Chapter 35 – Talking
Peter woke up the next morning. Lynn was rubbing his back. Looking on the floor, Peter saw some cloths lying around. It was a wild mix of his and Lynn’s cloths. The headgear was lying in between this mess. Peter must have taken it off during the night.
Lynn looked at Peter. She still liked to be together with him. Yet there was always that nagging feeling. She kept imagining Peter in bed with Alex. This thought had been haunting her since that last morning in Mallorca. Forgiving Peter was something she still had to do, but she was not quite sure if she could. She had promised to forgive him if he continued to wear his braces, but at this moment she was not sure if she could keep her promise. She might have made it too easy for him.
Playing with Peter and his headgear yesterday was a lot of fun. The headgear made him look so innocent. And the look on his face when he looked in the mirror and seeing his headgear for the first time was priceless. She loved seeing him deal with the orthodontic devices, he was always skeptical at first, but in the end he rocked them.
It was clear to Lynn that Peter had a thing for braces. There was something in his behavior that made it obvious, but it is hard to describe the exact evidence. At first he always refused a new appliance, but in the end he wore them a lot and with a lot of confidence. And he showed it off and talked about it at every opportunity. However, Lynn did not know if Peter was aware of his love of braces in addition to his love of rubber bands.
What really bothered Lynn was the state of their relationship. She was not sure if she still loved Peter. And she had the impression that he was still seeing Alex. This girl deserved countless curses. Parts of her knew that this was an irrational thought, but she was not sure if she could trust him anymore.
The new wire on Peter's braces was doing an excellent job. Peter felt the pain all around his mouth. He was sure he would not be able to eat any hard food today. Painkillers were definitely on his meal plan. The pain also meant that his braces were doing their job.
Wearing the headgear yesterday was a joyful experience. It was cool to feel everything a real patient feels without actually having to wear it. The wire change was in a different category, it just added to his experience of orthodontic treatment.
“Good morning, Peter. How do you feel?”, Lynn was still rubbing his back. Peter moaned, “This new wire is killing me. Everything is sore.” Lynn had expected this to happen, “That’s normal with the second wire. I like to start with a very soft first wire. So my patients get used to wearing braces and then second wire starts with the real movement.” Lynn was surprised by her rather technical answer, normally she would come up with an answer that expressed more sympathy.
Peter also noticed the distant response. He had expected something more supportive from her. Some reassuring words or a kiss. But she was talking to him like a patient, not a friend. He wondered if what he had done to Alex had hurt her more than she had told him. Peter wanted to erase this day from his timeline, if only time machines were invented.
Peter's breakfast had been short, just coffee with sugar and milk. Eating anything hard was out of the question. He had already taken some painkillers, but they hadn't done their job yet. would be his friend for the morning. So he spent most of his breakfast watching Lynn eat with her braces. She was doing very well with them and he loved watching her.
The sunny day invited them to a walk around the surrounding forest. On the outskirts of the forest it seemed like everyone was out for a walk. They greeted a lot of people. Deeper in the forest the flow of people stopped. They were almost alone.
While walking they talked about unimportant topics. Then out of a sudden it burst out of Lynn, “I know you are still seeing her!” Lynn was surprised by this outburst and Peter too, “No, I am not.” Of course he knew who this “her” was. Alex the girl that has caused all this trouble.
“No, you are still seeing her,” Lynn yelled at him. Peter was alarmed, this whole situation had escalated to a point he hadn’t expected. Did she really believe he was still cheating with Alex? He replied trying to sound as relaxed as possible, “Please trust me. I am not seeing her and I deeply regret what I have done to you. There is no way to prove it, you have to trust me.”
“Give me your phone!”, demanded Lynn. Peter unlocked his phone and gave it to her, hoping it would calm her down. He so much regretted this party and what drunken Peter had done. If only he had any memories about that night. At least he would be able to understand his motives behind his misconduct.
Lynn scanned trough the messages on Peter’s phone, but she only found one message from Alex: “Dear Peter, I am sorry. What I did to you and Lynn was not fair. I shouldn’t have done that. But your braces looked so amazing. Those braces had a huge effect on me, I couldn’t resist. Hope you are doing well. Dear Alex”. Peter hadn’t even replied. She also looked for other messages. Maybe they were using a code name. Yet she did not find anything on his phone.
They passed some other walkers. Lynn was sure they had heard her yelling at Peter. She understood that she had overreacted, “Peter, I am sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. Thoughts on you with Alex are hunting me. It is horrible.” She handed Peter his phone and started to cry.
Peter used his fingers to dry the tears from her face, “It is not your fault. I am the one to blame. I hope you can forgive me one day.” They walked home quietly, each of them thinking about this situation.
In the evening they sat on the couch in front of Lynn's big TV. Peter had decided to wear his highpull headgear. He thought it might calm Lynn down since she had shown some impressive reactions to his headgear last night. She had clearly been on fire last night and somehow he liked wearing it too. Maybe wearing the headgear could help him get her back. It really shocked him that he could not come up with a better plan.
Lynn was still worried about Alex, she had to get rid of her. And suddenly she came up with a plan, “Peter, I have been thinking about Steve. You know he is still unattached. And I know he wants a girlfriend. But he thinks his braces will give him another year without a girlfriend.” Peter jokingly said, “We should just find him a girl that likes braces.” That was exactly the direction Lynn wanted to lead Peter.
Lynn put on a look pretending to think, “Hmm, doesn’t sound like an easy task.” Peter touched his facebow and he had an idea, “Maybe Alex, I know she has a thing for braces. I have discovered it the hard way.” Lynn was happy, that was exactly what she wanted from him. In hiding any satisfaction she said, “Maybe we should give it a try.”
Peter then wrote a message to Alex suggesting that she should call Steve, a man with braces and a need for a girlfriend. Lynn wrote Steve about this girl Alex, that needed a boyfriend and that he should contact her. Giving Alex attraction to braces, Lynn really hoped her plan would work out.
They went to bed later that night. Peter was still wearing his headgear. Yet for some reasons nothing exciting happened that night.
Poll