Beyond The Door Gap

Synopsis

It was 2:17 a.m. Cloris Lane stared at her phone screen, her fingertips cold. On the screen was a hotel booking—made with her VIP account, for the newly opened five-star hotel on the east side of the city. A king-sized bed, checked in tonight. In the notes section, it read: [Wedding anniversary surprise. Please help with the setup. Thank you.] Wedding anniversary. Today was her and her husband's seventh wedding anniversary. Her husband, Larry Ward, was sleeping right next to her, breathing steadily, even letting out a soft snore. His arm was draped across her waist, so heavy that she felt like she could barely breathe. Cloris turned her phone's brightness all the way down and tapped into that woman's social media. The latest post was from three hours ago. [He said he wants to give me a home.] The photo attached showed the city lights outside the hotel's floor-to-ceiling window, with a man's silhouette reflected in the glass. It was blurry, but Cloris knew exactly who it was. She backed out, cleared the app, set the phone back on the nightstand, and closed her eyes. In the darkness, she found the wedding ring on her finger, twisted it around once, but didn't take it off.