You Weren't Supposed to Find Out

“You weren’t supposed to find out.”

“Oh? I wasn’t supposed to read my text messages? What, I should’ve ignored it instead? Give you a chance to take my phone and delete it?”

“No, ‘course not. Just… You weren’t supposed to see that one.”

“That one?”

“I was venting—”

“‘He doesn’t pay attention to me anymore’, ‘he doesn’t buy the right gifts, not like you do’, ‘he’s so bad in bed’, ‘I wish you were here instead’, ‘I’d rather be married to you’, ‘I wished he died in that car crash’. That’s just venting to you? Are you fucking serious right now?”

“Well, what would you call it?”

“Vindictive. Evil. Cruel. Bitchy. Selfish. Who—”

“Okay, that’s enough. I get it already.”

“I don’t think you do.”

“I swear it didn’t mean anything. It was just venting. I was frustrated.”

“That was much more than frustration. Should I have mentioned the nudes?”

“I didn’t send any nudes.”

“No, but you mentioned them in your paragraph long text message. Telling a friend how stressful work has been is one thing, but I know damn well that wasn’t meant for a friend to see.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that you’ve been sexting someone. Maybe even fucking them behind my back.”

“I’m not.”

“I don’t believe you. Just recently, you’ve been working late. Have you really?”

“Yes! I have! For a promotion!”

“Yeah? You sure those late nights aren’t spent in a hotel room with your boss?”

“I… That’s not…”

“Sounds like I struck gold.”

“…It was one night.”

“Oh, is that all?”

“Yes. I regretted it.”

“Yet you’re sending nudes to this person?”

“No, not him.”

“So, that wasn’t all then. You slept with your boss. Who’s the guy getting the nudes? A co-worker? He a part of the late nights too?”

“I promise you, all the other nights were really me working late.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you cheated on me. And still are, as far as I'm concerned.”

“…I know.”

“And lied to me.”

“I know…”

“We’ve been married six years, Lori. Together for eleven.”

“I know, I know.”

“Apparently, you don’t, considering what you’ve been doing behind my back. How long has this been going on?”

“A while.”

“How long? Because this isn’t the only time you’ve been working late.”

“Only a month. I never did anything those other times; it was just work.”

“Why? As poor of an excuse it was, I don’t think a promotion was why you slept with your boss. And it’s certainly not why you’re sending nudes to another man. Maybe multiple men. And before you say otherwise, I won’t believe you. I won’t believe anything you say. In my mind, wanting to be with other men has always been there.”

“…I was lonely.”

“I was here.”

“You’ve been distant, unloving.”

“I’ve been tired. I work, too, Lori. In case you’ve forgotten.”

“I haven’t, Philip.”

“You sure about that?”

“You—Where are you going? I’m not through talking with you.”

“Maybe, but I’m through with you.”

“You can’t do this to me. Not over some mistake.”

“Sure, I can. Like you chose to cheat, I’m choosing to leave.”