Getting Even

Chapter 9: Here We Are

Joy

"And here we are," Dr. Lewis Osborne, our new marriage counselor said looking between us. "I now know the fairytale backstory of this marriage, now I need to know what brought us here."

Two weeks had flown by and things had been somewhat better between the two of us after having sex, but there was still an awkwardness lingering between us. I found myself going from loving Rashad one minute, to hating him the next and it wasn't healthy at all. Rashad had finally made an appointment for us to speak to a psychologist so that we could finally get past the rough patch that we were stuck in. I wanted to forgive him and I wanted to move on, I just didn't know how. Rashad's eyes turned to mine, he was asking me if I wanted to go first or if he should tell the story.

"I found a video on Rashad's phone of him having sex with another woman," I announced out loud. It was as if I wanted to rip the scab off and allow the bleeding to begin. I didn't even look at Rashad and focused all of my attention on our doctor.

"Can we discuss why you were in his phone to begin with? Were you having suspicions about him cheating?" He asked shifting his weight.

"I didn't have any suspicions," I said looking at Rashad who was staring down at his hands. "I never believed that Rashad could do this to me." I said the residual pain rearing its head again.

"Then what were you looking for on his phone?" He asked.

"When Rashad and I took the girls to the zoo, we took these pictures of them riding a camel." I explained. "While planning Kiana's birthday party, she decided that she wanted a circus party and I was looking for that picture of them riding the camel to use for the invitation." My breathing quickened and I looked at him. "Rashad handed me his phone and told me to look for it." I stopped and swallowed hard. "The date of the video let me know that it was taken two weeks before we went to the zoo."

You could hear a pin drop by the time I was finished. Both men looked at each other as if to decide how to proceed.

"Rashad, can you tell us about the video?" Dr. Osborne asked.

"The whole thing was a mistake," he said focusing his attention on me. "I was catching up with an old classmate while on a work trip...and things went too far," he said.

"Have you had anything with this woman before it happened?"

"No. It was just that one night," Rashad answered confidently. "There are no other feelings there."

"Is this the first time you've cheated on Joy?" He then asked.

"I've never done anything to hurt my wife like this," he answered.

"And this was the only time you've been in contact with this woman?" Dr. Osborne followed up making notes.

"That's it," Rashad said with finality. "It was the biggest mistake that I've made in my life and all I want to do now is make it up to my wife and fix my marriage."

"What about you Joy? Do you want to fix your marriage?" Dr. Osborne turned to me.

"That's why I'm here. I'm tired of having nightmares about that video and I'm tired of seeing images of my husband having sex with another woman." I said evenly. I could feel my body becoming hot all over. Talking about this was not helping.

"Have you had any thoughts of cheating on Rashad? Of getting revenge on him?" Dr. Osborne asked.

"No," I replied quickly, feeling butterflies fluttering in my stomach. In my eyes, what happened with Phillip didn't count.

"So, I want to make clear that all we're dealing with is the one time infidelity. There are no other secrets that need to be addressed?" Dr. Osborne asked. "If so, now is the time to put everything on the table." We nodded simultaneously. He then leaned forward. "As long as you are both being honest with me, we can get this marriage back on track. It will take some work, but I can see that you are both in this for the long-term and that's important when it comes to repairing a marriage."