Yesterday while driving his wife to work, Vincent and his wife was discussing the topic of the road construction in the City of Toronto every summer. Out of nowhere like a thunderstorm that struck in a sunny afternoon without any warning or foreshadow, his wife of ten years, confessed the relationship she had with a co-worker. “It was not love,” she said, “but it was close to that.” She told Vincent that she didn’t have any physical contact with the man in the Sales Department, but she thought of him constantly. Vincent stopped the car in the middle of the 401 expressway, regardless of all the horn and profanity screamed at him from the car behind urging him to move along.
Vincent looked at his wife and tried to gasp the information that had just transferred from her mouth to his ears. “What do you mean you think of him constantly?” Vincent demanded, trying to contain the confusion within him; trying to figuring out what was it that his wife trying to say. The noisy Monday commute didn’t help the situation much either, it just added more chaos in his head. “Well, I don’t know if I love him, but we flirt many times on the phone and email. We went to lunch a few times. And now, I think of him all the time.” The wife replied. ” “Even while we had sex,” she continued.
Vincent opened the door and walked outside, a few car zoomed by just a few inches more and his life would be over, but he cared less, his head was busy computing what had just happened. He thought he knew his wife very well and they had a very healthy relationship. They met the second years of college and after dating for three years, they married to each other. While walking aimlessly across the highway, Vincent thought what went wrong? He remembered his wife birthday, their wedding anniversary, and important of all, her habits and rituals. He treated his wife like when they first met, he opened the door for her when she gets to the car, he brought her flowers every other week, and he took her out into town every other Friday nights. Just like when they were dating. He did everything and anything that would make his wife happy. He thought he was a great husband; a rare catch among women. He thought he understood his wife and well versed in how to make her happy. All that changed yesterday morning in the car. “I guessed I didn’t really know my wife that much,” Vincent said. “How much time do I need to know another human being?” Vincent asked his lawyer. “We would never know Vincent,” the lawyer replied “We made up who we are as we move along in life.”
Vincent spent thirteen years loving and learning about a person he thought would be his soul mate through life. In the end he barely knew her at all. Beside his wife name, birthday, habits and rituals, likes and dislikes, what else did he need to learn more? and how long will that take? a life time?
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