again

"Sneaking fruit from the forbidden tree. Sweet taste of sin."

They would often meet at the airport. Marlin had found it was the perfect place. Filled with people too preoccupied, bored, or uninterested to pay attention. Even the big brother security could care less about two people holding hands. Their quest was for terrorists and nuisances.

Marlin would call her when he was tired of his life. When he felt trapped by the long hours at work, the sprawling acre of land his house sat on, his family. He called with the flight details.

He never asked about her life. Marlin did find it slightly odd that she could just drop everything to run away with him for a few days. She would arrive from Phoenix, he would come from L.A. Marlin always scheduled his flight to arrive first so he could be waiting on her. And they would leave the airport hand in hand.

But Marlin found the getaways harder to accomplish. He had to skim money off the top of his check and open a separate account in order to pay for the trips without his wife getting suspicious. He disguised the affair as business trips, but the ironic reality was that his productivity at work was dropping.

All things must come to a head. He was put on probation at work for failing to complete the required hours of work. His wife had found a bank statement in the mail for his separate account. There Marlin stood with a job in limbo and an angry, inquisitive wife. He had never felt more trapped.

So he called her, packed a large suitcase, and flew to Phoenix. He never came back again.