The Affair

The Affair

“Shit, what time is it?” I jumped up and grabbed a sheet to cover myself. The guy I took home last night rolled over and tossed his arm over his head. His name was Matt. We met at the bar down the street. I was wasted when we came home last night.

“I don’t know.”

He propped himself up on one elbow and looked at me.

Matthew was sexy. 6ft tall with a tattoo on his chest. He had shaggy blonde hair and washboard abs. He worked in finance or something like that. The details from last night were hazy. I grabbed my bra from my nightstand and put it on. My husband would be home from his business trip soonand I had to get Matthew out of my bed. I threw on a pair of sweats and put my hair in a bun. I turned to Matthew. He had fallen asleep again.

I leapt on the bed and swatted at his bare stomach. He jumped at the touch and opened one eye lazily. A slow grin spread across his face. He reached for me and pulled me towards him. He snuggled his face into my hair. I giggled and playfully pulled away. He wrapped his arm around me tighter. I loved the intimacy of the moment, something me and my husband didn’t share anymore. I lay with him for a minute longer and enjoyed a few more minutes of his company. I heard a noise come from the living room and jumped out of bed.

“Get up,” Iordered. He sat up and looked at me. His eyebrows drawn together and frown lines etched on his face.

“What’s going on?”

“You need to hide,” I said. His eyes widened and he stood up. He stretched and scratched under his chin.

“What are you talking about?” He asked.

I shoved his shirt toward him and pointed toward the closet. He raised his eyebrows and I pushed him toward the direction of the closet.

I grabbed the empty liquor bottles that littered the nightstand. I tossed the joint in the ashtray into the trash can. The sheets were wrinkled from our drunken encounter. I quickly stripped off the sheets and tossed them in the corner. I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. I threw on a sweatshirt as my husband appeared in the doorway. We stared at each other for a moment, then I crossed the room and embraced him. He placed a kiss on my forehead.

“Mmm, I missed you,” he said.

He inhaled the scent of shampoo and wrapped his arms tighter around me.

“And I missed you.”

I pulled back from his embrace and stared up at him. He lowered his mouth and crushed it against mine. The kiss was hungry, passionate, and my head swam. I broke the kiss and put my hand on his chest. I needed to catch my breath.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and smiled at me. He picked up the suitcase he had dropped beside the bedroom and headed for the closest. He pushed the sliding door.|

“Wait,” I said breathlessly.

I walked over to where he stood. He raised his eyebrows at my sudden outburst. I couldn’t think of anything to say. He watched me for a minute, before he turned his attention back to his task at hand.

“I’ll do that for you babe,” I said. I took the suitcase from him and set it in front of the closet door. “I’m sure you’re exhausted after your flight.”

“Well, I am pretty tired,” he said and stifled a yawn.

“Tell you what, why don’t you go lay down in the guest room while I put your things away and start a load of laundry.

He searched my face with his eyes and then kissed me on the cheek. He turned toward the bedroom and made his way to the guest room. I leaned against the closet door and let out a sigh of relief. The closet door slid open and I fell into the closet. Matthew stood over me as I glanced up at him.

“You’re married,” he said. It was more of a statement than a question.

I nodded my head. He held out his hand and helped me up. I stood up and smoothed my hands over my sweatshirt. He ran his fingers through his hair and stared at his shoes. I picked at my thumbnail.

“I was gonna tell you,” I said.

“When?” He asked.

I didn’t say anything. I never planned to tell him. I had planned to get him out of my bed before my husband came home.

“That’s what I thought,” he said.

He walked out of the closet and bent down beside the bed to grab his pants. My jaw dropped at his audacity. What if my husband walked back in? What the hell would I tell him about the man who stood in his boxers in our bedroom?

Matthew crossed his arms across his chest. His chin jutted out slightly. He was pissed. I stood in front of the closet and looked at my shoes.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered.

“Yeah, me too.”

He looked around the room. I wondered how I was going to get him out of the house without my husband noticing. Matthew walked over to the window on the far side of the room. He opened it. He crammed his large frame through the window opening and stepped out into the early morning air. With one last glance back at me, he holstered himself out of the window. With that he was gone.

I sat on my bed and put my head in my hands. I almost got caught cheating on my husband. I processed the events that led to this moment. The thought of the scandal that could unfold if my husband ever found out about what I had done ran through my head. I would be destroyed and my marriage would be ruined. Especially considering my husband was the mayor. I took a deep breath and stood up. In one swift motion, I picked up the wrinkled sheets from the floor and headed for the laundry room.

As I opened the washer and tossed the sheets in, something fell to the floor. It was a wallet. Matthew’s wallet.

Shit, I thought to myself. So much for never seeing the handsome stranger I slept with again. I picked up the wallet and opened it. My jaw dropped as I picked up a card in the center. Matthew wasn’t just some random stranger. He was the head reporter for The Inkwell Gazette.

I closed the washer door and braced myself against the machine. So much for avoiding a scandal. There was only thing I could think of to be sure my affair was never found out. I had to eliminate Matthew.