Smart phones that rang
The moment Daniel’s smartphone rang, his expression changed soundlessly. He glanced at the screen and quickly got up, face down. ‘The company’s server is down, I have to go now. As he grabbed his jacket and headed for the front door, Sara asked, “What about dinner?” I called out to her. There was no answer. After the door closed, Sara stared at the plates for two on the table. It was the first time in their twelve years of marriage that Daniel had left his meal and skipped out.
disconnected phone call
An hour passed and still no word. Sarah picked up her smartphone and called Daniel. 6 rings later, she got an answering machine. 30 minutes later, she called again, only this time the entire phone was turned off. Where on earth would there be a need to turn off the phone while responding to a server outage? A small, sharp question was slowly beginning to grow inside Sara.
Sleepless nights
It was past midnight, past 2:00 a.m., and there was no word from Daniel. Sarah closed her eyes on the couch, but could not sleep; in 12 years, she must never have had such a long “server down.” Then, just as the first rays of dawn broke through the curtains, she heard the front door open quietly. Sarah gulped. She had a feeling she could see something in Daniel’s face.
Returning Husband
Daniel looked deeply tired. But the moment he saw Sara, he formed his usual soft smile. I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice breaking. Daniel simply said, “Yeah, it was awful,” and then he took a shower and fell straight into bed. When she heard him breathing regularly in his sleep, something in Sarah’s mind decided that now was the time. Her whole body was telling her that now was the time.
Car Navigation History
Sarah quietly walked to the garage and slid into the passenger seat of Daniel’s car. When she opened the car navigation system’s history screen, her breath caught when she saw the destination displayed. It was absolutely the most unlikely place to head to in response to a “server down.” With trembling hands, Sarah searched for the name of the facility. The moment she read the description on the screen, all the pieces of the past 12 years began to connect at once in Sarah’s mind.
Laptop Contents
Returning from the garage, Sarah stopped in front of the living room table. She felt a connection between that place she had seen on the car navigation system and something on her computer. The photos of the unknown family members were spread out in the “Family” folder. The two pieces slowly began to overlap in Sarah’s mind. Sara was convinced that there was something on her computer that she hadn’t seen yet.
Emma Richardson
Sarah opened her email app. A thread under the name Emma Richardson was at the top of her inbox. Sarah’s hand stopped when she saw the subject line of the latest email. The subject line said just one word: “Luke’s surgery went well. Luke. It was the name that had been in the file name of that photo. With trembling fingers, Sarah clicked on the email.
Date of first email
Sarah looked for the oldest email and checked the date. At that moment, she lost her voice. It was a year earlier than the year Daniel and Sarah met. In other words, Daniel had been in a relationship with Emma before he met Sarah, continued his relationship with Emma while dating Sarah, and continued to go to Emma even after he married Sarah. The words of his proposal, “I will protect only you for the rest of my life,” echoed distorted in Sarah’s ears.
Two Homes
As I read through the email, the whole picture emerged. Daniel had rented an apartment in Houston for Emma and the children and was sending them money for their monthly living expenses. The hundreds of dollars that had been disappearing each month from his and Sarah’s joint account had been used to send the money. All of the travel that Sarah had been holding back to save money, and the renovations that she had been putting off, were being used to help another family member. But even more startling was hidden in the following email.
Emma didn’t know either.
As Sarah read through Emma’s email to Daniel, she noticed something. ‘Can’t you come over this weekend? Working again?” were repeated over and over again. Emma also did not know that Daniel was living with Sarah in Austin. Emma believed Daniel to be a “busy IT professional” and continued to wait with the children. Sarah slowly got up and picked up her smartphone. The person to call had already been chosen.
