Diary of a Mistress by Miasha

Monica.
    “Before you were tellin’ me to read everything!” Monica shot at her friend.
    “Yeah, but that was when it was amusing. The shit ain’t funny no more. It’s hurting you. And it’s hurting me because I can’t address the bitch who’s bringin’ you this drama,” Rita said as she practically slammed a cup of lemonade on a wooden end table beside Monica.
    “Listen to this,” Monica said, turning her attention back to the diary, and disregarding Rita’s speech.
    Rita sat down on the sofa diagonal from Monica and rolled her eyes. She let out a sigh, but kept silent as she listened to Monica read.
    “ ‘I’m three months pregnant with his got damn baby, and he wants me to get an abortion. When I told him I didn’t believe in abortions, he told me that was my problem. He said I would end up raising the kid on my own, and he would never have anything more to do with me. I’m the stupid one, though. I should have figured if he wanted me to get rid of our baby that bad, he must have had no intentions on leaving Monica. He was trying to protect his marriage. He didn’t want his wife to find out about us and definitely not a baby. I should have the damn baby anyway, and I should take his ass to court for child support and see how he likes it. His wife would really be pissed if she had to find out about her husband’s affair in a courtroom. As a matter of fact, I think I’m going to do just that.’ ”
    “All right, look. That was in ’02, right? Well, if this is all true and this broad had a baby by your husband, don’t you think she would have executed her plan by now? Why hasn’t she taken Carlos to court? I know I would, wife or not!” Rita said, still trying to discredit the diary.
    Meanwhile Monica’s eyes had not lifted from the pages.
    “ ‘October 12th, 2002. Dear Diary: Tonight was the final straw. He knows I’m pregnant—five months at that. I’m showing and everything, and he still had the nerve to put his hands on me. He was upset that I still hadn’t gotten the abortion, and he was worried that it was too late, but under no circumstances should a man put his hands on a woman, especially while she’s carrying his child. He grabbed me by my hair and threw me onto the floor. He told me that if I didn’t get rid of my baby on my own, he would do it for me. Well, I snapped. I told him that I was going to have the baby and introduce him to his brothers and see how his wife would react. That did it. He took both of his huge, masculine hands and wrapped them around my neck so tight. I was sure I would die right there in his arms. That’s the one time I can say I was thankful he had a wife, because she called his cell phone at that very moment. She told him she needed him to come home because one of their sons had a fever. He left immediately. And somehow, I feel like I owe that woman my life.’ ”
    Monica closed the diary and let it fall in her lap. She held her face in her hands and cried. She was learning things about her husband that scared her. How could a man she knew so well lead another life as someone she didn’t know at all? It was a hard pill to swallow. Carlos had been more than a good husband to her, and the love they shared for each other was immeasurable. She could not understand how he could do the things the diary described. She badly wanted to write it all off, but the information and the details the woman provided made that impossible.
    Immediately, she started thinking of all the times Carlos had made excuses to be away from her, all the times he came home late from work, and all the times he didn’t answer his cell phone. She was sure he was with his mistress on those occasions. She then started thinking about all the good times she and Carlos spent together and how he kept her extremely happy and how great a father he was. Was it all done to keep her blinded from his affair? Was it was all an act? He had been playing one role with her and another with his