Seduction

That morning, when I half-opened my eyes on the mattress pushed up against the balcony, she was already there on hers, smoking, waiting for me to turn over.

For years I’d watched my wife be flirted with at every gym gathering. That night, with the air already heated, it stopped being a game while I watched everything from the armchair.

I drove at night transformed into another woman and no one knew. One slip at a stop was enough for him to discover who I really was.

The young master’s wardrobe held a black uniform with a white cap, and Don Aurelio told her that once she put it on, she would cease to be Marcial forever.

I carried her boxes up, made her coffee, and before I finished it, I already knew that neighbor was going to change every night I spent in that building.

We were up in the cherry tree stealing fruit when Hugo confessed the obsession he’d carried since childhood. That same afternoon, his mother still had no idea what was coming.

It was eleven and I couldn’t focus anymore. I opened the app without hope, but thirty minutes later I was walking to his building with a box of condoms in my pocket.

For months I’d been pretending men didn’t interest me anymore. One voice on the phone and a promise of a gift were enough to drag me back in.

It was two in the morning, I was bored and horny, and I dropped into the game lobby expecting nothing. Then I saw her avatar lean toward mine.

We started with stupid stickers at the end of the shift. Then came the nickname. Then the fantasy. That night he texted that my place was closer, and I couldn’t say no.

When I arrived at the restaurant in my black dress with lace underneath, I already knew I wasn’t leaving there as the faithful wife I was pretending to be.

Two years had passed since the first time. When he replied to my message, I knew I was going to see him, even though something in me said I shouldn’t.

I’m married. I’m straight. That was me when I walked into the mall bathroom. What I was fifteen minutes later, I’m not so sure anymore.

When she walked into her room naked except for the blouse, those white hips swaying, I knew I would never sleep in that house again without thinking of her.

I never imagined that agreeing to partner swapping would end up revealing a secret my husband had kept since school.

From my wheelchair I watched my wife get out of the car on my boss’s arm. And I knew, without knowing how, that that night I’d be surplus in my own marriage.

That September morning I saw the shyest girl in class walk in. It took me two weeks to realize the shy one wasn’t her, it was me.

When she invited me to dinner at her place, I thought she just wanted to thank me. I had no idea what she was hiding under that pencil skirt, or how far she was willing to go.

Vera approached before the bout, brushed her cheek, and spoke to her about Dafne. On that strip, Renata wasn’t just fighting for an Olympic berth: she was fighting for the right to feel again.

I never thought an avatar in a video game would give me back the urge to desire another woman, or that desire would stay with me long after I shut off the console.