Free The Scarlet Letter Society by Mary McCarthy

Ron in a questioning way. What is the relationship between these two people? And it was a fair question.
    She sighed. Having had affairs before, she knew the key was to keep the emotion out of them. No “I love you.” Saying that or not saying it always seemed to fuck everything up. No promises for the future. Just enjoy the time you have, don’t waste energy being guilty, and don’t think too much about the whole thing . with Charles, she felt more secure because he was older. She wasn’t so physically insecure around him. His wife had died of breast cancer, and he was lonely. She filled that physical need for him, and he didn’t ask her for more. Their relationship was based on affection, companionship, and fun; the fun for her being the most treasured.
    She could hear her teenage sons in the family room playing Call of Duty or Halo or whatever those godforsaken violent video games were that you told yourself as a parent you’d never, ever let your kids play. She remembered not wanting them to play with guns when they were little and wondered where parenting all went to hell. Middle school, she nodded to herself. Definitely the hormone hell of middle school .
    Joe was in his office in the next room. It was a rare evening when the four of them were home together. Usually, the boys had sports practice or were out with friends, Joe was at the hospital, or she was at the office. The four of them operated pretty independently of one another, but it was dinnertime, so she walked into Joe’s office to ask if she should order some Chinese food for delivery. She hated cooking.
    She walked in and Joe had stepped out of the room. His laptop was open and she saw the familiar g-chat screen. She wouldn’t have noticed it at all, except there was motion on the screen, accompanied by the faint bell sound that indicated a new message.
    She didn’t mean to snoop; she had just been in the right place at the right time. She saw only a few lines:
    5:21 PM Joe : Your pussy was so wet this morning.
    Kayla : My body is always ready when I see you. ;) You were ready too.
    5:22 PM Joe : My cock is definitely standing at attention when you enter a room.
    Kayla : Well I can’t wait until it enters my room again soon, doctor.
    Then, hearing Joe come back down the hall from the bathroom, she quickly left the room, returning to the kitchen. She felt sick. Forget Chinese food. She told the boys to heat up a frozen pizza and went upstairs to her room, flopping herself on the bed with tears in her eyes. Glancing at her Kindle, she knew losing herself in a few chapters of Fear of Flying tonight would help her avoid conversation with Joe. I am a huge hypocrite to be upset , she thought. I was just chatting with my boyfriend moment before . But something about seeing the sexual chat between her husband and another woman that felt like a punch in the stomach.
    Why wouldn’t he have a girlfriend , she reasoned with herself—a brilliant, handsome doctor in great shape? And God knew he wasn’t getting laid at home. She couldn’t remember the last time they’d had sex. She couldn’t remember the last time they had said “I love you” to one another. Months spilled into years in an unhappy marriage, and there was certainly no point in keeping track.
    It was a marriage of convenience, had been from the start, since it took place right after she’d found out she was pregnant with the boys. They’d been dating and were getting along fine. When her diaphragm had failed, and she’d been knocked up, they had made the decision to marry. And now it was all coming back to haunt her.
    She looked at Joe’s neat side of the nightstand: everything in its place on the dusted table, and her own bedside table, covered in paperwork and moisturizers, charging cords and books. The differences here were the differences between them. He liked things neat, she preferred messy.
    She had never felt fulfilled in the marriage--she was starved for love, affection and