Chapter Five: Romance

Weeks passed and I tried to forget what happened with Tommy. I thought that if I moved on from the kiss, I would not have to tell Lee. I knew I had begun to act strange but Lee didn't seem to notice my sudden change. I was more affectionate and clingy but to Lee, I was still the same. There was a time I thought he would have said something, asked me anything about my friend and our friendship, but he did not. Lee just accepted anything I told him. I never volunteered to tell him about Tommy and the kiss and Lee never asked.

I began to be a bit more romantic towards my husband. I was feeling a bit guilty.

I kissed Lee more often or held his hand. During our TV time, I cuddled close to him. I even became more vigorous when we made love.

Lee never asked me if I was going through a clingy phase or something. He just accepted my new self.

Besides my being clingy, nothing new happened. My daily routine did not change. I even began to text Tommy again.

Then, a month after the kiss, Lee began to change. He hardly talked to me. He accepted my clinginess but did not initiate the affection. I shrugged it off thinking he was too busy with work. But Lee began to come home late too.

I was becoming lonely. I never knew how used to my reliable husband I was until he was suddenly breaking our routine. Though I was concerned, I never questioned his behavior.

Slowly, I began to spend more time with Tommy and again we allowed our relationship to build. We kept a distance between us this time. We didn't want to repeat the kiss. We went to the movies a lot and ate out two nights a week. We talked about our lives. He told me he started dating again. And though, I told him about my job, my dogs, and very little about my marriage. I did not want him to know that Lee was absent more and more lately.

When I talked to my work friends, they quickly began to question me.

"Are you having an affair?" Lucy asked in a harsh whisper.

"No," I said nearly choking on my tea.

"How can you ask that?" Karah said indignantly. "Of course, she's not. She loves Lee."

"Well, it sounds like she's going out on dates," Lucy said.

I did not dare tell them about the kiss.

"We're just friends," I defended with a slight blush. "We only hang out."

They both gave me a disbelieving look.

"Really," I said.

"What does Lee think," Karah asked.

"He's fine with it."

"He's either lying or he's cheating," Karah said with vindication.

Lucy nodded.

I said nothing.

Later that day, I took into account what Karah had said and really began to think Lee may have been really cheating on me. He was gone a lot lately and he hardly told me anything new about his day. But everything else was the same. No change in his attitude, no change in his cologne or hygiene. Lee was just Lee only a lot busier. My mind was set at ease.

Then, date night was canceled. Lee called and said he had to work. He had never canceled date night (neither of us did). That was our one rule. No matter what came up, we were always to make time for us.

Angry, I met Tommy for coffee. I said nothing about why I was angry. We talked the night away. It was a wonderful distraction.

It was late when I got home. Lee wasn't home yet. I ate dinner by myself and didn't bother to watch TV. I got ready for bed and for the first time in a long time, I went to bed by myself.

I don't know how long I was asleep or how late it was when I heard the shower turn on and I knew I must have drifted to sleep again because the next thing I knew, Lee was getting into bed. He did not tell me he loved me that night.

The next morning, I followed my normal routine but at breakfast, I asked Lee where he was last night. He frowned at me slightly before he answered.

"The office," he said.

For the first time in our marriage, I didn't believe him.

END OF CH. 5