by Di Li
By chance, I discovered my husband had committed adultery.
Like so many other women who suspected their husbands were unfaithful, I started getting jealous and followed him closely. At first, I stealthily checked his messages and calls. I did this while he was asleep, showering or doing morning exercises. I jotted down all the incoming and outgoing phone calls, even the missed ones, but in vain. The callers were all males and most of the messages came from ads and sadly, the rest were mine. In addition to them all, I checked his laptop but the results were no better. In his files, there were no portraits of the fairer sex, or photos of him standing by a young woman. I secretly opened his PC inbox with passwords under every form: his date of birth, car plate, passport and identity card number, account number and my birthday. All my efforts came to nothing and there were no outgoing letters from him. Maybe he had managed to keep his sweetheart’s details secret or communicated with her through means beyond my knowledge.
I did not want to hire a private detective, fearing he might fish in troubled water and then take advantage of the case for his own benefit.
For three days in-a-row, I followed my husband’s Rolls Royce in my friend’s average car and left my Mercedes at home to places he visited, including a fast food shop, the golf course on Saturday and a factory lying on the outskirts of the capital. On the last day, I was glad to see him walking into the Esprit fashion shop. He would buy a gift for his honey, I thought, before I saw him leave with a girl in uniform.
Because I was standing far away, I was unable to see her face clearly, but could perceive the gracious movements of her thin and small body under a white blouse.
"What a perfect body!" I whispered. He opened the front door of a white Phantom to let her in and after he closed the door the car quickly drove away. I breathed hard and shot away immediately. Unfortunately, I was stopped by a red light, while his vehicle went ahead at full speed.
To my surprise, when I reached home he had been at the dining table, waiting for me!
That evening at dinner I was in a very confused state of mind.
***
The next day, I went to the Esprit fashion shop. It was the girl from the previous day who opened the door to invite me in. I was sure my conclusion was right because I recognised her well-shaped back, quite unfamiliar to the thick-set ones of her colleagues. Her face showed a delicacy in patience. Her nose was slim and her light brown eyes were wide open. Oh dear, her mouth looked very attractive! It seemed like that of an innocent girl or a noble lady. I heaved a sigh. I completely believed that if I had been a man, I would have had a desire to embrace her tightly.
"What can I do for you, madam?" she asked me with a broad smile, a rosy pair of lips and a clear voice. "This is your first time here, isn’t it?
"Well let me take you to the opposite aisle," she added.
"Unnecessary! I can manage," I replied curtly.
"Go ahead, please. I’ll stand here to wait for your requests."
"I don’t believe your taste would be useful to me," I said aggressively.
"I can choose what I like the best, without your advice," I continued.
She remained delicate, which made me all the more indignant. I chose a lot of blouses and skirts and went into the fitting room. I did not like any of the items and asked her to fetch me lots of things, such as belts, socks, stockings and finally a few waistcoats to match them.
Waltzing in and waltzing out, she did her best to serve me by taking away change what was wasn’t to my liking and then silently arranged them carefully, with a delicate and persistent smile. Sadly, I had no reasons whatever to find fault with her. The expensive mirror in the fitting room reflected my whole body, from head to toe. Usually, I looked at myself in the mirror of our bathroom for a long while but now I wanted to change clothes quickly.
Seeing me stepping out of that small room, she hurriedly approached me and asked me whether any of the garments might satisfy my taste.
I shook my head in despair. Notwithstanding, she continued smiling gently. It seemed to me she was born for me to torture. While folding down my blouse collar, she said a new batch of clothes would be arriving during the next month which could be to my liking.
Before saying goodbye, she remarked that the other salesgirls were envious of my round shoulders and that only women with the blue blood in their veins could have such beautiful bodies. Her comment made me extremely happy.
"How old are you?" I asked her.
"I’m 22, a bit younger than you, perhaps."
"No, I’m double your age. You’re very young and have a long life ahead of you. But bear in mind you’d better do what you assume is right," I warned.
I walked out of the shop after repeating the words Mum had tormented me with over the past 40 years. The next week, I dropped in on her again and surprised myself as I performed the same play to test her patience.
She saw me off to the door, after putting my two blouses and three brown skirts in the bag with the shop’s logo mark. I felt fond and hateful of her. Looking at her, I could recognise myself 20 years ago.
I made regular visits to the fashion shop but what I brought home was put aside in my wardrobe because I had no use for it.
One evening, I saw my husband entering a jewellry shop, then going up to the top floor. Instead of following, I drove home.
I told my cook not to prepare anything for dinner. We would have to use our time for discussions in order to reach a decision, in case he returned home early, with the gem in its tiny box for the next day to be offered to his sweetheart. Or the contrary, if he arrived home late, surely she would have received his precious gift. Anyhow, I would have to express my opinion.
Reaching home and being in high spirits, he was greatly astonished by my presence in the lounge. Just as I was going to speak he declared, "There’s no need to have dinner at home this evening."
"Right you are, no cooking is necessary," I chimed in.
"What restaurant are you going to choose?" he asked.
To my surprise, he took a small box wrapped in a silvery sheet of paper bound by a gilded bow-tie from his waistcoat pocket.
