Galatea

Chapter 6

Derek returned to the room with the folder in hand. The moon illuminated his tired body: his shoulders were pushed forward, and his hair was tousled. I also continued to lie on the bed, only now my gaze moved to the man.

"I thought you were already asleep," he said wearily.

"I can't sleep," I replied in the same manner, "can I use your phone?"

"Of course," he handed me the gadget, after which I got out of bed to go out into the backyard, "should I go with you?"

"No, I want to be alone."

At the moment, I felt an urgent need to call Eva. My selfishness increased, I didn't care what time it was in Paris now, whether she was sleeping or not, it was important for me to hear her voice.

It was also cold outside, the body immediately began to shiver from the cold. I dialled my friend's number

"Derek?" Eva asked.

"No, it's me," I answered quickly, smiling fondly.

"Why don't you sleep so late?" the girl asked, laughing a little.

"Insomnia," I chuckled bitterly.

"And I told you you shouldn't move to America," Eva said with some reproach, "you never had a problem in Paris."

"Yes, you're right," I answered with a deep sigh, "it's different here."

"Did something happen to you?" There was a hint of worry in her voice.

"No, I'm fine," despite the lump in my throat and tears in my eyes, I tried to disguise my condition as much as possible.

"Felicity, listen," Eva began to say a little more quietly, "I should have told you this a long time ago, but for some reason I was afraid."

My body stiffened, and my brow furrowed. The girl continued:

"You left the keys to your apartment for me to hand over to the new owners, didn't you?" she said uncertainly, "So I was once in your apartment, checking whether you took everything and so on when the doorbell rang. I wondered who it could be because the meeting with the new owners was not scheduled that day "I opened the door, and there was a very beautiful girl in front of me she had very long blonde hair, and she was tall and thin herself."

"What did she want?"

"She asked about Derek."

"And what did you tell her?"

"Said he moved with his wife to Colorado and wasn't going back."

I pinched the bridge of my nose with my fingers. There was chaos in my head.

"You know, I had a friend who also opened the door to a girl, and she told her that she was her boyfriend's mistress," Eva continued, "are you still listening to me?"

"Sorry, I have to go," I said quickly.

"I'm not saying that this girl is Derek's lover, but she was so insistent on finding out about him that I was already thinking of lying and saying that he was in India."

"Bye," I hung up the call.

I don't remember how long I stood in the backyard, thinking over the words of my friend. The cold penetrated my body so much that it seemed that every bone was knocking. I couldn't believe my husband was cheating on me. He would never do this.

I went too quickly into the house, and also quickly found Derek sitting at the table with a folder.

It was difficult to find the right words to tell him how I felt. I did not want to speak at all and wanted to tell him all the pain that was accumulating in my heart.