No Good

She stood at the window. Asriel was still standing there and looking up. He had left about eight minutes ago. What was he waiting for? she wondered anxiously. Did he suspect something? The doorbell rang and she almost jumped out of her skin.

Panicking, she ran to the foyer and after peering through the keyhole, she yanked the door open. She pulled Gabe inside and locked the door. “Wait here,” she instructed him before rushing back into the living-room to look out of the window. Asriel was gone. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

“It’s okay,” she said as she returned to the foyer. “The coast is clear.”

“You mean Asriel. I made sure that he left before I came inside. I saw him but he didn’t see me.”

“He came by to ask me to go for a drink with him but I told him that I was going to a charitable gala. I told him that I’ll take a rain-check.”

“And will you?” Gabe asked, his gaze sweeping appreciatively over her in the black halter top and the narrow figured skirt which hugged her hips.

She smiled and putting her arms around his neck, she asked coyly, “What do you think?”

His hands were on her hips pressing her against him. “I think you know that I don’t want to share you with anyone, least of all, Asriel.”

“Don’t worry. It’s over between him and me. I think he got the message. Now, we have at least half-hour before dinner and I know how we can spend it.”

He chuckled. “One of the things I love about you, is your mind,” he remarked before he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.

Asriel paused to light a cigarette. He knew that he was with her. Disgust filled him. They deserved each other–his father, the adulterer and Linda, his two-timing girlfriend. He had suspected that they were having an affair but going to her apartment this evening confirmed it.

He could tell that she was lying about the gala and he had spotted his father’s lighter on the mantle-piece. She didn’t know that he had noticed it because she was distracted. Her eyes kept darting to the clock on the wall until finally, she told him that he had to leave or she would be late for the gala.

And that bit about a rain-check was hogwash. He knew that he would never hear from her again and that was fine with him. He wanted nothing more to do with her or his father. His only regret was that he had taken Linda home for dinner at his parents’ home. It was since then that the affair had begun. His mother knew that his father was cheating on her but she didn’t know with whom and he wasn’t going to tell her. It would only devastate her. When she asked about Linda, he would simply tell that they broke up because they realized that they were no longer right for each other.

And as far as going over to the house, he would only do so when he knew that his father wouldn’t be there. It was no secret that the two of them didn’t get along. His mother knew that he didn’t like his father because of how he treated her and their marriage. He had cheated on her once before when Asriel was a senior in high-school but that affair didn’t last long. The woman’s husband had threatened to divorce her and she didn’t want to lose custody of the kids so she ended the affair.

The woman’s son and Asriel were best friends but that friendship ended when the affair was talked about at school. Asriel felt ashamed and as soon as he graduated, he moved out of the house and in with his maternal grandparents who were delighted to have him. He lived with them until he finished university. It was at university where he met Linda. They immediately hit it off and started dating. Everything was going well until Linda met his father.

He had a feeling that this affair with Linda would last for a longer time and that his father might even end his marriage for her. He hoped he would divorce his mother. She would be better off without him even if she couldn’t see it. He shook his head. How could she still want to be with a man who obviously didn’t love her and who didn’t care about their marriage? Bitter resentment toward his father welled up inside him.

He promised himself that he would never forgive him for what he had done and was doing to his mother, loving and godly woman. And as for Linda, he was thankful that he didn’t fall in love with her. She was no good. Any woman who would sleep with another woman’s husband even while she was dating that woman’s son was no good. Yes, Linda and his father deserved each other. They were both no good.

He continued walking. The sun was slowly setting. It was a perfect evening for a drive over to his parent’s home. His mother would be happy to see him.

Adultery breaks up a marriage and a home.