Norminah One-shots

Building Bridges

Requested by @KaelynnAustin

It's been six months.

Six months of living with my friend Ally after being kicked out of our home.

Six months of leaving voicemail after voicemail, explaining how sorry and regretful I was for a mistake I couldn't take back.

Six months of wondering if there was any chance of our marriage surviving the walls she rebuilt when I broke her trust.

Six months of being without the keeper of my heart...all because I couldn't stay faithful...

~ Six months ago ~

"Let's start from the beginning," our counselor said.

I wasn't going to lie and say that I wanted to be here. Or that I wasn't expecting to be sitting here. I was. And I deserved it. What kind of person would I look like to deny the chance of ever putting back the thing I vowed not to break seven years ago? I'd look like a damn fool.

She looked at me with forlorn eyes, silently telling me to confess my wrongs to a stranger we paid to help us with our marriage. Her complexion was flushed, her eye dimples not to be seen, and her eyes were a depressing shade of black instead of the warm hazel/brown I always saw. I took a deep breath as I opened my mouth to begin.

"It started about three months ago. Dinah and I were having issues...financial, emotional, pretty much everything. Instead of talking it out with each other, we took it out on one another instead. There wasn't a day that went by where we didn't argue. If it wasn't in the morning, it was at dinner. If it wasn't in person, it was on the phone. It all became too much for us both. I started drifting a part from her. And because I worked closely with a friend of mine, she and I actually grew closer while Dinah and I grew more distant."

I looked to Dinah to see her eyes shut, head down, and hands balled up in fists on her lap as she had to relive the mistake I made. Everything in me wanted to go to her and comfort her; tell her how sorry I was and that it meant nothing. But I knew she wouldn't have it. The counselor looked to me as I brought my glance back to her, signaling me to continue.

"Her name's Ariana. She was the first friend I made when I started working at the dance studio. At first I thought nothing of her flirtatiousness and the way she would sneak some touches here and there. I made it clear that I was happily married and she respected that. But I made the mistake of confiding in her instead of confiding in my wife. The more we argued, the more I spent time with Ariana at the studio. It became a routine. After a while I would end up staying there until 11:30 every other night. Up until that one night it was always to make sure we had the choreography for our classes perfected. But that one night, things were different. I remember that morning, Dinah and I had an argument that was more intense than the one before. So much so it had effected my work day. Needless to say, Ariana noticed. She stopped the music and hugged me longer than usual. Her hugging me brought out every emotion I had bottled up throughout the past few months. Anger, confusion, depression, frustration, and helplessness. I busted into tears in her arms, causing her to squeeze my body. I looked up to meet her eyes, and in the heat of the moment...I-I kissed her. And I didn't want to stop. It was the most affection I received in such a long time I couldn't contain myself. One thing led to another and...w-we ended up sleeping together. I can't say the sex wasn't good because it was. But there's still nothing that compares to making love with the one person you're destined to spend the rest of your life with. She's not Dinah. She was just a fix. She was there when I was most vulnerable...and I was too caught up in my emotions to realize that I shouldn't have gone through with it."