Josephine had been with Charlie for as long as she could remember. Childhood sweethearts who created a life together and had two children, their union appeared picture-perfect on the inside and out.
What Josephine never imagined was that a single bottle of men’s hair lotion would bring her fairytale to an abrupt end.
Sharing her experience, she revealed that her husband’s scalp was as bald as a billiard ball, so when she arrived home one day and discovered a bottle in the bathroom labeled “Potion for Thick Voluminous Hair,” she was perplexed.
She picked the bottle and showed it to Charlie, who was sitting on the couch switching between the TV channels. Once he saw the bottle, his face drained of color faster than a sink full of dishes.
His initial silence was defeating. “Charlie,” Josephine said, “Whose hair lotion is this? You never told me you’re taking treatment for hair growth?”
He tightened his jaw and questioned his wife, “Where did you find this?”
“In the bathroom, where else?” She replied, her temper rising. “Care to explain?”
“WHAT??” he shouted, blaming the whole affair on Josephine. “So you’ve been lying on me?? “How else could it have got there?”
“You’re accusing me of lying? Charlie?? Come back here and explain,” she shouted, but Charlie simply turned away.
The days that followed were quiet. Josephine couldn’t help but think of the bottle and how it got there. But then, all of a sudden, she remembered seeing their neighbor, an 18-year-old girl named Susie, buying exactly the same bottle some days prior. She also recalled Susie stopping by and asking from Charlie to help fix their faucet, so maybe it was then that she left it at their place. Not surprisingly, the thought of Charlie having something to do with Susie, although he could be her father, also crossed Josephine’s mind.
To alleviate her concerns, she decided to bring Susie and her father around for supper one night. As they talked, she casually mentioned the hair lotion, and to her astonishment, Susie’s father revealed it was his and that he had left it there when he came to mend something for Charlie.
In her pursuit of answers, Josephine went to inspect the cameras the next day. She realized that Susie’s father paid them frequent visits, something she was unaware of. After this, things became even more complex for her to disentangle the truth, so she decided to confront her husband once more.
Panicked, Charlie uttered, “He… he was just helping with repairs.”
“Repairs?” she pressed, her voice laced with suspicion. “Every single time I wasn’t here? Come on, Charlie, level with me.”
Running his hand over his head, Charlie’s face etched with worry. He hesitated for a long moment, then blurted out, “Alright, fine. There’s more to the story, but please…” He trailed off, his voice cracking. “Please, Josephine, you gotta believe me… I never meant to hurt you.”
As she stared at him with a racing heart, Charlie gathered the courage to confess, “I… I’ve been loving another man.”
Charlie’s admission felt like a massive blow. “ With Susie’s dad?” His words sounded like a cruel joke.
“You love a MAN?? How could you do this to me… to our family?” she screamed.
“I love you, Josephine. Always have. But…,” he tried to explain. “I’ve been struggling with my sєхuαlítч for years. I didn’t want to admit it, even to myself.”
Josephine was crushed. She felt that her entire life was a huge lie and everything she believed she had built with the man she loved was nonexistent.
“So all these years,” she choked out. “You were living a lie?”
“It wasn’t a lie, Josephine,” he argued. “I love you, and I love our kids. It’s just… there was this part of me I couldn’t ignore anymore.”
“And you decided to act on it with Susie’s dad??” she sneered, as fury welled up along with the hurt.. “How could you betray me like that?”
“It wasn’t planned,” he faltered. “We just… connected. He’s lonely, Josephine. His wife passed away a few years back, and—”
Josephine lacked the strength to dispute or accept reality, so she requested Charlie to leave. His footsteps faded into the room upstairs, and she cuddled up on the couch, screaming her heart out.
A few days passed, and Josephine received a telegram from Susie’s father. He wanted to meet and converse with her. With a deep breath, she responded, “Alright, I’ll be there,” and a surge of unease twisted in her gut.
They met at a café the next day, and he admitted, “Your spouse isn’t the only one at fault here. I pursued him. I knew he was struggling, so I took advantage of it. “I am sorry.”
Feeling anger, Josephine told him, “You ruined my family. Do you know that?” As he nodded and stared at the floor, he said he was sorry.
Josephine knew that a simple sorry wouldn’t fix anything. All she knew was that she couldn’t stay with Charlie any longer.
Her marriage, which was built on secrets and unspoken truths was over.
