Big Fat Unfaithfulness

He dropped her at her place. The night was still young and he wanted to spend more time with her but she said as much as she would love to, she better be tucked in early because she had a ‘busy day tomorrow.’

He stared into her eyes and navigated the meaning of the word ‘busy.’ Avoiding an argument, he brushed the thought aside. After the pleasantries, he watched go up into her cabin as he drove away.

He woke up to a “hey love, just started off. Have a nice day, love you xoxo” text. He blushed and cringed at the same time. As he stared on the phone, finding the appropriate response, the house help budged in.

She looked distressed as she held the telephone in her hands.

“Wait, what are you doing in my room without knocking? I could be in compromising attire for crying out loud!”

“Sorry boss, I just got this call from April and Ginger’s school that they are yet to be picked up. It’s almost 8!”

What?

This is the fourth time his wife had done this. It was getting dark and his two kids were out there in the cold. He had assumed that she had picked them up and gone off on her frolic but clearly not.

He quickly dressed up and sped off to salvage his children from the cold.

He reassured them that mummy was just running late. He even bought them food to make them forget.

“What is wrong with this woman? Why can’t she learn to put her family first? Why does such a beautiful woman make it so darn hard to love?” The thoughts ran through his head.

Around midnight, the bedroom door crept open. Mummy was finally home, but the kids didn’t get a chance to see her; they were fast asleep.

She went on about how her day was, how time seemed to slip through her hands. She was getting good at this.

As he looked at her beautiful frame, trying so hard to conceal her misdeeds, his heart was drawn out to her. He jumped out of bed and tried to lean close to her. The smell of booze and men’s cologne repulsed him. He knew where she was coming from and what exactly she had been doing but for fear of confrontations and back and forth arguments, he let it slide as he had done for years.

As the night wore on, and she was fast asleep, totally oblivious to what happened during the day, his mind was turning. How and where did he go wrong? How did he land in this mess? Here was a woman, beautiful in every sense of the word yet she was the cause of so much heartache, both to him and his poor children.

Should he forget about her and do what she does? His mind was driven to the house help. There she was: ever available, ever caring. He would be lying if he said that the thought of him and her didn’t cross his mind. And what about that co-worker, pretty and smart. But no, he wouldn’t cheat. No matter how unfaithful his wife was, he wouldn’t cheat. Partly because he didn’t want the tables to be turned against him and partly because he feared they were all the same. What if down the road, they all become like her?

What was the assurance that all that is glittering now won’t tell out to be base metal? Hold up, who is he fooling? He saw all the signs way before but ignored them. His mind quickly flashed back to that night when he drove her home because she had hectic errands to take care of the following day… he was uneasy then and the uneasiness only grew worse… why, oh why!

The message alert tone buzzed again.

He had been staring at the ‘I love you xoxo’ for so long. He didn’t believe it, scratch that, he didn’t believe her. So, caring for his peace and the well-being of his unborn children, should there be any, he garnered the courage and responded in the most honest way ever:

“When you get back, we need to talk.”