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Diplomatic Relations	By : jai Category: Individual Celebrities > Athlete/Sports Misc Views: 3147 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not know the people written about in this fanfiction. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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November 26, 2008 Maastricht, the Netherlands

It had been a long agonizing week for Grant. After his conversation with Inge, he’d spent many hours trying to figure out how to approach the situation. He’d swung from thinking that maybe he shouldn’t interfere to being very upset that Minouche’s deception that ended Pieter’s career prematurely. He also spent time doing a little research because although he trusted Inge, he wasn’t about to do something like this on mere hearsay.

He’d considered calling Ian to talk it over but he knew his friend well enough to know the man would not hesitate to jump on a plane to confront the problem head on. But Ian was graduating in three weeks and had already made one trip to Europe this semester so calling Ian wasn’t the solution.

He finally decided that the person he really needed to talk was Minouche so he’d boarded a train in Zurich and headed north. He slept well on the train overnight now that he’d made up his mind and arrived in Maastricht after four pm.

Pieter and Minouche’s rental house was easy enough to find and after taking a moment to compose himself, he knocked on the door and a moment later, his friend’s wife opened it.

“Grant? What are you doing here?” Minouche asked, looking shocked at his appearance on her doorstep.

“Hello Minouche. How have you been?”

“I- I’m fine. Did Pieter know you were coming?”

“No but I was on my way to England and thought I’d stop by and take you both out to dinner. May I come in?”

“Yes. Of course.” She said as she finally stepped back from the threshold.

She led Grant into the dining area to a table that was covered with paperwork.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t realize you were working.”

“I wasn’t. Pieter and I are still trying to find the perfect house. Would you like some tea?”

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble.” Grant sat down as Minouche disappeared into the kitchen and he couldn’t help glancing at the brochures scattered all over the surface. They were mainly written in Dutch but from the pictures, Minouche and Pieter seemed to be looking for larger houses in the category he’d once heard described in the States as ‘McMansions’. In a country with a long history like the Netherlands, it always struck him as weird that people wanted to live in new cookie cutter houses but maybe it was just him.

“So Grant, why are you going to England?” Minouche asked when she returned with two cups of tea and the accompaniments on a tray.

“I have a meeting with one of my sponsors.” Grant said casually. “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to talk to you at the wedding but it was a beautiful ceremony. Did you two have fun on your honeymoon?”

Minouche launched into what sounded like second by second travelogue of her two weeks spent in some of Spain’s popular resorts and after twenty minutes, it started to dawn on him that there was something not quite right with Minouche.

Grant listened to her with a half an ear and looked her over. Minouche had always been an attractive woman with a bright personality but now she seemed brittle in a way and much too thin, even thinner than she had been a month ago. There was an edge to her manner and voice that quickly got on Grant’s nerves and he realized that he was gripping his tea cup so tightly that the cup was in danger of shattering.

What really cocked his hat was the fact that Minouche’s immediately family had apparently joined Pieter and Minouche only four days into their honeymoon and traveled with them the next ten days. Who invites their parents and siblings on a romantic trip with one’s spouse? He had no idea how Pieter felt about his in-laws and Pieter and Minouche had been together for many years but it struck him as very odd that Minouche had spent more time with her mother then with Pieter, or so it seemed.

He waited ten minutes more for a pause in Minouche’s monologue and couldn’t help asking. “What area are you looking at for your house?”

Minouche looked faintly irritated that she couldn’t finish her story about some horrible store clerk in Seville and flicked her hand at the papers. “Amstelveen, outside out Amsterdam. The schools there are very good although I haven’t ruled out boarding school when the children get older.”

Well, there was his opening. “So have you met with any adoption agencies yet?”

Minouche’s tea cup hit the saucer with a loud smack and stared at him with a look in her eyes that should have boiled his brains out. “Why would you ask that?”

Fine. He’d just lay all his cards on the table. “Minouche, I didn’t come here to take you to dinner. I came here to tell you that if what I’ve heard about you is true you really need to tell Pieter before the charade goes any further.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She snapped out, her face pale.

