Phone Pocket

Winnie just knew Jake was having an affair, she’d had her suspicions for a while but his actions tonight had proved it to her and as she watched him come back from the toilet she decided she’d confront him about it. Better to get it out in the open than letting it build up and eat away at her. He walked through the beer garden with a small smile on his face and as he got closer, she noticed small splashes of urine on his pale shorts.

‘So who is she?’ she said as he sat down,

 ‘Who is who?’ Jake said, looking at Winnie like she had gone mad.

‘The woman you text every time you go to the toilet,’ Winnie said. She was willing her voice to stay strong and not go high and whiney like it usually did when she felt stressed.

‘What are you talking about woman?’ Jake said, he fished his phone out of his pocket and put it face down on the table, like he always did just after coming back from the loo.  

‘So you are not going to admit it?’ she said, her voice was still holding up.

‘Admit what?’

‘Five minutes before you go to the toilet you casually put your phone in your shirt pocket, three times you’ve been, three times you’ve done it.’

‘So that doesn’t mean I’m having an affair,’ Jake said defensively.

‘True,’ said Winnie ‘but how do you explain the fact that when you come back it is in your shorts pocket?’

‘I’m just checking the cricket score.’ Jake said looking a little flustered.

‘So why do you always put it face down on the table when you come back?’ Winnie asked, but she wasn’t going to give him time to answer. ‘So I can’t see who is texting you,’ she said. ‘ But I’ve seen it light up at least three times between each pee, meaning you are getting plenty of messages.

They sat in silence for a while, both of them slapping mosquitos off themselves. It was hot and humid even at 9pm and Jake was getting even hotter. Someone at the next table laughed heartily while a dog barked from the street.

‘Everyone checks their phone when they go to the toilet.’ he said. ‘And I don’t want it to disturb us when I come back.’

‘So leave it in your pocket then.’ Winnie was beginning to have her doubts, he looked genuinely surprised. Her evidence was circumstantial; maybe he was just checking the cricket, maybe she’d added two and two to make 179 for 3. But then she saw the phone light up on the table. Jake had received a message. This was her chance, with the sleight of hand of a blackjack croupier she flipped the phone over.

The banner on the screen told her all she needed to know. She finished her drink before pouring his all over him and walking out of the beer garden, never looking back.