The Other Woman

I knew there was someone else in his life by the way he looked at me.

As I walked out the door and he gazed up at me with those liquid brown, oh-so-sad eyes that said She wouldn’t leave me alone so often. She would pay more attention to me. When I’m with her, I feel special. She really knows how to treat a guy.

Oh, I know he’s always been a little aloof. Like when I sit next to him on the couch and try to cuddle, he’ll move directly to the other end of the sofa, just out of reach. He gives love on his terms only, when and if he feels like it. But I’d become accustomed to his ways and grateful for the scraps of affection that he doled out at his whim.

But now, when I looked in his eyes, I knew he was thinking only of her.

I tried to tell him that what he had experienced, that what he thought was true love wasn’t real life—it was just a fling. A white-hot infatuation that could never last. Nobody could be that fabulous, that constantly devoted all the time.

But, still, he would sit and look out the front window, as if he imagined she would come back to him.

Damn you, Cameron!

My mistake for leaving Dog with someone who loved him so much. With someone who secretly craved the relationship I had, and who would stop at nothing to get it, all the while pretending to be my friend.

And then, my dear friend, who I trusted as a safekeeper of my beloved, immediately used all of her wiles to woo Dog. (And she couldn’t wait to tell me how quickly he hopped into bed with her!)

Three walks a day?! Putting him into bed with you in the morning?! Surreptitiously feeding him bits of turkey breast by hand under the dining room table?!

How can I compete with that?!

I knew I was in trouble a few nights ago when my husband and I were getting ready to watch a movie on the couch. Dog was upstairs and we wanted him with us on the couch. We called and he ignored us. We called again. No response.

Then my little 8-year-old wise soul, comedian whispered in my ear, “Why don’t you yell, ‘Cameron’s here!’?”

And so I did.

He couldn’t get down those stairs fast enough.

This is not the end. I’m fighting for my guy. I’m upping the walks and extra chicken treats all around.

I refuse to give in. At least until we go on vacation again.