Chapter 4: Chapter 4
It was a beautiful morning, the start of a perfect day. Birds chirped almost melodically, the sun rising over the distant hills, casting its radiant glow on the still sleeping town, and the wind was just right so that the beau could smell the sea breeze of the island he had been staying on for so long. Having returned with Dick back to his house only a few hours ago, the beau was still admiring interior of his lover's home. While it certainly wasn't as enormous or grand as the forest he's used to, it is obvious from the fine arrangement of the furniture and the pristine state of the building that Dick was a relatively well-off man, who, more importantly, lived with a happy and loving wife. Speaking of which, the beau couldn't help but notice the loud chatter coming from what he presumed was an upstairs bedroom. Dick had made him promise not to listen, and that he would not stop him from telling Jane about what had transpired between the two of them, something the young man was more than happy to oblige by. 'I do wonder what sort of love my dear's Jane favors,' he wondered to himself curiously. A sudden rise in the volume of the conversation obviously spoke to a feeling of betrayal and jealousy on the wife's part. The husband's voice remained conspicuously quieter, though judging by the dry heaves and sobs punctuating the muffled words, the boy suspected that he would need some comforting when their argument was over.
Quite suddenly, the beau, while studying the delicately arranged china on the dining room table, heard the loud bang of a door being kicked open. Gliding his way through the living room, he stopped just short of the staircase, as a woman with gorgeously regal features and a wrinkled nightgown barreled down the steps and ran to the front door. As she was hastily pulling on a coat hanging to the side, she noticed the beau standing in the living room. Their eyes met, and the young man, for the first time in quite awhile, truly saw the depths of a human's sorrow. The lady, while obviously hurt beyond comprehension, somehow, despite being face-to-face with the man her husband had fucked to within an inch of his sanity, maintained some level of composure. Quickly wiping away the streaks of tears covering her face, she opened her mouth, and the beau could taste the venom that she was going to spit. Her dignity, somehow, again, won over the terrible fury and grief that was now raging within her. Perhaps it was the soft expression of the boy's eyes that kept her grounded, that unmistakable show of empathy that one might share over a lost loved one. The irony of that comparison was palpable to Jane, having heard upon waking up from her husband that his daily evening chat with friends down at the country club had ended with a session of passionate lovemaking with the young man now standing before her. That on its own was earth-shattering, to know that her Richard, someone who had been so faithful, who loved her so dearly, could commit such an act with another man. What had truly shocked her though, was the genuineness with which he asked for his beau to stay with them, declaring to her that the only thing that could possibly have allowed this to transpire was love, that he could not deny the longing he now felt for not one but two people, and that it would be agony for him to shut out one for the other. "But how could you!" she had cried, her mind reeling from what she just heard, "Wasn't what we shared enough? You told me that it was, every time your friends brought home a mistress, every time you told me about those advances you got at work, every time your fidelity was tested, you stood strong and close beside me! And yet, now you're telling me that not only have you betrayed me for another man, but you have the audacity to invite him into our home! I... I love you Richie, and from the way you're crying, I know you do too, oh so dearly, so please, just send... him, back to where you found him. Let's just forget all this, and we'll go back to how it was, like nothing ever happened."
"I... I can not. He is now as much a part of me as you are. Jane, I can't choose between him and you, you both are too precious to me."
What Jane said next stung her like nothing she's ever done before: "Fine, goddammit, fine! Your manwhore means as much to you as me? Your lust has finally overcome the love that we share?! Go ahead then, 'make love' to him, your friends, fuck a horse for all I care! But if I ever see you try to bring that boy into this house again, I will kill him before I kill myself too!"
When Jane had dashed down the stairs, she had half hoped not to see the man who had seduced her husband, but there was definitely a strong desire for her to look him straight in the eyes and validate every last thought she had of him: evil, harlot, beast, the one who delighted in committing sodomy with a married man. And yet, those eyes... all those venomous thoughts suddenly felt so hollow. Not knowing what to think anymore, she tore her gaze away from the beau and sprinted outside to run as far away as she can manage.