"Are you serious?" Serena inquired for clarification after Aleena informed her of the puzzling events that occurred last evening with her husband. "He just left."

Aleena nodded while spraying the yoga mat with disinfectant. "In the middle of foreplay." She stopped spraying. "Even though he told me he was coming home, I was still shocked. I hadn't heard from him all day and I assumed he changed his mind since usually on weekdays he worked late." She airquoted the last part and Serena shook her head knowing exactly what she meant. "Then when I saw him I was like...let's have some fun. I thought we were going to have a good night; like before but I guess that was dumb of me."

"No, you're not dumb." Serena stopped rolling up the disinfected, dried mat. "For thinking that he was putting you first...before his career but come on, you have to remember who you married. His ambition is one of the reasons you fell in love with him."

"I didn't forget." She admitted. She adored that he was a hardworking man with goals. His hustle matched hers. It was one of the reasons they worked well together. He was climbing the ladder at the firm and she was getting her business off the ground. But now her business was booming and he was still making it up that ladder.

They were in different phases of their career journey. She wondered if he resented her for that; reaching her goal before he obtained his. Their days started at different times. He was gone by five and she didn't get out of bed before seven but they made the effort to have dinner together; either at home or a restaurant. Quality time everyday was a priority. However when the studio required a waitlist and notable people started frequenting their classes he started spending more evenings at work. She didn't gripe when the moon rose before he arrived home. It was a sacrifice she was willing to make so he could reach the pinnacle of his profession.

"And you haven't heard from him all day."

"He texted me he was busy at work." Aleena retorted.

He said he went for a run and unless he was running to Calgary he should've been back home.

"Do you think he's paying you back for the other night?"  Serena asked, placing the mat on the shelf in the color coordination she constructed.

Aleena shook her head. "Marcus isn't petty."

"He probably started thinking about you with someone else." Serena said, sitting on the wood floor waiting for the cleaned mats to fully dry. "You said he asked you if you had sex with someone and then you left the condoms. He's probably visualized you with another man and couldn't take it."

Aleena grinned. "Then the plan's working." 

DeMarcus may not have been petty but she was.

******

"Hell no," Tyrese exclaimed. "And I can't believe you called me over here to ask me that shit."

DeMarcus' thoughts have been circulating on a loop like a hamster on a wheel and he didn't know what to do. The text he saw on Aleena through a curveball in his psyche. He never thought she would actually hold up her side of their amended relationship. Aleena had always been a one-man woman. On their third date she told him she had never had a one-night stand or a random hook-up. He knew it wasn't in her nature.

He on the other hand was different. He didn't have a serious girlfriend until the third year of college and they didn't last after he started law school. Hooking up was a way of life for him; she knew that. So as he sulked at his desk he could only think of one thing; find out who this man was and sabotage things between him and Aleena.  But to do that he needed more information.

"I just need his name. That's all." He pleaded with his friend.

Tyrese shook his head. "I already gave you your answer." He stood from the exquisite leather chair opposite the executive desk in DeMarcus' office. "And you need to get a grip. This is what you wanted. Don't bitch out now."

"I'm not bitching out." DeMarcus refretted. "I just don't want some asshole calling my wife sexy and 'his girl'."

The text haunted him during his run so much that he couldn't go back home. Instead, he went to Tyrese's and slept on his couch. Slept was an over exaggeration of what he did in the living room. Sleep didn't greet him, just racing thoughts and regret met him in the hours of night. He wondered who the man was that texted her. He wanted to know what she did for him to call her sexy. He wondered if he was the reason she was turned on when he arrived. He wanted answers to so many things but didn't want to get them from Aleena. For he knew what that would mean and he wasn't ready for that.

He just needed to ensure she didn't have the opportunity to do something that would impact their marriage in the long run.

"DeMarcus..." Tyrese said soberly. "You are a hypocrite.  You've been with ole girl doing whatever and Leena hasn't interfered once. She hasn't called me up to get intel about her but the moment she starts playing the game you start spiraling. It's pathetic. You should have just cheated and hid it like usual."

"That's what you do."

"Absolutely not." Tyrese stated. "I have a hobby, a job, and when Reina gets back we do what we need to do."

DeMarcus sat back in his chair. "Well we all can't be as noble as you."

"Tragic." Tyrese stood. "For you not for me. But it seems like you need to have a talk with your wife and cut the shit."

"Meaning."

"Meaning..." Tyrese looked at him as if the next step was clear and when DeMarcus continued to look at him plainly he said, "Go back to a closed relationship since you can't handle it."

DeMarcus nodded. He didn't know if he was ready to let Nia go but he knew he didn't want Aleena opening it wide for anyone but him. "I'll think about it."