“So you didn’t have an abortion eight years ago? You weren’t told that you can’t bear children?”

Minouche stood up so fast that she almost tipped over the table. “Where did you hear that?”

Grant stood too but stepped back several steps so he wasn’t towering over her. “People talk Minouche. I’m sorry that you went through that. It must have been traumatic but you should have told him.”

Minouche whipped around the table and started walking towards him. “There’s nothing to tell. Hannah was always so jealous of me and she was always spreading lies. She always wanted Pieter but couldn’t stand it that I got him instead.”

“Then how did you know it was Hannah? Was it because she went with you for the procedure?”

Minouche’s fist came up so fast that Grant didn’t even have time to avoid it. Minouche may be shorter than him but she was still tall for a woman and she packed quite a wallop. Grant grabbed his face in shock, unable to believe that she’d actually hit him.

“Get out! You think I don’t know why you’re here? You bastard! I know all about your evil ways. Pieter would never have slept around on me if it wasn’t for you! Get out! I won’t have a faggot in my home. Do you hear me?”

Grant started for the door, trying to avoid her flying arms and the spittle since Minouche was almost foaming at the mouth. She got in one more shot, a vicious kick to his leg while he grabbed his bag, before he made it to the street.

She screamed a few more things at him but Grant was too far down the street at that point. God, she was crazy. Not just a little loony but insane. The woman in that house had no resemblance to the woman he’d known for years. He made it to a cross street and flagged a cab, grateful when one almost immediately pulled over. He told the cabbie to take him to the NH Maastricht and tried to catch his breath.

The desk clerk gave him a wary look and asked if he was okay but Grant shrugged away her concern and just went up to the room she’d rented him. His cheek was really started to throb and the mirror told him that he was going to have quite a bruise; that was going to be fun at the photo shoot he was scheduled for next week.

Grant really could not believe that she hit him like that. Yes, he could understand why the subject upset her but violence was never an answer. As he went down the hall for some ice, he stopped in mid scoop when a horrible thought made its way to the forefront of his brain.

‘Oh hell. What if she’s been hitting Pieter like that? Could that be why Pieter had stayed with her even when he was so obviously unhappy?’ Grant closed the ice bin and hustled back to his room. He emptied his shampoo and conditioner out of their protective baggie and dumped in some ice then sat on the bed and wished it wasn’t two am at home. He really needed to talk to his father.

Instead he pulled out his laptop and tried to do a little research on domestic abuse and tried to remember if he’d seen any of the indicators in Pieter’s behavior. He called down around six to room service and ordered something since his stomach was complaining but he only picked at the food when it arrived, too disturbed by some of the things he was reading.

When the knock sounded on his door around nine, he really didn’t think about why someone would be visiting him at that time of night in a city he wasn’t supposed to be in and was very shocked when he opened the door to find Pieter on the other side.

“Pieter?”

“Grant.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I live here.” Pieter said calmly.

“No. I mean, here in the hotel at my door. How did you find me?”

“How many other hotels have you stayed at in Maastricht? As for your room, the clerk downstairs knows me and recognized you. May I come in?”

“Oh. Sure.”

Grant stepped back to allow Pieter to enter then hurried over to close his laptop. He felt very awkward as Pieter looked around and then took a seat on the edge of the bed near the window. Grant turned the desk chair around so he could face Pieter and they stared at each for a moment. Grant tried desperately to read Pieter’s body language but for once, the Dutchman was not giving anything away.

“So Grant. What happened to your face?”

Grant’s hand flew up to his cheek. “Um. Well.”

“Minouche said you stopped by earlier.”

“Uh. I did.” Grant said hesitantly and it came out more like a question than a statement.

Pieter sighed. “She said you showed up and tried to talk your way into bed with her. When that didn’t work, you tried to force her.”

“What! Pieter, I would never – she’s your wife. In your own home. No. Pieter.” Grant stood up and paced over to the door and back while he spoke, his whole body tense. “I just couldn’t do that to you. You’re my friend. Even if I thought she was-. No. Oh.”

“I know.” Pieter said quietly which caught Grant’s attention and made him swing around to stare at Pieter.

