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[SW1] “Who is Lisa?” he heard as if through a fog. 

He stared at Deidre in shock, chest heaving, belly roiling, sphincter clenched tight.  The beers he had consumed on the way home threatening threatened to spew upwards from his gut.   

Ice water flowed through his veins; he broke out in a cold sweat. His world came crashing down around his ears. 

She was broadsided by that call, so late that at night.  Roused from sleep by the insistent trilling of the phone. 

“Hello.”   

“Do you know that your husband is cheating on you? As a matter of fact, he’s just left my place.  My name is Lisa, and Anthony and I have been…together for a while now.”

“Why are you telling me this?” 

The click of the receiver hitting the cradle at the other end was her only answer[BAG2] . 

She wondered how she could have missed seeing that something was wrong. But then, she reasoned to herself, he’s not home any later than usual, nor has he been doing the ridiculous things that men do when they have a new love interest.  

The only clue would have been the decline in thedeclining frequency of their “trysts” as they were wont to call them in the early days. Three times per week had declined to once in eight days. But that’s no justification, she reasoned to herself.  

She stared at the ceiling, willing the tears not to fall. 

They both heard the baby cry out.  She brushed past him saying:    

“My baby needs me.” 

Neither of them slept for more than two hours that night. 

It was heated, torrid, intense, and it had happened a total of three times.  Each time, he had felt a creeping sense of shame came over him even [BAG3] as his passion was being spentspent his passion.  Each time, it had seemed likebeen an act of betrayal.   

Hell, it hadn’t happened often, he reasoned with himself and determined that he would not give in to his feelings again[BAG4] . 

He replayed their conversation in his mind.  Her insistence that they should go where their passion led them. His insistence that he was not looking for a long termlong-term relationship, her smirk and her remark that she would “fix” him good.  

If only she knew. His wifeDeidre had always maintained that she could forgive anything but infidelity.  Cheating had Destroyed destroyed her parents’ marriage when she had turned twelve.  At twelve, she had been old enough to know what was happening but not old enough to really understand. 

She leaned against the door of the bathroom stall.  Gasping, in tears, wondering how her world could have been turned upside down in just twelve hours. 

The nerve of her, she thought, to call me like this, and at work too. How did she get my number? No doubt from his phone, while he was sleeping off his exertions.    

She had hung up, after an abusive exchange. She called him. He was apologetic[BAG5] . 

“Did you have sex with that woman?” 

“Yes” 

“Why is she harassing me and how did she get my cellular number and what is this about a baby?” 

Silence. 

They sat in unyielding silence, the only sound being that of the wind rushing past their vehicle as they made their way home.   

How haggard we both look, she thought in the never endingnever-ending silence. 

His eyes stared out at the road, his mind blank - —almost in a state of hypnosis.  

What was there to say? 

He examined his face in the mirror as he made a final adjustment to the knot in his tie.  Weeks had turned into months, and he had gradually breathed a sigh of relief. 

He maintained a veneer of normalcy by explaining to those who asked that his weight loss was as a result of strict adherence to the “Atkins Diet” to halt his advancing paunch[BAG6] . 

He was determined to do alleverything in his power to regain his wife’s trust. He was attentive, loving and solicitous. 

At times, he wondered if their relationship would survive, given her feelings about extra-marital affairs. 

He cocked his head at an angle, looked himself his reflection in the eyes and breathed deeplysmiled[BAG7] .   He thanked his lucky stars that Deidre hadn’t left him and taken their children.  He truly felt that now that they would make it. 

Although he had never been faithful in any of his prior relationships, he had been fairly certain that he could have achieved that goal with Deidre.  Until Lisa. He gave himself a mental shake and sent up a silent prayer that their lives were on an even keel once more. 

She watched him in the mirror, thinking about his transparence.  She could read his face as the thoughts flitted across his mind.  He was an open book.   

Women are so much smarter, she thought.  Her mind replayed the seven years that they had been together, as on a slide show.  Their courtship, marriage, first child, purchase of their home and the birth of their second child. 

She thought about their careers, both of them successful accountants.  She thought of the night their world went spinning into chaos like a meteor flung earthwards from space. 

Anthony pulled into the driveway, switched the ignition off, stretched and exhaled heavily.  It was good to be home after a long, taxing day at work.   

He thought of Deidre and smiled lovingly.   

Absently, he noticed another vehicle in the driveway and wondered which of Deidre’s friends was over that eveninghad stopped by.   

Making his way into the house, he threw his keys into an ashtray.  Loosening his tie, he took the stairs two at a time. 

He wondered where the kids were and why the house was so still, if they had company.  Mind still occupied, he walked into the bedroom, his eyes drawn involuntarily to the bed. 

He stared at Deidre in shock, his chest heaving, stomach roiling, threatening to up-chuck his mid-afternoon snack, his sphincter clenched tight.   

Ice water flowed through his veins, he broke out in a sweat, his world crashing down around his ears.