Chapter 2

Annette returned two hours later. So unruffled that your anger caught somewhere inside you, not daring to come out.

“God, I’m exhausted,” she said, throwing off her coat and shoes.

“I bet,” you teased her with malicious mockery, but Anna seemed not to hear the negativity in your voice.

“Omar’s friend Rosie -- his mother sent everyone into a panic,” she began telling you. “She has heart trouble, the doctors just shrug and say it’s old age. The woman had some kind of attack. Omar remembered that I’d told him about yoga therapy. They came rushing for me like I was their last lifeline. I got there, and what do I see? She simply ... panicked! Yes, she had brief spasms, but nothing serious! Except she couldn’t calm herself down. So, I pretended I had ‘cured’ her. Showed her therapeutic breathing, gave her a vigorous full-body massage ... pure placebo.”

Annette told all this casually. Meanwhile she stripped down to her skirt and remained bare above the waist. Your wife’s calm tone and, let’s not pretend otherwise, her bare breasts confused you.

“I’m sorry,” she continued as if nothing had happened. “I know I promised you an erotic night, but I have no strength left.”

She came up to you and kissed you on the lips. There seemed to be some damp film on her lips, or cream. And the smell ... she smelled of men. Then again, she had been in the company of men...