Rinse & Repeat

Sleepy-eyed but with a smile on her face, she looked across the room, her eyes fervently trying to adjust to the darkness while searching for his silhouette. 

The sound of furious rinsing and gargling led her eyes to the half-opened bathroom door in the corner. She heaved a sigh of relief. She caught a quick glimpse of him leaning against the sink, while he spat out the rest of the mouthwash. 

Rinse. Gargle. Repeat. Nothing to see here. She turned her eyes to the ceiling in the dark, and focused on the repetitive sounds.

Finally convinced that he had replaced the taste of her mouth in his mouth with that of menthol and the 21.6% of flavoured ethanol in Listerine, he came out of the bathroom. 

He peered in the dark and started picking up his clothes from the floor, making polite conversation with her in the process. He picked up his phone, and checked his messages. 

“What time will you be home? Need to put the lasagne in the oven.”

He sighed. Lasagne again?

“Just leaving work now, see you in half-an-hour.” 

Then he hit the send button to his wife. 

love story

The man she fell in love with was not looking for a wife. He already had one. Maybe he was looking for a soulmate.

Contrary to popular belief, the Venn diagram of the qualities in a wife and that of a soulmate do not necessarily have to be intersecting circles. The existence of the concept of divorce is proof.

So, how does one find a soulmate?

In books. In poetry. In films. In your thoughts, your dreams, your subconsciousness. In your wishes, your desires, your beliefs. Soulmates live everywhere and in every social construct created by man.

But in reality?

In the realm of reality, soulmates do not exist: which meant that the man had been searching for the impossible all along. And if he had been searching for the impossible, this meant she had spent an eternity loving a man with impossible dreams, whose thoughts were in books, in poetry, in films. His thoughts, beliefs, and his love lived everywhere, in every social reality that he created, for himself.

It was a really small circle. The Venn diagram was entirely composed of his world.

Where did she fit in?

The man she fell in love with was not looking for a wife. He already had one.

If the circle ended there, should her love end as well?

If you are thinking of having an affair, just remember that you'd be going somewhere you’re not even invited to.