A pause.
“Oh. Hi.”
“Sorry to call you out of nowhere.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Yes.”
His voice nearly broke.
He steadied it.
“I need to ask you something about your husband.”
Silence.
Then:
“Go ahead.”
Something in her tone changed.
Not confusion.
Readiness.
The husband noticed.
“Do you know where he is tonight?”
Long pause.
“I know where he claims he’ll be.”
“At work?”
“Yes.”
The husband closed his eyes.
“He emailed my wife.”
No response.
“He told her to wear a red dress and meet him at 9:30.”
The boss’s wife inhaled.
Not shocked.
Tired.
The husband said, “You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“How long?”
“Months.”
He looked toward the laptop.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t know it was your wife.”
That struck him.
“What do you mean?”
The boss’s wife spoke carefully.
“I think there may be more than one.”
The husband stopped breathing for a second.
She continued.
“I need to show you something.”
“What?”
“Not over the phone.”
He looked at the clock.
8:06.
“My wife isn’t home.”
“Where are you?”
He gave the address.
“I can be there in forty minutes.”
“Wait.”
He closed his eyes.
“Why?”
“Because this is bigger than an affair.”
The kitchen suddenly felt colder.