Pling!

Giselle must have dosed into a shallow sleep. The message notification jolted her awake enough to glance at the phone.

Annie: "Find me soon :kiss:"

Adrenaline shot through her body. Her head jerked around, Ian's side of the bed was empty. Sometimes he turns and wraps his arms around her when she checks something on her phone. She felt like a teenager with a secret. And a stupid one at that.

When the display turned off after two minutes without interaction, the woman stared up at the dark ceiling. The skin on her forehead was sweaty and her breathing slowed visibly. All signs of guilt emerged and she felt horrible. The worst wife in existence. Except that she didn't do anything. It wasn't her fault.

Circling the moment of the kiss in her mind like a bird of prey, she curled up and glanced at the message again. Why was this even such a big deal! She wanted to tell Ian. At least a part of her wanted to. The other part was curious, excited about the kiss and scared of what it could do to her relationship at the same time. When her husband crawled under the blanket into bed, she pretended to sleep. It took her at least another hour until she drifted off again. The kiss haunted her dreams.

The very next morning came and Ian didn't get out of bed well. Breakfast was ready and the apartment empty, he didn't see her leave, as she sneaked out like a shadow. In the evening, the excuse to go to bed early was believable, as the previous night had left dark shadows under Giselle's eyes. Sleep didn't come easy, again. Around 3am, she shrieked up from sleep. Ian woke with her. His arms soothed her back into a shallow nap, but that night she didn't find the rest she was looking for either.

On the third night, the memory of the kiss had faded into a blur, the reason she couldn't sleep then was more about reaching out to Annie and figuring out why she was such a mess emotionally all of a sudden. Not only did she not find an answer, she also found no sleep. Again!

After she woke, Ian was already in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. Her feet dragged her into the bathroom and then into the kitchen, to her husband. "Mornin'", she yawned at him. He smiled brightly and pointed at a salad. "Ooooh, energy salad!", her attention was right on breakfast now and her stomach grumbled.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Both sat in the living room on their large table, with a bowl of energy salad, some juice and sliced baguettes. Ian started a conversation after chewing the first fork of the salad, "Wanna tell me what's bugging you?". Giselle froze. The memory of the kiss was back, how it lingered on her lips and how she had avoided Annie and him in the aftermath.

"You started to act weird when you came back from Annie's place", he deduced out loud. Giselle avoided looking at him, like that teenager again that did something wrong and kept it secret. Something, she needed something to say, otherwise it'd be even more suspicious. "It turned weird when I went there. I don't think I should share what we talked about?", she finally found an escape route. "Wait, you haven't talked to her since...", he concluded and his wife shook her head and looked at the salad. "Oh Giselle! You need to go talk to her! Minimum write her!", came his encouragement and he reached for her hand. Her palms were sweaty again. "Write her, spend the evening with her, figure it out!", he said and she reluctantly nodded while grimacing lightly. She let it fade into a weak smile. "See? Here you go, away with the gloom!", his smile brightened when he said that.

After Annie had agreed to seeing her in the evening, Giselle rang the doorbell. Ian decided to, who could have guessed, watch Moonraker. He wouldn't miss her for hours.

The door opened and a woman in her pajamas stood in it. She smelled of incense and perfume. Giselle put on a friendly smile while trying her best to stay and not escape into her own bedroom again.

The interior looked different today. A dozen candles along the walls in the living room, together with a few statues of Buddha and a ridiculously large monstera plant were the eye catchers in that room. Giselle let her gaze drift. The other day, all of that had been shrouded in darkness.

Annie smiled, took her hand and led her onto the sofa. It was far softer than their own. They sat, each at one end, legs pulled close, facing each other. When Giselle didn't seem to start the conversation, Annie tried her best, "Guess last time, it wasn't quite what you expected...". The blonde scratched her head shyly and Giselle laughed the tension away, "No, not exactly". Both grinned and even if they looked at their situation from different angles, they could agree on this bit.