She's Listening by Cathryn Grant

Author:Cathryn Grant [Grant, Cathryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: literary psychological suspense books, female crime books, domestic suspense books, suburban secrets book, psychological thriller books, missing memory books, gaslighting relationship books
Publisher: D2C Perspectives
Published: 2018-11-03T00:00:00+00:00

48

Ann

The unraveling of the cords that bound David’s heart to mine happened in a dark place, hidden from my attention. It didn’t begin with any deliberate act of his, or mine. Without noticing what was happening, over time, we’d slowly retreated into the private worlds inside of our heads.

We still talked. We talked about everything — work, politics, books, movies, our plans for the weekend, or trips away. We laughed together over social media memes, and we sat close when we read or watched TV in the evenings. We cuddled in bed before drifting to sleep. We made love, although not as often. We were busy. We loved our jobs. It’s not like sex disappeared altogether, but it was definitely slipping into the background. Routine. I believed it was temporary. A short season of our lives. It meant nothing.

Our lives had all the indicators of an idyllic marriage. We displayed the outward signs of satisfying intimacy. But beneath the surface, something was breaking apart. It turned out that David was aware of this, even though he didn’t understand it or fully realize that’s what was taking place.

I saw nothing at all.

I believed, as I did the day we were married, that I’d found my soul mate. I thought…I knew, that David and I were special. I was secretly proud of the fact that we were better than other couples — happier, more intimately connected. We shared more, we knew each other inside and out. We loved the same things and laughed at the same things. We didn’t have secrets, and we didn’t have to filter anything we said to each other.

We cooked meals together, and we cleaned up the kitchen together. We discussed our investments and made plans for our future as if our minds were a single organism. This didn’t mean we never disagreed or even that we didn’t retain our differences of opinion. It’s just that a lot of our views and thoughts had a natural harmony. We were made for each other. Mutual respect was the cornerstone of our relationship. We both supported the other’s career. We were best friends and lovers.

When I saw him having coffee with Gemma Hughes, before I knew her name, there was nothing about that scene to make me suspicious. They sat across from each other. He leaned back in his chair, a casual, slightly disinterested expression on his face as she chattered on, her ponytail moving in time with the animation of the rest of her body. He smiled in a friendly way, and there wasn’t the slightest suggestion of desire on his face.

Neither of them saw me. It wasn’t that he was so absorbed by her that he didn’t notice my presence. I was outside the window, a blur with other pedestrians, passing by on a mid-morning errand. Of course, Gemma didn’t know who I was.

I didn’t have the impression he was trying to hide the coffee date from me, or from anyone else. They were just two people — work colleagues or old acquaintances — who happened to be talking and drinking coffee.

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