It hadn't been over for longer than thirty seconds before I was sorry.

Louis was now hugging me to him, in an almost pathetic attempt to snuggle. I put up with it for a moment while I tried to figure out a way to politely excuse myself from the situation. My thoughts made me laugh. This wasn't like being cornered by an annoying friend at the grocery store, or trapped on the phone by a telemarketer. I had just cheated on my husband. I was an adultress. I had promised to love and cherish Frasier for the rest of my days, and now I was about to shatter his heart.

Maybe I didn't have to. Maybe he didn't have to know. Yes, we'd been having problems lately, but didn't everyone? I'd tell Louis I couldn't see him anymore, and I'd go home to my husband and kiss him and promise to love him for the rest of my life. Frasier would never know how I'd betrayed him.

But I'd know. It would be there in my mind every time Frasier smiled at me, blind trust and absolute faith in me written all over his face. I would have to live with a man who loved and trusted me, and who had no idea that I'd broken our marriage vows. It wouldn't be fair to him. I had cheated on him, but I wouldn't lie to him. I owed him at least that much.

Louis had moved on to tickling my feet. I pulled away. "Louis, don't."

He propped himself up on one elbow. "Lilith, what's wrong?"

I held the sheet to my chest as I reached down to the floor for my shirt. "We made a mistake, Louis. I let things go too far, and I'm sorry."

"Wait," he protested, touching my cheek gently. "I think we have something special here."

He's looking at me the way Frasier used to, with utter love and devotion in his eyes. That's what brought me here to this man's bed in the first place. Because I hadn't been getting what I needed from my husband. I loved Frasier, but for so long we had been blindly stumbling along, barely even noticing each other any more. He was spending almost every night at Cheers, not coming home till the wee hours of the morning. We would get up for work in the morning, share a silent breakfast in the kitchen, and then I wouldn't see him again for another twenty-four hours.

I knew how much Cheers meant to him. I knew how he enjoyed having a place to spend time with his friends. But I needed him too. Apparently he didn't need me, though, and that hurt more than anything. I was thirty-four years old. I'd been married for five years. I never thought Frasier and I would end up like this. He was probably at Cheers right now, drinking a beer or playing darts, with no clue that his wife was currently in bed with another man.

I pulled away from Louis again. "I can't do this," I told him, my voice shaking. "I can't do this to Frasier."

He nodded slowly. "All right."

"Thank you," I whispered, blinking back tears.

He got out of bed, clad in his boxer shorts. "I'm going to go get dressed," he informed me, picking up items of clothing from around the room. "Then I'll take you home."

The bathroom door clicked closed behind him. I tried to swallow back my guilt as I began to dress.