A Wool Sweater Showed Me His Affair
I, Darlene Cooley, have an ability.
Whenever I touch an object, I can see the scenes it has experienced over the past day.
I've been married for five years. Every time I help my husband, Bernard Hoffman, tidy up his suits or organize his briefcase, what I see are conference rooms, whiteboards, and workstations.
Once in a while, I appear in those scenes. He'll be secretly reading my messages under his desk, the corners of his mouth lifting unconsciously.
Bernard is so gentle that it feels almost unreal.
In winter, he places my slippers by the heater to warm them up. No matter how busy his business trips are, he video calls me right on time.
When I casually mention I feel like eating caramel popcorn, he drives halfway across the city to stand in line for it.
My friends all say I'm blessed, and I feel the same way.
That is, until yesterday, when he comes back from a trip. I go to help him unpack, and the moment I touch that gray cashmere sweater, a flood of images rushes in.
Bernard is sitting across from a short-haired woman. Her eyes are bright, and a shallow dimple appears when she smiles. He listens to her speak, earnest and focused, with his head tilted slightly to one side. A faint smile lingers at the corner of his mouth.
It's been a long time since he has listened to me speak like that.
The vision ends.
I crouch in front of the suitcase, my hand still resting on the cashmere sweater, unable to snap out of it for a long while.
Then, I stand up and walk over to the cabinet, where I pull out my own suitcase.