I Waited Until I Was Done

I have tried to persuade my wife, Sandra Kimmel, to go to AnthoNIX's music concert with me 99 times now.

On the 100th attempt, Sandra finally agrees to go with me. She then buys us two front row tickets.

But during the concert, I am stopped outside the venue by the guards because I didn't have my ticket on me. I am then left standing there all alone, immaculately dressed as I am.

None of my calls manage to go through to Sandra, not even when the concert comes to an end.

News of Sandra and her sidepiece attending the concert and asking AnthoNIX to perform his hit song 'Night Blossom' then starts trending online.

My heart shatters into a million pieces. I begin mourning the loss of my marriage.

The trending news about Sandra Kimmel and her sidepiece, William Howles, ended up being reposted by her on her social media.

She even included an apology in her captions.

"He got a little carried away after insisting on going to the concert with me. Neither of us expected this news to go viral. I'm really grateful for everybody's concern, and I apologize for the fuss."

Sandra and I had been married for five years, but she never posted about me on her social media.

Yet now, another man had taken my spot with such ease.

I'd asked Sandra to go to the concert with me 99 times, but she never once said yes. Yet when William asked her to do the same thing, she agreed to it on his first try.

I exited the social media app, feeling somewhat numb inside. I then continued waiting for a cab by the road.

There were massive traffic jams all over the city tonight due to AnthoNIX's concert. Even though I waited by the venue entrance for a long time, I still couldn't manage to get a cab.

My phone rang. It was Sandra.

Her voice was icy as she spoke. "Why aren't you home yet?"

I stayed quiet.

If this was before, I would've questioned her right away. However, right now I wasn't quite sure what to say to her.

Sandra got a little irritated. "Did you turn mute, Lincoln Huntsworth?"

"I'm at the concert venue entrance," I said.

Sandra turned quiet, as if she'd suddenly remembered that she'd promised to go to the concert with me.

I just hadn't expected that she'd use the tickets to go to the concert with William instead.

"Wait for me in the parking lot. I'll come and take you home," Sandra said.

I didn't really trust her, but I didn't want to get a cab either. Rain was starting to pour heavily, causing a city-wide power blackout.

I stood in the parking lot, trying to shield myself from the pouring rain. I looked utterly disheveled. It was utterly dark, save for the light coming from my phone.

However, the battery would only last for two hours.

Sandra didn't contact me anymore after the call, not even when my phone finally died. I did swipe to William's social media profile. There, I saw that he had made a new post.

"Even when the power goes out, and the entire city falls to darkness, you still remain my shining beacon in the night." That was William's caption.

The posted photo depicted Sandra's side profile. Her hands were on the steering wheel.

I smiled, feeling a little relieved.

Perhaps this was for the best.

While I stood at the venue entrance until the concert came to an end, Sandra was keeping William company.

I had spent the past five years of our marriage hoping to kindle her affection for me.

However, now, that hope had finally died.

…

I walked to the nearest hotel and booked a room. I then lay down on the bed and fell asleep quickly.

The next day, I went to a law firm to work, albeit a little late. The firm's name was Kimmel & Partners and had been founded by Sandra. Meanwhile, I was just one of the regular lawyers who worked there.

The moment I sat down, the lawyer who worked in the cubicle adjacent to mine—Jasper Brown—turned to me with a look of admiration.

"I can't believe you had the balls to skip the boss' team meeting today," Jasper exclaimed.

I chuckled.

Sandra never cared about me or anything I did, let alone skipping a routine meeting like this one.

I was always the one caring about her instead.

I didn't have much work to do during the morning. After settling my work, I started drafting a divorce agreement.

Sandra showed up out of the blue.

"Is there a reason why you didn't come home last night? You know how I feel about this. If this happens again…" she began.

I nodded at her words, still focused on writing the agreement. "Don't worry. It won't happen again."

There would never be an 'again' to speak of. Once we were divorced, we'd go our separate ways for good.

Sandra was a little taken aback by my words. She was about to mock me but quickly held it back.

"Let's have dinner together later," she said.

She then paused and glanced at my laptop screen. "When did you take on a divorce case?"

I smiled. "If you stop questioning me, I won't ask you where you were last night."

Sandra gave me a long, hard look and said nothing more.