(Request from anon)

Once again, you were standing in the kitchen wrapping up the leftovers from your dinner, which was made for two, yet attended by one.  This would make the third time this week that Chen wasn’t home for dinner.  His reoccurring excuse of “working late” was starting to grow old.  You know he was dedicated to his job at the law office, but he never seemed to work as much as he does now.  He leaves home early and comes back late almost every day, including most weekends.  You were starting to feel lonely around the house by yourself.

Not that you didn’t go out and do things like shop and hang out with friends, but you really wanted to spend more time with your husband.  You two have been married for a year now, and he has gotten more and more distant in the last two months than he’s ever been.  Well, almost a year.  Your anniversary was 3 days away and you had no idea what you were going to get him.

“I don’t know what to do.  He is hardly ever home now, and when he is home he just goes straight to bed.”  You lay your head on the table of the small café where you are your friends always sit and watch the people passing by on the sidewalk.

“That is so strange.  He’s never been like that before.  I wonder what’s got him acting all secretive lately.”  Your best friend said.  She knows Chen as well as you do.  Heck, she even introduced you two.

“The answer’s obvious.”

You turn to your other friend.  Well, she’s your friend today.  Sometimes she chooses to be your enemy instead.  So, she’s a frenemy.

“What?” you ask, desperate to know.

“He’s cheating on you.”

“What?  No way.  He’s not like that.  Chen would never cheat on her or anyone for that matter,” your friend says.

“Are you so sure about that?”  Your frenemy turns to you.  “Didn’t you say that at the annual office party he spent a lot of time talking to the female lawyer in his practice?  It’s been two months since the party and he’s been acting like this for two months.  Do you really think this is coincidence?”

You think about the woman from that night.  She was beautiful.  She had long dark hair that was pin straight and big eyes with long eyelashes to match.  She was wearing a long form fitting white dress with crystals around the neck and a slit in the skirt revealing her slender legs.

 

You hear the front door open and you can’t help but feel a little pick up in your mood.  However, you knew how this was going to unfold.  He would come in, apologize for missing dinner, say he ate at the office, give you a kiss and go to bed.  This has been the norm as of late.  You start washing the dishes that had been for nothing.

“Hi, Jagiya.  Sorry about tonight.  They practically chained me to my desk until I got all that paperwork done.”  You could hear in his voice that he was tired.  You wonder if what’s keeping him at the office so late is really paper work or something else.

“It’s okay, Chen.  I can make you something if you’d like,” you say.  It almost felt formal, as if this were a business meeting or something, not your husband coming home from a day at the office.  The image was still in your head and you fought the urge to blurt out accusations.

“I ate at the office, but thanks anyway, Yeobo.”  He comes up behind you and wraps his arm around your waist.  You turn to him, waiting for the normal peak on the lips.  You notice that he has loosened his black and white tie and untucked his white dress shirt from his suit pants.  You loved seeing him in his black suit, but lately the trill has died down because you were too used to seeing it.  You wondered who else got to see it and liked it the way you do.

Chen leans in close and kisses you lightly, barely enough to get your heart pounding.  You turn back around and continue to work, until you notice something strange.  His arm is still around you.  In fact, his other arm is now around your waist too.  You feel him lay his head on your shoulder as he pulls you closer to his chest.  You can feel the knot in his tie between your shoulder blades.

You are confused, but not at all upset with the sudden back hug.  You pull your hands out of the hot water and rest them on the front of the sink.  Your head falls back and rests against his as a content sigh leaves your lips.

“I’m really sorry about dinner, Yeobo.  This case will be over soon and I promise I will be home more often,” he whispers in your ear.  You feel you head spin and a smile breaks out on your face.

You burst out laughing as Chen tickles your side.  “Chen….don’t,” you says between laughs.  You try to pull away, but Chen is holding you in place.  He tickles your other side causing another series of thrashes and laughs. 

“Please….You know…..I’m very……ticklish.”

“That’s the point.”  You can almost hear the cat-like smirk he always gets when he’s teasing you.  He doesn’t let you escape as he continues to tickle your sides without mercy.

He finally stops and you’re left gasping for air.  He holds you for another few moments, lightly chuckling.  “I love you,” he says.  He squeezes you a little tighter.

“I love you too.”  You close your eyes and savor the way he’s holding you.  He hasn’t done this in a long time and you miss it.  But, all too soon, he lets you go and you feel his warmth leave you. 

“I’m going to take a shower and head to bed, Jagiya.  Feel free to join me anytime.”  You turn to look at him just in time to see a mischievous wink.  Then he turns and heads down the hallway.

You smile to yourself and turn back to the sink.  The previous feelings of jealousy, anger and hurt are now gone.  There was no way your husband would cheat on you.  He wouldn’t act the way he acted tonight if he was cheating on you.  You felt silly for ever thinking so.  Chen was just a dedicated employee of his firm, working hard on this current case.  You couldn’t wait to tell your frenemy she was wrong.

You hear a phone ringing behind you.  You pause and listen carefully.  It’s not your ringtone.  You turn and see Chen’s phone ringing on the kitchen table.  You look toward the hallway, right as you hear the shower start.  You figure you might as well take it to him.  It might be important.

