“Oh my, what happened, beautiful? I’m not trying to pry or upset you, I’m just concerned about you. I’ve never seen you upset like this before. I could tell something was up from the moment I looked into your face this morning,” Kevin said as he walked over to where I was sitting.
Taking a seat on the edge of my desk, he started rubbing my back. Handing me a Kleenex from off my desk, he sat there rubbing my back while I got myself together. Looking in my purse, I pulled out the used condom wrapper that I found this morning and sat it on my desk.
“What’s this?” Kevin asked with a confused look on his face.
“I found that this morning in my husband’s pants pocket.”
“Damn!”
“Right! The ink on our marriage certificate ain’t even dry yet, and he’s out there cheating on me. Like what the fuck! Why am I not good enough for him?” I cried out.
“Don’t say that, Ava. You are good enough. It just looks like your husband doesn’t appreciate nor value what he has in you.”
“I knew something was off between us. My intuition is something serious. But he made me feel like I was nagging him, crowding and smothering him is what he called it. And my sister and best friend told me that I was basically just tripping, but I know my husband. We went from not being able to keep our hands off each other to him going out and coming in late, consistently. It’s like his pattern just switched up as soon as I came back to work and wasn’t home to monitor his ass.”
“I’m so sorry you have to go through this, sweetie.”
“It’s only been a week! One fucking week since we both been back to work and now this!”
“Maybe you should take today off. I mean, you’re dealing with a lot. Then to have to put on a brave face and deal with these crazy ass kids all day might be a bit much for you right now.”
“No, I can’t take today off. I have a full schedule today. I can’t let these babies down because of my stupid ass husband. It’s not their fault I married a sorry sack of shit for a husband.”
“I get that, and it’s very admirable how devoted you are to your job. But sweetie, if you ain’t good, how you gon’ be there for these kids?”
“I just need a few minutes to get myself together and I’ll be fine,” I replied as I applied more foundation to my face, doing my best to get myself together. “I feel bad for even telling you this. I’m sorry to be putting you all in my business.”
“Why you feel bad when I came to you and asked what was up? I’ve known you for some years now. I could tell something was wrong. You shouldn’t feel bad at all.”
“I bet I look like an idiot right now. Ugh! How could I be so darn stupid!”
“Hey, stop all of that,” Kevin comforted me then continued. “You don’t look stupid at all. You’re upset and I don’t blame you. You have every right to be pissed.”
“Ha, thanks for being on my side.”
“What did your husband have to say when you confronted him?”
“Ha, that’s just the thing. I haven’t talked to him yet, at least not about the condom. Ugh! Here I go looking dumb as shit with what I’m about to say, but he didn’t even come home last night. When he got in at three this morning, I confronted him for staying out all night and we got into it bad. He basically got defensive and made me feel like I was out of line for questioning him. I didn’t know about the condom until after he left. I tried calling him but of course, he didn’t answer so I texted him. He never replied cause he knows he fucked up!” I ranted as I checked my phone for what seemed like the hundredth time to see if Justin responded to my message or tried calling me back.
“Wow! Can I make a suggestion?”
“Sure.”
“I don’t even know dude, but we both can agree that he knows you know he has been up to no good. Us men don’t like to be questioned or confronted, whether we’re right or wrong. That’s why you got the defensive attitude. He basically attempted to flip the shit and make you feel bad when he knows he’s wrong.”
“That’s exactly what happened. I’m so upset!”
“As you should be. But now that you know what’s really going on, you need to figure out how to move forward with him. You’re a beautiful woman. I have damn near complimented you every day since we started working together. Once you told me that you were married, I put all the compliments that I used togive you on ice out of respect for your marriage. But on some real shit, you too smart and beautiful to deal with a man that don’t respect you. You can do way better than that. Up your standards.”
“I hear what you’re saying and thank you for the compliment, but I’m still married. It’s not like he and I are just dating. I feel stuck as shit! Like I can’t just walk away and end things with the snap of my fingers like that.”
“Why can’t you? Being married isn’t a death wish, sweetie.”
“I didn’t get married to get a divorce in less than a year though.”
“Shit, who does? But if you’re not being respected, being married doesn’t mean you have to sit back and take shit either,” Kevin said.
“So, what should I do then? ‘Cause confronting him and trying to get the truth out of him will be a waste of my time.”
