Too many coincidences
Ethel, wait! I havent been unfaithful, you hear me? Id swear on my own life! And youd rather curse my mother?
Charles raced down the stairwell after his wife, shouting at the top of his lungs. He scarcely noticed a few nosy neighbours peering from their doorways, their curiosity as unhealthy as a cold. Nor did he mind the hush of the building as other tenants strained to hear the drama unfolding, their eyes flicking to the peephole.
Ethel burst out of the entrance, leapt into a black cab and was gone in a flash. Charles could only watch her retreating figure with a lingering gaze.
It all began three months earlier, when Charless life started to unravel. A colleague with whom he had kept strictly professional ties for years suffered a personal tragedy a failed pregnancy followed by a swift divorce. After months of recovery she returned to work, but she was a different woman.
Listen, I cant take this any longer, Charles complained to the director one afternoon, his voice tight with irritation. Shes been after me for a month now latenight calls, messages, even showing up at my block a few times.
The director laughed.
Well, you know how it is. A woman in love, what can you do? I dont see any crime here, he said.
But I havent done anything! We only ever spoke about work. Now my marriage is crumbling because of Linda, Charles shouted, almost in tears.
And what do you expect from me? As far as Im concerned, Lindas a fine employee, and whatevers happening between you two is none of my business, the director shrugged.
Charles teetered on the edge of despair. At first he tried to ignore the situation, to pretend everything was fine, but the charade soon fell apart. Tension grew between him and Ethel, and she began to doubt his fidelity. She could not accept that a stranger could be sending such unmistakable messages, hints and photographs.
Ethel, I beg you, dont start. Ive never cheated on you. It never crossed my mind, Charles pleaded.
You realise, dont you, that all those words sound like excuses when they sit beside those messages? Do you think Im as clueless as a broken seashell that cant add two and two? Ethel replied, her tone flat.
Shes doing it on purpose. I cant stop her I block the number, she writes from another. The lads at work only see the numbers she delivers, not the truth. What am I to do? How can I prove Im clean?
I dont know, Charles. Honestly, Im exhausted. Three months of this and I no longer believe you. I cant just trust blindly. Too many coincidences, too many of Lindas footprints in our lives
Enough of that! She isnt mine. I dont need her!
I dont know, Charles. I really dont
Ethel wondered, Why cant I believe him? I used to trust him without question. Yet those calls, those messages Too many overlaps. Linda appears wherever Charles goes. Coincidence after coincidence. How often does a man openly cheat while convincing his wife shes merely paranoid? I dont want to be that jealous fool
She recalled the night she caught Charles furtively deleting messages. She never saw what he erased, but she noticed him scrubbing away some photographs. After that, he began staying later at the office, his temper short and his demeanor closed off.
Am I just being paranoid? Ethel asked herself.
Linda, meanwhile, acted with the precision of a seasoned strategist. Once a gentle, quiet woman, she had married, taken maternity leave, then, as the office gossip went, suffered a nervous breakdown after a forced miscarriage and a husband who walked out. Returning to work, she first behaved as before, then started giving Charles small, seemingly harmless signs of attention a compliment in the corridor, a casual smile nothing that seemed to cross the line into flirtation.
Soon she descended upon Charles and Ethels home like a storm, tearing away years of builtup trust.
Charles and Ethel began to accidentally bump into Linda at the local supermarket, even though she lived in a different part of town. She joined the same gym as Charles and started slipping into his phone calls with odd remarks: Youre as sweet as a kitten, or I poured you coffee, why arent you coming over?
One day Linda arranged a chance encounter outside Charles and Ethels house.
Charlie, could you help? My neighbour in the next house isnt picking up, and my phones down to two percent. Im afraid I wont be able to call a cab. Youre home, arent you? Please come down, I really need you, she sang in an almost angelic voice from a new number.
Ethel shrugged. She didnt want to leave a stranger stranded late at night, even if she trusted her husband. She watched from the window as the scene unfolded, and the picture that formed made her doubts harden.
When Linda saw Charles step out of the entrance, she threw herself around his neck and clung on. That was enough for Ethel.
That same night a message pinged on Charless phone. Ethel, unable to sleep, read it and felt a chill run down her spine:
Thanks for coming, otherwise shed be watching you. Ill be a half hour late tomorrow as we agreed.
Charles you were supposed to meet a friend tomorrow, Ethel whispered, bewildered.
And for the first time she typed a reply.
Talk in the morning. Im asleep now. Ill call you.
A swift response arrived: Got it. Ill be waiting. You know Im always near.
Ethel sat frozen, unsure how to react. At dawn she made a decision to stay with her sister for a while and think things through, away from Charles and away from Linda. She began to pack quietly.
Charles awoke to the jangle of keys. His phone lay on the pillow beside his head. Sensing something was amiss, he leapt out of bed, rushed to the front door, and, after a desperate attempt to stop his fleeing wife, returned to the flat, darting about like a cornered animal, the whole situation devolving into absurdity.
Ethel did not answer his calls. Her sister asked Charles not to disturb her.
Days stretched on interminably. Charles felt lost, knowing he had to act, to prove his innocence, to win back his beloved.
A week later he finally gathered the courage. He phoned Ethels sister and asked for a meeting with his wife.
Ethel, please give me one chance. I know you dont trust me, but I have something that could change everything. I promise after this meeting youll decide whether we stay together or part forever.
After much urging, Ethel agreed.
They drove in silence. Charles kept his eyes on the road, stealing glances at Ethel through the side mirror. She tried to make sense of the dimming countryside outside.
Ethel, I need to ask you something Charles said as he parked the car in front of a modest terraced house. I want to tie your eyes shut. Well take a short walk, but please trust me.
Ethel looked at him skeptically but consented. He guided her gently, supporting her elbow. They entered a building; the smell of fresh paint hit Ethels nose.
Are we at a construction site? she asked, uneasy.
Not quite
Charles slipped off the blindfold. A dim light illuminated an old school sports hall the very place where their story had begun.
In the centre of the hall, on a bench, lay a bouquet of white lilies. Ethel froze.
Ethel, do you remember the moment I realised I was in love with you? Charles began.
She stayed silent, eyes scanning the high ceiling.
It wasnt when we first met at the graduation ball.
When? she asked suddenly.
I transferred to this school in Year Ten, remember? I missed a few days and ended up in P.E. I walked in, not knowing anyone. In that corner, Charles pointed, I saw you. You were flushed from a volleyball game, a bun perched on your head with damp curls spilling out. You laughed, a laugh that filled the room. In that instant I knew I loved you forever.
Charles spoke, and Ethel listened, tears threatening to spill. She had never recalled that scene. She didnt know that after all these years Charles still remembered every detail. Something within her softened.
He told her how he had been terrified to approach, how he mustered courage over months before finally asking her out, and how each day he thanked fate for bringing him to that school, to that hall.
I have never betrayed you, Charles whispered, taking her hands. All these years I have only been yours
A tear slid down her cheek. She lifted her gaze to his, seeing the same sincerity that had drawn her in decades ago.
Ill do anything quit my job, make Linda leave hers, move to another city, even another country, if thats what it takes for you to believe I never cheated.
They stood in that old sports hall, the cradle of their love, and understood that no one could shatter a true bond, no matter how jealous the storm that might arise.