“You know?”

“That you’re an honorable man and even if you thought Minouche was the most beautiful woman in the world, you would never had done that in my home and certainly not to my wife. Besides, I find it very hard to believe that you’d show up out of no where and do something like that. You’re just not that kind of person. Is that what you were trying to say?”

“Um.”

“Grant. Sit back down and put the ice on your face.”

Grant did what he was told to do and almost flinched when Pieter came over to look at his injury. Pieter stopped and looked down at him and then slowly reached out his hands again, giving Grant time to see what he was doing.

“What’s happened to you? This is quite a bruise and you were limping earlier too.”

“Pieter. Um. Has Minouche ever -? Damn.”

Pieter took a step back and dropped his hands. “She did this to you?”

Grant hesitated and nodded, not wanting to lie to his friend. “She was very upset.”

“Why? I know you didn’t make a pass at her.”

“I heard something. Something I wasn’t sure was true and – and I wanted to ask her about it. It didn’t go well.”

“Okay. Is this something you heard something I should know about?”

Grant nodded and then gathered his nerve. “Pieter it was something I thought you should know if it’s true and that Minouche should tell you; should have told you years ago.”

Pieter sat down. “You were giving her a chance to come clean before I found out about it.”

“Yes.”

“So what was it? Did she say it was true and could we please stop talking in euphemisms?”

Grant sighed and got up to sit down next to Pieter, putting his hand on Pieter’s arm and looking directly into his eyes. “I don’t know but from her reaction, I’d say it was true. Pieter. God.”

“Just spit it out. I’m a big boy, I can handle it.”

“Minouche had an abortion eight years ago. There were complications. The doctor said she couldn’t have children.”

Pieter’s first reaction was to blink rapidly as the information sunk in. His second reaction was to stand up and then just as quickly sit down again. “Where did you hear this from?”

“Hannah Bakker Holcomb. She used to swim at Eindhoven; she’s married now and living in Cape Town with her husband.”

“She was Minouche’s flatmate for a while.”

“Yes. She also went with Minouche to the clinic that day and then visited her in the hospital later.”

“What clinic?”

“Geboorteregeling. In Leiden. Hannah said Minouche didn’t want to go to the one here in Maastricht because she didn’t want anyone to recognize her.”

“I see. Did Hannah say what kind of complication happened?”

“She wasn’t sure but, oh god, she said Minouche was happy in the hospital because she never really wanted children. Pieter, I’m so sorry.”

It was Pieter’s turn to pace as he jumped to his feet and walked the length of the room. “So basically she’s been lying to me for years. I quit swimming because she wouldn’t even consider getting pregnant without marriage and she wouldn’t marry me while I was still training. Well Grant, you certainly don’t take on the easy tasks do you?”

“Um. You’re taking this very calmly.”

Pieter stopped and whirled around to face Grant. “I guess I am. I – I think I realized very quickly into this marriage that I’d made a horrible mistake. This just sort of the strawberry on the sundae.”

“Was that about the time when your in-laws arrived to accompany you on your honeymoon?” Grant could help asking.

“Ha! Well that was a good indication. Minouche’s parents are nice enough but I thought it was very nervy of them especially since I ended up paying for their vacation.”

“You didn’t?”

“Oh yes. Of course I didn’t know I was paying for it until I got the bill last week; that was a bit much on top of the wedding. But it’s not just about the money. I’ve tried so hard to make Minouche happy. The wedding, my career, my swimming. Do you know she’s been suggesting that I take up plastic surgery?”

“Uh no.”

“Yes. It’s a lucrative field you see so I would make lots of money to buy a big house and then buy another house for her parents nearby.” Pieter said, his tone taking a bitter edge.

“Really?”

“Yes. She mentioned that after she told me about how you betrayed our friendship. I guess she expected me to be okay with it since you assaulted her and all.”

“Pieter, I never laid a finger on-.”

“Relax. We’ve already covered that and you’re the one limping and bruised here. God, what does it say about my marriage that I trust your word more than my wife’s?”

Grant didn’t answer since he didn’t think Pieter really expected one and watched as Pieter continued to pace. “So what are you going to do?”

