Three, not an option

used to, he didn’t take her for dates anymore, he was already asleep when she got from her evening shift and their physical intimacy gradually evaporated. Whenever she asked him, he always said he was tired from work and so months just went by like that.

Leila knew something was going on behind her back but she never had the courage to confront it or face her own feelings. What if her thoughts were true, so she tried to suppress it as much as possible but this was making her bitter and brought about a change in her attitude.

These feelings were making her crazy.  So one day, she decided to face it. She left work as usual, got engaged in the hospital for two hours and then she went and told her friend:

I am not feeling too well today. Could you please cover for me? I need to go home.

Mariam: sure sweetie. You haven’t been looking good these days. Go home and take rest.

So she went home. Brain’s car was still in the parking lot, so he was home. She parked her car away from the parking lot, and got in through the back door with the spare keys. She felt guilty sneaking into her own house like a robber but she needed to find out the truth. She listened carefully; there was no sound of either Brain or Abe. She hid behind the kitchen closet and suddenly heard faint noises from upstairs. She removed her shoes and went up. The noise was coming from her room. She went slowly to the next room, and listened from the thin wall that separated her room from the inbuilt closet. She heard giggling sounds of Abe and then Brian. It didn’t take her two seconds to figure out what was going on. So she installed a micro camera in the following days and caught the love of her life and her own sister having an intimate relationship behind her back.

She didn’t confront them and had ever since been plotting against the two. And the perfect opportunity came in the form of National Beer day. She told her husband and sister that they should celebrate it together. It was a beautiful day when the three of them headed out to Bentley Park. Straight away, Leila started setting up the mat while Brain set up the umbrella and Abe got the foldable chairs.

I will get the basket, Leila said.

She had deliberately hid the basket well in the car so both Brian and Abe didn’t see while taking out the other stuffs. She went to the car and while watching intently on her husband and sister, grabbed two beers from the cooler, added doses of thallium in the bottles, closed the lid and carried it back to where they were sitting.

Pretending to start a conversation, with her back to them, she opened the cooler, pretended to open the beer and gave it to Brain and Abe who were busy talking and setting things up.

It’s a very hot day, lets cool down with this, Leila said and handed each a beer. She had brought her own bottle. They clicked the bottles and Brian chugged down his and Abe was drinking hers in big sips too. Leila put hers to her lips and kept her bottle down. She smiled broadly at both Brian and Abe.

You seemed to be in a good mood today, Abe said.

I am happy to spend time with two of you, Leila replied. 

Brain started to gasp before he could say anything and before Abe could figure out what was going on, she fell on the ground in pain, struggling to breathe and hold onto her dear life.