1.0

2K 54 3
                                    

"I know I shouldn't go back. That's terrible isn't it? To go back to someone who cheated on you, but I think it's okay now." she smiles at me, fidgeting with her wedding ring nervously.

"Are you sure that you want to go back to him?" I ask, picking up my ballpoint pen from my pad.

"Well of course I do. We have a history." she defends herself, looking up at me with confusion.

"Your husband has cheated on you-" I pause looking down at my notes from our very first session. Eeek. "56 times with 4 different men during 3 years of your 7 year marriage. He was diagnosed with aids nearly 3 months ago. And he recently sent out divorce papers to your home. Despite all of this you still want to be with him?" I ask, trying to conceal my disbelief. Sometimes I just can't believe the things people do.

"Yes.." she trails off awkwardly. "But when you say it like that you make it sound like that's a bad thing to want to stay with my husband."

"Do you think it's a bad thing you still want to stay with your husband?" 

The woman sighs, her hands shooting to her face in exasperation. "I don't know. I know I love him but if he loved me..." she says slowly with an edge of uncertainty.

"Then, he wouldn't have cheated on you." I finish, nodding my head.

"I just...I don't know what to do. I really love him. How am I supposed to just let that go?" she asks.

"I think understanding the situation is the most important thing for you right now." I suggest crossing my legs, leaning forward.

"What's left to understand? He doesn't love me, I love him. He wants a divorce, I don't." she laughs sarcastically.

"How about why?" I say somewhat sympathetically.

She narrows her eyes at this, clearly confused. "What do you mean?"

I shrug, uncrossing my legs, taking a sip of my lemon zinger tea. "Well, if there's one thing a person wonders when their spouse cheats on them it's why. Do you understand why he cheated on you?"

"Because I got boring." she mumbled through her tears. I nod taking note of what she said as I push the box of tissues towards her.

"Do you remember what your husband told you in our last few meetings?"

"What? That he's gay?" she snorts, pushing her bangs out of her face is amusement.

I frown. "Why do you say it like it's amusing?" I inquire, writing now her reaction. Clearly in denial.

"Well, the idea is preposterous. If the man was gay he wouldn't have married me. He's 36 for god sake. It's just what men say when they're too cowardly to ask for a divorce." she huffs. If I hadn't seen this girl cry over her husband's cheating with such heartbreak I would have thought she resented her husband more than anything.

"If he just wanted a divorce wouldn't he have just asked for one? It seems like a lot more hard work and time than it's worth." I point out.

"Like I said he was a coward."

"Maybe. But he also got away with cheating for 3 years. If he really was a coward and wanted a divorce he wouldn't have lied about the other men. He would have made it obvious to you that he was cheating. You would have known sooner."

"I-I. No. He can't be gay."

"He cheated on you with 4 men. Several times over 3 years of your marriage. He's gay."

"But we got married. He-he had my first kiss. We've had sex!" she begins to cry into her hands. "He said I was everything he wanted! He told me he loved me."

The Girl Who Said No (GirlxGirl)Where stories live. Discover now