Pieter shook his head and wandered over to the window. “What would you do?”

Pausing for a moment, Grant thought it over but couldn’t really conceive how he would react to this situation. “I don’t know.”

“Well I’d guess that you would never find yourself in this kind of mess.”

“Uh no but then I don’t really expect to have my eventual boyfriend tell me that he couldn’t get pregnant. I’d already know that going in.”

Pieter looked over at Grant so quickly the vertebras in his neck cracked. “Oh. But what about Giaan or Lisette or Tanya?”

“Well I dated a Kent and sort of lived with him for a while and liked it better.” Grant said then quickly changed the subject. “So I don’t know what I would do and I don’t know what you’re going to do but you know I’ll always be available if you want to talk or vent or just hang out and say nothing at all.”

“I already knew you’d do that, Grant. You wouldn’t have come here if you weren’t a steadfast friend. Uh, you haven’t said anything to Ian about this have you?”

“Did he show up at your house? Of course I didn’t. Outside of you two and Hannah, the only other person I talked to Inge and that’s because she drafted me into this.”

An amused smile passed over Pieter’s lips. “Inge? Why didn’t she just tell me – oh.” Pieter stopped when he saw the look on Grant’s face. “Minouche has been home to get all the messages Inge might have left.”

“Inge said she even stopped by twice but your schedule was too erratic for her to catch you.”

“I see. I guess I have been hiding out at the hospital which should have been my first clue. God I don’t even want to go home. Her home; that’s not my home I suppose.”

“I have an extra bed. You’re welcome to stay here tonight.”

“Thank you Grant. I know I should go there and confront her but I just can’t face another scene tonight and I’d probably end up on the street anyway.”

“Good. Let me get you my spare pajamas. Do you want to use the shower first?”

Pieter got up from his perch on the window sill and although he looked tired and careworn, managed to smile at Grant. “There’s no need to cluck about me like a mother chicken.”

“I’ll cluck if I want to. Are you hungry? I didn’t eat much earlier and I feel a bit peckish.”

“Well no wonder. Yes, I suppose I should eat. Why don’t you take a shower and I’ll call down for room service. What do you want?”

“A sandwich or something, you can decide.” Grant rooted around in his suitcase to find sleepwear for both of them and gathered up his toiletries. “I’ll leave my stuff in there so feel free to use it.”

“Thank you again.”

&&

Pieter hung up the phone and looked over all the papers and the laptop strewn across the desk. The orderly disorder was so like Grant. Pieter supposed that most people would be mad a friend like Grant who had basically stuck his nose in where it didn’t belong but Pieter didn’t blame him at all.

Grant hated to see injustice; it was one of those things about him that made Grant a good friend. All Grant had done was give Pieter information he should have had from the beginning. Maybe he would have made the same choices if he’d known Minouche’s promise of children was an empty one, he couldn’t really say.

But learning that he’d basically been lied to for so many years. Pieter didn’t know how he could get past that. He didn’t even know if he wanted to get past that and he couldn’t think about it anymore tonight. Normally he didn’t run away from his problems but his brain was tired of constantly turning over the questions.

All those questions stopped when his eyes finally focused on the words in front of him. ‘Feels isolated and untrusting of others.’ What the hell was Grant researching? As far as he knew, Grant was an economist of some sort. Pieter was tempted to look through the papers or even sneak a look at Grant’s laptop but shook his head.

That was not the way to repay his friend. Pieter quickly got up and went over to one of the beds to avoid temptation and was glad he hadn’t given in when the shower was shut off.

Grant emerged in a cloud of steam and already dressed for bed. “The bathroom’s free.”

“Is there any hot water left?”

“Maybe. I guess you’ll just have to see for yourself but I’ve heard cold showers can be quite bracing.” Grant said with an unrepentant grin.

&&

The water lasted through Pieter’s quick shower and the food arrived soon after Pieter was finished. They talked about everything but Pieter’s marriage while they ate and then each took their separate bed and they watched TV for an hour or so before turning it off and settling into sleep.

