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Rose
“You did great work today,” Mark grinned at me. “I really like the ideas you came up with.”
“I have to admit, I was so nervous,” I said, still feeling the high of landing the client. “After yesterday, I thought for sure I would crash and burn.”
Mark led me out to the town car waiting for us to take us back to the office. He told Charlie he would go with me today, and that made me more nervous than anything. Having the boss watch me in action felt like taking a test. Luckily, things went quite smoothly.
He held the door open for me as I slid inside. After getting in beside me, we headed back to the office. “So, did you celebrate last night after your big win?”
My smile slipped from my face. “Actually, James had to head back to the office.”
“Oh. Well, I’m sure you’ll do something tonight.”
I turned to the window, not wanting him to see the disappointment on my face. “I think we have a dinner tonight with our parents.”
“That sounds formal.”
“If you knew them, you’d run for your life.”
“Do you mind me asking you a personal question?”
Facing him again, I pretended everything was fine. “Of course.”
“Are you happy?”
“In my job?”
“No, I can tell you are at work. But you don’t seem to be very happy other than that. I only ask because I used to be married, and I know how hard it can be.”
“No one ever tells you how difficult marriage is,” I forced out with a smile. “Everyone makes it look so easy, like you fall in love and you just continue to be happy forever.”
“That’s all fake. Marriage is hard work. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to pry…But if you ever need to talk to someone, my door is always open.”
“Thank you, but I’m fine.”
He nodded, shooting me a knowing look. It was a lie. I was anything but fine. Work was the one area of my life where I didn’t feel like I wanted to break down in tears. Last night, I went home so happy, thinking James and I would celebrate my first big day. Then he ran out the door, barely hearing a word I said. And then he was gone all night.
Doubt started to creep into my mind that he was still faithful to me. I wanted to believe that James would never do something like that to me, but he was so absent lately, even more so than before. He came home late at night and slipped into bed long after I was asleep. I couldn’t remember the last time we had sex or I even got a kiss from him.
The truth was, both of us willingly walked into an affair, knowing we were potentially hurting someone else. It didn’t matter that we were married to each other and didn’t know it. The intent was there. What made our love for each other outweigh the fact that we were hurting someone else? And that was the problem. At the end of the day, I knew we were both very capable of throwing away everything for an affair, and it made me question everything about our marriage.
I finished up at the office and rushed home to get ready for this dinner. James’s parents were hosting, and unfortunately, it wasn’t something I could get out of. I was just slipping on a dress when James walked in the door, looking ragged and grouchy.
“Hey,” I said, drawing his attention.
He nodded to me, tossing his suit jacket on the bed, then flopped back with a sigh. “Christ, I’m tired. Can we skip tonight?”
“We’ve already backed out three times. Dinner’s in an hour. I don’t think we can call and cancel now.”
He rubbed at his face, then rested an arm over his face. Zipping up the back of my dress, I walked over to the bed and sat down beside him. Linking my hand with his, I tried to get that connection back with him.
“What was so urgent that you had to go to the office last night?”
“I was closing a deal with Constance Media. The owner was leaving town for two weeks.”
“And you couldn’t wait?” I asked, hearing the bitterness in my words.
“No,” he snapped. “I couldn’t wait. I needed to close the deal last night, Rose.”
