“Damn. Did he try to play like she was a coworker?”
To my surprise, she giggles again. At least she can laugh about it now. If Zay is cheating, I know I have a chance to laugh about it after.
“She really was his coworker. But she’s the same coworker that slept with someone else in the office and broke up that marriage.”
I catch my breath.
“Yeah. He’d come home complaining about her—how the whole office had to lie to her husband, saying she was out with a client whenever he dropped by to take her to lunch. In reality, she was off fucking another coworker.” She shakes her head. “Her poor husband knew she was cheating. You could tell he was trying to catch her.”
“Oh my God, that’s awful.”
“Right. She breaks up one marriage and her own and then moves onto my husband.”
“Wow. There are no words for that kind of behavior.”
“He used to call her the slut of the office and then he ended up sleeping with her. To be honest, when I saw them together, I wasn’t as mad and hurt as I thought I would be. It got to a point where I was so over the stress, overthinking everything while he denied it. I finally felt relief once I saw them together.”
“Really? Well, that’s good to know. What happened when you went to the restaurant?”
“All the words that I thought I would say to him once I had proof vanished. All I did was laugh in his face because I knew he wasn’t going anywhere with someone like that. Come on, she broke up two marriages before mine. I’m sure this wasn’t her first round of men, either.”
“That’s true. Did she say anything?”
She chuckles even harder this time, shaking her head. “He denied their relationship in front her, which only pissed her off. Because he had told her he was going to leave me for her, and she had already been sick of waiting for him to leave me. So she ended their relationship right in front me and I divorced him.” She giggles. “He was left with no one. It’s funny how that always happens.”
I furrow my brows. “How what happens?”
“The ones that cheat think they’re on top of everyone else, living their best lives. Then in the end, they’re left with nothing. I got remarried, opened my business, had kids with my now husband. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, and he’s now balding with a beer belly and hasn’t had a girlfriend since all that happened.”
I wipe my eyes. A small laugh escapes me, thinking about how it all backfired on him. The more I replay it in my head, the harder it is to hold back my laughter. It’s almost pathetic how he thought he could hide things from her.
She’s right.
Woman always find out the truth sooner or later.
“You would never know that you went through all that. You’re always so cheerful,” I say, turning to her.
She tilts her head. “I wasn’t always like this. It put me in a dark place for a while.”
“How did you get through it?”
She raises her hands and waves them around the studio. “This. This was my sanctuary during it all. And come to think, I almost didn’t open it up.”
My eyes rise in surprise. “Really?”
She curls her lips together, nodding her head. “Everything was going on when I was in the middle of opening the studio. Some days I couldn’t get out of bed, but I had no choice. I was already knee deep into this. I would have lost out on so muchmoney if I didn’t finish.” She rests a reassuring hand on mine. “Don’t worry, if he is cheating, he will get his karma. They always do.”
“Was he mean to you all of the sudden?” I ask one last question because I still replay some of his random blowups in my mind, wondering what would cause it.
“Oh, yeah,” she says, nodding. “I couldn’t do anything right. I couldn’t even breath correctly or he would blow a fuse.”
Most everyone I talked to about this other than Rya have led me to believe he is cheating. I don’t want to have to try to find evidence. What married woman wants to find that? But at this point, it’s something Ihaveto do.
She wraps her arms around me, pulling me close. I sink into her, feeling a comfort I haven’t felt in a while. It’s strange how something as simple as a hug can make the weight on my chest feel a little lighter. For the first time in days, I feel like I’m not completely crazy. Her hug reminds me I’m not alone in this.
Violet: Hey, are you home?
I think it’s weird I haven’t heard from Rya. She didn’t text me back that night either—the same night Zayn went out with his friends and came home smelling like my perfume. I text her again to see what she’s doing. Hopefully she responds this time.
