Afflicted

                                                                                Chapter 1

                                                                                   Tori

I WANT A DIVORCE!

He said it as brusquely as that.  I looked at him and studied his eyes.  They glared back.  I almost choked on the vichyssoise that had not yet successfully passed down my throat. I put my spoon down and looked around to see if anyone else had heard.  They were all busy tending to their own affairs, eating, laughing, talking, flirting, partaking in a world that I was once a member of. 

            I felt my head throb and I watched as the room continuously spun.  I wanted to vomit.  I studied his lips, plump, thick, soft, but manly, the same lips that kissed me sweetly, and said all the right things to calm me down whenever I was upset. The same lips that said, “I love you and I’ll never leave you.”  The lips that said, “Marry me.  I need you.”  Those lips had lied. Those lips were now betraying me.

            I shook my head and focused on the happy couple to the left of us.  His hand was holding hers.  Her eyes were glued on his.  He said something.  She giggled.  She said something.  He smiled.  I looked for wedding rings.  There were none.  No wonder they were blissful. 

“What did you say?” I asked him, still focused on the pair.

“Come on, Tori.  Don’t do this.  It was hard enough for me to say it the first time.  Don’t pretend you didn’t hear me or that you don’t understand.”

“You want a divorce?  You asked me to get dressed up and you brought me to Chez Louis and asked for a private table in the far most corner of the room to tell me that you want a divorce?”

I felt hot tears flooding my eyes, staining my cheeks, teaming up with my mascara to fight with my foundation.  I was both embarrassed and disgusted and I was mad that I had wasted my black cocktail dress and four sprays of Cartier perfume on this. 

I looked at the man across from me, my husband of only four years.  I looked at his straight, silky black hair, his well-groomed goatee, his light almond complexion, and at the dimple in his chin.  He was beautiful.  He was mine.  I looked at him through sad eyes and asked him a question I knew he had no legitimate explanation for.

“Why? If you want me to accept your very blatant request for a divorce, at least explain why.  I have done everything for you a woman is supposed to do for her husband and then some, yet I am the one who always ends up with the short end of the stick. 

I have remained faithful to you although you flaunt her in my face, so I don’t understand your request for a divorce.  I have stuck with you through it all, your emotional roller coaster, your hard times, your failures, and even when you pawned away our life to fulfill your personal desires, none of which had anything to do with me.  So, surely if I can put up with you and everything you’ve put me through, you can continue to stick with me and continue to reap the benefits. 

You get what you want from me and from her and still, I stay at home and wait for you to return.  I cook your food, clean your house, wash your