a certain Mrs. Maria Stergiou to see you, are you expecting her?” 
“Let me talk to her,” Paul answered. 
“I’m Maria, your old classmate from high school and I would like to talk to you,” she said, 
“Fine Bobby, let her in,” Paul said. 
“It is Maria something, a classmate of mine from high school and she wants to talk to me,” Paul explained to Sophie. 
“At this time of the night, did she call you before?” Sophie asked with surprise. 
“No, I have never seen or heard from her since graduation, I hardly remember her face,” Paul explained to Sophie, 
They were both very surprised with this visit but they were then even more shocked when they opened their home’s front door and saw that Maria had brought a young boy along with her. Paul shook hands with Maria who he could hardly recognize, and introduced his wife to Maria. Paul showed everyone to the den and John brought them all drinks. 
Maria’s hands were trembling as she started, 
“I have come here to talk you alone Paul,”
“That is out of the question because I share everything with my wife, as we are one you see,” Maria angrily persisted as she was waving her hands heatedly, but Paul just told her that either she would accept Sophie’s presence or she might as well leave the house immediately. 
“Fine,” Maria said “I will get straight to the point. We two went out twice in our senior year, and this is now your son Basil who is thirteen years old.”
 
Maria had worked as an accountant and had given birth at the age of seventeen to a son, Basil before her later marriage. Her goal in life was to locate Basil’s real father. She had already tried several possible of her boy friends at the time, but hadn’t found the one. As Robert was her last chance, she was very concerned that she would be successful this time.
 
 
There was silence in the room, and then Sophie and Paul called John and asked him for a second, stronger drink. Sophie’s face was all pale as she waited for Paul to answer. Paul held Sophie’s hand firmly and It didn’t take him long to get back as he said with a steady voice, 
“Look Maria, we only went out twice and I have always used precautionary measures, I’m sure of that because I have always been afraid of AIDS.” 
“I disagree and I am certain he is your son because of the timing,” Maria replied. Paul asked Maria with an angry voice as Sophie put her arms around him showing him her full support, 
“Why did it take you so many years to come to me and make this ridiculous claim?” Paul asked.
“Because, soon after I got married, my husband adopted Basil but now that he has grown up and matured, he wants to know who his real father is,” Maria replied. Sophie laughed at this incredible comment by Maria. Paul went on, 
”That sounds to me like a very far fetched story, but as I am a very responsible person here is what we’ll do, 
We will both call our lawyers and arrange that we have a meeting tomorrow afternoon and, also tomorrow morning you, Basil and me will go to the hospital and all take DNA tests,” 
Maria then called her lawyer as Paul moved to the bedroom to call William. 
“Look,” William advised Paul, 
“Her story is completely incredulous, she is obviously after your money, and I will right now talk to her lawyer. Paul moved back to the den and asked Maria to give him her lawyer’s cell-phone number so that William could talk to him. 
Maria and Basil then left slamming the door behind them. 
The lawyers’ discussion lasted half an hour and finally, William called Paul and informed him that Maria’s lawyer agreed to the reliable, two-month tests. 
“Good night and thank you so much William,” Paul said ending their conversation. 
 
Paul and Sophie sat side by side in front of the den’s fireplace. Sophie had put her arm around Paul and was warmly comforting him. 
“Don’t worry at all Paul, everything will be all right in the end. You have my full trust and I will support you with all my soul and might through all these two difficult months, it’s such a long time to wait. That’s why I’m here to support you through your all your tribulations just as you supported me when the horror stories of Robert, Alain and your mother scarred my life. Always remember we promised eternal and mutual trust from the very first day we fell in love. Now go to sleep worry free, I am always by your side holding your hand, good night.” 
Sophie held his hand through out the following day, she held his hand at the hospital with the DNA tests, and she held his hand at the frigid lawyers’ meeting where they only signed some papers and exchanged angry glances with Maria.
 
A week passed and as Sophie woke up and was walking to the bathroom, she realized she wasn’t feeling at all well. She looked herself in the mirror, saw her face and thought the eyes she could see her soul. She realized that some tiny thought in her mind was beginning to bother her, as she began to have doubts about Maria’s story. 
Why did it take Maria thirteen whole years to make her claim? Was Paul telling the truth or was he discussing this matter with Maria all along these past years? Did she make the claim now because Paul had just been married? 
She was torn inside and was in a severe depression when, suddenly thunder struck her. She did not believe Paul’s word when she had always promised him eternal trust, and she felt extreme remorse for her doings. She felt like a horrible person, a monster. The giant rift between her disbelief and breaking her eternal promise to trust Paul was unbearable. 
As she looked herself into the mirror the following day, she felt worse and every day as the drift grew larger and larger, she felt more torn inside and even more depressed. She was taking a step down towards the abyss every day and she felt hopeless. She stopped writing their book and read a novel instead; she asked her psychiatrist for extra medication and visited her psychologist-therapist ever more often. She had no appetite and lost weight, she refused to see her girlfriends giving excuses, but tried to act normal with Paul. However, as Paul looked into her deep blue eyes, he realized that the sparkle of her love was far-gone; he knew something was wrong but he didn’t want to say anything. Just as Sophie, he was keeping his problems deep inside himself, and it was the worse possible solution. 
They were gradually drifting apart as Sophie was mad at Paul suspecting he was not telling the truth and Paul was mad at Sophie because she had violated their mutual oath of eternal trust. He tried to divert his attention from the rift with Sophie by spending more time talking to Andreas, his Renova manager and concentrating on corporate work. 
 
