The Spare Phone Held Years Of Spare Love Chapter 02
I began living like a detective.
When Ethan was in the shower, I searched his briefcase. When he was in meetings, I checked the dashcam records in his car. Late at night, after he fell asleep, I used his fingerprint to unlock his phone.
The passcode was our wedding anniversary.
That discovery made me sick for three full days. He was using a password tied to me while living another life with another woman.
He had hidden L in a contact group labeled Work Contacts. Her profile picture was a close-up of piano keys.
He cleared their chat history every day, but once in a while, something slipped through.
On the 10th of last month, he had gone on a work trip to Seattle.
She said she wanted to eat at a reservation-only restaurant by Lake Union. He replied, [Sure. I’ll take you.]
That same day, the message he sent me was, [My schedule is packed. I’ll probably just grab a boxed lunch.]
On March 17, she said the practice room was too cold.
He replied, [I bought you a space heater. It’ll arrive tomorrow.]
That same day, I had asked if he would be home for dinner that weekend. He said he had to supervise his graduate students in the lab.
At two in the morning on April 2, she sent him a selfie. Her eyes were red.
He replied instantly, [Why are you still awake?]
She said, [I dreamed about you.]
He replied, [Silly. I’m right here.]
I stared at that message until the screen went dark, then lit up again.
I waited for tears to come, but my eyes stayed dry. Not a single tear came..
The next day was Saturday. For once, Ethan didn’t go to work.
“It’s been a long time since we watched a movie together,” he said as he slipped on his shoes by the door. “There’s a new one with pretty good reviews.”
I studied him for a moment.
The shirt he wore was one I had ironed last week. The shoes were the ones he had polished himself the day before. His hair had been trimmed shorter, making him look sharper and more awake.
He said it had been a long time since we had watched a movie together.
And when he said it, he sounded sincere.
“I can’t today,” I said. “I’m meeting Ms. Parker to look at renovation materials.”
He paused. “For the remodel?”
“Yeah. I want to replace the bookshelf in the study.”
“Thanks for handling all that.” He walked over and put an arm around my shoulders the way he always did. “I’m no help with this kind of thing.”
His palm was warm against my shoulder through my thin sweater.
I used to crave that warmth.
Now it only felt heavy.
I did meet Ms. Parker, but not to look at renovation materials.
I went in for a marital asset review.
The woman who received me was in her forties, with short hair and sharp eyes behind her glasses.
“Mrs. Bennett, what exactly do you want us to look into?”
“The movement of marital assets after our marriage.” I pushed the bank account numbers and copies of the property deeds across the table. “Especially large expenses over the past five years, and any transfers with unexplained transfers.”
She flipped through the documents, then looked up at me.
“Are you prepared for what you might find?”
“What do you mean?”
“A lot of wives come in wanting to trace the money. Halfway through, they lose the nerve to keep going.” She closed the folder. “Not because we can’t find anything, but because they can’t bear to believe it.”
I said nothing.
She watched me for two seconds, then nodded.
“All right. I’ll send you a preliminary report in three days.”
When I left, it was raining outside.
I had not brought an umbrella, so I stood under the awning, letting my eyes rest on the rain.
My phone buzzed.
It was Ethan.
[I made honey-glazed ribs for dinner. I saved you a portion on the second shelf of the fridge.]
I stared at the line of text.
After all these years, he still remembered I liked honey-glazed ribs.
He remembered I hated cilantro.
He remembered I was allergic to cat hair.
He remembered every little thing a husband was supposed to remember.
Then how had we still ended up here?
The rain came down harder.
I didn’t reply.
