Jenny has been married to Mark for eight years, with their relationship facing its ups and downs. But when Mark openly flirts with another woman in front of her, Jenny starts to play by his games. When she arranges a dinner with the new woman, both of them are floored to find that Mark is seeing another woman, too.
“I heard you’re single now,” my sister said, giving me a box of chocolates and flopping onto the couch beside me.
“Yeah,” I said. “After eight years of being married to Mark, it’s finally over.”
“How? What happened?” she asked, sipping her tea.
“It’s either my husband thought that I was very stupid or he chose to be anything but a decent human.”
This is how my marriage ended:
Mark and I had been married for eight years. Sure, we had our ups and downs, but our relationship was mostly strong.
We had given up the option of having children because we wanted to focus on ourselves and travel and just live life to the best of our abilities. But then, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
One Friday evening we decided to go out for dinner.
“Don’t worry about cooking, Jenny,” Mark said. “Let’s just go out and live a little.”
As we were seated, a young waitress approached our table, her smile wide and her eyes fixed on my husband.
“Good evening! I’m Gemma, and I’ll be taking care of you tonight,” she said, her voice a little too cheerful.
“Nice to meet you, Gemma,” Mark said, meeting her tone of cheer. “We’ll start our evening with a bottle of your best red. And I look forward to you taking care of us.”
I could have gagged. This wasn’t like the Mark I knew.
“Here’s your wine,” Gemma said, returning with the bottle.
She leaned in a little too close as she poured, her arm brushing against Mark’s as a blush ran up his face.
He seemed to love the attention.
“Are you ready to order?” she asked, batting her eyelashes at Mark, completely ignoring my presence.
Mark ordered our meal and promptly picked up his phone the moment she left.
“Aren’t we going to talk?” I asked him, pouring my own glass of wine because Gemma hadn’t bothered to do her job.
“We don’t need to,” he said. “Everything is fine, isn’t it?”
If he saw my grimace, my husband didn’t acknowledge it. When Gemma returned with our meals, she made sure to place Mark’s napkin on his lap.
“I made sure that your chicken was extra spicy,” she said, her tongue stressing the syllables.
“I think that’s enough,” I said.
“It’s just good fun, honey,” Mark said, winking at the waitress. “Nothing’s wrong with having a bit of a flirt.”
Throughout the meal, I watched as Gemma lingered by our table, ready to top off Mark’s wine or glass of water before they were empty.
“Is there anything else I can get you?” she asked.
“Just your recommendation for the best dessert here,” Mark said, taking her arm.
Gemma giggled loudly.
“I’ll bring you my favorite. And, it’s on the house.”
When the dessert came, there was only one slice of cheesecake on the table.
But things got even weirder.
My heart sank when I saw him discreetly slip her his phone number on a napkin.
“What the hell, Mark?” I asked him in the car.
“Relax, Jenny,” he said. “It’s not like she’s going to use it.”
That night, after Mark had fallen asleep, I checked his phone. Sure enough, there were messages from Gemma. And of course, there was flirty banter going back and forth between them.
They even arranged to meet soon. She said that she had the next night off.
“Not on my watch,” I said to myself.
The next day, I sent Gemma a message pretending to be my husband. I invited her to the same restaurant for a date and said that I simply couldn’t wait to see her again.
“Hi, Sheila,” I said to Mark’s mother when I called her after. “Mark got a promotion at work, and I just want to celebrate him. So, let’s do a surprise tonight?”
“Of course, darling!” Sheila exclaimed on the phone. “Just give me the details, and we’ll be there.”
I repeated the same story with Mark’s brother and sister. I wasn’t about to go down without a fight.
When I sat down and thought about it, it was the disrespect that broke my heart more than anything. Mark didn’t seem to have any issues or reservations with entertaining another woman in front of me. He didn’t bother about my feelings.
And when I tried to talk about it, he had dismissed me.
“How many other women have there been?” I asked myself in the mirror. “This man is sick.”
But still, even though I had Mark’s family planned, I wanted more.
To ensure maximum impact, I phoned the restaurant and asked for the manager.
“Mr. Jenson,” I said as the man introduced himself on the phone. “I need to lay a formal complaint about one of your employees. She’s brought nothing but shame to your establishment.”
“What?” he asked, bewildered. “Tell me who it is, and I’ll fix this immediately.”
I told him my plan, and he agreed to be present at the evening’s great reveal.
The evening arrived, and I dressed to the nines.
“It’s going to be wasted on him,” I said to myself as I changed. “But it’s about the satisfaction of it all.”
I made sure to arrive at the restaurant ahead of time. Mark had already left to his friend’s house to watch sport.
The only thing that I hoped didn’t happen was any interaction between Mark and Gemma during the day.
But I didn’t have to worry about that because Gemma was already there, looking excited and nervous, waiting for her date.
I saw Mark’s family seated at a table close to Gemma, oblivious to what was happening.
“Hi, Gemma,” I said. “I’m Mark’s wife. I believe you’re here for a date with my husband?”
“I didn’t know that he was married,” she said stupidly. “I thought that you were friends or siblings because you barely spoke to each other.”
“Of course not,” I replied. “But we are married. And this is Mark’s family.”
I gestured to the table of Mark’s family, who were hanging on my every word.
“Everyone, I wanted you all to see the kind of man that Mark has become. He flirted with this woman right in front of me and has begun talking to her since we left the restaurant. This is the respect that he shows to our marriage and family.”
Sheila gasped loudly.
“My goodness,” she said. “Mark would never!”
At that moment, Mr. Jenson, the restaurant manager, approached us from the corner of the room.
“What’s going on here?” he asked, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Gemma. “Why are you here on your night off?”
“She’s here on a supposed date with my husband,” I said. “This is the type of behavior that your staff engages in.”
“Gemma, is this true?” he asked.
Gemma stammered, her face bright red as her dream night evaporated.
“I didn’t know that he was married,” she repeated to her boss.
Just then, Sheila gasped again.
“Darling,” she said. “Tell me that everything Jenny said isn’t true. And that we’re here for your promotion dinner!”
I was floored. Mark had walked out of the house in sweatpants, claiming that he was going to his friend’s house. But here he was, dressed up and ready to meet… Gemma?
“What’s going on?” he asked, turning to look at another woman who was sitting by herself, waiting for him.
“Really, Mark?” I asked. “Another woman? Not even your waitress?”
Gemma pushed her chair back and ran to the bathroom, her shoes smacking against the wooden floors as she went.
“I’ve had enough. You’ve crossed a line, and now everyone knows the truth,” I said, suddenly feeling dizzy.
“Jenny,” he said, “please, let’s just talk about this privately. Let’s go home.”
“There’s absolutely nothing to talk about! You disrespected our marriage. And now, you can face the consequences.”
Before I could leave, my sister-in-law, Helen, approached me. “Jenny, wait,” she said quietly. “Are you sure about this? This is a lot to take in.”
“Yes,” I said firmly. “I’ve given Mark chances before. This was the final straw.”
I walked out of the restaurant and drove home.
“So, you planned a dinner with the waitress, but he was actually there with another woman?” my sister asked, finally realizing the weight of the story.
“Yes,” I said. “I couldn’t tell if I felt foolish or liberated. It was the last thing I needed before finally letting go of my marriage.”
“Now what?” she asked.
“Now, I make sure that when the divorce papers are ready, that they clearly say that Mark will leave with absolutely nothing.”
What would you have done?
