GloriaQuito

That October Sunday we came down from mass soaked by the rain. We went into her kitchen to dry off. And there, against the wall, I kissed her the way I’d wanted to kiss her all my life.

When she approached with a cigarette in hand and tattoos gleaming in the sun, I knew I’d answer her messages even with my husband sleeping beside me.

When I opened that old folder on his computer, I never imagined a photo of her would be the beginning of my own betrayal.

I ripped the dress, tossed a shoe, and rubbed my thighs until they were red. When I called him crying from the phone booth, I knew he’d come without thinking.

When Don Eduardo closed the office door, Valeria knew they hadn’t come to discuss any report. They both held a secret, and that made them equals.

I was naked when I heard the music. I turned and there was Sofía, kneeling with a little box in her hands and tears in her eyes.

They asked me to keep her sister company and look the other way. It was a reasonable plan until Valeria decided she wasn’t going to be ignored.

Three days away, the house trashed after a party, and him in my bed, naked as if it were his. I should have thrown him out.

When she was assigned to my cabin, I thought it would be awkward. I never imagined I’d end up counting the hours until she came back to the bunk beside mine.

I felt her before I heard her. Her scent came first, then her hands, then her mouth finding my neck in the dark hallway.