The day started as it usually does, with me waking up at the crack of dawn with my wife. We take turns in the bathroom, have some coffee and talk about whatever is happening recently. She heads off to work, I drive our son to school and I then go to work as well. We do it every morning except today was a bit different. That day I called in sick, I’ve been around a few people and it’s safe to say I might have a cold.

Nevertheless, I forced myself out of bed to keep my wife company in the morning. As we were talking, she seemed a bit more upbeat and happier today. At first it weirded me out, but then I though for a second that this change could make this morning more interesting. I asked her about the mood and she returned with a resounding “nothing special”. “Really?” I responded, “Because I feel like your demeanor definitely has a reason, it’s not every day you’re like this, y’know?” She let out a sigh with her face still grinning from ear to ear for “no reason whatsoever”.

She turned to me and just said “can’t I just be happy for the life I have, that me, my husband and child are all thriving and we aren’t facing any hardships at the moment?” My eyes widened with confusion and about a second later lowered after thinking for a bit. “I never thought of that, that is a pretty good reason”, I calmly said to her before she was out the door. Moments after I was back in my bed, no duties to fulfill, even outside of work since I got a text saying “I’ll do everything, don’t worry about it and get some rest”. That left me with some time to ponder what she said in the morning, because I was clearly not over what she said. I thought about how she was right, and how I should be more thankful for the life I’m living. I cracked a small smile and rolled over to nap.

Two hours later I woke up to a feeling which violently threw me off of my calming mood. I felt a tingling in my lips. My first thought was that it was a side effect of the cold, but then I remembered my secret sense. I went into full panic mode realizing what had happened.

Ever since I could remember, I had a strange ability to detect whenever the person I loved was kissing someone else, I always felt it in my lips. This happened on multiple occasions, but very rarely. When I was younger it only happened when a high school crush or someone similar was kissing, whenever it happened I was in a horrible mood for the rest of the day. I have never told anybody about my ability, not because I want to keep it a secret, but because no one would believe me and would think that I was faking it.

But here I was, feeling this strange sensation that I last felt over half a decade ago, with thoughts racing through my mind. I kept on telling myself that I was overthinking and I was crazy to even think that my wife, who is solely dedicated to me and would bend over backwards time and time again to assure that we would have the best life for the both of us, is all of a sudden cheating on me with some guy at work. I first thought about how she was lying to me about her happiness this morning, no doubt it had to do with this mystery man. My theories got even crazier as the hours went on, “What if she skipped work and is seeing someone I haven’t even seen before in my life?”

As I counted down the hours to confront my wife about all of this, I started to point fingers at random suspects in my mind. I started listing off every co-worker, friend, acquaintance and even family member from my side that she interacted with at least ONCE. All the while hyperventilating and constantly reassuring myself that this was all in my head, that this only happened once in six years and it might even just be a misunderstanding between me and my senses. I kept pacing and thinking and about right now is where it stops. Only time will tell what happens next, so pray for me, okay?