Sunday, July 31, 2022, 5:55pm
The wine glass clinks against the coffee table as June sets it down. She doesn't pour another—the bottle next to it looks empty. She straightens on the couch, brushing aside a stray blonde lock to view him with more disdain.
William enters the room like a stranger.
"June... Darling, when did you get here?" he asks, setting down his things.
He notices her eyes fall and rise, examining him for clues.
"It's been about two hours now..." She leans further back into the couch and then crosses her arms. "Where have you been?"
It sounds more like an accusation than a question.
He stares at the fresh pack of cigarettes, still wrapped in its plastic, thinking how good that first drag would taste. But June is primed for an argument. His own needs would have to wait.
That same damn twitch under his eye flares again.
"I had some errands to run," he says, voice turning bitter. "Hi, by the way."
Her face doesn't change.
"Errands... Since when do you run errands, William?" she asks.
Something pinches behind his skull. He circles a finger against his temple.
"I was just out, hon... I don't know what you want me to say. I had something in town—"
He notices movement from his peripheral. Then a blur launches from the couch, sparkling under the lights along its path. He ducks just in time.
Crash!
The wine glass shatters against the wall, tossing tiny shards across the area.
June is off the couch in a heartbeat.
"Even after everything you put me through, you still have the nerve to lie to me!?" she rages, stepping around the coffee table. "I know you were with that horrid girl. What has this whole week been for you? One big, happy vacation with your office whore?"
His hands rise, palms open.
"What!? Of course not. Why would you say that?"
The twitch returns.
June steps closer. She crosses her arms again, then ever so slightly leans forward. To anyone else it would be near impossible to notice. He shivers suddenly, recognizing the posture—her classroom poise.
She knows something he doesn't.
"Oh?" she starts, softening. "So, you're telling me you haven't been with the bitch since I've been gone?"
"Sweetheart, no! I've been a wreck all week without you." A shameless damn lie. But desperation dulls his thinking. "You and Zoe are all I've been able to think about. My sister called last week and told me y'all were there. So, I knew you were both safe..."
June's brow tightens.
"I'm so sorry. I've been here—alone—and just... trying to come up with the right words to apologize. Really... I'm—"
YOU ARE READING
The Affair
Romance𝑨 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝑰𝑷 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚, 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒃𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆. What starts as a fun, spontaneous tryst quickly devolves into something unexplainable and sinister. When William's family...
