This is a story about insecurity and the damage it can do. there is no BTB in this story. It could just as easily fit into the Loving wives category as well.
Lee Grant ordered her coffee and took a seat at the coffee shop. It wasn't her usual morning stop but she was on the way to see a new client and needed a caffeine hit. She looked up to see a new customer enter and Lee recognized her.
"Ann Cleave, is that you?"
Ann looked at the woman sitting at the table and whatever cheerfulness she felt that morning left her.
"Lee Grant, what are you doing in this part of town, slumming?"
"Client meeting. Is this your regular haunt?"
"Yes, ever since I left Coopers."
"I am shocked to hear that you left Coopers, I thought you were a lifer Ann."
"I was until you started accusing your husband of having an affair with me."
The coffee was dark and bitter, just perfect. Both women sipped and then made steady eye contact.
"Your accusations caused a lot of grief for Roger. The perception became reality, and truth didn't really matter. I realized that the accusations were enough to sink Roger's career at Coopers as long as I was employed there, so I fell on my own sword."
"Come on Ann, you gave up your career for your lover!"
"No, I did not! Roger and I were never lovers! We were friends and coworkers."
"So you are still maintaining that old lie?"
"Lee, think about it, why would I lie now? Why, after your divorce was made final, over a year ago? If I had been fucking your husband what would I stand to gain by lying?"
Lee was quiet. Ann had a valid point, she had no reason to lie.
"If Roger and I had been having an affair I would gladly own up to it, but we never did."
Lee and Roger had been married for seven years when Lee first thought that he was having an affair. Roger used to have sex with Lee several times a week but over time it became far less frequent. Even then he seemed preoccupied when they were together. Roger explained that there was a lot of work pressure and that two other young guns at the company were challenging for his position. This extra stress meant he spent more time at work but Lee suspected he was getting sex some where other than home.
Lee began to gather what she considered evidence. The extra hours at the office and lower sex drive we're the first two. There was a third clue, a receipt for lunch at the Place Desire Hotel. She suspected it was with whoever he was fucking, and what better place for lunch than a hotel with a room and a bed. She had also found a long blonde hair on the shoulder of his suit jacket, obviously not one of hers. The jacket also smelled of White Shoulders perfume.
Lee believed that this was solid evidence of Roger's adultery. She just needed to know who he was boning. The only woman that was close enough to Roger was Ann Cleave.
Ann recalled the terrible accusations and the pseudo evidence of Roger's indiscretion.
"Let me offer some information that you wouldn't listen to back then. Maybe it will help you come to terms with the truth."
"Roger was under attack at the office. Business was not good and the bottom line showed it. Two men were pushing hard to replace him and the ownership was listening to them. He spent a lot of hours turning the business around and defending himself. That is why he was less attentive to your needs. That hotel receipt was for a luncheon meeting with a client. I attended that meeting to take notes. Our table was underneath an air conditioning vent and I was wearing a dress that was not keeping me warm. It was so cold that my nipples were poking out and the client couldn't keep his eyes off them. Your husband gave me his suit jacket to keep me from freezing and maintain my modesty. It helped Roger to regain the clients attention. That blonde hair was mine. I was wearing my usual scent, "White Shoulders" that day. All the evidence you gathered to convince yourself that Roger was cheating was misinterpreted by you. Lee, you divorced an innocent man."
Lee wanted to scream at Ann, that she was wrong but there was a ring of truth to what she had just heard. Roger had said much the same, except he stopped trying to explain once he knew that nothing would stop Lee from divorcing him.
"Thank you Ann, I appreciate your honesty. Have you been in touch with Roger?"
"No, I do hear that he is still at Coopers though."
Several days later Lee worked up the courage to phone Roger at Coopers.
"Hello, Roger?"
That voice, unmistakable, sent a shiver up his spine.
"Lee."
"Can I set up an appointment with you? Preferably a lunch if you can."
"Why?"
"I need to discuss something with you."
"We don't have much to talk about, or are you gloating over the first anniversary of our divorce?"
"Please Roger, don't even joke about that. I need to talk to you."
"What about Lucia's Deli at 1pm today?"
"Thanks Roger, I will meet you there."
Roger had no idea what his crazy ex wanted. She got the house, alimony and had even given him an ulcer. What else could she want from him?
Lucia's Deli was a favourite of Lee and Roger's. It was where they had their first date.
Roger got there early so he could get a table that afforded a little more privacy. He ordered a coffee and waited, wondering what horrors awaited him.
As Lee entered the deli Roger's first impression was that she looked gaunt. She was a good twenty pounds lighter that when they had been in court just over a year ago. Other than that she looked as beautiful as she ever. He stood when she came to the table but didn't embrace her.
"Lee."
"Roger, thanks for agreeing to meet me."
"Why now? It's been over a year since our divorce and we barely spoke a friendly word to each other for a year before that. What is it you want?"
"I ran into Ann Cleave at a coffee shop the other day."
"And you're still alive?"
"Yes, she was actually decent to me. I didn't know she had left Coopers."
"That woman saved my ass by leaving. The rumours died down shortly after she left."