You grab the kitchen towel and dry your hands real quick before rushing over to the table.  You pick up the phone and look at the screen.  The display has you throwing the phone back on the table and backing up against the wall behind you.

The picture for the caller as well as the name was that of the lawyer who wore the white dress at the office party.  You stare at the phone horrified as it continues to ring on the table.

Why would she be calling at this time?  Why is she calling him at all?  I didn’t think that they worked directly with each other.  You don’t know whether to be mad or upset as the phone finally stops ringing.  Less than a minute later it starts again.  The same picture and the same name.

All the horrible thoughts that you had tried to push out of brain came back with a vengeance.  You sink to the floor, your friend’s comments repeating in your head.  The answer’s obvious.  He’s cheating on you.

You cover your ears trying to block out all the sounds, from the voices in your head, to the phone ringing on the table, to the shower down the hall.  You just want everything to stop.  You want to turn back the clock and have him holding you again.  You will the phone to stop, but you still hear the horrible, bubbly tune he had chosen for a ringtone.

You stand up and leave the phone on the table, running to the bedroom.  You just need some sleep.  This was all a dream and when you wake up, everything will back to the way they were.  Yeah, Chen would still be kind of distant, but you wouldn’t know the reason and you wouldn’t have had the affection tonight, making everything hurt worse.

You change clothes and lay on your side of the bed holding in the tears that are forming in your eyes.  You close your eyes, willing yourself to fall asleep.  Not long later you hear to shower stop.  The door opens and you hear Chen walking into the room.  He walks around for a little bit before laying down next to you.  You kept your eyes closed the whole time, acting like you were already asleep.

The room is now completely dark, as Chen turns off the lamp next to the bed.  The clock is ticking on the wall, keeping you from focusing on trying to fall asleep.  The whole ordeal was driving you crazy and you didn’t know if you would be able to take it much longer.

“Chen?”  You almost kick yourself for speaking out loud.

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you something?”  What am I going to ask?

“Of course.  What’s on your mind?”

I think you’re cheating on me.  “Do you work much with the female lawyer in your firm?”  Really?  That’s what you come up with?

“No.  Not much.  Why?”

“Well, she tried to call you while you were in the shower.”  You listen for any kind of reaction.

“Did she?  That’s odd.  Did she leave a message or anything?”

Like, “Meet at the office in 20?”  “I didn’t notice.”

“Hm.  Okay.  I’ll talk to her tomorrow and see what she wants.”  A feeling of dread enters your gut.  He would see her tomorrow.

“Chen?”

“Yes?”

“Do you talk to her often?”

There was a pause and you felt him sit up.  You didn’t turn around to see what he was doing.

“Okay, what’s this about?”  He put a hand on your shoulder and turned you to look at him.  You see his silhouette reach out and turn on the lamp.  You squint at the sudden light.  He’s looking down at you with a look of intrigue.

“Nothing.  I was just wondering.”

He gave you a look that showed it was obvious he didn’t believe.  You sigh and turn away.

“You’ve gotten really distant lately.  We barely talk anymore and I just…”  you couldn’t find a way to finish your sentence.

Chen takes your chin and turns your head to look back at him.  “You think there’s something going on between me and her, don’t you?”  There he goes being all deductional again.  Hearing him say it out loud, felt like a stab to the side.  You don’t answer him.

Chen shook his head and laid down again.  This time he pulls you close and holds you under the sheets.  He kisses you on the forehead and snuggles you into his chest.

“I’m sorry for working so much.  I didn’t know it would lead you to thinking crazy things like this.  I’m not involved with her in any way, except that we work in the same firm.  Strictly professional.  I promise.”  He runs his hand through your as you breathe in his scent.  You feel yourself relax, but there is still something nagging at your brain.

“Then why have you been so distant and working so much lately?”

You hear him heave a big sigh and your feel his chest move up and down with his breath.  “Well, I was hoping to leave it a surprise, but seeing as how you are jumping to crazy conclusions, I’ve been taking on extra work for the money.”

“But, Chen, we are perfectly secure with our current finances.  You don’t need to take on extra work.”

“Let me finish.  I’ve been taking that extra money and have been saving it for a vacation for our anniversary.”

You sit straight up in bed.  “A vacation?  For our anniversary?  Where?”

“We are actually going to be doing a tour of Europe.  London, Paris, Venice, Rome.  It will be the honeymoon we never got to have.”

You feel your heart bursting with excitement and happiness.  You couldn’t believe that just a few minutes ago, you thought that the wonderful man that is your husband was having an affair.

“Oh my gosh.  Are you serious?”  You tackle Chen and hold him as tight as you can.  He hugs you back, kissing the side of your head.  “I’m so sorry for thinking that you were cheating on me.  I guess didn’t know what to think and then the idea was put in my head and…”

Chen put a finger over your lips, shushing you.  “It’s okay, Yeobo.  Let’s get some sleep.  I really am exhausted.”  He smiles at you as he turns the lights out again.

You snuggle back into his hold and smile to yourself, now knowing that you have the most amazing husband in the world.  You fall asleep breathing in his scent and thinking of Eiffel Towers and gondolas.