Her Secret Affair

Chapter 11

She checked her message discretely.

F: Brie, relax and eat your food.

She pushed her food around, taking very few bites.

"You had a big lunch today?" Joseph asked her, noticing her plate as they were clearing the table. "Erm, yeh I did. It was a late one, so I'm still a bit full," another lie. She hadn't eaten, her afternoon was spent in Frankie's bed.

They sat back down in the living room, Nicholas absorbing everything Frankie was showing him on how to do his paper planes. "You see this flap here? If you fold it halfway, your plane will glide in the air a little longer. Give it a try, do one and see."

Nicholas jumping for joy when his plane went further than it normally did, brought a smile to her face. "Ok Nicky, it's time for bed. Say goodnight and your mum will come read you your story."

"But it's your turn to tuck me in Daddy" the boy reminded him. As part of their routine, Joseph always tucked the boy in on Fridays as he doesn't get much chance to do it during the week.

"Nicky, it's ok, tonight Mummy will come to tuck you in, and Daddy will keep Mr. Frankie company."

"It's alright Brie, I'll do it," Joseph said, leaving Brie and Frankie alone in the living room. She walked to the kitchen and busied herself by starting to wash the dishes. It was better than having to wake up to a full sink tomorrow anyway. And she definitely needed the distraction.

Frankie perched on a stool at the kitchen counter, with his beer in his hand, silently staring at her.

"Why are you here, Frankie?" she asked, no longer able to ignore his presence.

"Ouch," he said with a hand across his heart, smiling.

"I mean it. Why did you come here?"

"I don't know. I really didn't plan it. I just bumped into him and he invited me. I planned on declining, and then I saw that text. And I just needed to see you. Brie, what was that? That text."

"I can't talk about this here. Joseph and my son are right in there in the next room."

"Fine, but we will have to talk about it. And I don't mean another text. Please come over tomorrow."

"Frankie I cant."

"Don't run away from me. Please come. We will just talk."

"He's finally out," Joseph said as he walked in from Nicholas' room. They sat and had a few more drinks until Frankie finally stood up, "Guys, it's been nice seeing you. But I think I better head home now. Thanks for having me over, for dinner and everything."

"Stay for another one, it's still early," Joseph insisted.

"No, really. It's getting late. I have an early day tomorrow. Some things to take care of at the office. I'll definitely take a rain check, and hopefully, you can both come over to mine's the next time. Goodnight," giving Joseph a half hug with a pat on his back, and a quick kiss on Brianna's cheek.

"What was wrong with you today?" Joseph asked as they prepared for bed.

"Nothing, I just wasn't that hungry."

"No, I don't mean that. You were quieter than usual. Did you mind that I invited Frankie over?"

"Why would I mind?"

"It just felt like it. You didn't look too happy to see him. I just thought it would be nice to have him over for a drink, considering we hadn't seen him for years. Well, not counting the conference that is."

"No, it's ok. I was just a bit tired, it was a long day at the office."

She quietly slipped into bed, turning over to go to sleep. Behind her, Joseph silently looked at her, with a million thoughts racing through his mind.

**********

Joseph sat staring at Brianna's back as she slept, unaware that she was not really sleeping. Something had changed. She had changed. Ever since she came back from that conference. He didn't realise it at first, but then it had slowly dawned on him. They had not slept together ever since they had that fight before she left. He realised why she would feel that he wasn't attracted to her, because in the first three months she was back, he had not initiated any contact for intimacy. What worried him back then was the fact that she hadn't either.

It's not that he didn't love her, he did. But for the past three years he was consumed with guilt every time they lay in their bed. What Brianna doesn't know was that when she was pregnant with Nicholas, Joseph had an affair with Lucy, his colleague at the office. She was younger than him, early twenties, and she knew just how to excite him. She played on his ego. He had put an end to it just before she gave birth, but after too many late nights at the office, his affair with Lucy started again about a year ago, as they were both working on the financing deal for the merger.

So, after three months of her being back and them not having sex, after a wine-filled night, he had kissed her as they got into bed. Even if she had returned his kiss, it felt different to him somehow. She didn't respond with that same passion she used to before. The moment his hand had slid up her thigh, to his surprise, she actually told him she had a headache. "Must be the wine" she had said. She had never refused him before. And the same thing happened three more times over the next two weeks, each with a different excuse before he stopped trying.

And now, sensing her indifference to him, he felt a sense of unease growing within the pit of his stomach, his jealousy slowly gnawing at him, "Is she sleeping with someone else?"