Forty minutes after the room went dark; Grant sat up and turned the light on again. “You’re not sleeping and neither am I. Would you like to talk or shall I break out the cards?”

“I think the cards. I need something to take my mind of all this.”

“Hang on.”

Grant retrieved the deck of cards out of his bag and then pulled the desk chair over to serve as a playing surface. They both arranged their pillows and then Grant shuffled and dealt.

They were halfway through the first game of Spite and Malice when Pieter suddenly spoke.

“Tell me about Kent.”

“What do you want to know?”

“How did you meet?”

“Oh. We had a seminar together. I think it was on electronic banking. Not that we were the only two people in the room but I noticed him when he asked a question and then we were spilt out into the same discussion group. He’s very smart and he brought up some good points. A couple of weeks later, I realized that I kept looking for him around campus and I even started to take notice of what buildings he going in and out of. That part was kind of embarrassing. So I went up to him one day and asked him out to dinner.”

“Just like that?”

“Yes. I wasn’t even sure he was gay at that point and worried that maybe he’d be insulted but it all worked out. It was a very nice date too. We made plans to meet for a study date the following week and that went well too. Then we caught up with each other at the gym and then the next date was another dinner followed by a movie and we ended up at his place.”

“What was it about him that attracted you?”

“Oh. Well, I guess he was easy to talk to. He had a good sense of humor and we had a lot in common. He was also very good looking in a geeky sort of way.”

“He sounds nice.”

“He was nice but I was feeling more for him than he was for me which happens. I saw it as sort of a karmic experience actually. All those women I dated and moved on from and now I knew how it felt. Hopefully my next relationship will be more equal on the emotional side.”

“So how did you decide to make the big jump? Weren’t you worried about coming out or have you officially come out?”

“I certainly didn’t hide the relationship and there was some press about it but after Ian and Michael, it was like a little pebble being dropped in a big lake. And I guess I got tired of fooling myself. I like sex with men better than sex with women in general so it seemed very silly to keep trying to find the right woman and ignore the fact that I might be better off looking for the right man.”

“And how did your parents react?”

“They were not entirely happy and there was some awkwardness for a while but we all got over it. I think in the end, Dad was even getting a bit fond of Kent but now he’s persona non grata at the Hackett house for breaking my heart like a cad.” Grant said with a smile.

“Did he really break your heart?”

“It was definitely bruised. It was nice being in a relationship where I could be myself and I won’t lie, I miss him but it’s no use wishing for fishes when all you have is lamb.”

“Is that an Australian saying?”

“I have no idea. It’s something my Gran used to tell me when I was a tadpole. Ha. I’m down to one card.”

“Too late.” Pieter said as he flipped over his last pay-off card and found an ace which he immediately played. “I’m out.”

“Dammit. Shall we play again?”

“Yes, it’s my deal. So what are your plans for your future? Are you going back to home soon?”

“I have a photo shoot in New York next week; a swim clinic in Vancouver a few days after that and then it’s on to Japan to shoot a commercial.”

“In other words, you’re avoiding home at the moment.”

Grant looked over his cards at Pieter’s knowing look and laughed. “Yes I suppose I am but I’m okay with that at the moment. My advisors still haven’t given me the green light for my research so I’d just be hanging around the place. Besides, it’s sort of fun to travel and not have to search for places with pools.”

“Yet this hotel has one and I’ll bet every hotel you stay at has one too.”

“They just might but it doesn’t mean I use them - much. And when did it become pick on Grant time?”

“That happened a few minutes ago. Is your cheek going to be a problem at your photo shoot?”

“I hope not. I’ll keep icing it off and on and I usually heal quickly.”

“Are you planning on dropping in on Ian and Michael while you’re in the States?”

“I was thinking about it. They’ll probably be doing final exams about the time I get there and that should be good for a few laughs.”

“You would do that, wouldn’t you?”

“I certainly would. Besides, I’ve been eating so much room service and restaurant food it would be nice to get a home cooked meal. Ian still makes a mean stir fry and Michael’s not bad either.”

Pieter opened his mouth to invite Grant over to his house and then snapped it shut when he remembered why that wasn’t such a good idea. “Maybe you should learn to cook.”

