Peter awoke late one sunny morning to discover that the rest of his family was already out on the beach. He grabbed himself a piece of toast and headed out on the beach to find out why.
When he reached the beach, he discovered that everyone within a few miles was out there. It was a nice day, but not that nice, and he wondered why.
He followed the crowds and discovered why. A volleyball tournament was taking place. He squinted through the crowds to try to find someone he knew, but no one there seemed to be at all familiar.
He noticed that there were several games going on at once. The game nearest to him was co-ed; with both men and women playing together. Further down the beach was an all male group, and even further down, an all female group.
He headed down the beach, wondering if perhaps his family was at one of the other games. He passed the game with the males, and immediately spotted them.
Nicole was sitting on a towel near to the game, and though he didn't remember her ever being that interested in volleyball, she seemed to be quite interested in the game. Or at least the people playing the game.
His blood began to boil. Then he noticed that Thomas and Joanne were with her. They also seemed to be interested. Maybe, he told himself, she was just enjoying the game and the people. It was a nice day, and there were a couple of vendors around selling ice cream and hot dogs and such. He headed towards her.
She was sitting on the other side of the net, and so this required him to walk around the game. He pushed his way through the crowd. He wasn't surprised she hadn't noticed him; there were a lot of people there and she was watching the game.
Peter was just about halfway around the net when the game players took a short break to get some water and cool off. He noticed that most of them were sweating, despite the fact that they were only wearing very short shorts.
And if his blood had begun to boil before, it began to really bubble now. Because one of those sweaty, tall, short-short wearing guys was talking to his wife. And she was talking back.
Calm down, he told himself. She's probably just talking to him. You can't get mad because she's talking. She talks to people all the time. So do you. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down a bit.
But as he watched, he found it harder and harder. She wasn't just talking, she was laughing and joking with him. He was flirting with her! And she was flirting back! And enjoying it.
Peter couldn't control himself anymore and so he stormed over to his wife, determined to do whatever it took to stop his wife from talking to that guy.
Just as he was about to reach them, the players got ready to play again, and the guy Nicole had been talking to went back to his game. Mumbling to himself, Peter went and sat on the other side of the net.
For the next half hour, he watched the game, and managed to calm down. Nicole still didn't notice him because she was interested in the game and trying to keep an eye on her children at the same time.
"Hey, Pete, what are you doing here?" Micky called loudly across the beach. He ran up to Peter, grinning. "Checkin' out the competition?" He grinned impishly, but Peter wasn't in the mood for jokes.
"Yeah," he replied shortly. Micky followed his gaze across the net and saw Nicole talking to the volleyball player again.
"What's the matter, Pete?" Micky asked. "She's just talking."
"No she's not," Peter insisted. "She's flirting." Micky rolled his eyes.
"C'mon Pete, let's go before you blow a gasket," he said. "You can talk to her later." Micky knew it would probably be a good idea to get Peter away from there before his jealousy got the better of him.
It took him a while, but eventually Micky got Peter to agree with him, and dragged him towards the all female game where the Mike and Davy were.
They all sat down and began to enjoy the game. It was good, pretty competitive, and took Peter's mind away from his jealousy.
Eventually, around three o' clock, the tournament finished and all the beach goers headed back to their homes and the players left. Peter watched the male players board their bus with a bit of satisfaction.
"Dad!," Thomas yelled, cheerfully, as Peter entered the house. "Where'd you go? You missed all the fun! There was a volleyball tournament!"
Peter nodded solemnly. "I know. I was there, Thomas," he replied.
"I didn't even want to go, but Mom said I should, and I went and I had fun," Thomas rambled.
"Oh?" Peter asked. Thomas nodded.
"Yeah, and James, he jumped up and spiked the ball, like this," Thomas said excitedly, demonstrating.
"James?" Peter asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Thomas continued, not even paying attention to the question at all. "And then the other guy hit the ball and James spiked it down on his head. But he was ok, and James didn't mean it, 'cuz they were friends."
"Who's James?" Peter interrupted Thomas' rambling to ask.
"He's my friend," Thomas said. "He was playing volleyball, and him and Mom were talking, and then he told me that he was into construction, and everything. I wanted him to meet you but I didn't see you anywhere. Where were you? I thought you were sleeping."
