A Kiss in the Dark

In That Haze — No17 (Micro)

We don’t talk about it.

But cheaters can fall in love too.

It’s just a way of life, really. Just because you promise yourself to someone — commit yourself to their cause, their words, their life — doesn’t mean you can’t catch someone’s eye across a crowded bar room floor and feel the spark.

It was like that with me and Mac.

Graham was waiting for me at home, but I still went out for drinks and laughed all night with Mac.

A love triangle? You could look at it that way. But they didn’t know about each other.

Mac was all smoke and shadows, the stuff of whiskey and wine. Graham was poetry and tangled bedsheets, a man quiet in his power over me.

I loved them both, but I knew they could never meet.

If they did — well, that would be the end of the world, wouldn’t it?

Of course I kept them apart for as long as I could. Of course I made sure I had my excuses lined up in a row. Of course I lied through my teeth every time Graham wondered aloud why my sister needed so much help with her new gallery downtown.

But even the best-laid plans elude us in their scope.