“That would require a kitchen and a person with a lot of patience. I guess learning to make a few things wouldn’t be so bad but it’s so much easier letting someone cook for me. And really, aren’t I worth it?” Grant asked, fluttering his eyelashes.

Pieter smirked. “So I suppose that’s one of the qualities you’ll be looking for in the next boyfriend?”

“Yes that would be one of them but more importantly, he must be willing to cater to my every whim. If I’m going to dream, why not go big?”

“That’s not dreaming, Grant that’s more like delusional thinking.”

&&

They finally did fall asleep around three am and Grant was awakened by an insistent and very annoying beeping sound. He sat up and finally found that it was Pieter’s watch sitting right by his head on the nightstand.

“Pieter. Pieter!”

“What?”

“Your watch is being annoying.”

Pieter sat straight up and grabbed his watch. “Hell. I’m late for class.” Pieter jumped out of bed and stripped off the pajamas and pulled on his clothes. “I’m sorry to leave like this but if I hurry I can probably get there in time for rounds. Will you still be here later?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I’ll be back around four and we’ll go have dinner.” Pieter said as he shoved his wallet in his pocket, shrugged into his coat and put on his shoes all at once. He was out the door the next minute and Grant was left wondering if learning to multitask like that was one of the things they taught in med school.

Grant was still feeling tired and lay back down on his pillows. He hadn’t realized that Pieter would have class today, although it only made sense since it was a week day. He also felt bad that Pieter had to start his day without breakfast. If the glimpse he’d caught of Pieter’s body as he changed clothes a minute ago was any indication, Pieter had also lost some weight since his training days.

He drifted back to sleep for several hours and then woke again around noon when his hunger overtook his desire to sleep. After a shower and a quick clean up of the room, he went on a little walk around the neighborhood and found a place to eat a quick but filling meal.

The weather wasn’t really conducive to outside activities so he hurried back to the hotel and discovered that Pieter had called while he was out.

“Grant, I’ve managed to get some time off and I’ve got a couple of apartments to look at. I’ll stop by at one to pick you up if you don’t mind coming along.”

Grant checked the time and realized he’d just gotten back in time so he went back down to the lobby to wait. Ten minutes later, Pieter strode in and gave him a smile.

“I suppose this means you’re coming along?”

“Sure.”

“Thank you. I’ve got a van outside.”

The first apartment was dark and depressing so they moved on to the second one which was boxy and not very imaginative but did come fully furnished except for cookery, bedding and the like.

“What do you think, Grant?”

“I suppose it will do for now. It’s close to the hospital at least.”

“There is that.”

Pieter went down and signed the paperwork, handing over a check and got the keys. He waited until they were back in his car before outlining their next stop.

“I need to go get my things from the house. My lawyer is meeting us there and will serve the papers.”

“Uh, you’ve been busy.”

“Yes. I got to the hospital and realized there was no way I could give competent care today. I explained the situation to Dr. Tuerlings and I have today and tomorrow off. So I spent the rest of the morning with Mark Ellens. The sooner I can get this settled the better off we’ll all be although I suspect it won’t be that easy. Do you want to know what really bothers me about all this?”

“What?”

“Minouche always said how much she loved her job. We even moved to Brussels for a couple of years so she could get extra training but the minute we got officially engaged and started planning the wedding, suddenly her job was all a waste of her time. Not only that but she flat out told me it would be silly for her to go back to work after the wedding because we were trying to get pregnant right away. I have been a complete and total idiot.”

“You are not an idiot. You thought you had a good relationship and you wanted a family. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“But she completely fooled me. I bought every one of her lies; I lived with her deceptions because I was so desperate.”

“Pieter, I hate to ask but did you guys have a prenuptial agreement?”

“No. See? I must have sucker written all over me!”

“I don’t agree but I’m going to let you rant it out.”

“Tell me how I am not a sucker.”

“A sucker would have spent the next twenty years wondering why he didn’t have children, why he was so damn miserable, why he was still married to a woman who didn’t suit him. You are not that man.”

