4 – Thrill
I hurried home with a spring in my step, humming to myself as I rode the thrill of completing my first game with Kanako's app. I couldn't stop replaying it in my head. The way the cashier gawked, how his eyes might have lingered for as long as I leaned down, that I probably made his day with an eyeful of my cleavage now burned into his mind.
A part of me wanted to tell Kanako, but given her penchant for being a loud-mouth, I wouldn't hear the end of it. Worse, she might tell Jun and he might end up telling Souji.
As I reached the third floor to my apartment, the sun dawning behind me cast my shadow against the front door. The silhouette stared back at me like a darker reflection of myself. Seeing it made me realize that I could never show this app to Souji.
What was I going to say? That I was playing a game that had me commit lewd acts in public for digital currency?
This was going to be the first time I ever hid anything from him. We had always been truthful to each other, even when it came to our past relationships, nothing was too private to share. We place trust and love above all else.
My throat never felt more dry than at this moment.
The door adjacent creaked open. Mr. Tanaka came out with a cigarette in one hand, and a beer can in the other, still unchanged from the filthy clothes he wore this morning. He hasn't seen me yet, and rests his arms against the railing before heaving a sigh.
"Mr. Tanaka?" I announced myself by calling out his name.
"Ah— ah?!"
That turned out to be a mistake. The beer slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground two seconds later. He leaned over the railing to see the spilled mess and groaned.
"I'm so sorry! You came out and didn't see me, so I thought I'd say hi…" I apologized profusely, but he appeared just as apologetic.
"No worries, I'll just grab another beer from the fridge." His eyes shifted to the groceries in my hands. "Oh, looks like Souji's having a grand dinner tonight."
Guilt wallowed within knowing that I caused even a moment of distress to someone. Especially to a kind person like Mr. Tanaka.
"I may have splurged a little, but everything was super discounted," I answered with a smile.
Mr. Tanaka nodded to himself, then glanced back down at the pool of spilt beer like he'd lost a good friend. He continued to smoke from his cigarette, taking a long drag until he started coughing up a storm.
"Bah… Souji better be treating you right. If my wife was still around, I would treat her like a queen." The somber pitch in his tone struck a chord in my heart.
"Would you like to join us for dinner today?" I offered. "It's been some time since you ate with us."
His eyes lit up, but they flickered out just as quickly. "I couldn't! Don't get me wrong, I love your cooking, Mrs. Ninomae! But you and your husband, well… plenty of things to talk about, even more to do. Right?"
My face was getting hot at the insinuation. Despite the inconvenience I caused and my offer to make recompense, he regarded my thoughts first.
"In that case, how about I pack you some leftovers later?" I asked.
"Well, I can't very well refuse since you're so insistent," he said with a chuckle.
I was about to head in when my phone rings. Souji usually texted me around this time if he was craving something.
However, when I checked my phone, it was the NTL app's notification staring back at me. Three choices were presented to me again.
[Invite Mr. Tanaka to have sex with you until your husband comes home.] +10,000pts
[Invite Mr. Tanaka to have a threesome with you and your husband.] +15,000pts
[Offer to play pretend as Mr. Tanaka's wife for a week.] +100,000pts
I was speechless.
These choices were asking me to commit adultery. The ones before were so tame in comparison. Yet the points that can be earned from them were incredibly high, especially the third choice.
There was no way I could do something like this, not with Mr. Tanaka. Not because I didn't like the man, but I would be betraying my Souji.
"Mrs. Ninomae? Is something the matter?" My neighbor took a step towards me, the smell of beer and tobacco heavy in the air became more intense.
"It's nothing!" I answered hastily.
I hurried into my home, slamming the door behind me.
The NTL app was just a game, I didn't have to listen to it. Yet a creeping fear scratched at my head. Once again, it knew who I was speaking to.
Could it have recorded the conversation and automatically entered the names I heard?
That was a big if.
My fingers were still trembling. I had to leave my phone in the living room while I prepared dinner. 'Out of sight, out of mind,' or so the saying went. Souji was going to be home in another two hours. There was plenty of time, but I needed something to keep my mind off what had happened.
With the ingredients prepared, I decided to run a bath to soak in the hot waters.
Soon, Souji would be home. I would welcome him at the door, have dinner together, and then hopefully…
The same fingers that were trembling a while ago slid between my legs, teasing the nub at the top of my crotch. I didn't need to stick a finger in to know I was wet, and it wasn't the water's doing. While I was teasing myself down there, my free hand massaged my breasts.
Souji came to mind. His gentle touch replaced my own as I fell into a delusion of us making love in the bath. Just before I reached climax, Mr. Tanaka's face appeared. Had I chosen one of those options, we would be having sex right now. His large body pinning me down, thick hands that would violate my body—
"God, what am I thinking?!" I shouted, throwing my hands into the air. I stopped short of orgasming. I was so close, but I didn't want Mr. Tanaka on my mind while it happened. "I'm so pent up I started masturbating in the tub… I have to see Mr. Tanaka later, too, since I promised him food…"
Not finishing left my body extra sensitive, but I only needed to wait a while longer until Souji came home.
I spent the next hour watching television until the lock on the door turned. I raced to the door to greet Souji, but he looked like he aged ten whole years since this morning. Even as I embraced him, his arms hung by his side.