L'affaire Bob

3. The Hidden Side Of My Best friend's Wife

I blinked a dozen times just to make sure I was not dreaming; but the pretty figure of Mrs. Smith did not disappear.

"Are you so shocked to see me here?" She laughed softly.

See, that's what I like in my best friend's wife. There is always sweetness and tenderness in her acts and her words. Not once was she rude or mean to someone.

-"Well, yes, I wasn't expecting this. Seeing you here was, I admit, very surprising."

-"Paul, since you're a detective, you should know that most of the time, the criminal ends up being the cheerful and kind guy everyone loves; the one that is the least suspected. Therefore, I don't think this should surprise you", she said with a wink.

-"Umm yeah whatever... wait, was Bob a time traveler too?!?"

The warm smile of Samantha Smith faded away. The tension rose in the room, and I felt the air thicken around us.

-"No, Bob was... he wasn't one of us. This resulted in me always having to lie to him about... about where I was going or... or who I was spending my time with, because our identities should never be revealed. And I've been lying to him ever since Amanda showed up and told me everything about my true identity... I...I've been breaking all this time the promise we made when we started dating five years ago... All this time, I couldn't handle standing in front of him and telling him who I really am...But he's...he's gone now! And I can't help but think that I should've told him everything because, well, he was my husband...my bloody husband Paul!"

At this point, she was crying, and tears were flowing down her face. Such a beautiful soul didn't deserve to experience so much pain, I told myself.

Bob and Sam were so in love nobody could even try to separate them. They were the cutest couple ever. In fact, it was actually me who got them together, after many failed dates that went really bad... Can't tell you about it now though. It's a very long story that may not have an end.

So I took a step closer and pulled Samantha in a comforting embrace. At first, the hug was really awkward, because I didn't know how to make her feel better.

All I could come up with were harsh comments my subconscious was forming in my head like: "it's okay, you're still alive" or "be thankful you got to know him".

What the Hell was happening to me? Why was I so mean? She was my friend, I shouldn't think like that.

Maybe the death of my bestfriend was affecting me much more than I wanted to admit...

Maybe I was thinking that she shouldn't be the one crying so much right now.

Maybe I was thinking that she wasn't the one who knew Bob since kindergarten...

No, I warned myself. I shouldn't drown in this depressing ocean and start hating on her. I should, on the contrary, support Sam and help her get through this rough time.

But then again, the perspective of just sitting in a corner to cry my eyes off and get rid of that suffocating feeling in my chest was just too good not to fall for it.

So to honor Bob's words of me taking good care of his wife if he died, I decided not to tell her anything, even the typical: "I'm sorry". Those were actually the two words I should avoid the most in this kind of situation, because trust me on this one, they do not make you any better.
When the one who's listening to you looks at you with those eyes full of pity, you instantly get how clueless he is.
And this, is the treatment I've always been getting from every single person I meet. Everyone who hears my story gives me these annoying looks that break my heart, knowing that they will never understand.

And right now, there was only one person that completely understood what I've been living for years. And I think that, no matter how much I wanted to argue with her at this moment, I couldn't treat her the way I was treated. No one deserved this. No one should receive these looks that drown him in this dark ocean.

After a moment, we pulled apart. Our eyes met, and I read a genuine thank you on her face.

She opened her mouth to tell me something when suddenly the doors bursted open and two guys steamed in running as if their lives depended on it.
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