“Only because you showed up.”

“Nonsense. You said earlier you already knew something wasn’t right in your marriage. You might have gone a little longer but you are a doctor. When Minouche didn’t get pregnant after a certain amount of time, wouldn’t you have seen a specialist to find out what was wrong?”

“I already did!” Pieter shouted then realized that he was yelling at the wrong person. “Hell. I’m sorry Grant. I’m not mad at you.”

Grant reached over and squeezed Pieter’s arm. “I know. So. Explain.”

“We haven’t been using birth control for over a year. It’s not unusual for it to take a while after stopping the pill for a pregnancy to occur but I’m not entirely stupid. After nine months I went in and had my sperm tested.”

“So you knew it wasn’t you.”

“Yes. Excellent sample on all accounts. So I broached the subject with Minouche and she said that it was all because we weren’t making love enough. Ha. When she wasn’t busy finding the perfect fucking shoes for her wedding, she was too tired or I wasn’t paying her enough attention to deserve sex.”

“Pieter please pull over. I don’t think you should be driving at the moment.”

Pieter knew Grant was right and found a place to pull over without saying another word. Once the car came to a complete stop, he took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault. I told you I would be here for you to vent at.”

“But you didn’t sign up to die in a horrible fiery car crash.”

“Well no but we weren’t in that much danger and there’s not that much traffic. Do you want me to drive?”

“Yes please.”

They quickly switched places and Grant got comfortable. “Okay so how do we get to your house from here?”

“Take a left at the third street down.”

“Okay.”

&&

Mark Ellens turned out to be a very good looking man and under different circumstances, Grant might have been more interested but he was just too nervous about Minouche’s reaction. They all breathed a sigh of relief when Pieter unlocked the door and found the house empty of human occupation.

“Pieter, what kitchen things to you want?”

“Grant, why are you asking me that? You wouldn’t recognize anything I listed.”

“Yes I would. I know what plates, pots and glasses look like.”

“Fine. Can you get two of each and a couple of pots and pans?”

“Sure.”

Mark pitched in to get some of the paperwork Pieter pointed out to him while Pieter went upstairs and packed his clothes up. He didn’t want to leave anything there because he feared what Minouche would do to it. He ended up with three very heavy suitcases and struggled to get them downstairs before Grant came to help.

The last order of business was to load up all the wedding gifts that were still piled in the corner of the living room. Pieter knew it was petty but he only took the items that were from his family and friends so he wasn’t a complete bastard. Before he unhooked his computer, he made burned a copy of the file that listed who gave them what and left a disk for Minouche. She could decide what to do with the gifts from her side.

They loaded up the van Pieter rented and by five; Pieter locked the house up and then dropped the key through the mail slot.

“Mark, thank you for your help.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll arrange to have the papers served tomorrow if that’s okay with you?”

“Yes. I’ll call with my number at the apartment as soon as I can arrange for a phone.”

“Good. Grant it was nice meeting you.”

“You too Mark.”

The three men shook hands and separated. Grant got behind the wheel without discussing the matter and waited for Pieter to buckle up.

“So how do we get back to the apartment?”

“Pull out and take a right at the end of the street.”

“How are you going?”

“Well this isn’t the best day of my life but I’m feeling pretty positive. I’ve made the first step. I don’t think the next few months are going to be easy but it has to be done. There is no way I can salvage my marriage.”

“I’m so sorry Pieter.”

“Thank you but don’t be. You were researching domestic abuse yesterday, weren’t you?”

“Wh-what makes you say that?”

“Because I looked down and read your notes. I apologize for that but I was using the phone and it was right there. That is what you were doing, yes?”

“Yes. Uh, the way Minouche hit me. There was no warning she just went crazy. Um. She doesn’t hit you does she?”

“No but I did a little research myself this morning while I was waiting for Mark to get free.” Pieter said as he pulled a pamphlet out of his pocket. “‘Do you walk carefully to avoid making your partner angry?’ Yes. ‘Do you ever feel as if you’ve done something wrong but can’t figure out what it is?’ Yes. ‘Have you lost all or most of your friends since you’ve been with your partner?’ Well not all of them but I had to threaten not to pay for the wedding to get any of my friends invited. ‘Do you feel emotionally numb?’ Pretty much yes. So no she hasn’t physically hurt me but I have gone to bed several nights and wondered if she’d kill me in my sleep.”

