✍🏻 Little Matchmaker

9 - Knock on the Door

"You are even more beautiful than in the pictures." She said quietly and walked through the room, looking around as if to analyze 'what does she have that I don't', "Looking at all this," she waved with her arm around, "and you" she gestured towards Sophie, "one can hardly blame him, right? Especially when you have that one thing he wants the most."

She was now standing at the kitchen island and Sophie walked slowly over, closing the distance but still stopping few meters away.

"I had no idea he is married."

"I know," Tamiko said plainly and watched her own hand as it was sliding over the marble of the kitchen island, "he always wants to keep everything secret. Even our marriage. I don't blame you." She looked up again and sighed as if finally picking up the courage to say what she wanted to say.

"I never in a million years would have thought I turn into one of these women. The suspicious ones who track their husbands everywhere, you know?" She began to fight the tears again and Sophie couldn't even imagine what she must have been going through. Thinking what it would have been for her if she found out that Akio was cheating on her.
She felt profound sympathy for the woman and after picking up the courage herself, she asked her to come to the sofa and to sit down.

"So is that how you found me?" She asked as soon as they sat down with good two meters between them. Tamiko hid her face in her hands in shame and nodded.

"I didn't see him for almost two months. After he found out....we had a fight and he left." Now she fully burst into tears and Sophie hurriedly got up, bringing back a box of tissues and put it next to her on the sofa. Tamiko mumbled a soft thank you and Sophie sat back on her spot. She didn't try to console her and just sat there quietly, hoping to get way more answers.
Seeing the time and knowing that Akira is probably already climbing the walls at the reception, she excused herself and went to call Maria, asking her if she could pick him up and drive him to the rink and the school afterwards. She also called the reception to let them know he will be picked up in half an hour by Maria, even though she was already on the approved list of people and the relief in the receptionist's voice only confirmed that Akira must be already driving them mad.

When she came back, Tamiko had already calmed down again and mumbled several more apologies but Sophie let her know that she has nothing to apologize for. She looked like she wanted to talk, to let it all out, but didn't know where to start. And since Sophie wanted to know as much as possible, she began to ask.

"Can you please tell me how exactly did you find out if you are not in contact?" She asked softly, trying to make sure that his wife knows she is not accusing her of anything bad.

"As said, after our fight he left, but I just wanted to talk to him. I couldn't believe he would throw away so many years of marriage over....," she made a pause, fighting with finishing the sentence and in the end, left it be, "It was then only his huge team of lawyers talking to me. But I just had no closure, you know? I just wanted to talk to him, trying to make him understand that it's not the end of the world. That we can get through it. Together."

"Through what?"

She inhaled sharply and then answered in one breath as if ripping off a bandaid. "That I can't have children."

"What?! He left you because----"

"Yes. We were trying for a long time now and when we got both tested, it turned out it's me. He got mad and left. Taking it as a personal betrayal that I married him despite not being able to have children. But I didn't know myself until this summer!" She exclaimed as if trying to justify it and Sophie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "And since then, he is trying to annul the marriage. Which is not possible based on that. But I just didn't want a divorce until we could talk. So I.....I finally managed to find where he is staying and drove over. But before I got out of the car, I saw him getting into his. It took me weeks to find him and didn't want to risk missing my chance again. So I followed him."