15September2024
Dear Diary,
Emilywait, hold on! I havent been unfaithful, I swear on my life! Do you think Id do something that awful?
My brotherinlaw, Tom, rushed down the stairs after his wife, shouting at the top of his lungs. He didnt seem to mind a few nosy neighbours craning their heads from the hallway, their curiosity as unhealthy as a bad flu. Nor did he care that most of the flatmates were quietly listening at the door, peeking through the peephole.
Emily bolted from the entrance, hailed a black cab and vanished. Tom could only watch her go, his eyes tracking the taxi as it disappeared around the corner.
It all began three months ago, when my life started to crumble. A colleague with whom Id always kept a strictly professional relationshipSarahhad suffered a personal tragedy: a miscarriage followed by a swift divorce. After months of recovery she returned to work, but she was a completely different person.
Listen, I cant take this any longer, I told the director, Mr. Thompson, slamming my hand on his desk. Shes been haunting me for a monthlatenight calls, messages, even showing up at my building a few times. I was fuming.
He just chuckled.
Women fall in love, you know. Nothing criminal about it, he said.
But I havent done anything! We only ever talked about work. Now my marriage is falling apart because of Claire, I almost shouted.
And what do you expect from me? Claires a decent employee, but what happens between us is none of my business, the director shrugged.
I was on the brink of despair. At first I tried to ignore it, to pretend everything was fine, but the charade soon became impossible. Emily started to doubt my fidelity. She couldnt believe that a stranger could manipulate me with ambiguous texts, hints and photos.
Emily, please dont start this, I pleaded, my voice shaking. Ive never cheated on you. Not even in my thoughts.
You understand how your words sound when theyre backed up by all those messages? You think Im a simpleton who cant add two and two? she replied coldly.
Shes doing it on purpose. I block her number, but she writes from another. The boss is happy because Claire delivers good figures. What can I do? How can I prove Im clean?
I dont know, Mark. Honestly, Im exhausted. Its been almost three months, and Im starting to lose faith in you. There are too many coincidences, too many signs of Claire in our lives.
Enough! She isnt mine. I dont need her!
I dont know, Mark I really dont.
I watched Emilys mind whirl. Shed once caught me hurriedly deleting messages, and although I never let her see what was inside, I saw her glance at a photo I was erasing. After that, I began staying later at work, becoming shorttempered and withdrawn.
Maybe Im just paranoid? she asked herself.
Claire, meanwhile, was acting like a seasoned strategist. Once shed been a sweet, quiet woman, married, then on maternity leave when a nervous breakdown landed her in hospital after a medically advised termination. She returned to the office, initially the same as before, but soon started giving me little gesturescompliments in the corridor, a casual touch on the arm. I brushed it off.
Then she turned her attention to my family like a storm, tearing apart the trust wed built over years.
Emily and I started randomly meeting Claire at the supermarket, even though she lived in a different borough. She joined the same gym I attended, barging into my phone calls with flirty remarks: Youre as cute as a kitten or I made you a coffee, why arent you coming over?
One afternoon Claire called from an unfamiliar number, her voice sweet as honey.
Mark, could you help? My friend next door isnt answering her phone and Im down to two percent battery. Could you come down? Im desperate.
Emily shrugged, thinking I should at least help a stranger in need, even if she didnt fully trust me. When I arrived, Claire threw herself around my neck the moment she saw me leaving the block. That was enough for Emily.
Later that night a text pinged on my phone. Id barely slept, but I read it, feeling a chill run down my spine:
Thanks for coming, otherwise shed have caught you. Ill be a half hour late tomorrow as planned.
Mark you were supposed to meet a friend tomorrow, Emily whispered, stunned.
For the first time I typed back.
Well talk in the morning. Im asleep now. Ill call you.
She replied instantly: I understand. Ill be waiting. You know Im always here.
I sat frozen, not knowing what to do. At dawn I decided to stay with my sister for a while, to get some distance from Claire and think clearly. I began packing quietly.
The next morning the sound of keys rattling woke me. My phone lay on the pillow. Sensing trouble, I leapt out of bed, rushed to the front door and, after a desperate attempt to stop Emily from leaving, stumbled back into the flat, running around like a trapped animal. The whole scene had become absurd.
Emily didnt answer my calls. My sister asked me not to bother her sister any more.
Days stretched on endlessly. I felt lost, knowing I had to do something to prove my innocence and win back my wifes trust.
A week later I gathered the courage to call Emilys sister, asking for a meeting with my wife.
Emily, please give me one chance. I know you dont believe me, but I have something that could change everything. After this meeting youll decide whether we stay together or part ways forever.
After much pleading she agreed.
We drove in silence. I kept an eye on the road, stealing glances at Emily, who tried to read the dimming world outside.
Emily, I need to ask you something, I said, parking outside a modest terraced house. I want to blindfold you. Well walk a short distance. Trust me, please.
She looked at me, skeptical, but complied. I guided her gently, supporting her elbow. When we entered a building, the smell of fresh paint hit her nose.
Are we on a construction site? she asked, uneasy.
Not exactly.
I removed the blindfold. A weak light illuminated an old school sports hallthe very place where our story began.
In the centre, on a bench, lay a bouquet of white lilies. Emily froze.
Emily, do you know when I realised I was in love with you? I asked.
She stared at the high ceiling, silent.
Not when we first started dating after the graduation ball.
When? she prompted.
I transferred to this school in Year10, remember? I missed a few days and ended up in PE. I walked in, didnt know anyone. In the corner, you were sitting, cheeks flushed from volleyball, a bun of damp curls on your head, laughing contagiously. That moment, I knew Id love you forever.
I spoke, and Emily held back tears she hadnt expected. She didnt recall that day, yet the detail lingered in my mind.
I never betrayed you, I whispered, taking her hands. All these years Ive been yours alone.
A tear slipped down her cheek. She met my eyes and saw the same sincerity that had drawn us together once upon a time.
Im willing to do anythingquit my job, see Claire leave, move to another city or countryjust to earn your belief that I never cheated.
We stood in that old hall, feeling the weight of our past and the possibility of a future untainted by doubt.
The lesson Ive learned, dear diary, is that trust, once fractured, demands more than words; it needs actions that reach back to the very roots of how we fell in love. Only by confronting our fears headon can we rebuild what truly matters.
