Unfaithful: Web Of Betrayal

It was the husband. He knew it. The guy whose wife he’s been fucking for three nights. What does that make him? When she pushed him back and leaped off the bed with her phone. What does that make him?

Is she just playing with him? Of course, she was, she’d said it from the beginning, she wasn’t looking for a relationship, but he was too foolish and stubborn to let it be what it was. He was in love like a lovesick puppy who expected he could snatch someone else’s wife in a few days. A rich man’s wife nonetheless.

It wasn’t her fault. He got himself into that mess, and now he’s trapped. Because no matter what he does, he can’t get her off his mind; he wants nothing else, just her. Knowing she belonged to someone else was like having a knife stuck in his stomach.

The worst part is he didn’t have any right to express his frustration. He stared into the ocean from the deck and skipped breakfast altogether because the incident that morning just sucked all his appetite away.

He took this job because the pay was good to fund the small project he was starting. He was hopeful and full of energy when he got on that ship. Now he felt depleted, all because he turned his head and saw her by the side of the pool that fateful afternoon. Funny how life can change in a blink of an eye.

“Hi,” a voice came from behind him.

He didn’t have to look to know who it was. He put his head down; he wasn’t ready to face her yet.

“I didn’t see you at the dining hall,” she stood beside him and leaned on the railing.

“I wasn’t hungry.”

“Oh, I thought you were always hungry,” she chuckled, then fell silent, knowing he didn’t find it funny. “I’m sorry about before,” she felt the need to apologize, although it was the only thing she could offer.

He turned slowly; if he pressed it down any longer, he would explode. “What happened? Did you kiss and make up?”

His question was a blow to her face; she didn’t expect him to be so blunt, “What?”

“I’m not stupid, Adele, you have a husband … isn’t that what you tried so hard not to tell me?”

She was lost for words, just like anyone caught in a lie.

“So what’s the story? Are you getting a divorce? Are you separating?”

She hugged herself from the chill of facing reality. She shook her head. “It’s not like that … I can’t …” she let out a breath. “I told you, I can’t do this.”

“Yeah, you told me that … but here we are, we’ve been doing this, haven’t we? And now what? I know it’s not my place to ask you this … hey, we’ve only been fucking for three days, right?”

She put her hand on her face, realizing what a big mistake she had made, leading him on like that, “I’m sorry … this was a mistake.”

Her words felt like a blow to his gut. It triggered what he’s been holding in for days, “It sure didn’t feel like a mistake to me … you said it, you were happy … obviously you weren’t happy before?”

He refused to be told that he was a mistake. He was making her happy, even if only for a few days or a fraction of a second; she was happy because of him.

She scoffed, “You don’t know me.” His insinuation offended her.

“No, I don’t … but I want to, so why don’t you tell me what it’s all about? I know you felt it. There’s a chemistry between us, don’t deny it … we don’t get pulled to someone like this if you feel absolutely nothing for me,” he squeezed her hand.

“I’m a married woman, Roman… there I said it … it’s real now … it doesn’t matter how I feel about you or vice versa, I’m committed to someone else … and this,” she swayed the hand that he was holding, “Is a fantasy that we can’t turn into a reality … you should know … I’ve never done something like this before, I’ve never betrayed anyone in my life because that’s not who I am, but I did this with you.”

“Of course, it matters how we feel. We love who we love, Adele, and sometimes we don’t get to meet that person until it’s too late … but it doesn’t mean that’s the end of it; we always have a choice.”

She definitely felt something for him, but to call it love seemed too absurd, “You’re not making sense, Roman,” she put her hand on his chest, “We all have our weaknesses, we fell for it … and it was wonderful, look at you,” her eyes fell on his face, “You’re young, and you have all the choices in the world, you’ll find someone that suits you better than me … you’ll be alright, trust me.”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it,” he blurted. “How many times do we get to feel like this for someone? This could be the only time for me … I’m pretty sure of it … and you want me to pretend it’s nothing? Will it be like that for you? Just go back to your husband like nothing happened?”

She covered her face with both hands, “What do you want me to do? Leave my husband? After three days of sleeping with a guy I barely know? You’re delusional, Roman. This is a euphoria … because the sex was so great? We don’t even know each other … whatever you think you feel will go away in a matter of days … weeks maybe, when you meet a nice beautiful girl who’s available, and I’m sure you will … you’ll forget this ever happens.”

“Don’t patronize me … I’m in love with you, Adele, as hard to believe as it is, but that’s how I feel, and I don’t take my feelings lightly. This is not just something that happens to me all the time … and this … whatever this is … it’s messing me up right now, so don’t lecture me about meeting some girl and move on, or whatever bullshit you just said … because I don’t think I can live with myself knowing you leave this ship and go back to your husband and leave me no chance to ever be with you again.”

She was taken aback by what he said. It never occurred to her how much damage she had done to this other person she thought was simply fooling around with her. What was worse, he was still calling her Adele. How could she tell him that it was not even her name?

She touched his shoulder gently, trying to calm him down, “I’m sorry … I didn’t mean it like that; I thought I made myself clear … I never intended this to be a relationship …”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

She wasn’t quite finished when he turned and grabbed her by the neck and kissed her. It was filled with anger and frustration, he was struggling with himself, and he took it out on her with his kiss.

“You can’t tell me that and rip my clothes off the next minute; you can’t tell me you don’t want this and let me fuck you over and over again … no, you did not make yourself clear, and I don’t understand.”

She backed away from him, “Roman … please …” She didn’t know what else to say to him; how could she explain the complexity of her situation?

“Fine … I’ll take what I can get … let me spend two more days with you, don’t give me that crap about this being a mistake … you know that’s not true.”

She saw the fire in his eyes; for a moment, it scared her. But he was right; it was a mistake that didn’t feel like one. And she was overwhelmed by it. Two more days with him was what she wanted; deep down inside, she wanted it to be more, but the price was too great. He wouldn’t understand it; she didn’t have any choice.

“Okay,” she said quietly.

His face loosened as soon as she said it; his eyes were gentle again as if a huge burden had been lifted from him. He pulled her close to him and hugged her. They just stood in each other’s embrace for a few minutes without saying a word.