"Don't walk away from me, Silia. We're not finished here."

            "Oh, yes we are.” I stormed out of the kitchen. I had nothing left to say about the subject. To tell you the truth, the argument was an illusion. I refused to believe that I was arguing with my husband, my best friend, over something so cliché. David, cheating on me? Was it true or just some conspiracy that I had made up to give me a reason to divorce him? That’s absurd. I loved my husband. He was my everything. Why would I try to divorce him?

            I walked into my bedroom and shut the door. David followed me to the door, but didn’t come in. I slumped on the bed. What was going on? Were we seriously arguing? Did he really raise his voice at me? Was that my hand that went across his face? All the questions made me drowsy. I lay back across my bed, closed my eyes, and began to dream.

            “Silia. Silia, wake up.” David lay beside me, stroking my face, “Guess what today is.” I knew what day it was. I beamed. David was one of the few men who were gorgeous to see in the morning. “Happy Valentine’s Day, baby. I love you, Silia.”

            “I love you, too, David.” Those words were always easily said. David was my everything. I’d known him since I was two. We went to the same daycare, grew up in the same neighborhood, & we were each other’s prom dates. Our mothers decided then that we would be together forever. They even coordinated our wedding. David and I promised them we wouldn’t let their hard work go to shame. We promised each other we’d always love each other with every bit of our hearts. This was the day to keep that promise.

            David pulled me close and kissed me. I felt every part of my body tingle. I knew what was about to happen. I rolled on top of him, giving him all of my body weight. It didn’t seem to only be 9 am, but then again, we were in a zone. A beautiful zone. I enjoyed David. He was my first. Actually, he was my only. I never needed any other man cause David was always enough. I always knew I was more than enough for him.

            After all was done, we prepared the house for our annual Valentine’s Day party. I baked the cakes & prepared the finger food while David put up hearts & streamers. We were hard at work when the phone rang. David insisted he get it. I was stirring cheese sauce so it was best that he did.

            “Silia, I’ll be back in a few. That was Mark. He asked if I’d buy that new video game for tonight.”

            “Okay, love. Just be back before the 6. You know that’s when the party starts.” He was out the door before I could finish. That had become normal. Mark was David’s best friend. When I married David, I married Mark, too. That meant that Mark would get almost the same reaction from David that I would. So, if Mark called, David went running. It was okay. I trusted them, especially my husband. I loved him.

            Everyone was at the party. My sister brought her famous spinach dip. David’s parents brought Battle of the Sexes for our usual enjoyment. My mom and dad brought me and David four roses, one for every year we’ve been married. Everything was going as planned except for one thing: my husband wasn’t there. It was almost eight, and I was hosting the party alone.

            I wasn’t too worried. I figured that David was still out with Mark. A flush of jealousy went through me with that thought, but I erased it. What was I jealous for? He was my husband. He had to come home some time. Just then, Mark came in.

            “Hey, Silia. Where’s that husband of yours? We’ve got a score to settle on the game.”

            “Well, he’s been gone since you called. He went to get the game you told him to get. I thought he was with you.” I looked around to notice that the family was into our conversation. I wasn’t sure if they were fully aware of me not knowing my husband’s whereabouts. I pulled Mark into the kitchen. “Talk to me, Mark.”

            “Last time I saw David was when he dropped the game off. Here’s the game right here. I asked him to stay and play for awhile, but he said he had to get back here.” That’s not exactly what I expected or wanted to hear. According to Mark, David shouldn’t been home hours ago. Every wife hates to hear or think about that. Anything could be going on. He could be drowning, stuck in the woods, or worst. He could be committing adultery.

            I must’ve spoken those words because Mark told me not to think like that. I had a party to host. And he was right. I and I alone, had a party to host. I returned to my party, telling my family that David was having car trouble. It worked until about ten when the phone hadn’t rang. Our moms began to worry so I told them I’d call him. Luckily, Mark pulled me into the kitchen and coached me through it. Boy, Mark was something special that night. All night, as a matter of fact, which I’m really ashamed to say.

            David didn’t come home that night. For some reason, I wasn’t worried. Something seemed too obviously planned out. I couldn’t quite figure it out. Then again, I wasn’t trying to. I was too wrapped up in Mark. It was 4 am. Everyone was gone except him. He was sitting in the recliner holding me in his arms. I only felt a little guilty. But what for? David wasn’t there. Who knew where he was? What was I supposed to do?

            “Silia! Silia, sweetie, I’m home.” I jumped out of the chair. I had wondered where he was, but I wasn’t ready for him to come home. I was only half dressed. Mark wasn’t dressed at all.

