When I surprised my husband at work with his favorite dinner, I discovered he hadn’t been employed there for months. Little did I know, this revelation would unravel the fabric of our 20-year marriage and set me on a path I never could have imagined.
I packed Jonathan’s favorite dinner — lasagna, garlic bread, and tiramisu. He’d been working late for weeks, and I figured he could use a pick-me-up. The security guard at his office building looked at me funny when I asked for Jonathan.
A lasagne dish in preparation | Source: Pexels
“Ma’am, Jonathan hasn’t worked here in over three months,” he said.
My stomach dropped. “What? That can’t be right. He’s here every day.”
The guard shook his head. “Sorry, but he was laid off. You might want to talk to him about it.”
I left, my cheeks burning. What the hell was going on?
The next morning, I watched Jonathan get ready for “work” as usual, but before he left, he sat down on the sofa to attend to a message on his phone.
“How’s that potential promotion coming along?” I asked casually.
A man and woman having a distracted conversation in a living room | Source: Midjourney
He barely looked up from his phone. “Oh, you know. Still working on it. Lots to do.”
I waited until his car pulled out of the driveway, then called a taxi. “Follow that blue sedan,” I told the driver. He gave me a weird look but didn’t argue.
We tailed Jonathan to a run-down part of town. He parked in a sketchy lot and walked to a small café. Through the window, I saw him sit down with an older woman.
A taxi in motion | Source: Pexels
“Wait here,” I told the driver. I crept closer, snapping photos with my phone.
A younger woman joined them, then another. Soon there were six women at the table with Jonathan. What was he up to?
As they left, I approached one of the women. “Excuse me, how do you know Jonathan?”
She scowled. “That jerk? He doesn’t appreciate real talent. Good luck to him.”
Before I could ask more, she stomped off.
