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Lesson 14

Love affair

I’m an 18-year-old teenager with a heavy burden on my
shoulders. Recently, I found out through a friend that my father

was going out with a mistress. When I confronted my dad about
it, he didn’t deny it. My dad then told me that I shouldn’t tell mom

about it because it would break her heart. My dad’s philandering
shocked me to the core because he seemed like a good husband

to my mom. Upon his admission, my father’s behavior that seemed
innocuous in the past started to turn suspicious. For then, my father would call my

mom often to tell her that he wouldn’t make it to the family dinner because he was
bogged down by workload, or that he was caught in heavy traffic. Being so gullible

and unsuspecting, and taken it so easily by dad’s saccharine sweetness, my mom

had no idea that dad was fooling around behind her back. What makes it so painful is
that my mom really loves my dad, and she strongly trusts him. My mom would think

that my dad would be the last person in the world to be suspected of infidelity. My
dad told me that he loves my mother, but there are things that men do because they

are men. And that all he hopes is that I don’t follow his footsteps. He told me that he
will make it up to my mom. At this time, he says he needs my forgiveness and my

understanding. Also, he’s expecting me to keep my mouth shut.

Comprehension

1. What did the writer find out?
2. How was the relationship between the mother and the father?
3. How was the father’s attitude about what he did?

Questions

1. What do you think of having an affair?
2. What would you do if you find out that your spouse is having an affair?
3. Have you ever imagined having an affair after getting married?
4. Do you think men are more likely to have an affair than women?

Vocabulary & Expressions
mistress : a woman that a man has a sexual relationship with even though he is married to
someone else
confront : to behave in a threatening way towards someone, as though you are going to attack
them
deny : to say that something someone has said about you is not true
bog : to become too involved in thinking about or dealing with one particular thing
gullible : too ready to believe what other people tell you, so that you are easily deceived
infidelity : an act of being unfaithful to your wife, husband, etc. by having sex with someone else

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