Emily, hold on! I havent cheated, you hear me? Want me to swear on my health? Or on my mother?!
Connor bolted down the stairs after his wife, shouting at the top of his lungs. He didnt care that a few nosy neighbours lifted their heads from doorways, eyes shining with illtimed curiosity, nor that the rest of the building whispered his squabble through peepholes.
Emily bolted out of the block, snatched a black cab and was gone in a flash. Connor only managed a lingering glance at the departing figure.
It all began three months earlier, when Connors life started taking a turn for the worse. A colleague, with whom hed kept strictly professional ties for years, had just suffered a personal catastrophe a miscarriage and a looming divorce. After months of rehab she returned to the office, but she was a completely different woman.
Listen, I cant put up with this any longer. Shes been after me for a month nighttime calls, texts, even showing up at my flat a few times, Connor vented, slamming his fist into the directors office, irritation seeping from every pore.
The director chuckled. That happens. Shes smitten, what can you do? I dont see any criminal offence, he said.
But I did nothing! We only ever spoke about work. Now my marriage is crumbling because of Lydia, Connor nearly shouted.
And what do you expect from me? Lydias a perfectly acceptable employee. What goes on outside the office isnt my concern, the director shrugged.
Connor was teetering on the brink of despair. Hed tried to ignore the situation, pretend everything was fine, but the charade was falling apart. Arguments with Emily grew sharper, and Emily started doubting her husbands fidelity. She couldnt believe a stranger could orchestrate the barrage of brazen messages, insinuations and photographs.
Emily, please dont start this. Ive never been unfaithful. I never even thought about it, Connor pleaded.
You realise how your denials sound now, surrounded by all those messages? Do you think Im a gullible seashell that cant add two and two? Emily replied coolly.
Its all deliberate. I block her number, she just uses another. Im stuck with this Lydia whos turning heads. What do I do? How do I prove Im clean? Connor begged.
I dont know, Connor. Honestly Im exhausted. Three months of this and Im done believing you. Too many coincidences, Lydias everywhere, Emily sighed.
Stop it! Shes not mine. I dont need her! Connor protested.
Emily stared at the ceiling, wondering why she couldnt trust him any longer. The messages, the calls it all felt like an overripe plot. How many times have men cheated and then turned their wives into jealous, paranoid fools, insisting its all imagination? She didnt want to become that.
She remembered once catching Connor nervously deleting texts. She never saw the content, but she did glimpse him scrambling to erase a few photos.
From then on he lingered longer at work, grew irritable and withdrawn.
Am I just being paranoid? Emily muttered to herself.
Lydia, on the other hand, acted like a seasoned strategist. Years ago shed been the sweet, quiet type: married, on maternity leave, then a nervous breakdown after a medicallynecessary termination and a husband who fled. She returned to work, initially as her old self, but soon began offering Connor little gestures compliments in the corridor, a friendly nudge. He brushed them off as harmless.
Then Lydia hit the family like a gale, tearing apart the trust Connor and Emily had built over years.
They began randomly meeting her in the local supermarket, even though she lived in a different borough. She started going to the same gym as Connor, slipping into his phone calls with cheesy lines like, Youre as cute as a kitten or I made you coffee, why wont you come over?
One day Lydia arranged a chance encounter at Connor and Emilys block.
Connor, could you help? My neighbours not answering and I only have two percent battery. Could you pop down? Im in a bind, she cooed from a new number.
Emily shrugged, thinking she couldnt just leave a stranger stranded late at night in another area. She kept an eye on the doorway, and what she saw made her doubts solidify.
Lydia, the moment she saw Connor exiting the lift, lunged onto his neck and clung for dear life. That was the final straw for Emily.
That same night a text pinged Connors phone. Emily, unable to sleep, read it, and a chill raced down her spine:
Thanks you came, otherwise my tracker would have followed you. Ill be half an hour late tomorrow as we arranged.
Connor you were supposed to meet a friend tomorrow, Emily whispered, baffled.
And for the first time she replied.
Talk in the morning. Im asleep now. Ill call you later, she typed. The reply came instantly:
Got it. Cant wait for your call. You know Im always here!
Emily sat frozen, unsure what to do. At dawn she decided to stay with her sister temporarily, to think things through away from Connor and Lydia.
Connor woke to the jangle of keys. His phone lay on the pillow. Sensing trouble, he leapt out of bed, sprinted to the front door, and, after a frantic attempt to stop his fleeing wife, returned to the flat, flailing like a cornered hedgehog. The situation was absurd.
Emily ignored his calls. Her sister asked Connor not to pester his wife.
Days stretched on endlessly. Connor felt adrift, knowing he had to clear his name and win back his beloved.
A week later he finally mustered the courage. He called Emilys sister and begged for a meeting.
Emily, please give me one chance. I know you dont trust me, but I have something that could change everything. After this meeting youll decide whether we stay together or part ways forever, he pleaded.
After much pleading, Emily agreed.
They drove in silence. Connor kept his eyes on the road, stealing glances at Emily. She tried to read something in the dimming scenery outside.
Emily, I need to ask you for something Connor said, pulling up outside a nondescript block. I want to blindfold you. Well take a short walk, but please trust me.
Emily eyed him skeptically but complied. Connor guided her gently, supporting her elbow. Inside a building, the smell of fresh paint hit her nose.
Are we at a construction site? she asked, uneasy.
Not exactly
He removed the blindfold. A pale light illuminated an old school sports hall the very place where their story began.
In the centre, on a bench, lay a bouquet of white lilies. Emily froze.
Emily, do you know when I realized I fell in love with you? Connor asked.
She stared at the vaulted ceiling, silent.
Not at the prom, right? she guessed.
No, back when I first transferred to that school in Year Ten. I missed a few days and landed straight into P.E. I walked in, didnt know anyone. In the corner, you were sitting, cheeks flushed from volleyball, a bun perched on your head with damp curls escaping. You laughed it was contagious. That was the moment I knew Id love you forever, he narrated, his hand gently guiding hers to the spot.
Emily fought back tears. She hadnt remembered that day; Connor had held onto every detail all these years. Something softened inside her.
He spoke of his fear to approach her, of the months it took to muster courage, and how he thanked fate daily for steering him into that hall.
Ive never betrayed you, he whispered, clasping her hands. All these years Ive been only yours
A tear slipped down her cheek. She lifted her gaze to his, seeing the same earnestness that had once captured her heart.
Id move jobs, get Lydia out of work, even change city or country, just to prove I havent cheated, he vowed. All I need is for you to believe me.
They stood in that dusty gym, the birthplace of their love, and realised that true love can survive even the fiercest storms, no matter how jealous the wind might be.
