3. A Good life

I was greedy. I wanted everything. This made me happy, however it was a ticking bomb

I could not believe that I kissed Annie. I hated my dad for cheating on mom over and over again, and here I have done the same. Sarah was the love of my life and it took me decades to get her to accept my love. Now that she was my wife, she was everything a man could wish for. She always looked beautiful and was great at making the townhouse a place where a family could be. She was a great mother to our 3 daughters. I had no excuse to kiss Annie. I knew that I had to be honest with Sarah. Would she ever forgive me?

I came home early and Sarah was painting with the girls. Lila jumped up and gave me a hug, and before I knew it, I was wrestling all the girls on the floor. Sarah was wearing a lovely floral petticoat dress and her ponytail looked as good as it ever was. She just sat down and smiled at us while she drank some tea.

It was a treat that I came home early. The girls never have seen me a lot. I hated being at home because it reminded me so much about my mother. However, the kiss with Annie made me realize that I hated being away from Sarah and the children. I tried to convince myself that the kiss was a wake-up call. I was married to the woman I loved and the girls were growing so fast!

When we were finished our youngest daughter Mara wanted me to read a story. So I sat down on the sofa and read them all a story. At one stage Lila interrupted me and asked me if I was ok. She was our oldest daughter and very much like her mother. She was intelligent and very perceptive. I smiled and told her I was doing fine. Mara saved me by insisting that I continue with the story. I will admit that enjoyed being together with my daughters.

Sarah got a telegram and after she read it, I could see her crying. It was not often that I have seen her in tears. The girls looked worried as they saw their mother start crying. Mara went over to her and jumped on her lap and asked what the matter was? Sarah told us that her father was dead. I knew how much her father meant for Sarah. He took care of her since her mother died. He protected her and gave her the best of everything.

I told the maid to take the children up to their bed. Sarah and I needed to be alone.

This was not the time to tell Sarah about a kiss. I just sat down next to her and put my arm around her. I hated when Sarah cried. I hated when any woman cried. I did not know what to say to her. She lost one of the most important people in her life. The only thing I could say is that we would travel to the Sandalwood manor the next day. Sarah looked at me and thanked me for being there.

That night I twisted and turned in my bed. I could not sleep. I dreamt about the kiss with Annie. The kiss was nothing else than I ever tried and it was like kissing in heaven. The problem was that I knew I had feelings for Annie. She was so beautiful and yet she was the opposite of Sarah. Annie had long dark curly hair, that she obviously took care of. She was intelligent and very curious. She was not as eloquent as Sarah was. Her style was more conservative and simple. This suited Annies personality that wanted everyone to be happy. She really cared about how people were doing. She was always cheerful and giving a helping hand. I loved Sarah. Did I also love Annie?

We went back to the town that we were born and the day came when Mr. Sandalwood would be buried. The funeral was sad as it was difficult to console Sarah. She was in black and hid her sorrows by a black veil. I held on to her hand and squeezed it to remind her that I was there. The problem was that I was not there. I was looking at Annie, who was also at the burial. My mind was on the kiss and what should be done now.

After the funeral, Sarah was talking with family and friends. I found Annie as I wanted to apologize to her. Annie started by explaining that Sarah was her best friend. She did not want to hurt her best friend. Annie told me that the only solution would be for her to resign.

“ We are adults,” I explained, “ You cannot resign from Supremity. The shop needs you! I need you. We kissed each other because we had feelings for each other. Should we just ignore these feelings?”

Annie started crying and admitted that she loved me. The problem was that she did not want to hurt Sarah. I took her into Mr. Sandalwoods' bedroom and told her that Sarah did not need to know. Annie was confused but she told me that she trusted me. I led her to Mr. Sandalwoods' bed and we ended up having sex together. We were not making love, as people call it. This was just pure animal sex. There was no love involved from my side. After we were done, Annie made me promise not to tell Sarah. Annie felt guilty about sex but did not want her best friend to know.

I had no intention of telling Sarah anything. What would Sarah say if she knew I had sex with another woman on her father's bed while Sarah was with mourning guests. I figured that thousand of men were married, and the vast majority of them had a mistress. Even kings had a queen and a mistress. It did not mean that I loved Sarah less. It meant that Annie and I were just humans.

Annie listened as I made excuses. Her only response was that it may be common to have a mistress, but is it right?

Annie went back to Dublin. Sarah was still sad and depressed over her father's death. When everyone left and the children were put into bed, Sarah told me that she wanted to move back to the Sandalwood mansion. I told her we would do as she wanted. It would mean sacrifices for me, as I had to travel a lot to Dublin because of the shop. Sarah told me that she did not like Dublin and wanted to live in her childhood home.

So I started to leave a double life and this was for the next five years. I stayed half the time at the Sandalwood manor, being a good husband and father. I would do my work from home and let Annie run the shop in Dublin. I enjoyed this time as I was together with Sarah and the children. It was like we were in heaven while we were together. I would love to wake up and see her sweet smile, I loved sitting in the bed as she brushed her long blond hair. Sometimes, I would drag her to the bed where we would spend as much time as we could kissing and making love until it was time to be with our children.

I enjoyed being with my daughters. They were all different and yet I loved and each of them. I wanted them to have the best in this life. I was hoping that I would have a son that could take over Supremity. This annoyed Sarah when I said this and called me old fashioned asking why a girl cannot run a business.

The thing is that despite I loved being with my family, I would also get restless and want some action. So once in a while, I would make an excuse to go to Dublin. I would catch up on what was happening at the shop and this meant spending a lot of time with Annie. These trips in Dublin usually meant that Annie and I would have sex. We would also visit places like museums and theaters and eat in different fancy restaurants. We were lovers and as time went by, we did not think about it as cheating.

