I was packing my husband Louis’s suitcase and found a box of used condoms in the pocket Novel – I open the box and find only four condoms even though the box says it’s a pack of six.
We haven’t used condoms in a long time. Ten years of good, solid marriage. Louis wouldn’t throw it all away on some random business trip, right?
“Babe? I’m home!” Louis’ voice rang through the house. I shoved the box back into the suitcase pocket with shaking hands, snapped the zipper shut, and forced myself to stand. I need to find out the truth for myself.
Emily’s POV I was packing my husband’s suitcase and found a box of used condoms in the pocket. I open the box and find only four condoms even though the box says it’s a pack of six.
A wave of nausea washes over me as I sink onto the floor in disbelief – I’m afraid of what this means. Ten years of good, solid marriage. We’d gotten comfortable, perhaps too comfortable, but still, I thought we had true love.
Louis wouldn’t throw it all away on some random business trip, right? “Babe? I’m home!” Louis’ voice rang through the house, smooth and confident, like it always did. I shoved the box back into the suitcase pocket with shaking hands, snapped the zipper shut, and forced myself to stand. I met him in the foyer, where he dropped his briefcase and smiled, that wide, boyish grin that once made me weak in the knees.
“Hey, there’s my girl.” He pulled me into his arms, and I stiffened before I could stop myself. His cologne, the one I’d picked for him years ago, smelled cloying now—familiar, but wrong somehow. “Hey, I love you,” he murmured, pressing his lips to mine. It was slow.
Gentle. Perfect. Perfect. The word made me want to scream. When he pulled back, I managed a whispered, “I love you, too.” It wasn’t a lie. God help me, I still loved him. Maybe that’s what made this sting so much. Louis flashed another grin. “Dinner’s on me tonight. Special occasion and all.
” Right. Our tenth anniversary. A day we were supposed to celebrate, but now I felt like a ghost in my own home. He turned toward the kitchen, loosening his tie. “Oh, check my suit jacket pocket,” he called over his shoulder. “There’s something in there for you.”