Weeks passed by, Sonia got involved completely in the family and even more so in the kids' life. Sonia was surprised to see how great Nina had organized their home life and how Nick was taking care of a lot of things, including laundry, cooking, playing with Helena, studying with Annie, tidying up the house etc. He was doing all these plus exuding a happy, uplifting personality plus performing great in bed plus providing for his family. Thinking about what Nina had told her, it looks like Nick was naturally submissive in his personality. This didn't justify though how he grabbed everybody's attention when they had the role model couple talk that day on the beach.
Everything was looking rosy until Nick saw her waiting in the living room dressed substantially sexier than what she used to. It was a brown, deep cleavage, mid-thigh tight dress with beige slip-on Guess high-heels. He identified both clothing articles as his wife's property and suddenly got cloudy.
"Are you going out, Sonia?" He asked, trying to keep his cool but definitely not with his trademark smile and attitude.
"Yes, Nick. I'm waiting for a friend to pick me up and have a drink or two. I shouldn't be too late though, he will return me home" she said.
"Ah, I see. Well, enjoy your time" he said and left for the kitchen. Sonia noted how quickly Nick hid his face and disappeared, but didn't put so much thought in this.
Three hours later, Sonia had some trouble reaching the door because she was a tad drunk. She had forgotten her keys to her apartment so she called Nina to come down and unlock. To her surprise, it wasn't Nina that opened the door, but a dark-faced Nick who was still wearing his clothes and not his pj's.
"I have been expecting you" he said, foregoing the greetings, pleasantries or questions about her drunk state. His tone was low, firm and short. "Does Manos know?"
"Hello Nick, I hope you weren't sleep...oh, you are still awake? I see you wear clothes, you didn't go to bed?" she suddenly felt the need to speak, even though her brain wasn't functioning clearly.
His response was not in any of these questions. "Does.Manos.know?" with a pause between the words.
"Know what?" Sonia didn't understand.
"Does he know that you went out with another man in his absence?" Nick continued, visibly angry.
"Eh, well, no but why would I tell him...he has enough trouble in his head right now..." her brain suddenly started clearing the fog, but was unsure what to say and how to defend herself.
Nick picked up his cell and called Nina, in a serious voice tone he said "Nina, I want you down immediately. We have something to resolve". Nina comes downstairs dressed in her nightie, but she also seemed like she wasn't sleeping before Sonia's arrival. She finds Nick standing and Sonia sitting on the armchair. Her husband was enraged in his own way, calm-looking but burning inside while her protegΓ©e was holding her face in her hands, looking sad and used.
"What is going on here?" she said, asking Nick but looking at Sonia.
"Sonia went out with a guy and it was not friendly fun. Obviously, Manos doesn't have a clue of the adventures. I figured it out when I saw the clothes she is wearing and of course the state that she came in just now. Have a talk with her and fix this right, I trust you. Good night" he said in an almost military tone and stormed off, shutting the door behind him.
Nina put some attention directly at Sonia.
"Did you proceed to bed with the guy?"
"No, I had a lot of second thoughts. It was just heavy flirting like a first date."
"I bet he wanted to fuck you as hell". Nina wanted to get Sonia's honest approach by using the word "fuck". No political correctness, no polite and masking terminology.
"He did. He tried to bring me close and kiss me, so I felt his hard-on and he was definitely excited to fuck", admitted Sonia.
"He was not excited to fuck abstractly. He wanted to fuck YOU. You are hot. And you come in front of him, having dinner and drinks with a sexy, tight dress, high heels on. Seems promiscuous. But anyway, not a big deal if nothing happened" Nina reassured her.
"But what happened with Nick, Nina? I can't understand, why is Nick mad at me? What is wrong with him?" Sonia said and burst into tears.
"Nick is great and the easiest person in the world, but he has some high moral values and rules of engagement. He would give trust implicitly, sponsor trust explicitly but also demand trust from others. And if this trust is broken, he might forgive if the other person is worth but never forget", Nina started the story and continued: "Nick's father was cheating on his mother when he was 6 years old, a thing that almost broke up his parents twice and it continued happening in different instances up until Nick was 20 and out of the house. He got sick of the tension, cold war, lies and cover-ups and he vowed never to do this to his girlfriend or wife and never to stay silent if he saw something happening. Nick prefers clean, not-having-to-lie-for-anything situations. You are not satisfied with your significant other, let them know, make a deal or break up completely and continue with whomever you want to continue."
