THE OTHER MAN / germany nt

THREE

THREE ✐ Send Up The Husband

"I'm the other man."

Mario almost choked on his energy drink as he sat down in Marco's pristine, monochrome office. He pulled a strained expression on his face, trying to sympathise with his good friend. Being empathetic had never been Mario's strongest point, and it was something Marco had picked up on in the very early stages of their friendship.

"You don't have to pretend to feel sorry for me, Mario, I saw it coming. It all seemed too perfect."

Ann-Kathrin, who had perched herself on Mario's knee, his arm sloped around her waist, was listening in intently. "Well I don't know about you but I thought she was a hoe anyways," she commented, watching Marco bury his head into his hands in despair.

"Not helping, Ann," hissed Mario as he shuffled about trying to carry his girlfriend's weight on his knees.

Marco groaned helplessly into his hands before being greeted by an almost too cheery Thomas Müller (also known as Marco's overly enthusiastic secretary).

"Mr. Reus, there's a man here to see you concerning personal issues. I didn't have enough time to catch his name since he threatened to let his dog shit all over the office if I went any slower. Should I send him up?" Thomas chirped, clutching his clipboard.

Marco scrunched his face up.

"Shit, that can't be Rya's husband, can it? How does he know where you work?" Ann-Kathrin exclaimed, jumping up off Mario's knee and rushing over to Thomas. "Marco's with a married woman, you see. He met her husband last night," she informed the secretary.

Thomas's eyes widened. "Girl, no way. Yikes, Marco, you really know how to pick them." He chuckled heartily as Marco shot a scowl.

"Thomas, shut the fuck up. I'm having a fucking crisis right now."

Marco proceeded to sink further down into his chair once more, this time hoping that everybody pouring into the room would just disappear. Thomas had always been the nosey type. And as for Ann-Kathrin, she always liked to poke her nose into people's problems.

Ann-Kathrin gasped. "Don't curse! My therapist says it's not good for me."

Mario shook his head. For the first time in his entire life he had chosen to take the practical role, and take matters into his own hands. It was often that people could be more immature than himself. "Look, Marco, if you really want to get yourself out of this crisis you should probably speak to this husband. Just clear the air, tell him you had no idea you were seeing a married woman, and move on."

"You're right." Marco agreed, clicking his pen on and off profusely.

Mario beamed. "I fucking know I am."

Thomas, who had helped himself to an apple out of Marco's fruit bowl, had made himself at home and proceeded to take a large bite. He propped his legs up onto the couch he was laying comfortably on and kept his ears open for any more gossip on Marco's love life.

"Thomas, don't you have anything better to do than sit around and make a show of my trainwreck life?" Marco propped up, one eyebrow raised.

The secretary pretended to think hard for a moment, before answering simply, "I don't think so. Unless you want me to send up the husband?"

So that was settled. Marco the businessman, Mario the full-time clown, Ann-Kathrin the attention whore and Thomas the secretary were all about to meet Bastian the husband.