Talk Things Over

"I... I... don't know...," Jack stammers in reply to his wife's question.

What the hell is going on? Where did she go? he wonders, glancing at their marriage bed.

His side looks like he just got out of it while Cathy's side is neatly done.

How is that possible? She couldn't have done that and sneak past us unnoticed! Jack thinks before looking back down into Cathy's teary eyes.

"Don't ever let me go!" his wife snivels, pressing her face against his chest and holding him tight.

What happened to her? Why isn't she angry at me anymore? the naked man wonders, recalling the night when Cathy kicked him out of their bedroom, Was it just a dream? But then why is she crying?

For a few seconds, they just stand there before Jack asks in a low voice, "What happened?"

"I... I don't know...," Cathy whispers, loosens the embrace and looks at his face.

"On the morning after I th...," she begins but abruptly stops and presses her lips together as if she doesn't want to speak it out.

"I... I went to my sister and I...," Jack's wife continues after a few seconds and takes a short breath, "When I went to bed, it was strange..."

"I fell asleep but then...," she sighs and looks as if she is searching for the right words, "It was like a dream but... nothing happened and I just hovered there in... in the darkness..."

"It felt like an eternity...," Cathy takes a deep breath, "And then I suddenly stood there in the hallway."

"What?" Jack whispers, slightly confused, "What day is it?"

Cathy instinctively glimpses at the window which floats the room with soft sunlight before she answers, "Um... Friday."

"No...," Jack shakes his head in disbelief, quickly recalling the events of the last two days, "It's Saturday..."

"Are you sure?" the dishwater blonde woman raises an eyebrow.

"I think so...," Jack replies as the couple ends their embrace.

The naked man sits down on the edge of the bed and gets his smartphone from the pile of clothes on the floor while Cathy pulls her own phone out of her blue jeans.

"That can't be true...," Jack's wife exhales and takes a seat beside her husband, "I can't have slept for thirty-six hours!"

"What... what happened to me?" Cathy sobs in a **** voice.

"I don't know...," Jack whispers, puts his arms around his crying wife and pulls her against his bare chest.

How can that be? the naked man asks himself and tries to grasp what the anxious woman just told him.

"You said, you just stood in the hallway...," Jack says after a while of comforting his wife.

"Mhm...," Cathy confirms without moving a muscle.

"And a moment before, you were... in the... darkness?" the man adds confused.

"Yes... it was dark... and... I don't know...," the blonde sighs, "I couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't feel anything... I just was... there..."

"The only thing I could do was thinking...," Cathy adds and takes a deep breath, "It was like I was trapped in my thoughts... it was like..."

"It was like the day before...," she suddenly exclaims before she starts crying again, "Oh, Jack..., I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay...," Jack whispers and strokes his wife's dirty blonde hair even though he has no idea what she was talking about.

It takes about a minute until Cathy calms down enough to speak again.

"I came home late and just took a quick shower before I came into the bedroom...," she finally starts explaining, "I searched for my nightie until I realized that it was still on the drying rack."

"I was so tired and you were already sleeping...," the blonde takes a deep breath, looks down and continues in a low, ashamed voice, "So... I dropped the bathrobe and... slipped into the bed naked..."

"I quickly fell asleep and had that...," Jack's wife says and thinks for a moment, "I don't know... that sensation of being trapped in darkness... only much shorter than the second time..."

"And then... I woke up beside you and thought that...," Cathy snuffles and looks up into her husband's eyes, "I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay," Jack whispers again and gently kisses his wife's forehead.

I'm still dreaming, aren't I? the naked man thinks, But can a dream really last this long?

"If it really is Saturday...," Cathy murmurs after a while and looks into her husband's face, "What did I do in the meantime...? Did I sleepwalk for an entire day?"

A moment later, the confused woman reaches for her phone, "I have to call Debbie."

"Cathy, wait! I...," Jack tries to stop her as he remembers the incident with his sister-in-law the day before.

"Debs...," Cathy greets her sister and pauses for a few seconds, "Yes, I'm fine... what happened?"

Damn! Jack sighs inwardly, This is gonna be awkward...

"Are you sure?" the dishwater blonde woman asks and raises an eyebrow, "Okay..."

"I don't know... it's weird...," Cathy says, "Mhm... okay... I'll ask him..."

"Thanks, Debbie! I'll call you back as soon as I found out something," she promises before ending the call.

Oh fuck..., Jack thinks as his wife takes a deep breath.

"Debbie said she called you several times but you didn't answer," Cathy looks at her husband.

"What? She hasn't called me...," Jack contradicts, "And when I went to her house, she... oh..."

"What?" his wife urges him to continue.

"She said she has no sister and even wanted to call the police," the naked man explains.

"That doesn't sound like Debs...," Cathy replies skeptically.

"Yes, but everything was different... as if you...," Jack explains and looks at his wife with sad eyes.

"As if you...," the naked man whispers and takes a deep breath, "As if you never existed..."

As if you got replaced by the brunette, he thinks, not being aware that he muttered the words under his breath.

"The brunette?" Cathy asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Um... y-yes...," Jack stammers, and looks down at his naked feet before telling his wife the whole story.

He tells her about his first meeting with the busty brunette, the incident with Debbie, the strange pictures in the wedding album, and the rest of the evening where the stranger woman acted like being his wife, though he doesn't mention the first time he had sex with the brunette, the intimate kisses, and that she let him fuck her ass.

"And when we woke up today, we...," Jack murmurs, takes a deep breath and finally confesses, "We had sex..."

"I... I thought I was dreaming...," he sheepishly tries to justify what he did and pauses for a few seconds.

"It was like on Wednesday night...," the naked man finally adds, "Just after we did it, you came in and she was away..."

Cathy doesn't react to his confession with anger but Jack could clearly see the sadness in her eyes.

"It doesn't make any sense...," the blonde woman whispers, "This is some sick, twisted dream, isn't it?"

"I don't know...," Jack replies and pulls his scared wife closer against himself, "I guess we have to make the best of it until we wake up..."

"I suppose so...," Cathy exhales and snuggles into his chest.

Freshly showered and dressed, Jack goes downstairs to search for his wife.