Sonia stopped sobbing and got drawn in the story. "What was the clothes point all about?"
Nina expected the question as Nick really focused on this virtually unrelated thing. She bit her tongue a bit but decided to break through this as it was a topic she didn't touch for 15 years.
"Back on the beach a few weeks earlier I told you it was a difficult time for me when Nick went to the army, right?" Sonia nodded and let her continue. "Very soon after he left, I started feeling neglected, bored and horny. Unfortunately, good looks get viciously utilized when horny to attract interest that satisfies your self-confidence, eliminates your insecurity and also gives you the rush of doing something illegal. I started dressing sexy, going out with 2-3 pretty girlfriends and drinking like it was always Saturday night. Easy targets for men and we were all on the same boat, I was just the one having a relationship. I was cold against him when he was coming home and he sensed it. I remembered when he mentioned about the clothes you are wearing now, that he met me by chance outside one night and I was wearing exactly these, I was dressed far sexier than when we were going out together. A guy I had met and flirted with who was working at that bar rested his hand on my shoulder as if I was his girlfriend in front of Nick and he got crazy jealous, boiling internally. He felt I humiliated him beyond recognition. A few days later, at some point on the phone I gathered all my courage to tell him that we were done and that I had fallen in love with another man. However, due to 7 years of being together, he demanded to have a talk with me live. I knew it would be a hard one but I didn't expect his approach on this discussion."
Taking a deep breath, Nina continued "He told me to spill the beans and in a trick he employed, I confessed that I was flirting with more than one for months. Remember, he is perceptive and intelligent far more than you would expect."
"Oh my God, this is worse than I thought it was..." Sonia couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"The hell it was! He explained how he felt and he told me off for the way I handled things. And in the start I was aggressive, then got really passive as I realized that he is something much higher compared to any other guy I had met and "fell in love with". I wasn't in love with any useless, egoistic prick who knew that I had a relationship with a guy serving in the army and still wanted me to cheat. I was infatuated with the fact that men were paying attention to me and I was playing in different tableaus. I loved that my boredom was killed, my insecurities vanished and my self-confidence rode higher than ever, having fun with my friends in the meantime. I didn't even fuck any of the guys, but it would be imminent I think. However, he told me that after 7 years together, he deserved at least to be informed about my decisions and that if I was just a meaningless cheater girl, he would like to know. He told me that he needs a real woman to go on with his life. If this was me and I accepted this challenge, I had to prove it and he would leave all this behind."
Sonia was shocked at the incident but even more shocked at Nick's tactics. "So, judging by where we are sitting right now, it looks like you accepted the challenge, you proved to be a real woman and he had left this behind until I brought it back tonight with my actions?"
Nina nodded yes, pursing her lips. "We will fix it, don't worry" she said and kissed Sonia on the forehead. "I had told you that you would need a good vibrator, you didn't listen" and they both laughed on low energy. "Have a good sleep and we will talk tomorrow" she said to her mentee.
Next morning, Nina woke up not to find Nick by her side. His place on the bed was tucked in, as if nobody slept there. She got up and found him sleeping next to Helena, cuddling her. She let them be and went downstairs where Sonia was preparing coffee and breakfast for the kids.
"Good morning Nina" she said. "Did you have a good sleep?"
"Well, it took some time to put my thoughts to rest after what happened, but overall well. How about you, love? Tough one?"
"Can't deny I was shaken, but your story made me put my ducks in a row. So it was calmer than expected", Sonia responded with a tone of confidence in her words.
"Happy to hear this. Nick didn't come to the bed, though. I found him this morning sleeping with the baby. I think he was completely shaken too and he wanted someone that didn't remind him of the situation" Nina continued.
"Today Nick will get the kids to the grandparents, so we will have some time to recover, discuss and have fun. I want to take you through my wardrobe", Nina said sounding like she had a good plan.
They had their coffee, Nick came downstairs in a few minutes with a smile and Helena and Annie. "Hello ladies, hope you had a nice sleep yesterday" he said.
"Sonia, I need to apologise for yesterday. I stand by my values, but I don't have the right to talk to you like this. I am not your father nor your significant other. I hope you understand my point of view, but still forgive me."