Ellie had been driving for fifty minutes in Friday night traffic. She had made the drive twice today: once to drop something off with the waitress for their dinner, and again to see John for the meal. After all, the Upper East Side was practically a different world from Park Slope. It was their world, an oasis where they could count on not being found. She stumbled in her kitten heels through the cold whip of night air. The restaurant was packed and noisy, disparate conversations emanating from the tables around her as she stepped into the dense warmth. John was waiting for her at the table by the window. Even though it was towards the edge of the restaurant, it still felt too open to her, too exposed. He was scanning the room and smiled warmly when he saw her. She sat down in front of him.
“It’s nice to see you, lovely,” he said.
“It’s nice to see you again too,” she replied. He got up and held her close to him, taking in her warmth and daisy-scented perfume. She set her bag down on the ground, easing into the metal chair.
“Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” the waitress, Dana, smiled at them. “The usual?”
“The usual. Thanks,” he said as she walked away, menus still in hand. Here, within the confines of The Classic Jade China Restaurant, they were the Smiths. Regulars. No Maureen or Harrison in the picture, no separate last names that suggested a lack of marital connection. But it was hard to ever feel comfortable, and the thought would always creep in: what if they were to be discovered by their spouses? What if Harrison stopped by uptown for work and popped in for dinner with a colleague? And Maureen loved keeping tabs on John to the extent of having a phone app to track him. There was no turning off location without evoking suspicion, so John claimed to attend a weekly guys’ dinner with his widely-loathed college friend, Brandon. Maybe that’s why John loved the affair and Ellie hated the sneaking around: the thrill of it all. Ellie had never been one for rollercoasters, and that is what the affair felt like to her most of the time: dropping stomach, the taste of bile in her mouth.
“I’ve missed you, Ellie-bear” John said.
“I’ve missed you, too.”
“So what’s been going on this week?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Ellie said. “I did get a guy asking for my number at the gym, though.” The statement was designed to evoke jealousy.
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