{"id":8,"date":"2015-09-16T15:03:04","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T15:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mathieucailler.com\/?page_id=8"},"modified":"2017-04-04T17:16:53","modified_gmt":"2017-04-05T00:16:53","slug":"excerpt","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mathieucailler.com\/staging\/7173\/excerpt\/","title":{"rendered":"Excerpt"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LossFrom story \u201cHit and Stay<\/em>\u201d <\/strong>from Loss Angeles<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Penn continued to drive through the night. Snow and gales of wind assailed his SUV as he barreled towards home, his foot steady on the gas, his hands positioned firmly at ten and two. Heat billowed from the vents on the dashboard and moved loose strands of hair on his face. He didn\u2019t want to replay the scenario\u2014the quiet L.A. hotel room, the closed drapes, the underwear on the floor, the moaning, the taste of her lips\u2014but the SUV\u2019s quiet cabin was a hotbed for reflection.<\/p>\n

His headlights brushed a green highway sign, indicating that there were eighty-nine miles left on his journey home to Lake Tahoe. With the winter weather, it might take Penn more than two hours, but that was all right. How would he look at Kimberly after what he\u2019d done?<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t marry young,\u201d people had told him a few years ago when he\u2019d passed around the idea of proposing. \u201cYou haven\u2019t tested the waters.\u201d Clich\u00e9 after clich\u00e9 came at him, and while the marriage advice was stale and up there with \u201cenjoy each day like it\u2019s your last\u201d and \u201cdon\u2019t let anyone tell you something\u2019s impossible,\u201d it wasn\u2019t amiss.<\/p>\n

Becky had been with the company for a couple months now; there\u2019d been some mild flirting, but Penn just thought that was the way she was, and he flirted back from time to time, knowing that it was just a game. Becky saw the wedding band on his finger; she could put two and two together.<\/p>\n

But on this recent trip, Penn and Becky had found themselves at the hotel bar, overlooking the glimmering L.A skyline. There was a meeting early in the morning, and most of the company\u2019s employees had gone to bed. She approached Penn and slid onto the chair next to his. They drank, and their eyes held one another in the empty bar. The piano man played his versions of \u201cSo What\u201d and \u201cStardust,\u201d songs that made people more attractive and made conversations more interesting. The right strap of Becky\u2019s blue dress kept slipping off her freckled shoulder, and she left her smooth skin exposed longer than normal before bringing the strap back up. Her breasts were pressed up and together, and when she crossed her legs, one of her black heels dangled a few inches from her foot, making it seem as though she was already undressing. Penn remembered the way she reached over and touched his right hand.<\/p>\n

The worst part was that Penn had only slept with Becky because of the confidence Kimberly had given him. Many times she\u2019d reaffirmed his self-esteem, telling him he was worthy of love, that he was better-looking than he imagined, and that he deserved the best.<\/p>\n

Penn believed the burden would be lightened if he told Kimberly, but at the same time, he thought the words might destroy her, and that\u2019s not what he wanted. It\u2019d taken cheating for him to know how much he loved her, but who would believe a line like that?<\/p>\n

The tapping of a snare drum leaked out from the speakers, accompanied by the beat of an upright bass and the trill of a clarinet. He lowered the window and let the cold air flow into the sweltering cabin.<\/p>\n

Was there a perfect scenario? Penn thought. He let his mind wander. When he got home maybe Kimberly would be crying.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s wrong? Penn would say.<\/p>\n

I did something terrible, Kimberly would answer.<\/p>\n

Kimberly would go on to tell Penn that she\u2019d slept with someone else, that she was sorry, and that it didn\u2019t mean anything. After that, he\u2019d say the same thing. Two wrongs, one right. But even thinking about her sleeping with someone else made him sick. That wasn\u2019t at all what he wanted.<\/p>\n

High school sweethearts turned lovers turned husband and wife turned roommates\u2014that\u2019s what they were. Penn found it more and more difficult to make her laugh. Where there\u2019d been kisses, there were now smiles. Where there\u2019d been heat, there was now platitude. Where there\u2019d been love, there was now familiarity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From story \u201cHit and Stay\u201d from Loss Angeles: Penn continued to drive through the night. Snow and gales of wind assailed his SUV as he barreled towards home, his foot steady on the gas, his hands positioned firmly at ten and two. Heat billowed from the vents on the dashboard and moved loose strands of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nExcerpt | Mathieu Cailler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mathieucailler.com\/staging\/7173\/excerpt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Excerpt | Mathieu Cailler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From story \u201cHit and Stay\u201d from Loss Angeles: Penn continued to drive through the night. Snow and gales of wind assailed his SUV as he barreled towards home, his foot steady on the gas, his hands positioned firmly at ten and two. 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