All that day, he kept seeing her lovely face as she whispered to him, pleading with him to be gentle… He knew he owed Schwartz an apology and headed for the club in the afternoon.
They sat across from each other, a silence between them.
Rubbing his hand over his face, Gaston leaned back in his chair and said,”I behaved despicably at your party last night.”
His friend looked at him keenly and said, ”You behaved abominably. But I feel sorry for your wife.’
The familiar jealous feeling surfaced as Gaston laughed harshly, ”Oh, has that slut got you lusting for her too?”
The shocked silence that followed made Gaston realise that he had been crossed an invisible line.
Schwartz stood up stiffly. “She might be your wife but you don’t get it, do you?’ he said ‘,That girl’s only got eyes for you, damn it! Come on man, don’t you have any sense? You’ve got her with child again and you can’t see how she adores you?”
He turned and left.
Gaston sat stock still. Jan was pregnant? They were going to have another child? And she hadn’t told him?
And then he remembered her pleading with him the previous night before he had claimed her body again and again.
The tenderness of her breasts. The depth of their lovemaking. Could hear her whispering his name, again and again, begging him, whispering brokenly, ’Please, Gaston…make love to me. I’ll do whatever you want…”