Short Scene from My Complicated Life

“How long can this go on?” I asked. The man I'd had an ongoing affair with stood at my door holding flowers.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Should I go?”

“Where would you go?” I answered.

“Home, I guess.”

I laughed at his unconvincing eyes, picturing his wife. She was sweet, but naive. A better woman than me. In different circumstances we might have been friends.

“How many times must we say goodbye?” I asked. I felt my eyes watering. “How many times must your wife look away?”

“Just one more time,” he said.

I turned and let the door swing open on its own.