She was a coward, Kate admitted. Her husband had suddenly turned her world upside down and decided that he loved her. And the moon was made of cheese, she though ironically. He couldn't be sure, could he? It was probably just another of his bright ideas and a way to ensure that he had a constant fuck partner. The man had the stamina of a bull. She wondered if he was taking drugs or something.
She had never met a man that could have sex as often as Scott. And still he seemed to sport a hard-on whenever she saw him. It was like in a movie and she was completely exhausted after living in an emotional and physical rollercoaster for the past three months. She loved him, but the strain in hiding that fact for him, and try not to touch him the way she wanted was taking its toll.
She needed a break or maybe some distance to the man that occupied her every waken thought. He even invaded her dreams with visions of a strong and inventive lover pleasuring all parts of her body.
Maybe she should put more distance between them, in order to clear her mind and decide what she wanted to do. She could barely think when Scott was around. Suddenly a thought occurred to her. Her apartment. It was still there. That was the solution.
She could retreat to her own small apartment for a couple of days and see if her thoughts became any clearer. Right now it was all a fog. How could she ask a man for a divorce and make wild love to him five minutes later? She must be deranged, Kate decided. Talk about sending out mixed signals to the man. Why couldn't she just stick to her own decisions when he was around? But she knew the answer to that: She wanted him so badly that she would do almost anything to stay with him. Too bad he didn't feel the same.
***
That same evening, Scott practically fell into the hallway after a long day at work. He'd had to work overtime in order to finish up a project. Kate had left the office hours earlier and now he hoped she had left him some dinner. He longed to spend the rest of the evening with his head in her lap or hers in his, before fucking her bent over the sofa. Yes, the sofa would be perfect. And if he fell asleep right after her climax, they could spend the night there as well. He looked forward to make the fantasy a reality.
"Kate, where are you?" He called out. No response was heard. The house seemed strangely quiet, Scott thought.
"That was strange," he murmured. "Kate?" He called a little louder. Still no response. That was the problem with large houses. It was practically impossible to locate the residents.
He walked into the kitchen and found it empty. No food was left on the stove so he checked the refrigerator. Nothing there either. He grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and took a large bite as he walked further into the living room and study. Still no sign of Kate.
"Kate?" He called again. Still no answer.
A feeling of dread came over him and his back felt cold. He ran up the stairs to their bedroom. It was dark and empty. He turned on the lights and opened the closet. All of her clothes were gone, as well as her suitcases.
No, he thought. No, this couldn't be happening. He sank down onto the bed and tried to think. She couldn't have left him, could she? She had started packing her bags the same morning, but he really thought they had settled that argument when they made love on the desk.
At work she had seemed her usual self, although he hadn't seen much of her, but since they worked on different teams that were not unusual.
He picked up his mobile and tried to call her. No answer. She had switched off the damn thing. Where the hell was she? And had she actually left him? Just like that, after all they had shared in the last few months?
It was not possible. They had really connected that same morning. They had made love on the desk. How could she leave him after that?
Then a chilling thought occurred to him.
He
had made love, while she hadn't. She had fucked. She had never returned his declarations of love, and he'd thought she was too shy and needed time before she would say it out loud. But, what if that wasn't the case? Perhaps he had managed to turn on her body, but nothing else.
He felt his shoulders sink at the depressing thought. How had he managed to fall in love with a woman while she didn't return his feelings? A desperate laughter erupted from his throat as he took in the irony of it all. He had always been the one to stay aloof, to not be touched by a woman's heart. And now finally it was his turn. Talk about revenge.
Some female goddess up there must really have a grudge against him for landing him in this predicament. Being in love with his own wife and not be able to keep her. Someone must be laughing their head off right now, he concluded.
She had tricked him and he hadn't even seen it coming. Judging by the empty closet, she must have returned home early and packed everything.
He let himself fall back onto the bed. At the same time he heard the sound of a paper getting wrinkled.
He sat up and stared down on a letter someone had left on the bed. He hadn't noticed it before. It was written by Kate.
Scott.
Sorry for not telling you in person, but I need to spend some time alone to think. Please don't look for me. I'll be in touch soon.
Kate
"Soon".
How soon would that be? Where could she have gone? And why had she taken all her clothing with her? It didn't make any sense. The letter was too short to reveal anything useful as to her whereabouts.
Besides, it sounded too nice. What she really meant to say was: 'Scott. You're a major asshole and I'm leaving you'. Not leaving him with a hope that she would return after a couple of days. Considering the fact that she had taken all her clothes with her, certainly made his version seem the most plausible.
Damn her. She couldn't just leave him like that. Not when they were so good together. He wanted to grab a drink or two. No, a bottle. He wanted to drown himself in the alcohol and forget all about his miserable life. At least for a week or two. To just sit on his coach and feel sorry for himself.
No, that wasn't quite his style. Perhaps he should simply change into his training suit and go running for a mile or two. That would certainly take care of the constant craving that he'd had for her lately.
He walked to his closet and searched for his training suit, before venturing outside. It had started raining.
"Of course," Scott said aloud. "What more could go wrong this evening?"
***
After running for a couple of kilometres his mind seemed to work better. It suddenly occurred to him that he still didn't know where Kate had gone off to. Her apartment, most likely. But he seemed to recollect that she had lent it out to someone. He would try her mobile again, just to make sure that she was all right.
As soon as he got home, he tried her number again. Still no answer. The phone was still shut off. He didn't like this at all. Usually she put it in silent mode. She never switched it off completely.
He grabbed his cell phone and called another number. As soon as Laura answered, Scott asked.
"Do you know where Kate is?"
He repeated the same question to all the people he could think of. But no one knew. Her brother James even had the audacity to laugh.
"Have you lost her already? I thought so."
Before he ventured on to threaten to break every bone in Scott's body if he ever hurt his sister.
Little did James know that Scott already felt broken into pieces. Where could she have gone to? And why did she have to leave so suddenly.
He called one more number and this time Warren answered.
"No, I haven't spoken to her lately," her father admitted.
"But where can she be?"
