William wanted to rush back.
I told him not to. It had already happened, and this trip mattered for his promotion. There was no reason to come home.
He hung up with his eyes rimmed red.
I sat there holding the phone, awake the whole night.
So it turned out he'd spent that whole night with his first love.
And the "high-maintenance" he'd just complained about left me dazed for a moment.
It turned out he'd been talking about me.
Tina's message popped up.
"Three days at the most and the house is gone. The buyer didn't even haggle."
I sent back a single "Good."
I drew in a deep breath, stood up, and dialed William's number as I walked.
Once, twice, three times—each ended without hesitation.
The fourth time, he picked up.
I said,
"Honey, I'm in Charleston. Surprise."
"I'm having dinner right now, at that place you've been going on about for years. The shrimp scampi really is amazing."
Crash!
William shot to his feet,
his head snapping around the room.
"You—you're here? Where are you sitting? Didn't I tell you Charleston's no fun?"
He shoved Imogen away, hard, like he was terrified of being seen.
Her face soured,
teeth catching her lip,
her eyes darting everywhere, hunting for whoever was on the phone in the restaurant.
I laughed softly.
"I was teasing. I'm not there."
William let out a breath, helped Imogen back up with something almost apologetic, smoothed down her dress.
Then he heard me go on.
"But I want to video call. I want to see whether you've been eating properly."
In the gap while the call switched from voice to video,
I heard Imogen rubbing her waist, complaining.
"Are you really that scared of her? So what if you get caught? Is she going to turn into some monster and swallow you whole? Or me?"
William made her crouch in a corner, one hand clamped over her mouth.
"My mom's still being treated at the hospital under her father's name, and she's at the critical stage right now."
So that was all it was.
I'd actually thought he might have remembered something he once said.
During the third phase of Lucy Simmons's treatment,
I went with William to visit her.
Lucy sent everyone else away and said to me,
"Freda, I know William isn't good enough for you. We're the ones reaching above ourselves."
"That boy—he's lazy, and he only puts his heart into a handful of people. If one day you find out that—"
"Mom, I will never wrong Freda."
William walked in and took my hand.
"And I'll never divorce her either."
Memory and the present overlapped, and I heard William say,
"Staying married is only a temporary measure."
The first second his face appeared on the screen,
I hung up.
My stomach heaved and heaved until I was sick.
I braced myself against the wall and threw up until the world spun,
wiped away the tears slipping from the corners of my eyes,
and pulled out the phone buzzing nonstop in my pocket.
"??"
"Why'd you hang up, babe?"
"Here, I'll send you a picture."
"It really was just dinner with a regular friend. He just left."
"Love you, Freda."
I cleared every message with one tap and opened the direct messages on the lifestyle app.
Imogen had sent me one a minute ago.
"Hi, Cloud Freda, are you still taking couples comics? I'd love to commission one about me and my boyfriend's story."
"We'll be using it in our wedding video."
I tapped the screen.
"I'll take it."
I sat in the cab, following William at an even distance, neither too close nor too far.
The driver noticed the mask on my face, the red at the corners of my eyes,
and couldn't help asking,
"That guy up ahead?"
I answered flatly.
"My husband. He's cheating."
The driver was furious on my behalf.
"These scumbags always leave traces when they cheat. Sweetheart, you really have to keep your eyes open…"
