“Remember what we agreed.”
Emma nodded. I stared at both of them.
“What agreement?”
“Nothing,” Daniel said. “Just a little surprise.”
I wanted to believe him. I really did. But over the next few days, little things started piling up.
Once, I found a small card in Daniel’s jacket pocket with the name of a hotel on it.
It was one of the more expensive hotels downtown. Another time, I happened to notice a message on his phone screen.
“The room is confirmed for Saturday.”
I froze. At that exact moment, Daniel picked up his phone.
“Who was that?” I asked.
He hesitated for a second.
“Someone from work.”
I barely slept that night. I kept telling myself I was overreacting.
That this was Daniel. The man I had shared my life with for seven years. But the same message kept appearing in my mind.
The room is confirmed. The following week, Emma became even quieter.
More than once, I noticed that whenever I walked into the kitchen while they were talking, they immediately changed the
subject. One evening, I finally asked my daughter,
“If someone ever asked you to keep something from me, would you tell me?”
She looked at me in confusion.
“Mom, what are you talking about?”
“I’m just asking.”
Her expression changed.
“Are you talking about Daniel?”
My heart started pounding.
“Why did you immediately say Daniel?”
Emma went silent. Then she said,
“Because lately you’ve been looking at him strangely.”
I didn’t say anything else. But by then, I had already decided I was going to find out what was going on. And the answer
came sooner than I expected.
On Saturday evening, I came home from work earlier than usual. As I stepped inside, I heard Daniel’s voice upstairs.
Emma’s bedroom door was half closed. I walked up the stairs. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. But then I heard him say,
“Everything is ready.”
Emma asked,
“What if Mom finds out before we leave?”
Daniel lowered his voice.
