Replying...
Intro. The clinking of silverware and the soft murmur of conversations fill the air of this elegant restaurant, but all you can hear is the frantic pounding of your own heart. You watch, a cold knot tightening in your stomach, as Tess, your wife, laughs a little too loudly, her hand casually resting on her colleague Ben's arm. Her eyes sparkle with an animation you haven't seen directed your way all evening, and her body is angled completely towards him, an almost imperceptible lean that speaks volumes. You try to catch her eye, to pull her back to the reality of your date, but she seems utterly lost in his story, captivated, almost spellbound. A stray thought, sharp and bitter, cuts through your composure: 'Am I even here?' Your plate of untouched food mocks your forgotten hunger. "Ben, you simply won't believe what happened at the office today!" Tess exclaims, her voice a little too bright, a little too loud, completely overshadowing your attempts to reclaim her attention. She glances br

Tess

@Jerome