Jasmine sat at the kitchen counter. She wiped away the tears from her eyes for the tenth time. On the counter in front of her were the screenshots on her phone. Each detailed the sexual encounters her husband Steve had with a younger coworker. They were sent from an unknown number. She might have doubted them had the person sending the pictures hadn't also sent a long text detailing dates and specifics.
Jasmine suspected Steve of cheating for quite a while. It started when he dressed nicer for work and watched how much fast food he consumed. He guarded his phone and rarely left it unlocked in front of her. She'd gone through the self-doubt phase. The only payoff was her commitment to get in better shape and lose weight. Being thinner wasn't helping her now.
She faced looking back at their twenty years of marriage as a failure. As tears formed in her eyes yet again, her phone buzzed. Her husband sent a text: "Working very late again tonight. Texting early so you don't waste your time cooking for me."
"Fuck you, Steve," Jasmine spoke out loud to the empty kitchen. She got up from the stool and went to take a shower. Her daughter Marjorie planned to come by with her boyfriend Chase later. Marjorie would notice her mother's distress quickly if Jasmine didn't get herself together. There was no way she could tell her daughter that her dad was fucking a younger coworker. Not yet.
Jasmine heard Marjorie and Chase coming through the front door an hour later.
"Hi, mom!" Marjorie was a loud and energetic second-year university student. She had inherited her mother's chesty physique - and never suffered from a line of willing young men to get to know her. Marjorie was also more careful than Jasmine had been at her age.
Chase was a senior. He'd been a scholarship gymnast until he snapped his knee early last year. He stayed in shape by lifting weights and doing hundreds of daily pushups. Though Jasmine often wondered if the pushups paid off while fucking her daughter, she quickly put such thoughts out of her head.
When her daughter and Chase entered the kitchen, both of them gave Jasmine a quick hug. Chase's blond hair and blue eyes seemed so bright that he looked almost artificial. It was his quick wit and outgoing personality that made him attractive.
"What's cooking mom? I hate to say it, but we're hungry. Can I help you start supper?" Marjorie opened the fridge and took a casual look inside.
When Jasmine didn't answer quickly, Marjorie turned to look at her mom.
"Mom, what's wrong? Don't tell me things are fine. What's up?" Marjorie walked back across the kitchen and stood in front of Jasmine.
Jasmine couldn't hold back. "Your father is fucking that new younger coworker Cynthia."
Both Chase and Marjorie looked shocked. Not just at the revelation but at Jasmine's choice of the word 'fuck.' Jasmine never cursed in front of other people.
Marjorie didn't bother to ask her mom how she knew. Instead, she pulled Jasmine to her and hugged her hard. Chase stood awkwardly beside the counter's end and pretended to avoid looking at them as they hugged.
Jasmine sobbed a couple of times and then raised her head to look at her daughter. "It's okay. We haven't been close in quite a while. And we haven't fucked in months."
Marjorie nodded. "I knew something was wrong. And Dad has been acting odd for a long time. I'm so sorry, mom."
Jasmine tried to smile as she wiped her face yet again. "I don't think I can start over, honey. I'm almost forty. Who is going to want someone like me?"
Marjorie rolled her eyes. She had a different outlook on life than her mom. "That's ridiculous, mom. You're beautiful. That dad can leave you lonely and go find someone else is ridiculous."
"Thanks, Marjorie. I feel ugly and worthless."
Marjorie protested. "That's natural. You've been betrayed.
Jasmine nodded. Her daughter was right.
Marjorie turned toward Chase. "Chase, don't you think my mom is beautiful?"
Chase hesitated as if he were being tricked. "Uh, yes. Of course. She doesn't look thirty-eight."
Marjorie frowned at him. "Show a little more enthusiasm. You're always saying we look just like one another. And we both know how much you love my body."
Jasmine turned her head to look at Chase. He shifted nervously and looked from Marjorie's face to her mom's.
When Chase couldn't find the right words, Marjorie asked, "Is she a MILF or not? Yes or no."
"Yes, 100%." Chase smiled, still feeling like he was being tricked.
"You are so kind, Chase. I don't feel like a MILF right now."
Marjorie laughed. "How do you know you don't feel like a MILF? Isn't that a question for the man who would fuck you?"
Jasmine laughed and playfully swatter at her daughter's arm. "I'm not like you, Marjorie."
Marjorie shook her head. "Yes, you are. You've just forgotten. And Dad is an idiot. He can get it all day here at home."
Jasmine's tears dried up as she smiled at her daughter. Marjorie had always been unabashed and direct.
Marjorie directed her words at Chase. "I need to talk to you for a minute outside, okay?" Turning to her mom, she added, "We'll only be a minute."
Jasmine watched as her daughter led Chase outside to the back patio. She watched Marjorie wave her hands as she spoke to Chase. She couldn't hear anything being said. It was mostly Marjorie talking.
Three minutes later, both of them returned inside. Chase's face was slightly flushed as if Marjorie had embarrassed him.
"Mom, can I borrow your phone for a minute? I left mine in the car?" Jasmine unlocked her phone and handed it to her daughter.
Marjorie stood a few feet away, her fingers texting furiously. Chase watched her and shifted nervously.
Marjorie put the phone on the counter. "It's done. I fixed your problem."
Jasmine confusedly asked, "Fixed my problem? What did you do?"
Marjorie put her hands on her mom's shoulders. "I texted Dad and told him that by the time he read the text, you'd be fucking someone else. And to tell Cynthia hello."
Jasmine's draw dropped open cartoonishly. Her face turned red. "Marjorie! You did what?!"
Marjorie nodded. "Let's just get this over with. I scheduled the message for eight o'clock. You can delete it before it is sent. But I hope you don't."