The sting of my palm against her cheek echoed through the room. Kath gasped, clutching her face, tears welling up in her eyes as she whimpered, “Why would you do that, Jane? I don’t understand...”
Her voice was soft, pitiful, dripping with false innocence. She even had the nerve to step behind Mark, looking at him like she was a wounded little bird.
“Mark, why is she so mean to me?” she sniffed, her lip quivering, playing the victim to perfection.
I could feel Mark’s rage bubbling over as he stepped in front of her protectively, shielding her as if I were the intruder in our marriage.
“Jane,” he growled, “Kath and I have a professional relationship, nothing more! She’s my paragliding student, for God’s sake. Of course, there’s going to be some physical contact! But your mind always goes straight to the gutter.”
I scoffed, unable to believe he had the audacity to lie to my face.
“Oh, I’m the one with a dirty mind?” I said, my voice trembling with anger. “So those pictures I saw? Her clinging to you like she’s your wife? Was that just part of the training too?”