Mark was our neighborhood’s self-appointed heartthrob, a married man who puffed up his chest whenever a new woman walked past. Then he invited me to a private sauna and offered to fund my sister’s surgery if I kept quiet. I agreed. Then the door opened behind him. His wife said, “Hello, sweetheart.”
Three months after moving into my neighborhood, I’d learned two things.
Linda next door made excellent blueberry muffins.
And her husband, Mark, thought every woman within a five-mile radius was secretly in love with him.
Mark was our neighborhood’s self-appointed heartthrob.
The muffins were wonderful.
Mark was exhausting.
When I first arrived, he offered to carry my groceries.
“Careful,” he announced, lifting two bags. “The neighborhood doesn’t usually get this much muscle for free.”
I smiled politely.
He offered to carry my groceries.
One bag contained bread.
The other contained paper towels.
He flexed anyway.
Linda appeared on their porch.
“Mark, could you bring in our groceries too?”
He flexed anyway.
He pretended not to hear her.
I should have recognized the warning sign.
***
At first, his attention seemed harmless.
He complimented my jacket.
Asked whether I needed help with my lawn.
At first, his attention seemed harmless.
Found reasons to stop by whenever I was outside.
Then he started commenting on how I looked.
“That color really suits you, Keira.”
“Thanks.”
“You should wear such dresses more often.”
He started commenting on how I looked.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Mark.”
One afternoon, I was watering my plants when he leaned against my fence.
“You know, a beautiful woman like you shouldn’t be living alone.”
I turned off the hose.
“Mark, you’re married. Please stop.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Mark.”
He laughed.
“Relax! I’m just being friendly.”
“Then be friendly without flirting.”
The smile left his face.
For a few days, he left me alone.
“Relax! I’m just being friendly.”
Then the compliments started again, followed by excuses to stop at my fence.
Apparently, Mark believed a woman’s refusal was a suggestion he could revisit after the weekend.
***
Last Friday, he knocked on my door wearing sunglasses.
It was cloudy.
“Keira,” he said, smiling. “Got a minute?”
The compliments started again.
“What’s up?”
“I have a proposition.”
That was never a promising sentence from Mark.
He leaned closer.
“How about we spend Saturday evening at a private sauna? Just you and me.”
“I have a proposition.”
I stared at him.
“Are you serious?”
“Completely.”
“What about Linda?”
He shrugged.
“Linda doesn’t need to know everything.”
“Are you serious?”
I stepped back.
“Mark, I’ve already told you I’m not interested.”
He raised a hand.
“Before you say no, hear me out.”
“I just did say no.”
“Mark, I’ve already told you I’m not interested.”
His smile returned.
“I know you’re saving for your sister’s surgery.”
I stopped with my hand still on the door.
I’d mentioned my sister’s medical expenses to a neighbor while discussing a fundraiser.
I hadn’t expected the information to travel.
“I know you’re saving for your sister’s surgery.”
“How do you know that?”
“People talk.” He lowered his voice. “I can give you the entire amount.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“Whatever you’re short. I’ll cover it.”
“I can give you the entire amount.”
“And what exactly do you expect?” I asked.
He smiled as though we were negotiating the price of a used car.
“Let’s call it payment for your silence.”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak.
My sister had been waiting months for her surgery date.
“And what exactly do you expect?”
I’d been picking up extra work, putting aside every spare dollar, and trying not to panic when the bills arrived.
I looked at Mark.
“You’re offering me money to hide something from your wife?”
“Don’t make it sound ugly, babes.”
“How would you describe it?”
“You’re offering me money to hide something from your wife?”
“Two adults enjoying themselves.”
I folded my arms.
“You’re unbelievable.”
He took out his phone.
“Look. I’ve already made the reservation.”
“Two adults enjoying themselves.”
He showed me the confirmation.
PRIVATE COUPLES’ WELLNESS SESSION. TWO PARTICIPANTS.
I noticed the spa’s name.
Then the membership information beneath it.
Mark tapped the screen proudly.
I noticed the spa’s name.
“Exclusive package. Very classy.”
I looked at the confirmation again.
Something about it seemed familiar.
Then I thought of Linda.
And an idea occurred to me.
Something about it seemed familiar.
“Fine, Mark. Saturday evening.”
