Thanks for reading and commenting. I thought I knew what I was writing when I started this, but it changed once I had the lust elements down. I was going to make it more about envy than lust but the lust was too good to let go of so I made it about showing how far lust can take people, and when you're that deep it can change you. These aren't psychopaths living among us, they're flawed people addicted to something that drives them to do crazy things.

As to why now after they've been seeing each other for a while, Valentine's Day is about love. To me, it forces an issue between them, that as much as they lust for each other it's not the same thing, and they have spouses who they have experienced love with. Lust can also be confused for love, so the idea of spending Valentine's Day with anyone else might suddenly be unbearable because that's what they think they want with each other.

There's room to make that transition more effective, to show how much of a catalyst it is. I just couldn't make it fit in the page count. I elected to fill in some of it with Martin's dialogue, but I would like to have more of his thoughts and visuals lying in bed flashing by like the ticking of a clock.

I do think the ending is missing something, a line of dialogue to show these two people can't live happily ever after. They're on a path of self-destruction now. They chose lust over love, it won't end well.