The Assistant 19 [Affair]

At the end of the day, Kylie went into Anthony’s office and gave him a sticky note listing therapists and their numbers.

“Go see someone,” she said and she went home for the night.

Anthony sat on it for two days before he finally picked one and made an appointment. Unfortunately he had to wait almost a month before he could get in as a new patient, but he would soldier through until he had his appointment.

Two weeks later, he got a call.

“Mr. Lawson, this is the Greywood Health Center,” the woman said. “We had a cancellation today and were wondering if you wanted to take the appointment? It’s at two o’clock?”

Anthony checked his clock and it was one-thirty now.

“Yes,” he said. “I’ll be on my way shortly.”

“See you soon,” the woman said.

“Kylie,” Anthony said as he grabbed his phone and his keys. “Do I have anything from now until three?”

Kylie checked his schedule.

“You have a meeting with Craig at two-thirty,” Kylie said.

“Reschedule it,” he said. “I’ll be back around three.”

When Anthony came back, Craig was chatting with Kylie.

“Anthony,” he said. “I had time so I figured we could just do our meeting now.”

Anthony swallowed as this wasn’t what he wanted to do right when he got back but he couldn’t say no. He directed him to his office and closed the door.

“Where’d you have to scurry off to?” Craig asked.

“Last minute appointment,” Anthony said. “Not that it’s your business.”

Craig shrugged.

“So, sales have been good,” Anthony said. “Performance is pretty good. It’s staying steady, however, I have noticed some corner cutting. Paperwork workflow is not the best. There’s delays and missing information and things getting kicked back. I need you to get on that.”

Anthony looked at Craig who stared back. Anthony knew Craig didn’t like him especially since he got the VP job over him. He hated it more that Anthony was his boss and telling him what to do, but the fact was, it was his job to make sure things were going smoothly.

“I can do that,” Craig said coolly. “Anything else.”

“Just want you to stay on top of it so it doesn’t get to my desk like this,” Anthony said. Craig nodded and left.

Kylie noted how pissed Craig was when he left. She went into Anthony’s office and sat down.

“Yes?” he asked.

“What’s with you two?” she asked.

“He has never liked me,” Anthony said as he looked through the papers on his desk. “Liked me less since I got the VP position and he didn’t and I’m his boss now. He hates it when I tell him what to do.”

Kylie nodded.

“How was therapy?” she asked. Anthony looked up and then out the door to make sure no one was there.

“It was good,” he said. “Would have been better if I could have let it all sink in a bit before that, but oh well.”

“I’m sorry. I tried to get him to leave,” Kylie said. “The man wouldn’t shut up.”

Anthony chuckled.

Anthony went to therapy the next two weeks and both Kylie and Audrey noticed a change in him.

At the end of the week, he brought the boys home from football practice.

“Hey, don’t leave your stuff here,” he scolded. “Put it where it belongs.”

Audrey smiled to herself. Anthony hadn’t picked the boys up from school things in a long time. He walked into the kitchen and saw her smile. He kissed her cheek.

“How was your day?” he asked.

“It was good,” Audrey said. “Ava is itching to go to school.”

Anthony smiled.

“You’ve been in a better mood lately,” Audrey said cautiously. “Does that mean…”

“No,” Anthony said. “I’ve been going to therapy.”

“Oh,” Audrey gasped.

“Stephens suggested I go,” Anthony said as he set the table. “Even gave me a list of providers and their numbers.”

“I see,” Audrey said and she set a pot holder on the table and then the pan she had been cooking in.

“She’s a damn good assistant,” Anthony said. “She kicks me in the ass when I need it. Keeps me in line, and I appreciate that.”

“Sounds like you make a good team,” Audrey said, watching her husband.

“Daddy, I want to help!” Ava burst in.

“Of course you can,” Anthony said.

That weekend, Anthony spent time with his boys and his daughter, completely ignoring work for the first time in a long time. They played outside a lot and Anthony put Ava to bed. He even made sure the boys went to bed as they should. He went to the living room to join Audrey who was watching a show.

During a commercial break she muted the TV.

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” she said. Anthony looked up from his phone. “You are so wrapped up in your work and all of a sudden you’re bringing the boys home and spending the weekend with them?”

“I’m just trying to be better,” Anthony said. “I’m trying to work on myself and I’m trying to be a better dad.”

“And you’re not fucking someone?” Audrey questioned.

“I don’t understand why you’re so obsessed with getting me with someone,” Anthony said. “We opened our marriage. You told me you were seeing someone one and I have to be ok with that because we did open the marriage.”

“I don’t understand why you’re not looking,” Audrey said. “We’ve gone to therapy before and you were so unsatisfied with our sex life and now it’s open, free pass, and you’re not taking advantage of it.”

“Believe it or not, it’s been harder for me,” Anthony said. “I want to do these things with my wife. The woman I love. The mother of my children. And she doesn’t want that. That’s what I have to come to terms with. The fact that she doesn’t want me that way.”

Anthony went to bed, leaving Audrey speechless on the couch. In the morning, he woke to an empty bed and sighed. He worked out, showered, and left for work. He got there well before Kylie did.

Kylie saw his light on but his door closed when she arrived and knew something was wrong. She started the coffee and went about her normal routine. When the coffee was done, she knocked on his door, cup in hand. She heard the lock click and she opened the door and closed it.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as she set his coffee on his desk.

“I really hurt Audrey last night,” he said, his eyes not leaving the computer.

“Ok,” Kylie said. “What are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I just spoke the truth.”

Kylie sat quietly, waiting for him to tell her more. He ran his hands over his face.

“I finally figured out why this open marriage thing hurts so much,” he said. “It’s because she doesn’t want me that way any more. She wants it with someone else, regardless of if she was doing it before and used this as a way to not feel guilty. I know she is feeling guilty because of how much she’s pestering me. But just knowing the woman married and love. The mother of my children, doesn’t want me like that, that’s what’s killing me.”

Kylie swallowed. Her heart broke for him, but she understood how he felt. She didn’t feel like her husband wanted her either, though they didn’t have an open marriage. It wasn’t like he was fucking someone else.

Kylie sat on his lap and made him look at her.

“Just because she doesn’t want you like that doesn’t mean you’re not desirable because you are,” Kylie said. “I most definitely want you like that. And I know I’m not your wife and I know you don’t love me, but I want you. You are worth it and you deserve it. I hate that you’re feeling like this and I wish I could take it away for you, but I can’t. You. Are. Wanted.”

Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/nx5vec/the_assistant_19_affair