Shadee had a very restless night, all alone in the huge bed. Even though there hadn’t been any interaction between the two of them in the past couple of weeks, she had got too used to feeling him there next to her, hearing his rhythmical breath.



Something was going on with Sebastien and this time it was no longer a question of him being preoccupied with work, reports and surgeries. The thought that a reassessment of his marriage had made him think their union was worthless made Shadee cringe painfully. She still loved him, her heart still raced every time they kissed or snuggled.



And the phone call…maybe that phone call had not been “someone advertising something”, maybe its importance was greater than Sebastien had let her think. What if there was someone else… No! She couldn’t allow her mind to stray that far!



She reached the decision of confronting him first thing in the morning, to clear the air once and for all. One thing that she had learned from their argument was that it wasn’t a good idea to pretend nothing had happened and everything was okay when it actually wasn’t.



She finally fell asleep at three o’clock in the morning and tossed and turned in her bed until seven. Going down for breakfast, she noticed with disappointment that her husband had already left for work, as the couch was empty.



She would call him a little later at the hospital and ask him to hurry up when coming home, as they had a few problems to sort out.

The young woman had a scant breakfast, then tidied around the house and especially in Caleb’s bedroom, who was a typically shambolic teenager.

She then picked up the phone and dialed the number of the hospital. The cold voice of the receptionist answered her.



‘Glenwood Hospital, how may I help you?’

‘Hello, I’m Shadee Bronfield. I’d like to talk to Dr. Bronfield if that’s possible.’

‘Dr. Bronfield took the day off, m’am. He didn’t come to work at all, rescheduled all his appointments.’

‘Oh.’ All the air seemed to be sucked away from her lungs ‘Okay, thank you.’



The rest of the day all Shadee could do was pace up and down the corridor and look out the window every few seconds. Where was he? He hadn’t mentioned a word about this! What if this wasn’t a first for him? What if this had been happening under her nose, Sebastien actually going to see some other woman. The though was unbearable, but possible nonetheless. She tried her best to keep her calm and not go nuts while waiting for him.



Finally, after what seemed to have been an eternity, Sebastien’s slightly distant shadow appeared on the sidewalk. Shadee wanted to run out and confront him there and then, but thought better of it.



This proved to have been a good decision as only a few seconds later another shadow approached quickly that of Sebastien’s. It was a woman!

Heart beating frantically, Shadee pressed her nose to the window, trying to take in all the details of what was going on. The woman was a skinny blonde, wearing quite a revealing red dress, matching hat and shades.



She put a hand on Sebastien’s shoulder and turned him around, her shiny, red lips pursed to a seductive smile. Shadee could only see Seb’s back, so she couldn’t realise what sort of facial expression he had.



The mysterious woman said something, batting her lashes and leaning in on him. Sebastien seemed quite petrified as the woman went on talking. If only she could hear what the woman was saying! But it was quite obvious that she was no stranger to him, as she stretched a white, long-finger hand and caressed his cheek.



Cold, icy air seemed to surround Shadee as she watched her worst nightmare playing before her eyes. She could feel tears taking shape, obscuring her view, but blinked them quickly away, in order not to loose any movement of lips or gesture, aware that this only worsened her condition. What nerve Sebastien had, daring to flirt with that woman directly in front of their house!

The blonde came even closer to him, as if leaning in for a kiss and Seb took a step backwards, throwing cautious looks down the street and at the house. Shadee quickly hid away from the window’s frame, she didn’t want to break the party, not now when she would finally have her answers!

The lovely couple seemed to realise it wasn’t too safe to be flirting around in front of the house, so they said a formal goodbye and parted ways, Sebastien slowly and thoughtfully opening the gate and walking down the path to the porch.