“I made a mistake.”
My chest tightened.
“With Olivia?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“It wasn’t a relationship.”
“How long, Marcus?”
“A few months.”
Then came the explanation.
He had been stressed.
Work had become overwhelming.
Olivia understood what he was going through.
They crossed a boundary.
He regretted it.
He had ended things three weeks earlier.
He finally realized what he could lose.
He was sorry.
For several minutes, it almost sounded believable.
Because it was structured like the truth.
It contained all the expected pieces.
Then my phone buzzed again.
He’s going to tell you he made one mistake.
Don’t believe him.
Below that was an address.
Come alone at 6:00 p.m. if you want the whole truth.
For the rest of the morning, Marcus followed me through the house apologizing.
His story quickly became polished.
One affair.
One angry woman.
One terrible decision.
Already over.
By noon, he had apologized so many times that the word sorry no longer meant anything.
