as icily detached as she could be. Gathering information.
Building her walls.
She’d asked him, hadn’t she? Repeatedly. Was something wrong? Was there something he’d wanted to tell her? She’d even asked him to his face – is there someone else? Gabe had assured her that he was just dealing with the stress of leaving his job – something that Tess had done everything in her power not to remind him he’d brought upon himself – and had brushed off her worried questions. She’d let it drop, knowing men tended to clam up when stressed.
Now she scanned the phone records, looking back for months as the text messages continued to that same number. Thousands of Facebook messages streamed before her, months of infidelity laid out in vivid, graphic detail, her future crumbling around her. Tess copied it all, saving the file to her password-protected shared drive. She nosed through any other important documentation she could find on Gabe’s computer until there was nothing else to be found – nothing else she could do except confront her husband.
Tess sat still, frozen as the end of her marriage loomed. She waited in silence when the front door opened. She waited as Gabe greeted the dogs. She listened as he whistled down the hallway – cheerful, she imagined, from his most recent orgasm – until he rounded the corner into his office.
“Why are you on my computer?” Gabe’s face contorted in rage.
Tess’s hands clenched, and she shifted the chair, turning enough so he could see the picture on the screen behind her.
“It’s over.”
“Tess, that’s not what you think,” Gabe said, stepping forward to put his hands out, but dropping them at her look.
“I knew it. I knew it! I should’ve trusted my gut, but I let your voice drown out my own. It’s over, Gabe. There’s no way I – no, we – can come back from this,” Tess said, her voice cold as betrayal sliced through her.
“Okay, let’s just talk about this rationally. That woman means nothing,” Gabe insisted, pacing in front of his desk, the dogs following his movement.
“Nothing? Really?” Tess turned to read some of the messages. “‘I love you, Babers’ — ick, babers? — ‘I can’t wait to have you in my arms again. We’re meant to be together.’ Really, Gabe?”
“That’s just bullshit. You shouldn’t be reading that crap. It means nothing,” Gabe slammed his hand on the desk, causing the dogs to jump up and pace between them.
“Gag me, you’re sending her Disney kissing emojis. What is this girl, fourteen?” Tess bit out, her heart pumping in her chest, sweat trickling at the back of her collar.
“She’s in college, and I don’t love her. It’s not what you think.”
She barked out a laugh, turning to look at the naked picture of them in bed together.
“I’m fairly certain I’m quite clear on what this is,” Tess said, and raised an eyebrow at him. “A co-worker of yours, I see. I suppose this explains why you left work. Oh… were you fired? I bet you were fired.” Tess slammed her own hand down on the desk. “That makes so much sense to me now.”
“I was not fired.” Gabe’s face darkened, anger reaching his voice for the first time. “I chose to leave.”
“I bet you were asked to leave, weren’t you? For screwing your subordinate. Even for you – what a dipshit move,” Tess said. She was so completely fed up with Gabe’s lies.
“I said I wasn’t fired,” Gabe shouted.
Tess laughed at him, knowing it would antagonize him and not even caring.
“Oddly enough, Gabe? I’m having an incredibly hard time believing anything you tell me right now. I can’t imagine why.” Tess turned back to scan the messages on the computer screen.
“Stop reading those.” Gabe tried to grab the computer’s mouse, but Tess snatched it away from him, slapping his hand back.
“Hands off. As you’ll remember, this is my company’s computer and you’re not allowed to touch it.”
“That’s such shit and you know it,” Gabe seethed, continuing to pace.
“How could you, Gabe? Honestly? After everything I’ve done for you? You knew this was the one thing I’d never get over. You knew how important trust was to me – you knew. This is the way you treat me?” Tess searched his face, looking for any sign of remorse.
“It’s just… I don’t know. I screwed up. She was just there, and a distraction from everything, I guess.” Gabe stopped to lean across the desk to Tess. “I swear to you, she means nothing. I