"My, you're hyper today, aren't you?" Peter asked. He went to the refrigerator and got himself some meat and began to make himself a sandwich. "I was down on the beach with Uncle Micky.."
"And Uncle Mike and Uncle Davy?" Thomas asked.
"Yeah. And we were watching a different game," Peter explained. "Where's your mother?" he asked, before Thomas could continue with anymore questions.
"Upstairs," Thomas said.
"Why don't you go outside and practice some of that..spiking..with your beach ball?" Peter suggested.
"Okay," Thomas said, and ran out the door quickly.
Peter went to the stairs. "Nicole?" he yelled.
"What?" she called back.
"Could you come down here a second?" he asked.
"I'm kinda busy right now, Pete," she replied.
"Well, it's important," he said.
"Ok. Just a minute," she said.
A few minutes later, she appeared at the top of the stairs, carrying a basket full of clothes.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
She looked at him strangely. "Gathering clothes to take to the laundromat," she said. "Why?"
"Put them down," he said.
She could tell by his voice that he was serious but she didn't know why. So she complied.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"You were at the volleyball game," he said.
"Yeah," she said.
"Who's James?"
"James?"
"Thomas said you talked to a guy named James. Who is he?"
"He was a volleyball player," she said, still unsure of where this whole conversation was going.
"So I heard. Besides that."
"Nothing. He was just a guy who was playing volleyball and he and I happened to be talking. Thomas really likes him," she added, casually.
He nodded. "So I hear."
"Peter, where is this leading?" she demanded.
"I saw you out there," he said.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, and I saw you..talking to James."
"Yeah, so?"
He let out a frustrated sigh and took a step towards her. She took a step backwards. "Don't lie to me, love, I saw you." He took another step forwards, and Nicole discovered she was backed into a wall. She felt a shiver run down her spine.
"Saw me what?" she asked. She tried to push him away, and walk away from him, but Peter had her cornered.
"Don't lie to me," he said. She saw his eyes narrow, and an anger there that she'd rarely seen before.
"I-I'm not," she stammered. The anger in his eyes chilled her to the bone. Why was he so angry?
"I saw you with him," he continued. "You weren't talking. You were flirting with him."
Nicole thought she understood now...at least a little bit. He was jealous. That was the anger she saw in his eyes. But she hadn't been flirting. Not with James. They'd just been talking.
"Peter...I'm not lying to you. I was only talking to him. He's a nice person," she said. She began to get worried. What if she couldn't reassure him? What if the jealousy and anger in his eyes got the better of him? Would he even do that? She began to talk softer, hoping her voice would help to calm him.
"You know I love only you, Peter. I couldn't do that to you," she pleaded in a low, soft voice. She reached out to touch his face, but he pulled away and grabbed her arm.
A long silence followed and Nicole watched the battle he fought with himself through his eyes. He wanted to believe her, but somehow he couldn't because the anger and jealousy were too strong. He looked at her for a long time, and she looked back, not daring to blink.
Then suddenly, with one swift motion, she found herself in his arms, her face in his chest as she'd done so many times before when she was upset. Only now she wasn't upset, he was.
He released her and stepped back. He sank into a chair, head hanging. She sighed. He looked so pathetic, sitting there like a poor, rejected puppy. She crouched in front of him and lifted his chin up with her hand so that he was looking into her eyes.
He averted his eyes. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to...I mean, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."
She smiled at him. "Don't worry," she assured him. "If you get that upset, it just means that you love me that much and you don't want to loose me. And I don't want to loose you. So neither of us would do anything like that. "
He nodded, and looked up at her. The anger and jealousy was gone from his eyes now, replace by sorrow, sadness, and love. She smiled encouragingly, and kissed him to show that he was forgiven. Which managed to coax a sheepish smile.
"That's better," she smiled, standing up. She picked up the laundry basket. "I'm taking the kids and going downtown. I've got laundry to do, and Thomas wants to get a book from the library. I'll be back in a few hours. Can you trust me enough?"
Sheepishly, Peter smiled and nodded.
"Good." She kissed him good-bye and headed out the door, calling to Thomas and Joanne, who were in the yard.
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