Chapter 5: #That Power

Chapter 5:  #That Power

“It's like an emotional dance party: Some dances will be your favorites -- others more awkward or difficult to learn. Some will be boring or make you mad. Some you will wish you never needed to do again. But AHA! You think. I will dance all the dances I can.”
― S.A.R.K., Glad No Matter What: Transforming Loss and Change into Gift and Opportunity

http://youtu.be/wletFQfRfJs

            The music faded so Anton grabbed his sport bottle and chugged down some water while wiping the sweat off his forehead.  He was enjoying dancing with Lucy as the instructor.  Although it was a man who founded Zumba, here in Montana very few men participated in the latin dance inspired fitness class.  Anton looked across the room and saw a portly man he knew to be a local rancher, sweating up a storm.  He mused to himself that the two of them must look ridiculous doing some of this feminine choreography.  Just then, Danielle came up and said, “Wow, you are keeping up better than I thought.”  She winked at him and her baby blues captivated him.  Anton knew he was probably much too old to be dating a 24 year old girl but he justified it as his midlife crisis and he was to the point where he could care less what other people thought of him anyway.  His ex-wife had left him for her personal trainer at this very club only a short year ago.

            Lucy started the music up again and Anton was happy to hear that it was actually a masculine sounding song.  Sure enough he was right.  Lucy had thrown in #That Power by Will.i.am featuring Justin Bieber into the mix to work on some core and arms.  Danielle had told Anton that hashtags were used to classify Tweets on Twitter.  Maybe he and Danielle were a little too far apart in age because he had no idea what little Danielle was talking about.  But Danielle made him feel young and powerful again so he would make a note to google this hashtag nonsense later…

“And oh, i’m alive, i’m alive, i’m alive…
…And im loving every second minute hour bigger better stronger power”
[beat break]

Lucy instructed everyone to start punching.  “Single, single, double, double”, she yelled over the music.  “Punch out all your aggressions!  Nick and Anton…this one is for you!  Let’s see those strong arms.  Girls…no wimpy arms, punch it like you mean it!”

“I got that power!”

Anton Battaglia was punching away his frustrations alright.  Even though it had been a full year since his wife had left him, the hurt was still lingering.  He knew he was on the rebound by dating Danielle , someone half his age, but he didn’t care anymore.  He was lonely.  He was hurting.  Having Danielle around made him feel masculine and yes, even powerful.  As Anton punched to the beat of the music, he engaged more than just his core and arms, his mind was engaged in once again reliving the moments that led up to the heartache…

He had found out about Olivia’s affair from his brother Nick, of all people.  Anton had been humiliated when his brother had stopped by the house and had asked if he knew where his wife was.  Of course he knew where his wife was.  Anton and Olivia had been married for almost 20 years.  She was at the club doing her spin class as she did every Tuesday evening.  Anton’s brother broke the news that the only spinning going on was going to be Anton’s head when he saw what was really going on.  The brothers argued for a moment and finally Nick had all but shoved Anton into the car to show him proof.  First they drove by the club but Liv’s car wasn’t anywhere to be seen.  Ha!  That proved nothing!  However, on their way home, while stopped at a stop sign, Anton had seen with his own two eyes…Liv (as he used to adoringly call her) coming out of an apartment complex across the street with a puppy dog eyed looking young man close at her heels. 

Anton blinked and looked again as though his eyes had somehow played a nasty trick on him.  But there was no trick as he saw Liv hug the well chiseled male that he recognized as one of the personal trainers at the club.  Yep, he saw the guy lean in close to his wife and kiss her on the forehead as he brushed away the dark brown hair out of her face.  He then opened the door for her and Anton watched Liv get into her car…the Honda Accord Anton had bought her.  Anton looked over at his brother Nick in the driver’s seat as if to say, “Go ahead and say I told you so…”  but instead he was shocked to see his brother with one solitary tear rolling down his cheek, as he stared intently out the windshield. 

“Sorry, bro…I wanted to tell you earlier but didn’t think it was my business.  Trust me, when I suspected what Olivia was doing, the last thing I wanted to do was get involved.  I kept telling myself it was none of my business, but the longer it went on…Oh man, I am so sorry!”

Anton stared blankly out the passenger seat window as the car began to move again.  He cranked his neck to look back at what?  His cheating wife?  His shattered dreams?  His love of his life?  His crushed heart?  He couldn’t even begin to make sense.  “Now what?” he desperately thought.

