Jenny has been married to Mark for eight years, and their relationship has had its ups and downs. But when Mark openly flirts with another woman in front of her, Jenny decides to play along. When she arranges dinner with the new woman, they are both surprised to discover that Mark is also seeing a third woman.
‘I heard you’re single now,’ my sister said, handing me a box of chocolates and sitting down on the sofa next to me.
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘After eight years of marriage to Mark, it’s finally over.’
‘How? What happened?’ she asked, sipping her tea.
‘Either my husband decided I was very stupid, or he decided to be anything but a decent person.’
That’s how my marriage ended:
Mark and I were married for eight years. Of course, we had our ups and downs, but for the most part, our relationship was strong.
We decided not to have children because we wanted to focus on ourselves, travel and just live within our means. But then I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
One Friday evening, we decided to go out for dinner.
‘Don’t worry about cooking, Jenny,’ Mark said. ‘Let’s just go out and enjoy ourselves for a bit.’
As we sat down, a young waitress approached our table, smiling broadly and keeping her eyes on my husband.
‘Good evening! I’m Gemma, and I’ll be taking care of you tonight,’ she said, her voice a little too cheerful.
‘Nice to meet you, Gemma,’ Mark said, matching her cheerful tone. ‘We’ll start our evening with a bottle of your best red. And I look forward to you taking care of us.’
I could have shut my mouth. This wasn’t like the Mark I knew.
‘Here’s your wine,’ said Gemma, returning with the bottle.
As she poured the wine, she leaned too close to Mark, her hand brushing his, and a blush spread across her face.
He seemed to enjoy the attention.
‘Are you ready to order?’ she asked, batting her eyelashes at Mark and completely ignoring my presence.
Mark ordered his food and immediately picked up his phone as soon as she left.
‘Aren’t we going to talk?’ I asked, pouring myself a glass of wine, since Gemma hadn’t bothered to do her job.
‘We don’t need to,’ he replied. ‘Everything’s fine, isn’t it?’
If he saw my grimace, my husband didn’t let on. When Gemma returned with our meals, she made sure to place a napkin on Mark’s lap.
‘I made sure your chicken was very spicy,’ she said, emphasising the syllables with her tongue.
‘I think that’s enough,’ I said.
‘It’s just good fun, dear,’ Mark said, winking at the waitress. ‘There’s nothing wrong with a little flirting.’
Throughout dinner, I watched Gemma linger at our table, ready to refill Mark’s wine or water before they were empty.
‘Can I get you anything else?’ she asked.
‘Just a recommendation for the best dessert here,’ said Mark, taking her hand.
Gemma giggled loudly.
‘I’ll bring you my favourite. And it’s on the house.’
When the dessert arrived, there was only one piece of cheesecake on the table.
But it got even stranger.
My heart sank when I saw him discreetly write his phone number on her napkin.
‘What the hell, Mark?’ I asked him in the car.
‘Relax, Jenny,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t look like she’s going to use it.’
That night, when Mark fell asleep, I checked his phone. Sure enough, there were messages from Gemma. And, of course, a flirty conversation had started between them.
They even agreed to meet up soon. She said she was free the following night.
‘Just not on my shift,’ I said to myself.
The next day, I sent Jemma a message pretending to be my husband. I invited her to the same restaurant for a date and said I couldn’t wait to see her again.
‘Hi, Sheila,’ I said to Mark’s mother when I called her afterwards. ‘Mark got a promotion at work, and I just want to celebrate. Let’s surprise him tonight, shall we?’
” Of course, dear!‘ Sheila exclaimed into the phone. ’Just tell me the details, and we’ll be there.”
I repeated the same story with Mark’s brother and sister. I wasn’t going to give up without a fight.
When I sat down and thought about it, what hurt me most was the disrespect. It seemed that Mark had no problem or issue with entertaining another woman in my presence. He didn’t care about my feelings.
And when I tried to talk about it, he dismissed me.
‘How many other women were there?’ I asked myself in the mirror. ‘This man is sick.’
And yet, even though I had planned on having Mark’s family, I wanted more.
To get the maximum effect, I called the restaurant and asked to speak to the manager.
‘Mr Jenson,’ I said when the man introduced himself on the phone. ‘I need to make a formal complaint about one of your employees. She has brought nothing but shame to your establishment.’
‘What?’ he asked, puzzled. ‘Tell me who it is, and I’ll fix it right away.’
I told him about my plan, and he agreed to be present for the grand unveiling that evening.