7 Tales of Sex and Betrayal Read Online Free PDF Page B

‘talk about it’ and she was not ready,
not just yet.
    Her mind took her back over the weeks of
torment, of doubt, of watching Kevin, observing his behaviour and
judging his words. Becoming more and more certain, she was never
quite sure. Until now.
    Sally had seen a pattern emerging over the
course of Kevin’s present affair. Yes, it had happened before, but
Kevin had denied it and on that occasion, she had no concrete
evidence. But Sally had lived through Kevin coming home late from
the office, Kevin needing to go away for week-end conferences, and
Kevin keeping to his side of the bed, finding stupid excuses to
avoid touching her until their sex life was virtually non-existent.
This time she strongly suspected ‘another woman’ and now it had
been confirmed.
    `Sally, you’re being silly’, Diane, her best
friend had admonished her. ‘He’s a great guy and just because he
can’t include you in every little thing in his life, you’re
jealous. You can’t possess a man – and you’ll lose him one of these
days if you keep up your suspicion of him. Look, stop imagining
things!’ Diane had said sternly.
    Sally bit her lip as she recalled how Diane
had allayed her anxieties, yet her suspicion had built steadily
over the weeks. If she hadn’t taken Diane’s advice, the affair
might have been nipped in the bud. Yes, she should have spoken to
Kevin much earlier. But would that have provided the proof of what
she knew in her heart? Sally somehow doubted it.
    ‘Look, you know Kevin has to have a personal
assistant and you know she has to be reasonably good-looking,
because she often has to deal with the clients in the first
instance. Sally, you must stop doubting him – just because he likes
her and gets on well with her doesn’t mean he’s screwing her – he
has to maintain a good relationship with her because they have to
work closely. This isn’t the first time, remember how embarrassed
you were when you made that scene over the Swedish woman on
vacation last summer? And what about your suspicion that Kevin was
having it off with his receptionist? Admit you were wrong, and
don’t make a fool of yourself or him over these petty jealousies.
Forget it all Sally, it’s nonsense,’ Diane had lectured her at
length.
    ‘Huh,’ Sally uttered out loudly to herself,
‘How wrong Diane can be – but I knew it all along,’ she added
bitterly. Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing telephone.
This time she lifted the receiver.
    ‘Sally? Look, honey, I’m almost out of my
mind. I rang five minutes ago, but there was no answer. Are you
alright?’
    ‘Of course, what do you think I was doing?
Slashing my wrists?’
    ‘Don’t talk like that Sally. I know things
look bad, but it’s not as it appears, really. Trust me. I’m coming
home right now to explain – Sally, are you still there?’
    ‘Yes, I’m still here, more fool me.’
    ‘Well, I thought we’d been cut off...’, his
voice trailed and he sounded tired and was it unsure of himself?
And most definitely guilty. Yes, she was listening to the voice of
a guilty man.
    ‘Honey, let’s just get one thing straight. I
love you and only you, right?’
    ‘I bet that’s what you tell all the girls,’
Sally said bitterly and hung up on him.
    Her head was spinning and it still throbbed.
Instead of taking aspirin, she poured herself a very generous
measure of brandy. The warmth of the drink stimulated not only her
body but also her thoughts. How could Kevin be so charming and
caring with her one minute, then hurtful the other? He had always
been a flowers-and-chocolates man – maybe that was his way of
worming himself further into her affections, while he cast around
looking for another, newer liaison. What did it say about her? She
tried desperately to remember what all the women’s magazines say
about infidelity and why some men stray. Was she too worn and tired
looking? Was she unadventurous in bed? Only days earlier she had
read an article on