The Unreliable Third - An Exercise

The Trip from Tampa to Jacksonville
An Exercise: the unreliable third


He was upstairs on the third floor of their home, working in his office, when the phone rang. He picked up the phone and heard her voice like tendrils traveling through the line to reach him and grab his heart. God, how he loved this woman. “Hi, I’m leaving Mother’s now and should be home in about three and a half hours. I will see you then. I love you.”
He really loved this woman to whom he had been married over five years now. He felt so lucky to be married to her. She was twelve years younger than he and looked even younger than that. It made him mad when she was mistaken for his daughter, and yet he was secretly pleased that she looked so young. Tammy was a very attractive woman at thirty-nine years old. She hadn’t aged much at all in the six years they had been married. At thirty-three she was still being carded when the drinking age was eighteen. He liked having her on his arm when they went out.

Tammy was not too tall, slim, with a body that showed her years of yoga practice. With her short, dark hair and penetrating blue eyes, she turned heads whenever she entered a room. Tammy had a presence about her that attracted all sorts of people to her. He was really glad that he could afford to have her dress well and provide her with good jewelry to show her off to his friends.

Hmm, she is really a sexy lady. I know all the men at the construction sites like to ogle her, particularly her breasts and her behind. Just yesterday, I overheard one of them talk about getting her into bed. I know she is having an affair with him. I’ll bet he is the one who calls and hangs up when I answer. It’s either him or that professor she is seeing at school. I know he calls her every day. He calls her on the private line, like I won’t know what is going on. It’s getting late. I know she has stopped and is probably having sex with one of those drivers on the interstate. That is just like her. What a slut. That bitch. How dare she! She thinks I don’t know about all those affairs she has had since we’ve been married.

“It’s about time you got home. You have been screwing one of those truck drivers you flirt with on the interstate, haven’t you? How dare you, you bitch!”

“I stopped for gas in Ocala like I usually do. I may have spent an extra five minutes because the woman at the pump next to me discovered that her credit card wouldn’t work and she didn’t have any cash with her. Since she was from here, I put her gas on my credit card and gave her my name and our address so that she can send me a check. You’re drunk again.”