You actually made my favourite pasties! Tom said as he strolled in, fresh from his mistresss place. But as soon as he took a bite, his face turned ghostly pale because hidden inside was an unexpected surprise from his wife.
Lucy slid the tray gently into the hot oven, wiped the flour from her hands, and glanced at the kitchen clock. She wanted everything to be just right today. The pasties had to come out fluffy and golden exactly the way Tom liked them.
Lucy used to lead a pretty quiet, simple life. Shed almost made her peace with the idea it might stay that way, too. All that changed the day a tall, confident man walked into her interview. His presence filled the room, and Lucy felt something shift deep inside her, totally out of the blue.
After that, her life veered down a completely new path: love, a wedding, that feeling that everything had finally fallen into place. She was truly happy so much so, she didnt notice she was slowly starting to dissolve into him.
But two years later, Tom packed a bag and told her he was off to Birmingham for a month for work. One month slipped into a whole year. Calls were rare, texts even rarer, and every word was cold and blunt. Lucy waited, made excuses for him, held on to hope. Then, one day, an old friend let slip that hed just seen Tom in town and not on his own. He was wandering round the shops with another woman, never having left London in the first place.
Thats when Lucy finally twigged shed been duped this whole time. She couldve kicked off, rung him up, demanded answers, but she didnt. She decided to wait. Paybacks best served when its silent.
A year later, out of the blue, her phone rang. It was Tom, saying his work trip was ending and he was finally coming back. Before hanging up, as if it was nothing, he added,
Make your famous pasties with potato, will you? Ive really missed them.
You actually baked my favourite pasties! he said as soon as he came through the door, breezing in as if hed just been out for a pint, not another womans flat. No sooner had he sunk his teeth into one than his face turned chalk white hed bitten into Lucys special treat.
Tom came back into the house swaggering, cool as anything. He perched on the stool, legs crossed, eyeing the kitchen like hed never left at all. Lucy greeted him warmly, not even hinting she knew what hed really been up to.
I see you went to town with the pasties, he grinned, nodding at the neat mound of golden bakes.
He smiled like it was all the same, like thered been no lies, no missing year, and certainly no other woman. Picking up the first one he saw, he took a massive bite. A second later, his face drained of colour, panic filling his eyes it was a payback he never saw coming.
Earlier that morning, Lucy had turned the oven on, kneaded the dough, and calmly made the filling. She did it all just like before. Only this time, in one of the pasties, the mashed potato was swapped out. Shed slipped some tiny shards of glass inside.
As soon as Tom bit down, he knew something was horribly wrong. He spat it out, but not before his mouth flooded with blood. His tongue and gums were sliced raw, stinging with pain.
He clutched the table, coughing, trying to grasp what had happened.
You actually baked my favourite pasties! he croaked, eyes wide with terror, as realisation dawned that the wife he thought would always forgive had had enough.
Lucy looked on with a level stare.
Thats for your lying and your wandering, she said evenly. Next time you think about cheating, remember this pain.
Tom tried to talk, but nothing came out except a hoarse gasp. He reached for his phone, but Lucy had already turned away. She grabbed the suitcase shed packed earlier, slipped on her coat, and headed to the door.
Lucy didnt call an ambulance. She didnt say another word. She just walked out for good, leaving Tom in the kitchen with a torn-up mouth and a lesson hed never, ever forget.
