google Derek’s name or Marin’s without seeing a picture of Sebastian’s Missing Child poster within the first five hits.
#liar. #homewreckingwhore. #slut.
McKenzie is now five feet away, holding a coffee pot and chatting with a customer, a regular, based on the way they’re interacting. Marin’s tempted to take a picture and text it to Derek. No caption required. Let him look at it, have his heart jump into his throat when he realizes what he’s looking at, because it’s what his wife’s looking at. Wouldn’t that be something.
But she won’t.
“Top off?” the younger woman asks.
Startled, Marin slams her laptop shut before McKenzie can see that the computer screen is filled with pictures of her. With Marin seated, the other woman seems even taller and thinner. The light from the window illuminates her skin, which is fresh and unblemished. There’s a gentle smattering of freckles across her pert nose that Marin didn’t notice at the counter, and she’s wearing no makeup other than a rose-tinted gloss on her lips and a few swipes of mascara. She doesn’t need more than that. Her eyes are a golden brown. Shaped like a cat’s. Everything about her seems vibrant. Exotic.
She’s right in front of Marin now, holding the coffee pot with an expectant smile. Marin feels about as bland and invisible as she’s ever felt. And when their eyes meet yet again, it’s confirmed. She really has no idea who Marin is.
“I, uh, ordered a latte.” Marin feels her cheeks turning red, but if the other woman notices she’s blushing, she doesn’t act like it. Marin averts her eyes, looking down at her extra-large paper cup, now empty. Only crumbs remain from the cookie. She doesn’t remember finishing either, but apparently, she stress-consumed both while obsessing over McKenzie’s Instagram account.
“That’s okay. Anyone who sits here gets free drip if they want it.” McKenzie holds the pot up a little higher. “Just brewed. It’s our house blend, medium roast. Pretty much everybody likes it.”
Marin pushes her cup forward. Her hands are already shaking. She doesn’t need more caffeine, but she’s not planning to drink it. “Maybe just a little.”
The younger woman seems blissfully unaware of Marin’s discomfort as she pours, and her cheerfulness is both absurd and aggravating. Because Marin knows why she’s in such a good mood. She knows what the other woman’s plans are for later tonight. She knows McKenzie’s thinking about Derek.
Marin wants to jump up, grab the coffee pot, and throw it at her. She wants to hear the other woman scream in pain as the scalding liquid sears her pretty skin. She wants to claw at her hot, dripping face with her fingernails, scratching her eyes, tearing out her hair, so she can make her husband’s mistress as ugly on the outside as she is on the inside. Marin wants to ruin her life the way she is ruining Marin’s life, the way she is ruining Marin.
I hate you. I hate you so much.
Of course, she does none of this. She stays seated, patient, quiet.
“Beautiful ring.” McKenzie smiles at Marin’s hand. “If I ever get married, I’d want something just like that.”
It’s almost too much. Marin feels her rage growing. It takes every ounce of willpower she possesses not to punch the younger woman in her happy, smiling face.
You homewrecking whore stay away from my husband you slut you cunt you bitch I will murder you I will take the goddamned coffee pot out of your hands and smash it and peel your face off with the shards of glass …
But the thoughts are just thoughts, and by the time they pass, McKenzie is gone, her narrow hips sashaying away with the coffee pot. To hurt her, Marin would have to run after her, and she knows she would never do that. It isn’t who she is, because she’s too proper, too well-behaved, and her husband’s mistress’s public embarrassment would be a public embarrassment for herself.
Humiliations galore.
The Shadow app pings again. McKenzie just texted Derek a photo. The thumbnail is small and hard to see, but it’s clearly of a person. Marin’s breath catches, wondering if somehow McKenzie has sent Derek a photo of his wife, the same way Marin almost sent him a photo of his lover.
But it’s not a picture of Marin. It’s a selfie, and in it, McKenzie is nude. Totally and completely naked, exposed from head to knees.
McKenzie: Snapped this before I left this morning. A little preview of what’s to come …
Marin clicks on the thumbnail