The Mistake

The road was packed with cars. Everyone was trying to go back home from work. Alan sat behind the wheel of his car, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. He did not notice the honking of cars and was not bothered by the slow speed of the traffic. He was lost in his own world. He was thinking about what had happened a few hours back at work.

Alan was in his mid-thirties working in a legal consulting firm in Philadelphia. He had a decent house near the outskirts of the city. He had been married for 7 years now. His wife, Matilda, was a pretty lady. They did not have any children. They had met in college, fallen in love and had married. Matilda worked from home as a freelance contributor to magazines. She performed her duties as a wife perfectly. Their home was neat and tidy, spick and span. There was always dinner waiting for Alan when he reached home from work. She always waited for him. He loved her very much. But Matilda kept Alan on a tight leash. She was always screaming for all the tiny things that went wrong – “Why is your trouser on the bed?” “Why haven’t you washed your hands?” “Get the plumbing fixed right now!” “Why didn’t you get this and this from the market?” Sometimes this got to Alan’s nerves and they would have a fight only to make up very quickly. Even though Matilda got furious at all the little things, she could not stay angry with Alan for a long time. Alan, on the other hand, could not see her unhappy and did everything under his power to keep her happy. They were a nice couple.

And then it had happened. The most common thing in the office, about which he had seen so many movies and read so many books that he should have been aware of what he was doing. He had fallen for the charms of his new secretary, Vanessa. Tall and blonde, with a model-like figure, Vanessa had been irresistible. He initially thought of it as innocent flirting. He had taken her out on mini dates during the office breaks. His colleague, Herbert, had warned him but he had shrugged it off saying “It is nothing. It is just some flirting. Won’t harm anybody.” The whole hide-n-seek feel about it had lured him deeper. He had courted a woman only once and that was Matilda, in college. He felt the urge too strong to resist. It felt like he was young again.

Everything had gone on smoothly for a month. They had kissed a few times but nothing more. Alan used this to console himself that he was not cheating on Matilda. And everthing at home was fine, Matilda had not noticed anything. So it was a win-win for Alan, and he was quite happy after quite a long time.

But the best luck also runs out.

Today in the office, after the office break, during which Alan and Vanessa had gone on one of their innumerable mini dates, their passions had been ignited. He had called her into her office and they were passionately kissing. The door had opened and Matilda walked in carrying two shopping bags. She had stopped at the door, stared at the two for a moment, and then said a sorry and walked out of the office, calmly closing the door behind her. Alan had been transfixed to the ground. He could not think anymore. He did not even follow Matilda to sort things out. He had finished his work at the office in a trance and was now returning home, 3 hours after the incident.

Alan had expected Matilda to lash out when she saw the two at the office. This was expected of her. But she had calmly walked out as if she had stumbled on two strangers kissing. This was unlike Matilda. Alan did not know what to think. He cursed himself and Vanessa and the time when all this had happened. He should have stopped himself, he should have listened to Herbert. But now it was too late. He had to save his marriage. He could not live without Matilda. He tried to think of all sorts of excuses and stories to explain the situation to Matilda. He even thought of laying the whole blame on Vanessa. But somehow he was very scared and afraid. Matilda will let hell loose. But Matilda’s odd behaviour at the office gave him some hope. Maybe she will understand, maybe she thought him to be someone else and he would be safe. There were so many maybes.

He reached his home and stopped the engine. Alan gingerly got off his car and surveyed the house for any indication of what awaited him. The house was well lighted as usual and was silent. No crying, no shouting came from within. He stepped on to the front porch and waited for sometime with his hand on the door knob before he entered. The living room was neat and tidy as usual but there was a heavy silence in the air like the lull before the storm. He wanted to call out to her as usual but regarded it as a bad idea today. He kept his stuff on the side table and walked into the bedroom. It was empty. The closets were empty. She had left. Not even a letter awaited him.