It seemed a good idea at the time, but she never expected Nick to go through with it, more less find something incriminating.

She followed him into the basement, dimmed the lights and hovered behind him as he plucked each photograph from the tub and clipped it to the line above their heads.

“By the way, she’s very professional. They didn’t have sex.”

But something did happen, she thought, feeling the sudden urge to slap Nick for subjecting her to such a cruel test.

She followed the story as the images slowly sharpened into focus. They meet at a bar. Talk. Laugh. She buys him a drink. Her hand on his shoulder for several pictures didn’t quite bother her, but then they leave…together. His hand on the small of her back, under her lace midriff top, fingers curling around the middle belt loop of her skin-tight jeans. And in the car, him alone in the backseat, biting his bottom lip, arms folded behind his head.

“I thought you said they didn’t—”

“Well, they didn’t go all the way , but c’mon, sis, I had to give you something.”

Still, she couldn’t bring herself to remove the engagement ring.

word count: 189

—Nortina

Flash Fiction for the Purposeful Practitioner is a weekly challenge for writers to create a story in under 200 words using the provided photo prompt and introductory sentence as their ‘muse.’ Click the froggy icon to read other stories inspired by the photo and add your own.