An Affair, Part II
"An Affair" is a three-part series where I attempt my hand at short story writing. Thanks for reading! To read Part I, click here.
Thousands of miles from home, he finds himself surrounded by the swirling and suffocating desert air of Iraq. He has come to the opposite side of the world to fight a war he doesn't believe to be necessary. His life is full of contradictions like that.
Even from this distance, he controls her life. Skype plays mediator as his jealousy rages. He is envious of her freedom. Oddly enough, the same freedom he proclaims to be fighting for in this hell. See, another contradiction. She is free to see friends, advance her career, and raise their child as she fits. This joy gets the best of him. Soon it becomes common practice for every conversation to end with yelling matches. In his mind, he is always the winner.
Back in Oklahoma, she feels the blasting formative power of the desert sand. The atmosphere picks up his words, hatred, and anger. They are delivered to her doorstep. She is forced to internalize the pain. She has no outlet or relief. The world expects her to play the dutiful wife. Wrapped in red, white, and blue, her patriotism is supposed to trump all. She is an empire and she is getting ready to fall.
He will and can never know her heart lingers. It was never her intention to be unfaithful. When she took those vows, it was her promise to keep them until her dying day. Never did it cross her mind that the person she married would be the cause of her sickness, pain, and entrapment. The little girl who started planning her wedding at the age of 11 never dreamed this would be her life. Now, in her early twenties, her mind is wondering what else there may be.
Of course, he can never find out. The abuse would sound like thunder and the pain would adopt the form of lightening if her secret were to be revealed. The truth of the matter is she will act on her feelings. She will be freed for a summer and in another's arms she will finally feel safe.
Be good to each other,
-Nathan
