—
Janet stood before her husband breathing rather profoundly. She couldn't help but to feel her heart race within her chest, wondering if he had any suspicions of the affair she gave herself to.
"Wait a minute," she looked at him sideways, figuring it'd be best to deter from his question. "You went through my phone?"
"Yes—no!" The man stumbled between his words, answering quickly. "No, I did not go through your phone." He pointed towards the bed, motioning toward where he was previously seated. "Picked up your phone to give it to you, then all of those damn notifications started popping up. But, what does that matter anyways?"
Janet rolled her neck in circular fashions, raising her voice a bit. "Because it's my phone! You don't see me going through your shit!"
Boris waved his wife off, not caring about whether or not they've peeked through each other's cellular devices. "Look, that's besides the damn point. Are you having an affair?"
"What?" The woman was astonished, or at least acted as if she were. She wasn't yet ready to be upfront about everything she and Toni had created without their husbands' knowledge. "For what reason would I need to do that, Boris?"
For a second time, he shifted focus to where her phone was stationed. "I'm just saying; those texts I read don't seem like none that a staff member or friend would send. If you seeing somebody else you ain't—"
"Boy," but she cut him off, rolling her neck in a circular fashion for a second time. "If I was going to step out on you, I would've done it when I wanted to." Instantly, she watched as her husband's face held an expression of confusion. So, she continued with, "Oh, don't you even stand here and act like I forgot about that bitch you was freaking on in your office."
Boris released heavy breaths, trying to get his mind to forget about the decisions of his past. "Baby, we talked about that a thousand times in therapy. We both agreed that we would try to move past it!"
Just before their agreement to enroll in counseling—a necessity as their marriage needed severe assistance—Janet decided to make a surprise visit to Boris's private practice on one particular evening. She anxiously strutted down the hallway that led to his office, given crucial stares of women of which she believed were just jealous. After entering the office, she saw an act of intimacy between Boris and another woman, one of whom she had known to be his assistant. Instantly, she then understood why the other women had looked at her like they did and it wasn't for the reason she thought.
But see, Janet had never expected that of her husband. Quite frankly, no woman did. She thought that by him being one of the highest paid lawyers of their town, he'd conduct himself more professionally. But, obviously, the reputation he had at work was one she had no knowledge of. Not wanting to be one to have given up on her marriage, she made sure to attend every therapy sitting to ensure that things could get back to how they were. But, there was one thing about a cheater; if they could do it once they'd do it again. And that was exactly what happened. Boris's office affairs only ended when his wife's hope for their marriage did.
"You're right!" Janet said back, stepping away from the man as he had tried to reach for her. "Yet you keep walking around here acting like our marriage is failing because of me." Recalling the destruction their union had faced, she began to feel her blood boil. "Making it seem like I'm too invested in my work and I don't have time for you. But let's talk about you, huh? Let's talk about what you did!"
Boris placed his head into the palm of one of his hands as he had not prepared for the day that the topic of his adultery would resurface. He honestly thought they'd put all of what had happened behind them. "I've said sorry over and over. I told you she meant nothing to me. What we did was nothing. When are you gonna let this shit go and move on?!"
