05: guests at midnight

Derek’s POV:

I stepped on the gas pedal and swerved the steering, narrowly missing bumping into another car.

“Hey watch it!”

The image of that man holding Sally so intimately crossed my mind. Anger flooded my mind, causing me to grip the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white as paper. The way his crusty hands rubbed up and down her smooth waist, the way he looked at her like he was undressing her with his eyes.

“You’ve got to be fucking with me,” I muttered, annoyance lacing my words.

I feel like I’m eighteen years old again and a hormonal teenager, like a child blinded by anger.

Stay calm Derek, I kept telling myself. I wasn’t a man prone to emotions, I had always done a good job at keeping them down for a very long time. I tried to imagine or come up with an answer for why I was losing my control over that bastard.

I swerved my car, slamming down on the horn.

Was it my possessiveness? Sally is mine, she’s my wife, and I hate people touching my things. Sally is one of them.

I tried not to let her presence in the backseat bother me till we got home.

I was the first to enter the house, and I didn't hear any footsteps behind me until I walked into the living room. This was not right. I was used to having Sally follow me at home, her footsteps overlapping with mine like a duet, but today there was nothing behind me.

I turned around and saw Sally still standing at the door. Her hair was a little loose, with a few strands of hair hanging down to cover her side face. The other side was hidden in the shadows so I couldn't see clearly. What was she thinking about? Was she still thinking about that person just now? Thinking that the anger that had just subsided might surge again, I gritted my teeth and said, "Don't you have anything to explain?”

The tension grew tighter, thick enough to be cut like a hot knife through butter. My hands clenched into fists at my sides and an image of him touching her body filled my mind. I grit my teeth hard in a bid to keep my anger at bay.

“Is there anything you want to explain to me, Derek? My friend? how about you start with your supposed friend?”

This isn't how I wanted this evening to go. “Yes, matter of fact, there is. Shall I list—”

My phone rang. I huffed in annoyance when I saw the caller. Carlos, my best friend. I glanced at Sally. She had her arms folded tightly, her lips pursed in a tight line.

I knew that if I kept this going, we were going to erupt into a full blown quarell.

“Nevermind. Excuse me.” I said and headed to my study before she could say anything in reply. I picked up the call.

“Derek! What’s it like to meet with a love rival?”

My eyes darkened at his cheerful tone. I could hear music in the background, loud cheers and glasses clinking. “What is it?” I snapped, my annoyance rising again. “What are you calling me for?” I asked impatiently.

“Wow! You didn’t know?!”

“Didn’t know what?!”

“How can you not know Leon Rodriguez used to pursue your wife?!”

“What the fuck are you rambling about?”

“Hold up, I’ll send you a picture.”

A picture came in, of the four of us in front of the theater had been taken and was now spread around in our friend circle. My blood boiled as I saw how close Leon stood to Sally. That little pest. Always touching what doesn’t belong to him.

“Tell me more,” I said to Carlos.

“Well, the story goes that Leon pursued Sally to the point that his family had to send him abroad. Only then did he stop contacting her. But now he’s back to the country, and he couldn’t wait to meet her again. I’m surprised you didn’t know all of this.”

I felt blood rush to my head. I quickly loosened my tie in a bid to calm myself down before I flew into a rage. Even at that, my annoyance rose inside me.

Carlos apparently wasn’t done speaking. “But you're not at a disadvantage, anyway. Anna is back, everyone is rumoring that you and Anna are rekindling your old relationship, I think you're just in time to divorce Sally.”

His words made me freeze. Divorce Sally, now why on earth would I do that? Because of Anna? There’s people out there that believe that Anna and I are dating? That our relationship is romantic? Its sounds unbelievable to me.

And Sally, she should have heard a lot of such rumors during this period of time. Yet she never brought any of them to my attention. She never complained to me.

“Derek?” Carlos called. His voice made me realize I was still on the phone. I quickly pulled myself back together.

“Goodnight.” I said and ended the call.

This is all wrong and twisted! I have to take the initiative and apologize to Sally about this giant misunderstanding. I need to talk to her. So muc misunderstandings have risen between us these days, and I have let them accumulate. The last thing I would like to happen is for us to fall into a meaningless cold war or a quarrel in the break time. And also, the night is young and beautiful, and it would be such a shame to waste it.

I got to my feet to leave. Just then, the door to my study was pushed open and a blond head peeked through. Sally walked in, her eyes dark and full of hurt. Whatever I had to say to her died in my throat as I heard her next words.

“We have a guest.”