Nick continued, “You deserve so much better than her.  I have a friend who is an attorney who said he can get proceedings started as soon as possible.  If you don’t file for divorce now, she will.  And if she does it first, you will lose all your money and be left with only the shirt on your back…if you’re lucky.  Not to mention the kids…”

Anton had been working as a scientist in the local lab for over ten years and had moved up the ranks quickly with his academic expertise as well as efficient communication skills.  He traveled all over the world teaching the medical community about new advances in pharmaceuticals.  He never thought of himself as a neglectful husband but he had been traveling quite a bit lately.  He had always boasted to his friends how he never questioned his wife’s loyalty.  He always thought it curious how fast she was to accuse him of infidelity while on the road.  Could it be because she had been being unfaithful to him all along?  He refused to believe it.  There had to be a logical explanation…all of the sudden, Anton had a huge headache.  Nick had said something about wanting to work through his emotions, but Anton just felt numb and wanted to be left alone.  Nick dropped off Anton in front of his house and said, “When you’re ready to talk…I’ve got your back…”  Anton hardly acknowledged his brother’s heartfelt reaching out.  He unlatched the lock to the white picket fence and slugged his way into the house.  He poured himself a tall glass of milk and sat down on the loveseat waiting for the final confrontation with Liv.  Loveseat, he thought how ironic.  His final conversation would take place on the loveseat that had taken them two hours in the furniture store to agree on.  He could never forgive her…no matter what.  How would he ever be able to trust her again?  How long had her affair been going on?  How many other men had there been through all the years of their marriage.  Anton wouldn’t allow his mind to go there.  Not yet.  He would let Liv tell her side of the story before he jumped to anymore horrific conclusions.

He and Liv had come to Boomerang Valley to raise their family.  How was he going to explain this to their three children?    They had their son in college and two teenage girls at home.  This was sure to tear their family apart.  Dominick was supposed to be coming home for spring break in just a few weeks.  Well, one thing was for certain, Dom would not be coming home to his mother’s home cooking because Anton would never allow his wife to step foot in his home again.  That’s right, he imagined how the conversation would go in his head as he waited for Liv to get home from wherever the heck she had gone next.  He would demand that she pack her stuff and go.  He would not tolerate a single night in the same house with that treacherous thing.

Liv eventually did come home, but the scene did not play out at all as Anton had expected.  He confronted Liv in a loving tone at first mentioning that he had seen her across town a few hours ago.  He calmly asked if spin class had been cancelled.  Liv stumbled over her words and tried to piece together a lie.  But after you’ve lived with someone for almost twenty years, you can practically finish each other’s sentences and you most certainly know when you have been caught in tangled web of deceit.  Liv saw the hurt in Anton’s eyes and knew she had been caught.  Not only had she been caught, the timing had been terrible.  She had been hoping to not have to see him face to face.  She and Personal Trainer Bo had already bought their plane tickets and were hoping to skip town in two weeks and then let the explosion happen where they didn’t have to witness or be a part of the fallout.  Now here she stood, having to face the consequences of her careless actions.  She knew she should have parked her car around the block from Bo’s apartment.  Unfortunately, Liv felt no remorse for her actions.  She only felt bad that she had been busted.

As the conversation unfolded, Anton was flabbergasted at Liv’s demeanor.  How could anyone be that selfish?  Heartless was the word that came to mind.  He found out that Liv had been cheating on him for years.  Bo was not the first…and Anton reasoned, would not be the last.  He decided to do the hardest thing he has ever done.  He had wanted to kick her out onto the curb, but the love he had for his high school sweetheart made him realize he wasn’t kicking her out.  She had essentially already kicked him out…of their life anyway.  Anton had to let go.  And what was he letting go of anyway?  Nothing seemed real anymore.  Liv calmy stated that she would be gone by morning…first she would move in with Bo and then as scheduled, she and Bo would be moving to the mountains of Colorado.  Anton was crushed!

It had taken him almost a full year to have the courage to date again.  Truthfully, he didn’t feel he would ever be able to trust any woman again.  But against his better judgment, he had found himself on the computer one night, registering for an online dating site his daughters Ana and Lia had told him about.  Danielle had looked much older in her picture and Anton still had a youthful look about him, despite being over the hill.  Neither had lied on their profile.  It was as if some fatalistic magnetic pull had brought them together.  They had the same sense of humor and loved dancing.  Danielle had invited him to her Zumba class a month previous, and although he had no idea what she was talking about, he had agreed.  How could he say no to those beautiful baby blue eyes?  Anton once again felt wanted. 

He wasn’t really in love with her, he was more in love with the idea of being able to show her off to his ex-wife.  He yearned to be able to walk into the living room with a hottie on his arm the next time they would see each other for Dom’s birthday celebration.  He would show Liv that he could have just as good a midlife crisis as she did!  Only better!  Anton’s daughters thought it was cute when Anton got ready for his date but when they heard it was Danielle, they begged their dad not to go through with it.  Teenage girls know everything that happens in a small town and they recognized the name Danielle immediately.  She was almost done with college but  still lacked any sort of smarts.  Everyone knew this airhead was trouble…with a capital T.  He knew dating Danielle was probably a fleeting fancy but he intended to be the object of her affection as long as she would allow him to be.  Danielle spoke a foreign language as far as Anton was concerned.  What was all this tweeting, face-timing, snap-chatting, and vining about anyway?  But Anton didn’t care because to Anton, Danielle was his ticket back to feeling like a powerful man.  The lyrics snapped him back to reality…

“And im loving every second minute hour bigger better stronger power!”

The song ended…Anton flexed his biceps and Danielle flirtatiously giggled her contagious laugh.

http://youtu.be/wletFQfRfJs

Will.i.am. #thatPOWER (feat. Justin Bieber). Rec. 18 Mar. 2013. Interscope, 2013.