I could not complain. Supremity was flourishing. I was in love with two women and had no problem going back and forth between them. I had enough love to give to them both. Of course, I was cheating on Sarah. However, I gave her all the material things she wanted. I made up excuses for my love with Annie. Maybe if Sarah agreed to live in Dublin, things would be different. Annie gave me something that Sarah could not give me. Having a mistress was only human... the excuses went on.

The problem was that I started to believe them!

Annie always felt uneasy about the affair. She was Sarahs best friend and knew at some stage this affair would hurt Sarah. The only reason why she was in this affair was that she thought the love between us was the real thing. Annie told me how she felt and warned me that she would stop the affair. She believed that this was true love and the only way our true love could really shine was that I divorced Sarah. Annie told me that she did not want to be my side dish. She believed in the fairytale of love and wanted a husband and family of her own,

I spoke with my best friend Noah about the affair. He was brutally honest as usual and told me that I was manipulating Annie. He even went as far as to ask if she was just a trophy to put beside my trophy of Sarah. I tried to give Noah the same excuses as I gave myself. Noah would not accept them. He stood on Annie's side and warned me to pick either Sarah or Annie.

I was not ready to do this. I enjoyed my life as it was now. I promised Annie that I would get a divorce with Sarah. Annie believed this and the affair went on. If she would mention that she did not want to be involved with a married man, I would use all my charm and tell her to have patience. I needed the perfect time to tell Sarah.

Of course, I would never ask Sarah for a divorce. When I was with Sarah, I forgot all about Annie and did not need Annie. I never considered that Annie would be in Dublin missing me. I just enjoyed being with Sarah, that was the love of my life. We were soul mates and we belonged to be together.

Lila was now a teenager and wanted to work at Supremity. I agreed to this and hoped that one day she would take over the business that I spent so many years building up. I told her to come to Dublin when she was ready. To be honest, I was so proud of Lila. She was smart and had a great imagination. Sarah told me that I was not strict enough with Lila. Lila was also a bit of a rebel. She liked the newest fashion, which her mother thought was inappropriate for a girl. Lila loved wild hairstyles and she loved makeup. All this made her mother worry. So the job at the shop was a solution that would help Lila to mature.

In the meantime, I was in Dublin and one night Annie and I were like rabbits in the bed. We were in a long session of making love. This was after the usual discussion of when I would divorce Sarah. Annie was now losing her patience and did not believe me when I assured her that it was soon. Once again my charm won over and I led her to my bed where we let our sexual instinct take over.

However, my world collapsed when I saw Lila and Sarah at the bedroom door. Annie and I were under the sheets with a glass of wine. Sarah had Lila's eyes covered. I forgot that they were coming to Dublin. I did not know what to say or do. Annie was so embarrassed that she started to put her clothes on. Sarah told me I was a b*****d. Then she left to go downstairs.

When Annie left, I went into Lilas's bedroom. She was laying on her bed crying. She asked me why I did not love her mother. I did not know what to say except to admit to Lila that I made a big mistake and she was never supposed to have seen it. Lila told me to get out of her room. She never wanted to speak to me again.

I slowly went down to Sarah hoping that she would not be as hard to deal with. Sarah was in tears. She was whimpering that she tried to be the best wife she could and wondered how I could ever cheat on her. I sat down next to her and said that it was a mistake. Sarah did not want to talk with me. She stormed out and told me she wanted a divorce. I followed her and begged her to reconsider. This was only a short affair. I told her that I loved her so much. This did not help. Sarah looked into my eyes and said that she could no longer trust me!

The next day I woke up and went to work. I wanted to tell Annie that the affair had to end. I was going to do my best to save my marriage with Sarah. However, there was chaos at the store as reporters were standing outside asking me about the factory. When I went to my office, my lawyers were there. They told me that the factory was accused of using child slave labor and that Supremity was in a lot of trouble. This explained why the shop was empty. I asked where Annie was and was told that she resigned.

I sat in the office thinking my world was crumbling apart. My marriage was in trouble. Annie left. My daughter hated me and now my business empire was falling down around me.

Sarah visited the office and told me that she heard about child slave labor.

“I spoke with Annie,” she said, “This affair is not Annies fault. You manipulated her and used her. You made promises that you could never keep. You are a monster in my view. Despite all this Annie still loves you and she asked me not to divorce you while your shop and business are in so much trouble, The press attention on divorce would be the worse thing. So I will not divorce you. This is also for the children's sake.”

I was relieved about the marriage. I kept clear of Annie, despite that I wanted to be with her and needed her at the shop. Sarah and I still showed people that we were married. In public, we would hold hands and smile at each other, and do the same when we were around the children. In private she would not smile at me or even speak.

Supremiity was in danger. The bad publicity about child labor was hurting us more than we could imagine. There were no customers and we were losing money every day. I called my dad as I put him in charge of the factory. I asked for an explanation. His only defense was that I never complained or asked why factory profits were so high. It had been years since I visited the factory. I told him that he would have to stand up and take responsibility for it. He would have to take the fall.

I was in a depression. My world that I built up was falling around me. Sarah did not speak with me, and Lila hated me. Annie was gone. My dad put the shop and my business in trouble.

I thought I could not be tested more. I was wrong.

A few days later, when the children were in bed, Annie came to our house. She was in tears. She told Sarah that she was pregnant with my child. I admit that even at this stage, I only thought about myself. I wanted the world to swallow me up. I just sat there as Sarah and Annie hugged each other.

The next day when I came home, the house was empty. There was a note from Sarah that she is taking the children back to Sandalwood Manor. She also told me not to come there.

Sarah was going to divorce me!

To be continued