STORY COLLECTIBLE PROFILE
After
By X. K. Tangley
COLLECTIBLE PREVIEW
Front & Back Card Images
These preview images show the current story collectible design associated with this title.
About the Story
This story explores the mental turmoil of a married woman who previously was highly attracted to a colleague but afraid of him, afraid he would own her if they became a couple. She marries someone else and achieves a happy, stable life, but on being thrown together unexpectedly years later with the colleague while her husband is out of town, she winds up giving in when he continues pressing her in spite of her refusals --the old passion rekindled--until she realizes too late in that instant that her instincts were right and what she wants most in the world is her simple happy life and her husband. A life which now seems to be spinning out of her reach in an endless whirlwind of fear, self-accusation, anger, regret, self-loathing, and despair as she waits for her husband’s return.
- Author
- X. K. Tangley
- Genre
- psychological drama
- Publication / Creation Year
- 2026
- Publication
- Short Stories by Texas Authors
- Volume / Edition
- 11
- Story Position
- 10
- Approx. Word Count
- 4600
- Registry Number Range
- LC-SSSA-001 – LC-SSSA-050
AUTHOR'S PURPOSE
Why This Story Was Written
Written to capture some of the terrifying cross currents and confusion that follow unwanted or regretted intimate betrayal. The story came about from meeting sexual abuse victims, a psychologist who treats them, and people suffering after infidelity. Intimate human relationships are central to our lives and happiness, instructive, poignant, and often scarily fascinating.
STORY AT A GLANCE
Premise & Themes
Central premise or conflict: sexual abuse by a manipulator and the consequences
Primary themes: the complexity of love, passion, imagination, fidelity, and happiness
Why it is memorable: Whether or not the actual consummation and destructive sequelae occur, the tension, possibility, and temptation are universal
- Emotional Tone
- Suspenseful
- Setting
- USA, current time
- Main Character / Central Figure
- Tessa
READER INFORMATION
Reading Notes
Content notice: A sex scene is described very briefly in summary.
Where readers can access the story outside the anthology: nowhere
COLLECTIBLE DEVELOPMENT
Visual Direction
- Artwork Exists
- Yes
- Artist / Designer
- Alan Bourgeois
- Preferred Style
- Not provided