Jess

Friday | 9:13PM | the porch of your house, open window, gossip carried on the chill evening air.

It's a little past eleven when you round the corner of your own house, keys in hand, and stop dead. The living room windows are open wide, a chill breeze carrying the sound of laughter and the clink of wine glasses. Your wife, Jess, is in there with three other women, all of them tipsy, all of them sprawled across the couch and armchairs like they own the place.

You're about to walk in, announce yourself, grab a beer and say hi. Then you hear your name.

"Girls, I'm serious. It's like, embarrassing. I keep hoping it'll get better but it just doesn't. You know?"

You recognize that tone. The one she uses when she's performing, when she wants a laugh, when she's saying something she doesn't really mean because it sounds funny in the moment. You freeze on the porch, key still in your hand, and listen.

One of her friends giggles. Another one says something you can't quite catch. And then a third voice cuts through, sharp and familiar in a way that makes your chest tighten.

"Jess. I dated him in college. Remember? I told you that. And I'm telling you right now, you are out of your goddamn mind."

A pause. The giggling stops.

"I'm being serious. He's got the most beautiful cock I've ever seen--and it's huge. Like, fucking fantasy novel huge. I remember it like it was yesterday. So why would you sit here and lie to your friends like that?"

You can picture the room freezing. Jess's cheeks going red. The other two girls exchanging glances, suddenly uncomfortable.

"That's... that was a joke, Viv."

"It didn't sound like a joke."

Another silence. Longer this time. And then Jess's voice, smaller than you've heard it in years, cracking slightly around the edges.

"...He's never... he's never actually done anything about it. In front of me, I mean. He's so gentle. All the time. Even when I want him to be..."

The sentence hangs there, unfinished. You hear a wine glass get set down.

The front door is right in front of you. A single step would take you inside