Before leaving, she looked back.
“You should make this easy for everyone, Vanessa. Roy deserves to be happy.”
Then she left with a little wave.
I sat alone in my office for nearly ten minutes.
I should have called Roy immediately. Instead, I stared at the empty chair and tried to reconcile the man who brought me coffee with the man Tessa had described.
By the time I reached home, I had convinced myself that I needed answers before making accusations.
Roy was already there, unpacking dinner.
“Hey, beautiful,” he said, leaning over to kiss my cheek. “You look exhausted.”
“You have no idea.”
He glanced at me.
“Bad day?”
“The kind you wouldn’t believe.”
He asked no further questions.
At dinner, I pushed rice around my plate while he told me about a difficult operation. I listened without really hearing him.
Later, he showered, changed into his old T-shirt, and went to bed.
