A Shocking Affair

Jenny checked her watch again before taking a gulp from the large glass of Merlot the waitress had just put in front of her.  She had a good twenty minutes before they were due to arrive, time enough to make herself feel, and hopefully, appear calm and in control.  Determined to be in command of her emotions Jenny willed herself to be dignified, even though she felt like falling to bits and screaming in anguish. She was about to see them together for the first time since their revelation had collapsed her world.  Was it only three weeks ago that Gary had left and pulled the earth from beneath her?  It somehow seemed a lot longer since she had found out that her husband and her best friend were in love and wanted to be together.

 For the millionth time Jenny ran it through her mind, trying to think of signals that should have told her it was going on right under her nose.  Any little tell-tale signs that should have made her suspicious but there had been nothing she could pinpoint.  Gary and Jackie had always got along well and they made easy company.  Jackie loved to challenge Gary on his often conservative outlook on life and they enjoyed good humoured debates over current affairs and politics.  Jenny would roll her eyes and zone out when they started on yet another verbal spar.  She did not share their mutual passion for news and politics and did not have the same sharp observational outlook on life.

Noticing the waitress hovering close to the table Jenny looked into her wine and was surprised to find it almost empty.  While the overpriced café bar was not particularly generous with the measures they put in the over-sized glasses she had to admit she had practically snorted it.  Tempting though it was to have another she thought is wise not to overdo it, she had not eaten since early on the evening before and could feel a slight intoxication embrace her.  “Can I have an Americano?”  Jenny asked before drinking the wine dregs and pushing the glass away from her.   

“Sure” the waitress gave a sigh, obviously unimpressed with the order.

Jenny took her mobile phone from her handbag and checked it, no messages.  She wondered what she was expecting to see, a text from Gary or Jackie to say it had all been a big joke maybe.   The only thing she read on the screen was the time telling her she had 11 minutes until they were due to arrive.

“Is that all you need?”  The waitress set the coffee down in front of Jenny. 

“Yes, for now thanks.  The people I am meeting should be here soon.” Jenny smiled thinly, thinking that the girl did not seem convinced that anyone would be joining her at all.  Hugging the cup Jenny drank the hot liquid and slipped back into her thoughts.

Jenny had known Jackie long before she met Gary, they had been friends since art college, almost twenty years ago.  They had hit it off and bonded quickly becoming almost inseparable by the middle of the first Semester.  After the first year in halls they shared a house and had been in each other’s lives ever since.  Jenny remembered how devastated she had been when Jackie had gone to Australia just after they had turned twenty eight.  She had been tempted to give in to her friend’s pleas to uproot and head down under.  It would only be for a couple of years, a big adventure before settling down.  It was just not in Jenny’s nature to traipse across the world, she was not one for taking chances or trying new things, not like Jackie.   Besides Jenny felt she was ready to settle down by that stage, thirty was looming and she was content in her teaching job. She felt it was time to be thinking about a serious relationship, maybe even marriage and children.  A promiscuously flourishing Jackie wanted to be free, always claiming that life was too short for long term commitments back then.  

Jenny had pined for Jackie for the first two months, wondering if she should have gone to Australia after all.  Things were not the same and as the autumn that year gave way to a harsh winter she could not help wishing she was in the golden sunshine with her best friend.  Then at Christmas everything changed when Jenny met Gary at a friend’s party.   She had spotted him across the room, not necessarily the type she thought she would go for but something ignited when she caught his eye.  Once they got talking it was like they had known each other for ages, everything seemed to click into place naturally.  Gary was sensitive and deep with a moral code she had found hard to believe still existed.  She was shocked to find that at twenty nine he was still a virgin.   It was not that Jenny had a wealth of sexual experience herself, she had only slept with two people and had waited a respectable period of time before doing the deed with either of them.   She thought it was both sweet and strange when Gary told her that he was waiting for the right woman.  It seemed a bit of reversed cliché but she soon realised that he was rather shy and not at all as confident as his attractive and friendly persona belied.   So Jenny led the way, first teaching him how to kiss properly, without biting her lip as he tended to do.  Then things took their natural course when they were both ready.  While not mind blowing or adventurous their sex life, like their whole relationship, had grown to a comfortable and loving arrangement.   Gary was delighted when she got pregnant ten months later.  He insisted they make it respectable and get married before the baby arrived so they had a low key wedding, which suited them both just fine.  The only thing missing for Jenny was Jackie who, while disappointed not to be there, was having a whale of a time in Australia.

Jenny could never have imagined that twenty two years and two daughters later she would end up in this nightmare. How could she ever have guessed things would turn out the way they had.  How could she recover from the wrecking ball of a double betrayal like this?  She did not believe that she ever would.  She was beyond shocked by the revelation, she was sickened.  It was just incomprehensible.  She knew what Jackie was, there had never made any pretence about her friend’s sexuality and promiscuous lifestyle.  Gary was a different story all together, with his conventional and straight-laced morals.  Jenny used to laugh and tell him that he was prudish about sex.  He was even averse to straying from the missionary position for God’s sake.  With hindsight she realised that his restrained attitude to sex must have been because she just was not what he really wanted.  Now that the truth was out about him and Jackie It had turned out that Jenny just was not his type, by any stretch of the imagination!

Their marriage had been such a sham, if only he had been honest with her a long time ago.  Of-course she would have been devastated but she could have had time to accept things for what they were and move on with her life.   She could maybe have met someone else, a man whose needs she could fulfil and who would return her love.  People would probably say she still could but she knew it would be too long a time before she could trust again.

Jenny had hardly noticed a small lunchtime crowd starting to fill the tables.  “Can I get you anything else, maybe you would like to see a menu?”  Jenny sensed the waitress’s impatience.   Checking her watch Jenny realised it was ten minutes past one, they were supposed to be there at one.  Talk about adding insult to injury. 

“A menu would be great, thanks.” Jenny felt a sudden pang of envy for the young attractive waitress, who was now walking towards the neat stack of menus by the door. She coveted the girl’s youth and all the hopes and possibilities that it offered, Things she felt would never be on offer to her again. “And another glass of Merlot please?” she called after the girl, hardly realising she had said it. 

Jenny watched the waitress lift a menu then walk towards the bar which was near the entrance.   The door opened and two men entered, they stopped and looked around, searching.  She scrutinised the pair from the distance in a bid to see if she could spot anything obvious, something that had escaped her attention before.  Jackie looked the same as ever, bearing the effeminate style of a confident gay man.  She was not sure if she was imagining it but she thought she could see a subtle difference in Gary, something a little camp in his posture maybe. 

Panic rose over her and she quickly scanned the full length and breadth of the place, looking for a back way out.  She could not do this.  She could never accept them being together.  Seeing her Gary raised his hand, she felt trapped as she realised there was no going back now.   Gary turned and put his hand on Jackie’s shoulder and spoke briefly into his ear before they started to walk towards the table.  The casual intimacy of that single gesture sank Jenny’s heart.