His face lit up.
“I knew you’d come around.”
“Don’t tell anyone,” I said.
He winked.
“Sweetheart, secrecy is my specialty. I’m off to the gym. Gotta look hot for Saturday!”
“I knew you’d come around.”
He left humming.
I waited until he reached his car and drove away.
Then I went straight to his house.
Linda opened the door holding a dish towel.
“Keira! Everything okay?”
I went straight to his house.
“Can we talk privately?”
Her smile faded.
She led me into the kitchen.
I told her everything.
The flirting.
Her smile faded.
The invitation.
The money.
The promise to keep quiet.
At first, she looked furious.
Then I mentioned the spa.
She looked furious.
“Which one?”
I told her.
She sat down.
“Did he show you the booking?”
“Yes,” I said. “A couples’ wellness session.”
I told her.
Linda stared at the table.
“I bought us that membership.”
I went quiet.
“Six months ago,” she recalled. “I thought we could spend some time together. He kept saying he was too busy.”
She laughed once.
“I bought us that membership.”
“He also told me he hated saunas.”
I pulled out a chair.
“Apparently, he’s developed an interest.”
Linda looked at me.
Then, despite herself, she smiled.
“That idiot.”
“He also told me he hated saunas.”
We sat together for nearly an hour.
Linda asked questions.
I answered every one.
When I repeated what Mark had said about my sister, Linda’s fingers curled around the edge of the table.
“He offered you money?”
Linda asked questions.
“Enough to cover the surgery.”
“From our accounts?”
“He didn’t say.”
Linda looked toward the refrigerator.
A little photograph of her and Mark was held in place by a magnet.
“He didn’t say.”
They were standing beside a lake, smiling.
“I’ve spent years trying to get him to do things with me,” she muttered.
I didn’t know what to say.
She picked up her phone.
“Let me check something.”
I didn’t know what to say.
She opened the spa’s membership information.
Then she made a call.
I listened as she confirmed the booking, asked about guest access, and explained that she was the second member listed on the account.
When she hung up, she looked almost cheerful.
She made a call.
“Well.”
“What?”
“Mark booked the private steam-room interval.”
“Okay.”
“And the optional guided couples’ communication session afterward.”
“Mark booked the private steam-room interval.”
I blinked.
“He booked what?”
Linda smiled.
“He apparently stopped reading after the word private.”
The spa explained that the private steam room could hold three people, but Mark’s reservation covered only two.
“He booked what?”
Linda paid for an additional guest pass in her own name, so I could check in with Mark as planned and she could join us afterward.
She also confirmed that the guided session was for two people only.
She would attend that part with Mark.
I could check in with Mark as planned and she could join us afterward.
No one needed to pretend to be anyone else.
We agreed on one rule.
If Mark became angry or threatening, we’d leave immediately.
No locked doors.
No hidden cameras.
We agreed on one rule.
No dangerous tricks.
Just Mark, his own words, and the wife he thought he’d fooled.
Before I left, Linda touched my arm.
“Keira, I’m sorry he’s been bothering you.”
“You didn’t do it.”
No dangerous tricks.
“I know. But I should’ve noticed.”
“You weren’t responsible for stopping him. He was.”
She nodded slowly.
Then she looked at her phone again.
“Saturday should be interesting.”
“I should’ve noticed.”
***
Mark arrived at the spa 15 minutes early.
I could smell his cologne before I saw him.
His hair was slicked back.
His shirt was unbuttoned one button too far.
He looked like a man auditioning to play himself in a very embarrassing commercial.
Mark arrived at the spa 15 minutes early.
“Keira! Baby!” He spread his arms. “Ready for our little secret?”
“More than you know.”
He offered me his arm.
I walked past it.
At reception, he announced his reservation with enormous confidence.
“Ready for our little secret?”
The receptionist confirmed the private steam-room interval and handed us our instructions.
Mark barely glanced at them.
He was too busy checking his reflection in a decorative mirror.
We changed separately and entered the private steam room wearing spa towels.
Mark closed the door behind us.
Mark barely glanced at them.
Then he smoothed his hair.
In the steam.
I wondered how long he’d been practicing that move.
“You know, Keira,” he began, “women tell me I have a magnetic personality.”
“That explains why trouble keeps finding you, Mark.”
