My Forgotten Mate

A Bubble Burst

Four years earlier...

Helen's POV

My fingers trembled as I made another attempt to keep typing, surely Marie couldn't be telling me the truth about the claim she had made earlier. It scared me that I was finding it increasingly difficult to convince myself that she was, as I shared these same suspicions for which she had seemingly found proof.

I had an unfinished article staring back at me from the screen of my laptop but there was no motivation in me to continue, my mind was wrapped entirely by the revelations that Marie had brought to my notice. Was it possible that Michael was cheating? Could he have done the things which Marie sounded so sure of?

I couldn't take it anymore. I saved my work and turned the laptop off, closing it and placing it in my backpack as I did, if Marie was so sure that this was happening, then the least I owed her was to try checking it out and be sure that I wasn't being left in the dark.

I picked up my smartphone from the surface of the table and dialled Marie's number, the thoughts that were running through my head would not permit me to do the work that I needed to get done until they were satisfied. I listened keenly as the line trilled while waiting for her to pick up the phone.

"Hey 'Len", her sweet voice called over the phone as she picked up, she seemed to have run over to wherever she had left her phone to take the call.

"Am I interrupting something?", I asked with a mischievous smile on my face. Marie and her boyfriend Aaron were the naughtiest couples I had ever come across and they took every opportunity afforded to them to get down and dirty, it seemed strange to me how much s*x they had in their relationship, I had made up my mind not to discuss it with Marie any longer after she had grown quite sour on a particular night that we had discussed it, she didn't seem to see any wrong with the fact that they seemed to have an extremely high libido.

"Don't be silly 'Len. Yes, Aaron is here but no, you aren't interrupting anything", she responded as she managed a naughty chuckle, I chuckled back in response before I began to discuss the reason for my call.

"So I've been thinking Marie, quite frankly I haven't been able to concentrate ever since you told me about Michael and his secretary, the possibility of other women as well, I'm going crazy Marie", I whispered desperately. My fingers still twitched and my heart still beat rapidly as I spoke with my friend.

The other end of the line had gone silent, I could sense that by now, Marie could hear the desperation in my voice and she wasn't so eager to add to it by telling me things that could make it worse even though she was fully committed to convincing me that Michael indeed was having affairs while engaged to me.

"I just need proof, Marie, you promised you'd give it to me when I made up my mind, well here I am and my mind is made up", I spoke frantically into the mouthpiece, I certainly didn't need her to back out now, especially now that I had grown interested in proof of the assertions she had made earlier.

She stayed silent for a minute or two before she finally spoke.

"Come home 'Len, I'll be waiting at your house", she said. She didn't give me room to demand a reason before the line went dead, this was her way of making it clear that she was not going to be doing this over the phone. I had no options but to go along with whatever she was planning, I was the one who needed her "aid" so I was going to be as pliant as I could be till I got what I needed.

I got off my seat and pulled my glasses off my face, I had spent much of the day sitting here and typing up my articles till I had grown distracted by the thoughts which were currently propelling me from my workplace towards my home. I walked towards the door with only my phone in hand and my bunch of keys grabbed off the desk and firmly in my other hand as I marched out of the office.

I stopped by my editor's office to give him a heads up but thankfully he wasn't on the seat, I could just give him a bogus excuse about following up a lead whenever I returned and he would just have to deal with it whichever way he saw fit. It didn't take me long to exit the building and immediately I got outside, I headed straight for my car, got in it and drove off before anyone who could stop me spotted me. I was smiling gleefully as I drove until the realisation of the prospect that awaited me hit me.

My smile dulled and my shoulders dropped as the ache in my belly returned, I hoped that this wouldn't be true and that Marie didn't have anything to show me but deep down in the pit of my stomach, the terrible foreboding I had been feeling since our conversation earlier in the day did not permit me to be at ease.

I sped all the way home and true to her words, I found Marie sitting outside waiting for me to arrive. I parked as quickly as I could and jumped out of the vehicle.

"So?", I asked loudly as I raised my hands in the air, waiting for her to continue from where she had left off over the phone but she didn't say anything, she merely dragged me by the arm towards the front door, she wanted me to open it.

I fumbled with my keys until I found the house key and in a few seconds the front door was open and we were walking into the house, unanswered questions and all.

I kicked off my shoes and made my way towards the sofa trying to get myself comfortable enough to be able to absorb whatever shock that hearing what Marie would have to say would give me, I was quite nervous, I had never fully understood how to hide it.

"There's no need to be so tense, you're making me have second thoughts about this Helen", Marie complained as she followed me into the living room, she could see the look on my face and she didn't like it. She joined me on the sofa while clutching her purse tightly.

"Please tell me Marie", I pleaded, I was deeply upset by the fact that Michael, my fiancé was very possibly leading me on while having a string of affairs and it had taken Marie to find some hard evidence for me to believe her.

"Okay then", Marie resigned as she removed her handbag from under her arm, she plopped it into her lap and reached inside to remove a thick brown envelope which she very slowly handed to me, I could see the hesitation in her disposition as she did.

She very nearly retracted the envelope, she looked like she wasn't sure that doing this was a good idea. I didn't allow her the luxury of deciding whether or not I was mentally capable of what would happen after she handed me the envelope before I snatched it from her, she looked surprised at how eager I was to see an end to this mystery she was propagating.

I didn't know how unprepared I was for the whole affair till I pulled the contents of the brown envelope from within it, I felt as though everything stopped for a minute or two, I felt short of breath and unsure of whether I could go through with it. There were pictures within the brown envelope, pictures which I couldn't even begin to describe the pain they drove through me as I looked at them.

The first picture was an image of my supposed Fiancé Michael, he and his secretary Irene were in a "not so formal" embrace in what looked like a nightclub, he was staring into her eyes and she was smiling. I decided that this could mean anything, maybe they had gone with a client to close a deal, and a harmless dance here and there wouldn't do much harm.

I allowed the first picture to fall off the pile onto the floor below, my chest tightened as I noticed a change from the first picture, his hand had travelled down her waist and was currently placed firmly on her ass, this was no work function, it wasn't at all what I was trying to convince myself to believe. Another picture fell to the ground to reveal the one behind it.

Whatever doubt I had at this moment had been cleared, there was no mistaking what was going on here. Michael and Irene were locked in a deep kiss with both his hands now gripping her ass, exactly the way he always kissed me whenever I found myself in his embrace. I felt dizzy as I let the picture fall to join the growing pile on the ground.

The next picture showed both of them smiling at each other as they pushed through the crowd towards the exit, they were no doubt heading off to finish what they had started. Another picture fell to the ground.

In the next image was Michael, he stood with a different woman this time around, they were walking away from a boutique, and he held her hand in his so tenderly that you'd think she was his wife. I let the picture fall.

They were now in the car and were kissing in the next image, I let it fall. The next showed the both of them driving away with smiles on their faces. I couldn't take it anymore, I let the pictures fall to the ground as I stood from the sofa, grabbed my keys and walked towards the door.

"Helen wait!!", Marie pleaded as she ran after me. I had already decided not to let her stop me, I hurried outside and locked her in the house not listening to her loud pleas for me to stop and let her talk to me. I walked straight to the car and started the engine, I was headed to Michael's house.

Within the next thirty minutes, I arrived at his place. I had a spare key to his house in my bunch so I didn't need to knock, I simply opened the door and walked into the house, only then realising that I had come all this way while barefoot. However, this was not the only thing I realised in that instant, voices were coming from his bedroom and they sounded very familiar.