Hearts Led Astray

Valerie looked out over the sprawling fields as the stars erupted into being in the midnight sky, bringing with them the chill of the night and an end to her long-overdue weekend in the countryside. It had been a whirlwind over the last two days, there was no denying that. Those two days would change her life forever. 

The crackling bonfire at the bottom of the property along the woodline could be seen and smelt from where she stood on the porch, the suitcases in her hand and her heart heavy with everything that had happened. 

It had started on Saturday afternoon in the townhouse after Aramis had sent a message via his secretary that said he would be away for a few days. Business, he had said. Valerie knew better. She knew he was with her, the one he had been having an affair with for months, years. Valerie had never confronted him about it, had simply accepted that her husband was not the man she had married. After all, she had never wanted to marry him anyway but had done so for the sake of appearances. Her mother did not want her living the life of a bachelorette in the city, bringing shame to the family name, so had married her off nice and tidy as soon as she possibly could. It was 1968, not 1668, yet her mother insisted on upholding the old rules and it was Valerie who suffered for it. That was the trouble, the limit, and the rules of high society: the one objecting at your wedding was usually you. Sure, Aramis was a good man in principle. He never lifted a hand to her, he never told her no, he left her control of his credit account and he had certainly never given her an ultimatum. A good man in principle was hard to find. But, as Valerie had discovered this weekend, instead he had done the honourable thing of carrying out his affair behind her back. Until now, at least. Now he seemed to no longer know nor care that his actions were as black and white as the television set he had brought home. It was almost laughable. So, when the secretary had delivered the message, Valerie figured she would have fun with him. After all, if he were to go away for a few days she could have time to herself and away from him. She would go to the cottage and centre herself away from the hustle and bustle of the city. What was more, the cottage meant Sirius, and Sirius meant she would have her needs seen to in more ways than one. Aramis wasn’t the only one who could have an affair. Checkmate, Aramis Vega.

Her affair with Sirius had started a few months ago when Aramis had forgotten her birthday and she had taken to the cottage for some much-needed recuperation. Sirius, a young and handsome immigrant who had worked for the Vega family since coming to this country, was attentive and forgiving. They kept him in their employ and hidden from any questions up at the countryside cottage, keeping house and tending the lawn. He was a sweet man without a malicious bone in his body, and that would ultimately be his downfall. He was the complete opposite of Aramis and Valerie almost looked forward to the time she could spend with him. Valerie Vega wasn’t an old woman, far from it, but her marriage had aged her. Sirius had been more than willing to remind her how to feel young, how to act her age and not the scorned woman she had become. The affair had been an accident and initially, Valerie had regretted her actions with the young man, but the more it happened the more she forgot that she ever doubted it. He understood her in more ways than one and the things he showed her made Aramis look like a beached whale. Poor Aramis. 

After Valerie received the letter from him on the Saturday afternoon she was packed and gone within the hour, driving the long journey to the cottage in the countryside and preparing herself for a weekend of much-needed attention from her favourite plaything. 

It had been a good plan, one that lifted her spirit, but it had all gone to the dogs when she pulled up outside the cottage to find a car she recognised, even in the dark. Chills ran down her spine as she stopped her engine and climbed out, walking up to the house in her pristine heels as though her feet were in thick mud. It couldn’t be. It shouldn’t be. 

The door had been open, the sound coming from the bedroom unmistakeable. 

The following hours had been a blur and she could not remember most of them. She didn’t know how the door had slammed by itself. She didn’t know how the hunting rifle had found itself from the cabinet or into her hands. She didn’t know how the bedroom door had opened, or how the imprint of what she saw burned itself into her eyes. She didn’t know how the gun had fired, blasting a hole in the wall above the bed and causing Sirius and her husband to stop what they were doing. Somehow Aramis got the gun from her, standing before her as he was in his birthday suit. Somehow Sirius had managed to calm her down as she tried to scratch, bite, kick her husband. She had known he was having an affair, had felt it, but she had never imagined it was this. 

They had talked long into the night. Valerie, numb, had sat and listened to the sorry truth about just how Aramis and Sirius had been having an affair since he had come into their employ. She felt sick as Sirius recounted that he had also been having an affair with Valerie. He had tried to explain that when he had come here he had never meant to hurt them both, he was grateful for them taking him in. There was shouting, screaming, punching, crying, and begging as the three of them tried to understand each other well into the night. There was only one solution to preserve their marriage and save face. 

By the time the sun rose the next morning, there was no going back. The deed was done, and Sirius was dead. 

Valerie watched the fire at the woodline grow in height as it burned away the sins of their summer. She watched as Aramis came back into view, saying nothing as he climbed into his car and Valerie climbed into her own. They drove away from the cottage in tandem, the bonfire, and hidden secrets far in the rearview. As they returned to their real-life and left the fantasy behind Valerie couldn’t help but realise that with this secret things would never be the same again. This secret would carry them to their graves, the dog days of summer were over.