Discovering Truths by B. Benfield (chrysanthemum read aloud .TXT) 📕

the crowded shop and noticed Melinda raising a smoothie in the air. She was at a small table with two chairs located right in the middle of the room. All the other tables and barstools were occupied. This was a popular spot, but our favorite.

I pulled out the chair across from her and sat down as she slid my pineapple smoothie to me. She raised a mug to her lips and took a long sip.

“Are you really drinking coffee when it’s 110 degrees outside?” I asked.

“Girl, I need the caffeine,” she said. “Work has been intense.”

“How is the new job going, Mrs. Manager?”

“It’s going…well…for the most part. I’m not sure I was quite ready for all the responsibilities that come with being the manager of a large accounting firm, but I’m getting there.”

“You’re brilliant. You’ll adjust in no time.”

“What’s new with you?” she asked. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“Well, nothing really new besides the fact that Marcus is cheating on me.”

“I’m sorry, what?” she exclaimed. The whole shop was now staring at us after her shriek.

 “Yep. Some girl at the office. She interned there and they hired her on full time.”

“Okay, hold on, slow down. How do you know this and why are you acting so unfazed?”

“I figured it out. It’s obvious. How he doesn’t know that I know, is beyond me. He must be really caught up.”

“Hold on, I’m texting my assistant,” she said, pulling out her phone. “I need to hear all of this.”

She typed out a message and shoved her phone back in her purse. She directed her eyes toward me and I took that as my cue to continue.

“He’s been distant for a while. Like, at least a year, maybe longer. I started to catch on to things…even did a little P.I. work.”

“Explain.” She demanded.

“He says he’s working late. Okay, I get it every now and then, but it’s a constant with him, so one night I drove by the office…and no one was even there.”

“Oh,” she said quietly.

“So, the next time he texted and said he would be late again, I went straight to the office and I parked on the corner where I couldn’t be seen. I watched him and the girl, I think her name is Katie, walk out to their cars, and I followed them downtown to a restaurant where they walked in holding hands, laughing, and kissing.”

“Are you serious?” Melinda asked, disbelief evident in her tone.

“I’m absolutely serious, Mel, but it gets better.”

“Oh, gosh…”

“One Saturday he said he was going golfing with the guys, some of his friends from college. Well, at this point, I had already seen enough, and I’m not stupid. I mean, I don’t even know how I never got caught doing any of this, because we all know how bright I am sometimes, but I guess he has her on the brain and is clueless to the world around him. Anyway, I followed him, and it wasn’t to a golf course, shocker. It was to a house...her house, and she answered the door in black and red lingerie.”

“No!” Melinda gasped.

“Yes. So obviously, we know what happened then, and I’m sure that wasn’t the first time. I mean, really, who knows how long this has been going on. I have pictures. I told you, I went crazy P.I.” I pulled out my phone and slid it across to her. I watched as Melinda scrolled through the evidence, her eyes wide.

She sat the phone down and was silent for a moment before she finally spoke. “Have you confronted him?”

“No. I haven’t. I’ve been processing it all, trying to figure out how to handle this. You know, maybe it was me going to the doctor and getting on that pill. Maybe he thinks I’m crazy and have too many issues. Maybe that’s what turned him to her.”

“Don’t. Don’t blame this on yourself. This is all on him. I’m convinced he’s part of the reason you slumped into a feeling of depression.”

My friend was right. I was thirty years old, and Marcus was thirty-two. We’d been together since high school. He’d been in college for two years when I turned eighteen and graduated high school. We got married immediately. He was in law school and I pursued a degree in business. He landed a job with one of the largest law firms in the area, and he insisted that I stay home, so I did. I play the role of the perfect suburban housewife. I go to Yoga in the mornings, I run all the errands, the house stays spotless, and I cook dinner every night. Marcus doesn’t want children, which I’ve known from the beginning, but honestly, I always hoped I could change his mind. I often ask myself, what is my purpose in this life? Surely it isn’t to run around like someone’s personal assistant, picking up dry cleaning and cooking three-course meals. Without a career, or a child, I feel lost. I didn’t stick around long enough to talk to Doctor James. I completed my required two months and didn’t book another appointment.

“It’s hard not to put some of the blame on myself. We’ve been married for twelve years. Where did things go wrong?”

“I’m so sorry, Abby. I would have never imagined any of this.”

I continued with my rant. “We haven’t had sex in months…I can’t tell you the last time he told me he loved me…”

Melinda sighed and reached across the table, taking my hand in with hers. “I’m here, Abby. I’m here for whatever you need. But what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to find a boyfriend.”

“Um. What?”

“If he can have a girl on the side, all while coming home and pretending everything’s okay and acting like he isn’t living a totally double life, then