Grant didn’t know how to reply to that but Pieter didn’t seem to require it so he kept quiet.

“Are you shocked?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know Pieter.”

“Do you believe me?”

“Of course! God, I have a bruise the size of Tasmania on my leg from her. I’ve seen how she can get but even if she hadn’t done that, the other signs were there.”

“What do you mean?”

“She used to say things. Rude things about you in front of you. Yes, they were sort of funny things but in retrospect, it was like she couldn’t help herself from putting you down occasionally. Then there was the fact that once she got to Sydney, when you were there training after Athens, suddenly you couldn’t go out for a drink or even spend a few hours out on your own without her tracking you down.”

“She wasn’t always like this.” Pieter said quietly after a few minutes of just directing Grant through the streets.

“I know.”

“She used to be so different.”

“People do change over time.”

“Yes but this is such a drastic change. She went from being a wonderful loving person to some stranger. I wonder if there is some kind of chemical problem going on.”

“Drugs?”

“No. I’d hope I’d notice something like that. Maybe she’s got a chemical imbalance in her brain that’s causing her to be this way.”

“That could be but then she needs to see a specialist. If she has a medical condition, it’s not going to get any better without help.”

“True. Take a right up head. The apartment will be half the block up. The manager said we could use the alley to unload.”

An hour later, Pieter and Grant were sitting on the couch and looking around at the stuff just left where ever they had dropped it.

“We really should get up and put things away.” Grant said after a while.

“I don’t see why. It’s not like I have to put them away.” Pieter replied with his head back and his eyes closed. “Actually, this would be a good time for a nap.”

“Hang on.”

Grant got up and found the suitcase with the sheets and blankets and found a pillow in the boxes. He quickly made the bed up and then went out to pull a half asleep Pieter to his feet.

“Why am I upright?”

“Because you’re going to take your nap in a bed. Your neck will not thank you if you sleep like that. Come on, get your pants off.”

Once Pieter was tucked safely in bed, Grant looked around and sighed. Well he’d gotten enough sleep and this stuff wasn’t going to put itself away. It didn’t take long and except for Pieter’s clothes, the apartment was soon looking much neater.

Pieter was still snoozing away and Grant was getting hungry so he picked up the apartment key and went out to find some food. The first place he ran across was a grocery store and he made a mental note of it before journeying on and finding a likely restaurant. He ordered some takeaway easily enough and zipped back up to the grocery to buy a few staples (coffee, tea, milk, sugar and something for Pieter’s breakfast) before going back and picking up the food.

The apartment was still quiet when he got back so he divided up the food and put half in the little refrigerator along with the milk and made a cup of tea to have along with his dinner. The small living area featured a TV and he turned it on, finding a soccer game of some sort to occupy him.

He finished eating and cleaned up (he couldn’t cook but he could wield a mean dishrag) and then remembered a shop he saw a block down. Off he went again and by the time he returned, Pieter was sitting on the couch munching on the sandwich Grant had brought back with the soccer game playing.

“Wo ed ou go?”

“Pieter, swallow and try that again.”

“Where did you go?”

“I bought you a house warming present.”

“You did? But you bought me a lovely wedding present last month.”

“Ah well consider this a divorce present then. Here.”

Pieter put the fork down and took the box. “A cell phone?”

“Yes.”

“But I already have a cell phone.”

“True but this one’s special. I’ve already programmed my number into it and I put this number in my phone. No matter where I am or what you think I’m doing, if you call me I will answer. I don’t care if it’s the middle of the night here or the middle of the night where I am. I’ll answer. If you want to talk or scream or just breath in the phone, I’ll answer.”

Pieter ran his hand over the phone and smiled. “Thank you Grant. Thank you for the phone and thank you for being my friend.”

“You’re welcome. Now scoot over, you’re hogging the couch.”
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Diplomatic Relations