The next morning, Anthony slept until Kylie’s alarm. Kylie shut it off with a groan. Anthony kissed her shoulder and got out of bed to get ready for the day. After ten minutes he leaned across the bed and brushed the hair out of her face.
“Come on,” he said. “Time to get going. We need to check out before we go to meetings for the day.”
Kylie sat up, holding the blanket under her arms and watched Anthony finish getting ready. He looked at her as he finished buttoning his sleeves.
“You’re adorable in the morning,” he said. Kylie smiled and got out of bed.
“Will you make me a cup of coffee?” she asked.
“Yes,” Anthony said and he kissed her head.
Kylie packed her things as she got ready and Anthony had made them both a cup of coffee by the time she was done. She added sugar and cream to hers.
After they checked out they went to grab breakfast before heading to their meetings.
“Do we have time to stop for a cappuccino?” Kylie asked.
“Mmm, don’t like my coffee?” Anthony teased.
“I don’t like tasting the coffee,” Kylie said.
“Noted,” Anthony said. He checked his phone. “I think we might have time.”
Finally on their way home after supper, Anthony asked, “So, why were you asking about the open marriage?”
Kylie’s body was immediately on edge.
“As I’m sure you’re aware, it does affect us,” Kylie said, calmly. “And I need to be informed of what the rules are and the precautions so I know what I need to do to keep myself safe.”
“Fair,” Anthony said. “I guess I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
“You know there’s a saying that whomever you’re sleeping with, you’re also sleeping with whomever they’ve slept with. I don’t need to catch something from you that you got from your wife who got it from someone she’s sleeping with.”
“Honestly, I’m still trying to wrap my head around all of this still,” Anthony said. “We use condoms and I’m fine with that. Honestly, if I sleep with her I probably will as well because I just don’t know how I feel about this right now. She made a big deal about being on birth control and I get it, it’s hormones and messes with her body, but if she wants to fuck around…”
Anthony glanced at Kylie and saw the look on her face.
“What?” he asked. Kylie didn’t answer. “Kylie.”
“She’s not fucking around,” Kylie said.
“How do you know?” Anthony asked.
“If *she* brought up the open marriage thing and how she’s not satisfied she did it in the hope you would allow it because she’s already seeing someone. It means she doesn’t have to feel guilty about it because you’ve now opened your marriage.”
Anthony gripped the steering wheel tighter and didn’t say anything. Kylie waited a few minutes before saying anything.
“Anthony, I just don’t want you going into this blind,” Kylie said. “There is no way in hell she’s not seeing someone. Why was her bringing up the open marriage thing the first time you heard about her being unsatisfied? Why wasn’t it brought up in the counseling you did?”
“We did bring it up,” Anthony said.
“No, *you* brought it up because you were talking about how you like rougher sex and she doesn’t,” Kylie said. “*She* said nothing about being unsatisfied with not having sex because it’s too rough.”
Anthony didn’t say anything and Kylie left it and remained quiet the rest of their ride home. They got to Kylie’s place at 10pm.
“See you in the morning,” she said and she reached for the handle. Anthony took her hand and she turned to face him. He kissed her hand and looked at her.
“Have a good night,” he said somberly. Kylie put her other hand on the side of his face and stroked his cheek, wishing she could kiss him.
“Good night,” she said. She grabbed her bag and went to her apartment.
Anthony drove home slowly, going over everything Kylie said, analyzing his wife’s moods and actions lately. Maybe Kylie was right and she had been cheating already too. He sighed when he pulled into the garage. He quietly went upstairs to his room where he found his wife, already asleep and his heart hurt.
Anthony undressed and crawled into bed next to his wife, gently wrapping his arms around her.
Anthony was up early the next morning after not sleeping well. He was working out in his home gym when he got a message from Kylie on their app.
‘Good morning handsome. What is your favorite pastry?’
Anthony smiled.
‘You know I don’t eat those in the morning,’ he messaged back.
‘I know, but…treat yo’ self.’
He smiled and shook his head.
‘Apple strudel.’
‘See you in a couple hours.’
When Anthony went to the office, he had a cup of coffee and an apple strudel with a note waiting for him.
I’m sorry for bringing it up, but I don’t want you to be blind sided it if ever comes up. I just care about you. Xoxo
Anthony sighed.
‘I care about you too.’ he messaged her.
When Anthony got home, Audrey was cooking, Ava was coloring in the kitchen and the boys were at sports practices.
“How was your overnight?” Audrey asked.
“Busy,” Anthony said.
“I didn’t hear you come home last night,” Audrey said.
“You were out cold,” Anthony said with a smile and he kissed Ava’s head.
“Ava, honey, can you go up to your room please?” Audrey asked. “Daddy and I need to talk.”
“Okay,” Ava pouted a little as she left.
Anthony turned to his wife who was watching him.
“What did you want to talk about?” he asked.
“I wanted to let you know I might have a partner,” Audrey said slowly. Anthony took in a breath.
“I see,” Anthony said. “And you’ve met and have clean tests?”
“Yes and yes,” Audrey said.
“And you’ve gone to the doctor and gotten on birth control?” Anthony asked. Audrey grit her teeth. Anthony saw her getting upset. “Audrey, it is non-negotiable. I do not want unplanned pregnancies from this. And you damn well better have actually gotten his clean tests.”
“You don’t trust me,” Audrey said.
“Audrey, this is difficult at best. I’m sorry it’s hard for me to just jump on board,” Anthony said and he went to his office. He messaged Kylie what happened. He saw she read it but she didn’t respond
‘Kylie, please don’t ignore me,’ Anthony messaged.
‘The fact that she told you so soon was a rookie mistake,’ Kylie messaged. ‘She should have waited longer. But I don’t want to keep butting in on your marriage. You can choose to talk to her about it and have it blow up and hurt you, or you can choose to ignore it and continue on how things are and take extra precautions for yourself and us.’
Anthony sighed.
“Dinner’s ready!” Audrey called.
The next few weeks were tense at home for Anthony and finally Audrey said, “Maybe it would help if you got a partner.”
“You know, I’m a little busy with work and taking care of my family right now,” Anthony replied.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Audrey snapped.
“That it’s not a priority for me,” Anthony said.
“Are you insinuating I’m not being a good mom?” Audrey asked. Anthony sighed and let his head fall back. He didn’t want to argue any more.
“No. I’m not insinuating anything,” Anthony said. “I’m just saying, finding a partner isn’t a priority. I have a lot on my mind right now.”
The next day, Anthony brought a cappuccino for Kylie and asked her to come to his office.
“Work or no?” she asked as she closed the door.
“No,” he said and he sat in his chair.
He pulled her to sit on his lap with her legs across his armrest and held her. She looked up at him.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“Audrey and I have been arguing a lot lately and I just need this,” he said.
Kylie frowned and touched his cheek. She kissed his lips.
“You’ve been fighting since we got back from our overnight and I said that she wanted an open marriage because she was already seeing someone,” Kylie said after she broke the kiss. “You need to go see someone if you’re not going to talk about it with her.”
“I don’t want to talk about it with her because she’s just going to deny it anyway and blow up at me,” Anthony said. “She’s already nagging for me to find someone.”
“Well, it has been a while,” Kylie said. “Maybe it’s time to just say you are seeing someone.”
“Maybe,” Anthony said. He kissed Kylie and she couldn’t help but smile. “For now, I like keeping you my secret.”
Kylie kissed him one more time before she left his office and they actually got work done.
Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/nu01ck/the_assistant_18_affair