            “Oh my gosh, Mark. What are we going to do?”

            Mark grabbed my hands. “Don’t worry, Silia. He has no right to be upset. You’re the victim here.” Then, it hit me. I’d just been set up. I was the victim. Mark knew where David had been all along. That’s why I wasn’t worried. He made everything seem planned out.

            “You bastard! You knew where David was. You knew he wasn’t going to be at the party. You knew how I’d operate.”

            “Wait, Silia. Don’t just get mad at me. David was in on it too.” I was appalled.

            “You expect me to believe that my husband would help plan for some other man to have sex with me, his wife?”

            “What’d you think he was doing? Or maybe the better question is who?” I wanted to slap Mark, but he was holding my arms. David walked into the living room to get Mark off of me. I ran to my husband, holding him tightly, crying on his shirt. I would’ve said ‘in his arms’ but he wasn’t holding me. He just stood there.

            “David, what’s wrong? Are you mad at me?” A sly grin eased across Mark’s face.

            “Silia, we need to talk.” I hated those words. They sealed everything Mark told me without David even explaining. David gestured for Mark to leave and walked into the kitchen.

            “David, what did you do? Where were you? Did you know about Mark? Who were you with?” The questions were coming out faster than I could think them. David just fixed him a plate of leftover finger food. “David, why are you just now coming in at 4 am, when you left around 4 this afternoon? David, talk to me. What’s going on?!”

            David slammed the plate of nachos on the counter. “What do you want to know? Actually, don’t you have some explaining to do? I just came home to find my wife half dressed with my best friend, who was completely naked. What do you have to say to that?” He was yelling at me. He never did that. When I say never, I mean literally never. Something was definitely wrong.

            “David, you’ve been gone all day. You missed the party at your house. What was I to do?” I tried to stay calm. It was difficult to do. “What were you doing? Or is the better question who?” I knew one of the answers to the questions by the look on his face. Adulterer.

            “Silia, you’re not going to like what I’m about to say. I’ve got to be honest with you, though. I did cheat on you. I think you’ve figured that out. The good news is that this is the only time. The bad news is that it was planned out.” My jaw hit the floor as I listened to David explain how he and Mark set this day up piece by piece, including our love making at 9 am. Everything was down to a tee. The phone call. The video game. The explanations. The adultery between me and Mark. Was I that blind?

            “So, you planned out how you were going to cheat on me and get away with it by having Mark seduce me so I’d cheat, too. You figured I’d call it even, huh?”

            “Come on, Silia. You my dawg. I couldn’t get mine without you getting yours.” I slapped him as hard as I could. “You hit me. You swore you’d never hit me.”

            “And you swore you’d never cheat. We’re even now, right?”

            “Hey. You cheated too. No one made you sleep with Mark.”

            “I know. And I’m ashamed. But what hurts is that you planned it in the first place. You’re supposed to be my best friend, David. Why would you do me like that? I am you wife. Don’t you love me?”

            “Silia, you know I do. It’s just that, I got bored having sex with only you.” I wanted to hit him again, but I swore I wouldn’t hit him at all in the beginning. Once was too many times. I just turned my back and walked off. “Don’t walk away from me, Silia.  We are not finished talking here!”

            “Oh, yes we are.” I stormed out of the kitchen, trying not to cry.

            “But, Silia, I’m sorry.” Someone was shaking me. My face was wet. It seemed as though my tears were on the side of my face. “Silia, stop crying. Silia, wake up.” Wake up?

            I opened my eyes to realize that I had been sleep for at least thirty minutes. David was sitting beside me, wiping my tears.

            “David, what happened?”

            “You walked out of the argument and fell asleep. You must’ve had the worst nightmare because you were crying intensively.”

            “Yeah, it was some dream. Hey, David, you’re not cheating on me, are you?” I was a little afraid to ask.

            “Girl, no. I love you. That’s just stupid. That’s what we were arguing about, remember? You’ve got to stop accusing me. When I’m not at work, I’m with you. You know that. You’ve trusted me for all our lives. I’ve been faithful to you for all these years. Why would I change now?” It dawned on me what had happened in reality.

            “I don’t know. I’d seen this show about cheating husbands and got nervous. You seemed to fit the excuses list. I got scared. Plus, I don’t ever want you to get bored with me.”

            “I’m never bored with you. I just said that to make you laugh. I didn’t want to argue with you. Obviously, that didn’t work, or you wouldn’t have slapped me.” We shared a laugh, and apologized. Then, we shared a hug, a kiss, and passionate sex between the marital sheets. After all, he was my husband. Mine, and only mine.