Three is a crowd: David takes frustration out on Diane, while Julie falls into Kenneth’s arms

(Continued from last issue)

David and Diane have been married for years; then there is Julie, the young secretary whose axis collides with the couple’s in ways none of them saw coming.

DIANE

It was approaching nine before I finally decided enough was enough and it was time to head home.

Despite what I had told Tracy, I had not actually gotten much work done. I thought about David, our marriage, his affair, and what role if any I had played in driving him into the arms of another woman.

I knew I had not been a perfect wife, but when all was said and done, I was confident that I had been a good one, and refused to take the blame for his wandering.

I thought about our children and if I had done enough to safeguard their future, especially now that there was a bastard son in the picture, which got me thinking about the boutique and how I could make it more profitable.

I would categorize business as being average, but nowhere close to being sufficient to maintain the lifestyle the children and I were accustomed to; so, without David meeting most of our bills, we would no doubt struggle.

That said, I did not think David could ever actually leave, or not provide for the children and I; he simply was not that sort of man. Tracy always said that as long as the children and I were catered for, I had nothing to complain about; but she wasn’t taking into consideration the fact that I had been with David since I was at university and genuinely loved him.

We had built a home and family together, people knew who we were, we had a social standing and reputation to protect, and he had risked all that for a nobody with no name! Some days I still could not believe he had actually done it, but the grim reality was that he had, and now I had to figure out what that meant for us.

Although he had broken my heart with his affair, I had too much vested in our life together to just walk away from it, and yet how could I stay, knowing he was still seeing that homewrecker?

How could I welcome him with open arms, knowing he had most probably just been in hers? I was caught between a rock and a hard place and didn’t know how much more of it my heart could take.

DAVID

When it got to nine and Diane still was not back, my confusion and concern morphed into suspicion and anger. Where the hell was she? And perhaps more importantly, who was she with, and what were they doing?

It was a train of thought I had not wanted to let my mind take, but it ploughed on, nonetheless; why else would she be out at this time?

What other explanation could there possibly be? I had been infuriated at the thought of Julie messing about with that doctor, but the thought of Diane, my wife, with another man was ten times worse and almost more than I could handle.

By the time she finally returned as it approached nine thirty, my first instinct was to jump to my feet and lynch her, but I restrained myself.

“Where have you been?” I asked quietly, my tone calm but ice-cold.
“At the boutique,” she answered casually, like it was a perfectly reasonable and believable response.

It was not.

“Don’t insult my intelligence; do you know what time it is?” I snapped, my temper rising. “I left at about eight – there was traffic,” she shrugged and turned to walk off.

Her cavalier attitude broke the last remnants of my self-control and leaping to my feet, I got to her in two giant strides, grabbing her by her left shoulder and spinning her round to face me in a single fluid movement.

“Don’t ……lie……..to……..me,” I growled.

Her eyes widened in shock and she tried to pull away in vain.

“Let go of me, you’re hurting me,” she cried.

“Then don’t lie to me; now let’s try this again, where have you been?”
“I’m not lying! I was at the boutique and then I was caught in traffic! For goodness sake, where do you think I’ve been?”

“I don’t know, but I do know you weren’t at work till eight o’clock.”
“Then you don’t know anything because that’s exactly where I was! Now let go of me; I’m tired and don’t have the energy for this,” she retorted, and once again tried to pull away.

In response, I grabbed her right shoulder as well and pulled her right up against me, so her entire upper body was pressed into mine.

“You’ve been with another man, haven’t you?”

For a second she just stared at me, then laughed sarcastically: “Don’t think we’re all like you; affairs are your thing, not mine.”

Her words stung like she had hit me, and reflexively I released her and struck her back, not realizing what I was doing until I felt my open palm connect with her cheek.

JULIE

Even after I had figured out that David was not coming by that evening, I was still unable to relax, and for hours, paced the apartment with an almost nervous energy.

I would sit down to watch TV, then get up and turn it off moments later, walk into the kitchen for something, then get there and find I had forgotten what it was I had gone for in the first place.

Although Junior was fast asleep and clearly out for the night, I kept going into the bedroom to check on him every couple of minutes. As the hours ticked by with no sign of my restlessness abating, I forced myself to confront what it was that was really bothering me.

A large part of it was no doubt frustration at the fact that while Kenneth and I had not been able to get intimate, because I had been in such a rush to get back to the apartment assuming that David would be coming by as usual, he was probably at that very minute making love to his wife.

The unfairness of the situation was impossible to ignore, and the more I stewed over it, the more frustrated I grew, until I snapped as it approached midnight.

Intentionally refusing to think too deeply about what I was doing, I picked up my phone and called Kenneth.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he answered the phone almost immediately, his tone a mixture of surprise and concern.
“Nothing; I miss you,” I replied simply.

He sighed in relief, then answered in a much softer tone; “I miss you too.”

“What time does your shift end?” “Midnight; so, in about fifteen minutes.” “Can you come over when you’re done?” “To the apartment? I thought you said it was too risky,” he reminded me in surprise.

“I know what I said: I still want you to come,” I answered boldly.

He hesitated for only a fraction of a second. “Alright….I’ll be there,” he promised and hung up.

I don’t think he actually finished his shift because less than half an hour after he hung up, he was knocking at the door, and when I let him in, as though sensing exactly what I needed, he immediately pulled me into his arms and wordlessly began to tug off my clothes.

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