After a month of horrifying suffering, Sophie had reached the pits and could not take it any longer. Although Sophie had had the terrible rift with her mother, Christie, they still remained friends – but on new terms now. As Sophie considered her mother very clever and an excellent advisor, she decided to call her mother, for advice. 
“Listen Sophie,” her mother told her “From what you have told me I cannot understand anything, but my advice is that you seek the opinion of our family lawyer, Mr. Petrides.”
“Thank you and goodbye mom,” Sophie hung up the phone and instantly dialed Petrides’s number in Patras. 
“I’m sorry he is in a meeting right now,” his secretary told her. 
“Well get him out right now this is urgent,” Sophie yelled. 
Petrides listened carefully and told her, 
“Listen Sophie, I think this story is probably a hoax but you should consider something. Greek Parliament passed the law allowing DNA test results as admissible evidence into the courts only a few months ago.” 
 
Sophie thanked him and although it was noon, poured herself a glass of vodka and collapsed into an armchair. She thought she had reached the low point of her life before calling her mother, but now she had dropped so further below and the rift in her soul was wider than the Pacific Ocean. 

         It is obvious, she thought, 
That Maria has a case and she has waited for the DNA law to pass, to bring the child claim forward. 
She poured herself a second glass of vodka, went to their bedroom, and moved all her stuff to the guest room; this was going to be her own bedroom from now on. In the month that was to follow there were to be no more afternoon walks with Paul and no more evening—drink sipping rituals. She began drinking heavily and often woke up at two or three in the afternoon, she couldn’t read her novel and now pointlessly passed all her time in front of her laptop playing silly videogames. She stopped talking to Paul and it was only good morning, good night or pass me the salt at the dinner table. 
Paul decided that they had to openly talk to each other and reconcile their differences. Paul managed to accept her behavior for three days and at dinner that third evening he decided to try and solve their problem with a serious, open and calm talk. However, emotions overwhelmed him and he couldn’t act in a cool way. There was a beast inside him, a burning fire that was pushing him to explode.
At dinner later on , he let all his anger burst out. He was fuming mad and his face was blushing red as he yelled at her, 
”Why are you doing this to me, where is your promise of eternal trust to me, I have trusted you so many times, why aren’t you trusting me now?” 
 
Paul stopped his tirade because Sophie had already left the table without saying a word. She got into her car and drove to a nearby movie house hoping that the movie would distract her. Well it did not distract her because being drunk, she fell asleep during the whole movie and the police had to bring her home. There, she found Paul sound asleep as he had taken sleeping pills. It was a month of ghastly suffering for both of them. Paul tried to escape reality by increasingly turning his attention to Renova business and he called his manager Andreas five times a day instead of one. When Andreas finally asked about his sudden interest, he used as an excuse that he wasn’t satisfied with the latest quarter’s results.
 
One day, Paul was working on his Renova business spreadsheets and his cell phone started ringing.
“Oh my God, its’ Alice. Here we go all over again, this girl never learns,” Paul said as he became very upset.
“Hi Paul, I just needed your help in something. At your wedding reception, I met a friend of yours whose last name is Ioannou. I do have his last name and his cell number but I’m missing his first name, could you give it to me please?” Alice asked.
“Sure Alice, his name is James, very nice guy. He has a lovely wife and three young kids,” Paul continued.
“Sure, he told me all about his family when we met,” Alice replied.
         “And I was a very well behaved girl with you, wasn’t I at Christmastime?” Alice asked.
          “Absolutely, just good friends, and I want us to always keep it that way, just friends. Do you understand me Alice?” Paul asked.
“Absolutely understood, and thanks for the favor, good bye now Paul,” Alice ended the conversation. 
 
It was a Thursday afternoon as he was talking to Andreas for over an hour on his iPhone, when a little sound indicated that anew e-mail had reached his inbox, but he continued his conversation for another ten minutes, when he hung up. 
The email in his inbox was from the hospital and he opened the attachment that stated that he was not the father of Basil, Maria’s child. 
He calmly walked to the printer and printed the attachment and then walked out to the garden and cut a white long stemmed rose. 
Sophie was pointlessly playing a video game as Paul stepped into her bedroom and placed the DNA results and the rose on her desk and told her, 
“You have taught and shown me that you always forgive and forget, and so this rose symbolizes that I have completely forgiven and forgotten your behavior during these past two months.” 
Sophie was crying as she fell into his waiting arms and then passionately kissed him so warmly. As they remerged from the bedroom later they both realized that this amazing afternoon was like no other they had ever experienced before. At dinner later on, she started crying and apologising but Paul interrupted her, 
“Forgive and forget means that I have pressed the delete button forever so please don’t raise this issue again, our full love is again back to normal forever.”
They had climbed another step up the long staircase of their love.