I Said Yes To An Open Marriage

RACHEL “In this marriage, there shall be transparency and no form of cheating. Whatever I own is yours and vice versa. If there’s a misunderstanding, it must be cleared up before anyone goes to bed.” When my husband, Jeremy, laid down those rules three years ago, I thought I was going to have the best marriage in the world. I mean, he was the one who condemned cheating, so there was no way he would cheat on me. But alas, it was all a lie. The whole facade crumbled six months after our wedding when his new assistant resumed work. He started coming home late and giving excuses like he didn’t realize how late it was while working. Like a fool, I believed him. Oh yeah, I did. Yunno, he couldn’t be cheating since he was the one who made the rule, but nothing prepared me for the shock and heartbreak when I walked into his office and caught him pounding his assistant on the table two years ago. The music played softly, and everyone slowly swayed to the rhythm and soft lyrics. It was our

RACHEL “Calm down, Rachel,” Jeremy muttered. Then he held her hand and, with a smile, introduced, “Meet Clara. My girlfriend. She’ll be staying with us henceforth.” “What?!” I spurted out, my eyes moving between them. “You’re joking, right?” I sneered. “Is this some sort of prank?” Jeremy was crazy. Yeah… he could be crazy and excessive most of the time, but I didn’t think he could pull off something as outrageous as this. No way. No fucking way. “No, Rachel. She’s my girlfriend. You know her already. There’s no need for a deep introduction,” he explained, nonchalant and expressionless. There wasn’t an ounce of guilt or fear in his eyes. Damn! “You brought this bitch into our house? The same girl you’re cheating with?” My voice trailed off at the last part. I was still yet to shake off the shock. There was no way my life was flashing before my eyes. I never believed there would be a day when my man would freely bring another woman into our house and introduce her to me as his girl

RACHEL My belongings, most of them, were sprawled carelessly on the floor. Tears rushed to my eyelids as I took slow but steady steps toward them. Jeremy had made something clear tonight: he didn’t care what I thought or felt about his order masquerading as a suggestion. He had made his choice, and he was gonna stick to it. He didn’t even waste a day before flinging my things out of the room for his girlfriend. Maybe it was the heaviness of the situation or the reality I’d finally clung to, but I burst into laughter. That was the only thing I could think of. I crouched, still laughing, and one after another, I packed my belongings properly into the bags. Afterward, I pushed them into the next room. Thankfully, the cleaner had cleaned it yesterday. Then I went straight into the bathroom. My head was hot, and my body burned from the exasperation and frustration I hadn’t vented out. Since there wasn’t any scapegoat in sight, I decided to do things my way. Maybe it could even help me th

RACHEL I’d been standing in front of this restaurant for so long that I couldn’t even remember when I got there, unable to take a step forward or backward. This was the place I was supposed to meet Sebastian, and I just couldn’t gather the courage to go inside. A multitude of thoughts sprouted in my head. Was I really ready for this? What if Jeremy took me seriously and assumed I was really enjoying the whole open-marriage thing? I hesitated. Meeting that man would either ruin my marriage or repair it. I recognized a risky game when I saw one, and the step I was about to take was definitely one. Inhaling deeply, I clutched my bag tightly and stepped into the restaurant. The game was risky, but I could endure anything for the sake of my marriage. The interior design of the restaurant almost swept me off my feet. It wasn’t built like the normal modern restaurants we were all used to. It was designed like restaurants from the ‘80s but in a more modernized way — dim neon lights, vinyl

SARAH “I think I enjoyed your request more than you did,” I broke the silence in the car after driving for thirty-seven minutes. Since we left the perfume room, there had been silence. “Mmm,” he nodded, his eyes fixed on the road. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” he added. “You know your hobby can be turned into something lucrative, right?” I said, clutching the perfume tightly. “You can open a perfume company and start your own scent business. That’s like turning a hobby into money,” He chuckled. “Will you be in charge of the company?” he asked, tilting his gaze toward me. “I will work on it if you will be in charge,” he affirmed, seriously. I gulped, my eyes getting lost in his. Then my lips curled into a relieved smile. “I… It’s just an opinion. I didn’t expect you to take it seriously,” I let out a few bubbles of laughter. He averted his gaze from me and shifted it back to the road. “What’s your hobby?” “Do I have one?” I raised a question. “Well, everyone does. You must ha