Cheating

Valentina had always been impulsive. But when she brought Camila into our lives, neither of us knew how far we would go.

My husband wanted to watch me with his brother. It took me weeks to admit I wanted it too. Then I rented an apartment with a one-way mirror and planned every detail.

When she told me to kneel, I did. I understood I was no longer her patient, but something entirely different.

We went out looking for an alley and came back with a secret. Some Fridays change you without asking permission.

When I looked down, I saw she was holding the larger condom between her fingers. It wasn’t for me. And yet I couldn’t bring myself to leave.

When I opened the door dressed in the button-down blouse and heels, I knew that winter morning would not be just another class, but a surrender arranged with him.

When I called him to fix the fireplace, I already knew something was going to happen. My chest told me so every time his eyes lingered on me.

I went for water at midnight and found her alone in front of the washing machine. I didn’t announce myself. I stayed in the doorway, watching, unable to leave.

One message was enough to make me cancel my night. I found him on the corner by Sofía’s place and knew exactly how it would end.

The first night they heard Marcos and Lucía on the other side of the wall, Sofía knew the journey would not end as it had begun.

When I saw her name on the screen, I knew what was coming. Her husband would work a double shift, the girls would be with her friend, and she’d be available all day.

He knew Carmen would be alone for three days. He only had to convince Silvia to take that trip without me.

What that SUV carried after that trip could never be itemized on an upholstery bill. But someone would have to pay for it, and it wasn’t going to be him.

I went down to the hotel bar at one in the morning. When I got back to my room, without underwear and with his handprint on my ass, I knew I’d remember that flight.

Valeria came out of the bathroom in a black dress that hugged every curve. It was midnight. Two men were about to ring the doorbell. And I already knew where I would sit.

I told myself I only cut past the lot because it was the shortest way. But when his eyes followed me and his hand brushed my hip, I couldn’t lie anymore.

The candle went out and in the dark a hand slid up my thigh. It took me too long to realize that hand wasn’t Marco’s.

Both men wore wedding rings and had spent twenty years doing the same thing on business trips. Everything changed the day they stopped at that beach.

I went down to help him wearing what I had on. I hadn’t guessed what would happen when I sat beside him in that room.