"It’s for you," he said, giving it to me. "Now, let’s congratulate ourselves on our silver wedding anniversary."
Frankly, while I was indulging in chasing him and observing the salesgirl, I totally forgot the special anniversary which was of paramount importance to us.
"Oh dear, forgive me, my darling. For the past few months I’ve doubted you and the salesgirl in the Esprit fashion shop."
After a few seconds of amazement, he laughed loudly.
"How silly you are!" he said. "She’s the only daughter of one of my old chums, who died a long time ago. I owed him a lot when we were in dire poverty. She’s been living with her mother in harsh conditions. The best thing for me is to support her to some extent.
"I’ve often thought we should adopt her as our daughter," he said.
"I’m so sorry for my outrageous assumption," I said as he put the ring, inlaid with a gorgeous diamond, on my ring finger.
"It’s a black diamond from Brazil like I saw in fashion magazines. How did you manage to get it?" I said softly.
"Now, there will be no shadow of doubt towards me any more.
"I’m a rough black diamond too," he said while going upstairs. "While I take a shower, try to select a good restaurant for us for this evening, my darling."
Dropping myself on to the sofa, I wept bitterly as tears trickled down my cheeks.
***
On the 15th floor of a luxury hotel, a noble-looking woman with round shoulders was leaning against the window and staring at the criss-crossing streets below.
A bare-chested young man of 30, with a light blue towel wrapped around his stomach, was standing close to her.
His muscular chest was drenched with sweat. He hurriedly moved closer to her, then bending down, he kissed her on the neck and the round shoulders.
"It seems to me you don’t love me any more, do you?" he whispered.
"Far from that, I love you dearly," she said with a few hiccups, then turning round, she let his lips sweep over her nightgown which was rimmed with white roses.
"But you haven’t shown me or you don’t want to be beside me," he grumbled. His rough hands spread over her delicate fingers which were firmly clinging to the window pane. Her black diamond sparkled in the dim light at the close of the day.
"I’ve done my best, but I’ve failed. There’s no other way, my dear. In reality, there’s no reason to give him up. He remains faithful to me and he loves me passionately," she said.
***
In an apartment living room of a 18-storey condominium, lay a girl in a half-seated and half-resting position on a leopard leather sofa.
In a sheer gown, every time she moved towards the arms of the sofa, she revealed a glimpse of her lily-white thighs, which made the man kneeling at her feet extremely mad with love.
The more he moved toward her sexy body, the farther she moved away from him. However, he managed to hug her tightly at last.
"You’ve infatuated me with a sensual desire. What more do you want?" he asked.
She covered her breast with her left hand. The hundred-facet black diamond on its ringfinger sparkled in the bright light of the chandelier.
"I only want to die. You don’t love me any longer, do you?" she said to him.
"Don’t utter such a stupid thing with your suspicious tongue, my dear. I love you more than anything else in this world," he assured her.
"But not so strong as the love for your better half," she said sobbing.
"Not so! Right this minute, you’re the only one I love," he said as he buried his head between her well-shaped breasts.
"You’re still in two minds," she said.
"You see I’m doing my best. Anyhow, everything can’t be plain sailing. You’ve achieved your desires. You really are my goddess."
"No, not quite so," she said, standing up. "You must choose between us — me or her."
"Certainly, it’s you I’ll choose."
He pulled down her gown. She did not resist. Her body trembled a little with amorous waves.
"What has your wife said about me?"
"The word ‘wife’ is prohibited here," he said.
She frowed immediately but a moment later a childlike smile highlighted her face.
Did she tell you, "You are very young and you have quite a long life ahead of you. But bear in mind you’d better do what you assume is right."
***
A tall handsome youth with a well-built body impatiently rang the door bell of his apartment. Immediately, the girl opened the door, half awaken.
"Oddly enough, you’ve returned home without warning me," she grumbled.
Without answering, he paced up and down angrily in the living room. Finally, he stopped in front of the bedroom. After looking at the crumpled sheet on which lay two pillows, he clenched his teeth.
"I’ve yielded my flat and room to that old satyr throughout the afternoon, what else do you want?" he asked her.
"This apartment is not yours. It’s the fruition of my efforts. To be frank, I doubt all your schemes to seduce that old bitch will come to anything," she retorted resolutely.
"Take it easy, my dear," he consoled her. "If she divorces him, half of their share certificates and half of their real assets will belong to her. It’s then I’ll begin to gain the upper hand," he added.
Finding the girl covering her mouth to yawn, he remarked sourly, "So, you’ve been exhausted, haven’t you?"
"No, never!" she replied with a childlike smile.
At once, he lifted her up and walked into their bedroom. He removed what clothing was left on her body.
"Just a moment, please," she insisted. "If our plan changes by chance, what shall we do?"
"Everything will eventually be all right.
"We’ll race to see who secures the first marriage contract.
But remember, you’re allowed to stay with your adoptive father just one month. After that, each of us will get a limo and make a journey to Hawaii to take a sunbath. There, you’ll find how lively I am."
She giggled. Her left hand with a black diamond on its ring-finger was erotically running over his back.
Translated by Van Minh
(from Viet Nam News)
(from Viet Nam News)
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