Amanda asked her husband to choose her, or she would file for divorce. They had been two years into their marriage by this time, and they already had a year-old daughter. Amanda loved her husband, and he loved her too in his way, but she was tired of the way he disappeared once in a month only to return with gifts three nights later. So, the second time this happened, she wouldn’t let him into the bedroom unless he made a choice. Divorce or explain.
Joseph, her husband, walked closer to her. He smelled of cologne, and Amanda turned her face to the side because she didn’t want to smell it.
“I know you should be angry. You are an amazing woman, and I should explain where I have been to all this while, but, please, it is nothing you should worry about.”
Amanda shrugged. She had waited this long for one reason: he was a sweet husband. He could treat her to her best evening, first preparing peppered pasta, then he would massage her back with oil and help put their daughter to bed. And oh, my, he was a good seducer, making her say yes after she had said no to tickling or cuddling or smooching. He could surprise her even if she said she didn’t want it.
They had started as friends when they met on a Twitter thread, which asked people to drop a picture of their favorite book. Just like magic, he had commented on her picture of “An Escape to Rendezvous,” and then he asked if he could borrow it. Amanda had said yes, partly because he commented on her favorite book and somewhat because she liked bearded, tall, muscular guys, and his profile picture was just that. Tall, muscular, handsome, with a long nose. She wired the book to him, and then he asked if he could return it in person. Damn!
It had started that way. Six months later, they were married. Their daughter came into their lives a year and a month ago.
“Where do you always disappear every month?”
“I – I – think we have talked about this.”
“Yes, we did. Did you ever tell me?”
“You don’t have to worry. This is not a problem, and I can assure you I am not cheating.”
“So, tell me, why did you disappear for the last two months. And Where?”
Amanda stepped closer to him. They were in the living room, and their child was sleeping in her bed in the bedroom. They had to keep their voice low, but it seemed that was about to change as Amanda walked closer, and Joseph kept stepping back and back.
Amanda tapped him on the chest with her finger. “Tell me what it is. Where exactly did you spend your day? You can’t be making out when you have a family, and you expect me to remain silent.”
Joseph’s back was now against the wall. He was quiet, watching his wife’s eyes.
In Amanda’s head, a lot was going on; how could she explain that a man who had been the best part of her life for two years and six months (six months dating before marriage) had started seeing other women as she had feared. Going away for three days last month without telling her was a problem then it happened, and she was furious. He had not always been hiding things from her, except when he planned a surprise vacation threat for them. They had gone to Cancun, Mexico. She was pregnant at the time, and they had spent every second in each other’s arms. Even when they swam at the Mexican beaches, they were as close in each other’s arms.
“Tell me, Jo, please. Where were you for three days?” she begged.
“I am sick. The doctor says I’m dying.”
“You are sick? You dying? Are you… Cancer?” Amanda asked. She looked frightened. She was a pediatrician, and when he heard some news about cancer, she whirled and screamed. She couldn’t believe it could happen to her loving husband. Her breathing was getting intense.
Joseph had sensed the problem, and he put his hand around her and nodded. “Yeah, that’s what the doctor said.”
Slowly, Amanda fell backward and went limp. She had fainted.
***
When she woke up, she was laid on the floor in the sitting room. Her clothes had been taken off, left with her bra and panties. Joseph was fidgeting with his phone in one hand, and their daughter was crying where she lay in her trolley.
Amanda coughed.
When Joseph noticed she had woken up, he turned swiftly and walked to her side. Before he could say a word, Amanda wrapped her hands around him.
“You dare not leave me,” she said.
Joseph was silent for a moment. “I have started having treatment, and the doctor actually said I stand a chance,” he said. “I want things to be fine again quickly.”
“You want to hide that from me?”
“I was scared. I thought I would die, and I want to live the rest in a way I will make you happy.” He sniffed. “Because… that’s all that matters.”
Amanda hugged him tighter, and Joseph placed a hand on her back.
“Do not hide anything from me ever again?”
“Do not faint too quickly, please. It makes it hard to tell you stuff.”
“I was scared.”
“I was more scared of leaving you. We were scared.”
Their daughter, Cheryl, had stopped crying.
She shifted and looked at his face, holding him by the hand. “We will go together next time you have a session, okay?”
“Now that you know about it, I feel at ease. Yes, we will.”
“You are not going anywhere. What did the doctor call it?”
“Bladder. Thank Goodness it is in the early stage.”
“I will talk to my friends who are specialists.”
Amanda was a doctor.
She stood from the floor and carried Cheryl.
Joseph nodded. “I have not been myself. Now I feel a lot better. I didn’t know my past with alcohol could cause my loved ones this much. I was damn scared.”
“Since the doctor said you would be fine, we will do everything as a family for you to be fine.”
She walked towards him and planted a kiss on his lips.
He held her by the waist and tried to kiss him again, but she turned her face to the side. “No, no, just one time. I’ve not forgiven you for hiding that from me,” she said.
Then she walked away. She was angry, yet she was ready to make some calls to her friend, an oncologist.
Joseph was following her, ready to beg.
The End
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