Nothing for now...

Dustin watched her leave to clean the bathroom and wondered what he could change about her. What direction should he push her towards? The possibilities were endless, after all. However, Dustin’s thoughts are interrupted when Marcus steps through the door. Marcus was a handsome man with short, slick black hair. It didn’t surprise you that such a man, combined with his nice personality, was able to score a beautiful wife like Jennifer. However, it was only a matter of time before she was his. He had no idea about your traitorous thoughts as he joined you on the couch. Dustin figured that he might as well change Marcus first to make sure he doesn’t get in the way of your plans.

“Hey Dustin, how’s everything going?”

He internally scowls at the question. Not great, considering that he still didn’t have a job or a house to call your home, but Dustin couldn’t allow himself to show weakness in front of Marcus. Dustin still had some pride, after all.

“I’m fine. Taking a day to get my mind off things has helped a lot. I’ve already started looking for a new job.”

He didn’t start looking, but Marcus doesn’t need to know that.

“That’s great. I hope you find something even better than before. Maybe this is just an opportunity in disguise,” replied Marcus with a grin on his face.

Dustin matched his smile, knowing that if the app performed as it said it would, then he had no idea how much of an opportunity he had.

“I’m so glad that you trust and believe in me so much.”

Marcus flinched for a second before nodding in agreement. It was hard to see if you weren’t actively looking for it.

“Of course, don’t let this setback stop you.”

“That’s why you’ll let me stay as long as I need to get back up on my feet.”

Marcus barely paused as he agreed with me. Dustin wondered if Marcus was so easy to manipulate because he already trusted you and liked you so much. Unlike Marcus, he needed to earn Jennifer’s trust and affection before trying to make any drastic changes to her. Still, he needed Marcus out of the way, so you had more opportunities to be alone with Jennifer, and you knew just the thing to make it happen.

“I heard that you were recently offered a promotion at your job.”

“Yeah, but I’m thinking about declining. I would need to work longer hours for the new responsibilities placed on my lap and possibly have to travel for certain business meetings. I don’t mind the workload, but I would have less time to spend with Jennifer, and I don’t want that.”

Dustin realized that if he were a better person and friend, then the obvious choice would be to support his decision and tell him he should decline. However, you needed him more tired and less focused on Jennifer for your plan to work.

“You should accept the deal. That promotion will give you more money to provide for Jennifer and make her happy. You’ll finally be able to have enough money for that trip to Hawaii that Jennifer always wanted to go on and be able to upgrade some parts of the house. That movie room that you both wanted wouldn’t only be a fantasy anymore. There are only benefits to this deal. Besides, Jennifer's happiness is the most important thing. You want to do everything you can to make her happy. You need to accept this job to make her happy.”

Marcus stopped a lot longer this time than the previous time he tried to manipulate him. Dusitn almost thought that it didn’t work until Marcus spoke.

“You’re right, I didn’t think about it that way. Jennifer deserves the best, and I’m going to be able to give it to her with this promotion. Thanks, Dustin, for helping me make the right choice.”

“No problem, it’s why you trust my opinion over anyone else’s, especially your own.”

Marcus stopped for a noticeable second before he smiled.

“I’m lucky to have a friend like you.”

“You sure are.”

Dustin didn’t have time to make any more changes as Jennifer entered the room. She walked over to Marcus and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Dustin hoped that soon it would be your lips that she kissed as she asked Marcus about his day. They talked for a bit about various subjects before Marcus left to take a shower. As soon as Marcus left the room, Jennifer turned to you with a disapproving stare as she followed her husband out.

He didn’t make any more changes to either of them for the rest of the night and let the day play out like normal. Part of the reason was that he didn’t want to change Jennifer in front of Marcus and vice versa. The other part is that he simply wanted to see how things played out. One thing that stood out is that Marcus told Jennifer about his decision to accept the promotion almost immediately. Dustin thought that Marcus would put it off or wait a while longer, but he hadn’t which implied that you might’ve had a stronger hold on Marcus than you initially thought.

He didn’t say it was your idea, but Jennifer gave you a suspicious look when she thought Marcus wasn’t looking. Jennifer seemed to have mixed feelings about it. She did think that the massive pay raise would be very nice, but she was worried that they would grow further apart. Not unlike what Marcus thought before you changed his mind. Dustin ate his meal in silence as he pondered what this could mean before turning in for the night.