Lies & Affairs

ten

Milani sat on the edge of Greg's bathtub, staring at the pregnancy test in her hands. She exhaled shakily and just stared at it with tears in the brink of her eyes. She—in her opinion—was too young; she couldn't care for a baby, not yet. She still needed time to heal herself, she was still in her phase and she couldn't bring a baby into the middle of it.

But of course she wasn't going to make that decision without talking to Greg first, he was the father so he had to have a say so in the matter just as well as she did.

She stood up and looked at her stomach in the mirror. It did poke out just a bit, but it wasn't noticeable and she wanted to keep it that way. Milani pulled Greg's shirt down over her body, then pulled some of his sweatpants on.

She wrapped the test in tissue and stuffed it inside of her purse.

Greg was outside cleaning his yard when she had finally found him. When he saw her standing on the patio, he waved at her with a smile and continued to ride the lawnmower down the lawn. She just sat there in the chair with her hands holding up her head and thinking about her decisions.

This is what I get for sleeping with a married man, she said to herself.

She was so deep in thought, she didn't notice Greg walking towards her with grass all over his sweaty body. Normally, it would turn her on to see him shirtless but her mind was too clouded to even pay attention. He lifted her head with his hand. He scanned her eyes.

"You've been crying, what's  wrong?"

That was one of the things she hated about him; he could read her like a book by just looking into her eyes. She always joked that he was a psychic, but she was actually starting to believe it. He pulled the other chair around in front of her and sat down.

"Talk to me."

"Greg, I'm bothered."

He cocked his head to the side a little. "Well, I can go take a quick shower and then we can—"

"Not like that." Milani said with a little chuckle. "I'm bothered by the fact that you're married and we're having sex with each other. I saw your wife the other day and she was wearing a nice blouse and a cute pair of jeans, she complimented my hair. I—I just felt so guilty I couldn't even tell her thank you without stuttering."

Greg leaned forward. He shifted uncomfortably, probably because of the grass making him itch.

"Was she with anyone?"

"No." Milani said. "But that's the thing, you're cheating on her with me. I feel like a home wrecker; not to mention she just had surgery on her heart."

"She should've thought about that before she cheated on me. I saw her that day hugged up with my brother; Mr. Marshall had a business meeting to attend and I dropped him off. Over there in the corner she was talking to him and it looked serious and then they just hugged and kissed. My brother and I don't get along, so it couldn't have been something for me."

"Is that why you stopped wearing the ring?" Milani asked.

"Yeah." Greg said. "She was too old for me anyway, you would think the older ones are more mature but they're not. You actually treat me like somebody and you listen...for the most part; you are a little hard headed, but it's not too much I can handle. Is your stomach feeling okay?"

Milani thought back to the moments before she even came outside. Her stomach started churning and before she knew it she was throwing up all over Greg's patio.

Greg got down beside her and held her hair back and allowed her to finish before helping her back into the house.

"You need to lie down."