Tension in a Love Triangle

Oh, I hope someday I'll

make it out

of this prison that you put me in to.

I kneeled before my wife like a devoted servant, slipping on her brand-new heels,

gentle and caring. You'd think this was a sweet, romantic moment, right?

Wrong.

I was literally dressing her up for her date with another man.

We arrived at the party, the music already pumping.

She shrugged off her coat, revealing a stunning dress,

scanning the crowd,

desperate to spot her lover. The second she saw Joel,

she rushed to him like a moth

to a flame and threw herself into his arms right in front of everyone.

It was like I didn't even exist. I was a ghost to her.

They started flirting, laughing, touching, shameless.

When they finally snuck away, I followed them, keeping to the shadows.

I watched them through the window, getting cozy.

A dark, cold rage started boiling in my gut.

I wanted him dead.

She knew I was watching. She could feel my eyes on her.

But did she stop? No.

She ramped it up just to spite me. A friend walked up,

trying to make small talk,

but I knew she saw it, too. Everyone saw Melinda and Joel.

With a confused look on her face, she asked me point-blank if they

were sleeping

together. I forced a smile and lied through my teeth.

"Just friends," I said.

She didn't buy it. She saw the pain in my eyes, but she

was polite enough to drop

it. As the night wound down, Joel had the nerve to come over

and thank me.

I tried to ignore the guy, but he stuck to me like glue,

following me around,

thanking me for letting him see my wife. Can you believe that?

Every word dripped with sarcasm. He was mocking me. I felt the challenge.

He was poking the bear, but I kept my cool, didn't snap. Not yet.

Instead, I started a little chat. "Ever hear of a guy named Martin?" I asked

casually. "He went missing a few days ago, vanished." Joel nodded, saying he'd

heard the rumors. That's when I dropped the bomb. I killed him.

What does that mean?

He started seeing a lot of my wife. Even an idiot like Joel could read between

the

lines. It was a threat. I killed him.

Does Melinda know? Oh, God, no. She'd be horrified.

At first, he laughed it off, thinking I was joking,

but seeing the dead seriousness

in my eyes, he got scared, real scared.

He ignored Melinda's pleas and bolted out the door like a coward.

On the ride home, she grilled me. "What did you say to him?" She

was furious that

her boy toy ran away. I didn't bother explaining,

just kept driving, taking my

cheating wife home like always. Next morning, sober and angry,

she started picking

a fight. She figured out I scared him off

and started crying over him, crying

because her lover left. Zero regard for how I felt. None.

No shut her up and play the good husband.

I actually invited Joel over for dinner the next day.

My daughter asked me in the kitchen, "Who's that man?" I lied to her, too.

"Just a friend of Mommy's." Seeing Joel again, Melinda lit up like a Christmas

tree. She was beaming, flirting, alive again.

She even ate food right off his fork, tasting what was in his mouth. Disgusting.

And get rid of me. She told me to go upstairs

and put our daughter to bed once the

kid was asleep. I crept back downstairs, silent as a mouse, and saw

their shadows on the wall. They were all over each other.

Honestly, I was used to it by now, numb to it.

The next day at our daughter's soccer game, my phone rang. It was the bank, sir.

There's a large charge on your wife's account paid to a guy named Charles,

labeled

as piano lessons. Soon enough, I met this piano teacher, Craig Catesly.

He was just the next flavor of the month for Melinda.

Watching them make eyes at each other right in front of me, I

was seething on the

drive home, absolutely livid. The next morning,

she stumbled in drunk and

disheveled. I tried to ask where she'd been.

She didn't even bother to answer, just brushed past me

and went straight to bed.

That was it. I finally snapped and yelled at her.

You wanna tell me what the fuck you're doing?

Finally, some emotion.

But my calmness, it bored her. She was sick of me, me, the nice guy.

She needed chaos. She needed thrills I couldn't give her.

Just to provoke me, she jumped in the pool with the piano

teacher, splashing

around. That guy had no clue. I was watching him with murder in my eyes.

Man, fate was finally throwing me a bone

because suddenly the sky opened up,

pouring rain. Everyone at the party ran inside for

cover, leaving just me and the

piano teacher alone by the pool. A golden opportunity like this,

I wasn't gonna let

it slip away.