“Women tell me I have a magnetic personality.”
He laughed.
“See? I knew we had chemistry.”
I sat near the door.
He settled onto the opposite bench.
“Linda doesn’t understand me anymore.”
I sat near the door.
“Doesn’t she?”
“Marriage gets routine.”
“How long have you been married?” I asked.
“Twelve years.”
“That’s a long time.”
“Marriage gets routine.”
“Exactly! A man needs excitement.”
I watched the door.
He leaned forward.
“You’re different. You appreciate a confident man.”
“I appreciate a man who listens when I say no.”
“A man needs excitement.”
He chuckled.
“You’re feisty.”
I stood.
“I think someone else should hear this.”
He grinned.
“Another pretty admirer?”
“You’re feisty.”
The door opened.
Linda stepped inside wearing a spa robe and a felt sauna hat.
Mark froze.
“LINDA?”
She smiled.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
Linda stepped inside wearing a spa robe and a felt sauna hat.
He stared from Linda to me, unable to get a word out.
“What are you doing here?” he finally managed.
Linda adjusted her hat.
“Using the membership I bought us.”
He looked at me.
“What are you doing here?”
“You told her?”
“Yes. Right after you offered to pay for my sister’s surgery if I kept quiet.”
His face reddened.
The room fell silent.
Linda looked at her husband.
“Is that true?”
“You told her?”
Mark stared at the floor tiles.
“I was only being generous.”
“With what?”
“Money.”
“Whose?”
He hesitated.
“Our money.”
“I was only being generous.”
Linda stared at him.
“You offered our money to a woman who’d repeatedly told you to leave her alone?”
Mark rubbed his forehead.
“You’re twisting this.”
“No,” she said. “I’m asking.”
“You’re twisting this.”
He turned toward the door.
“This is ridiculous. I’m leaving.”
Linda stepped aside immediately.
“You’re free to go.”
Mark reached for the handle.
“This is ridiculous. I’m leaving.”
Then Linda added, “Although you did book a communication session afterward.”
He stopped.
“What?”
“The couples’ session. It’s on your confirmation.”
“That’s not what I booked.”
“You did book a communication session afterward.”
“It is.”
He looked at me.
I lifted my eyebrows.
“Apparently, reading is optional when you’re feeling romantic.”
Mark glared.
He looked at me.
Linda opened the door.
“We can leave, or we can talk. Your choice.”
He hesitated.
Then his pride took over.
“Fine. We’ll talk.”
His pride took over.
I almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
I left the steam room and changed into my clothes.
My part was finished.
***
Linda and Mark went to the consultation room for the short guided listening exercise he’d booked.
My part was finished.
I waited in the lounge with a cup of tea.
Through the glass wall, I could see them sitting opposite each other.
A facilitator spoke.
Mark immediately began gesturing.
Linda sat quietly.
I could see them sitting opposite each other.
Then the facilitator raised a hand.
Mark stopped.
A minute later, Linda began speaking.
Mark opened his mouth.
The facilitator raised her hand again.
Mark stopped.
Even from across the lounge, I could tell Mark was struggling with the unfamiliar experience of not being the only person talking.
I took another sip of tea.
Then Linda looked directly at him.
Whatever she said made him lower his eyes.
Mark was struggling with the unfamiliar experience of not being the only person talking.
And for once, he didn’t reach up to smooth his hair.
Twenty minutes later, Linda emerged from the consultation room.
Mark followed, looking as though someone had canceled his birthday.
“How was it?” I asked.
Linda glanced at her husband.
And for once, he didn’t reach up to smooth his hair.
“Educational.”
Mark cleared his throat.
“That woman wouldn’t let me explain myself.”
“The facilitator?” Linda asked.
“Yes!”
“She asked you to listen for three minutes.”
“I listened!”
“You interrupted me six times.”
“Because you kept saying things that weren’t true!”
Linda looked at me.
“Seven.”
“You interrupted me six times.”
I looked away before he saw me laugh.
Mark didn’t appreciate the arithmetic.
***
At reception, he tried blaming the spa.
“The booking was misleading,” he told the receptionist.
He tried blaming the spa.
She politely turned the confirmation toward him.
“Sir, the communication session is listed directly beneath the private steam-room interval.”
Mark squinted.
Linda leaned closer.
“It’s the part after ‘couples,’ darling.”
She politely turned the confirmation toward him.
He smoothed his hair.
Then stopped halfway through.
For once, the mirror wasn’t helping.
***
Outside, Linda faced him.
“I bought that membership because I wanted time with you.”
For once, the mirror wasn’t helping.
“Linda, I can explain…”
“You told me you were too busy. But you found time for Keira.”
He stared at the pavement.
“And you offered her money because you thought she needed it badly enough to ignore her own boundaries.”
“I wasn’t thinking.”
“You found time for Keira.”
“No,” Linda snapped. “You weren’t.”
Mark reached for her hand.
She stepped back.
“I’m going home separately.”
“Over one silly mistake?”
Mark reached for her hand.
Linda looked at him for a long moment.
“This wasn’t one mistake. She told you to stop, and you kept going.”
He had no answer.
“I need time to decide what happens next,” she added. “Until then, leave Keira alone.”
“She told you to stop, and you kept going.”
Mark looked toward me.
I folded my arms.
“That includes my doorstep.”
Linda walked to her car without waiting for him.
Mark looked toward me.
***
Sunday morning, Mark knocked on my door.
I opened it with the chain still fastened.
“Keira, about yesterday…”
“I thought Linda told you not to come here.”
“I just wanted to clear the air.”
Sunday morning, Mark knocked on my door.
“The air was perfectly clear before you showed up.”
He gave a nervous laugh.
“Come on! You know I didn’t mean any harm.”
“You offered to buy my silence after I told you no.”
His smile vanished.
“Come on! You know I didn’t mean any harm.”
“You’re making me sound terrible.”
“Those were your words, Mark.”
He looked past me into the hallway.
“Can we discuss this inside?”
“No.”
“You’re making me sound terrible.”
I closed the door.
Then I wrote down the time of his visit and texted Linda.
If he came back again, I wanted a record of it.
She replied almost immediately.
Thank you. I’ll handle it.
I texted Linda.
***
The following afternoon, Linda invited me for coffee.
Mark was still living next door, buthis peacock feathers had officially folded.
Whenever he saw me, his chest stopped puffing, his eyes dropped, and he suddenly found something nearby that required his complete attention.
His peacock feathers had officially folded.
That morning, he’d spotted me by the mailbox and spent two full minutes pretending to study the recycling instructions on his bin.
“How’s the neighborhood heartthrob?” I asked.
“Retired,” Linda said. “Now he’s concentrating on cardboard.”
“How’s the neighborhood heartthrob?”
I laughed.
She told me they’d agreed to try counseling while deciding whether their marriage could be salvaged.
We clinked our cups.
They’d agreed to try counseling.
