A Good Friend

Melanie Weatherby

The two attractive women having lunch on the restaurant patio drew plenty of male attention from passersby. But the friends were too intent on catching up with each other to pay any attention.

"How long has it been, Melanie?" asked the tall, dark-haired woman. "I feel like I haven't seen you in ages."

The other woman was blonde and a year or two younger than her friend. "I know, Jeri, and I feel bad about that. But between grad school and married life, it's been hard to make time for much else."

"How is business school going? You must be close to getting your MBA by now."

"Yeah, it's pretty well in the bag. We've got spring break next week, and then just a few weeks of classes left before I'll be collecting my diploma. I've already turned in my thesis, so I don't have to worry about that. And better yet, it looks like I'll be exempt from all my finals. It should be smooth sailing from here on."

"That's wonderful, Melanie, congratulations! Do you have a job lined up yet?"

"No. I've really worked hard the last two years, so I'm planning to take a little break before I jump into the workforce wars. I want to relax and have a little fun before I put my nose back to the grindstone. But enough about me, how are you doing? Got a special man in your life?"

"Everything's going well for me, but I'm still looking for Mr. Right."

The blonde gave her brunette friend an appraising glance. "With your looks, I wouldn't be in any hurry to settle down. I'll bet you could go out partying with a different hunk every night if you wanted to."

Jeri gave her friend a wry smile. "Believe me, Melanie, the single life is not all it's cracked up to be these days. To find one decent guy, you have to sort through a dozen creeps, and frankly, it's starting to get old. Truth be told, I'm a little envious of you, happily married to a great guy like Adam. And speaking of Adam, how's that good-looking husband of yours doing?"

"He's fine, I guess."

"Ooh, I think I just heard a discouraging word. What's the matter, Melanie? Aren't things going well between you two?"

The blonde shook her head. "It's not that we're having problems, exactly. It's just that Adam is so covered up trying to get his business off the ground that we don't have much time to have fun together. And even when we do, we don't have a lot of money to spend on entertainment."

"Well, all that time he's spending on his company is to build a future for the two of you. And as for the money, I suspect that putting you through grad school isn't cheap."

"I know, and I appreciate it. But sometimes I'd just like to go out and have a little fun like we used to. At school, all my classmates ever talk about is going to parties and meeting people at bars. Meanwhile, I'm stuck at home watching reruns on TV."

The dark-haired woman gave her friend a shrewd look. "Hmm. Is there anyone in particular at school you'd like to go out partying with?"

Melanie laughed. "You always could read me too well." Then she leaned forward so she wouldn't be overheard. "Actually, there's this first-year student, Carl, who's really cute." Then she blushed. "And he's definitely interested in me too. Every time we're together, he goes out of his way to say something really sweet about how good I look and how well I'm doing in school."

Jeri cocked her head. "I don't think Adam would be very happy to hear about that."

"It's just harmless flirting - it doesn't mean anything. But you're right: Adam is pretty old-fashioned about things like that. That's why I'm not going to tell him." She shifted in her chair. "But I can't help remembering how things were before I got married. It was so much fun to play the field and go out with different guys. I miss all that."

"You need to watch your step, girlfriend. You've got a pretty darn good husband and you don't want to risk losing him. You know Adam would never stand for it if he caught you fooling around. And if you ever did, I'll bet there are plenty of other women who'd be more than happy to console him afterwards."

"I know, I know. And honestly, I want to spend my life with him and start a family and all that stuff. It's just that I'd like to have a little fun before it all gets so serious." She lowered her voice and leaned closer again. "You know the guy I was telling you about? Yesterday he asked me to go with him to Florida over spring break. If there was any way I could do it without Adam knowing, I'd probably accept." She leaned back and gave a dismissive laugh. "But it's just a fantasy; it could never happen."

Jeri sat back and gave Melanie a long look. Finally, she nodded her head as if she'd made a decision. "Don't be so sure. I know a way you could do it and get away with it."

Melanie gave a gasp that was equal parts disbelief and excitement. "You're kidding! How?"

"Are you sure you want to put your marriage in jeopardy just for a week-long fling?"

"If I could be sure Adam would never know, why not? But you're just teasing me, Jeri. There's no way I could get away with something like that."

"There is and it's actually pretty simple." Jeri began to tick each step off on her fingers. "First, you need to create a new email account on Gmail. Set it up in some anonymous name, something like 'A Good Friend.' Next you use the account to send Adam an anonymous email warning him that his wife is having an affair."

"I tell him I'm having an affair? That's crazy - why would I do that?"

Jeri continued unperturbed. "Specifically, you'd say that Melanie is having an affair with some person Adam doesn't know and can't easily check out."

"What good would that do?"

"It would divert his attention away from your hot guy in grad school."

"Yeah, but it would make Adam suspicious of me."

"Exactly. But when he has no luck finding the guy you're supposed to be having an affair with, he'll have no choice but to confront you and demand to know what's going on."

"But I don't want him suspicious of me!"

"No, you don't. So when he confronts you, you get very angry with him for not trusting you. In fact, you get so angry that you call a 'time out' in your marriage. Doesn't your mother live in Florida?"

Melanie was caught off guard by the sudden shift. "Uh, yes, why?"

"Perfect. In your anger, you tell Adam you're going to go down to Florida over spring break to stay with your mother and figure out what to do about your marriage. Then, while he's here in town desperately trying to find the mystery man, you're in Florida with Carl having your little fling."

"How do I explain all that to my mother?"

Jeri rolled her eyes. "You don't. In fact, you don't even have to see your mother while you're down there."

"But what if Adam calls her?"

"Tell him not to. Tell him you need a total break from him to figure things out. He's not to try to contact you or your mother while you're gone. Warn him that if he tries, you might not come home at all."

Melanie stared at her friend for a moment, thinking about her scheme. Finally, her face brightened. "You know, Jeri, I can see how that just might work. But what happens when I come back?"

"That's easy. By then Adam will be missing you like crazy. And since he won't be able to find the mystery man who's supposed to be having an affair with you, he'll conclude that someone was playing a malicious prank. He'll feel really guilty and will be begging you to forgive him for not trusting you. You forgive him and everything's okay. You'll have had your fun, and now you and Adam will be back together closer than ever."

"What about the mystery man I'm supposed to be having an affair with? Should I just make up a name?"

"You could, but I think it would be a lot more credible if it were a real person. Pick someone you couldn't possibly be having an affair with, for example someone who's very old, or lives far away, or is dead. That way, if Adam does manage to track him down, you're still in the clear."

"Hey, I think I know the perfect guy. There was this creepy professor I had for one of my classes my first year in grad school. I think he must have left town because I never saw him again. How does that sound?"

"Perfect!"

Melanie abruptly reached across the table and squeezed her friend's hand. "You're the best, Jeri! I'm so excited - I really think this will work." Then she hugged herself and gave a little shiver. "I can't wait to tell Carl."

Adam Weatherby

"Any word from the supplier about those parts we ordered?"

When his foreman shook his head, Adam walked back into his office and slumped down in his second-hand swivel chair. Worriedly he rubbed his forehead. "If those parts don't show up soon, we're going to miss our deadline to deliver the prototypes."

After the foreman left, Adam sat there trying to devise a back-up plan. When his email chimed, he quickly spun around to check his inbox, hoping for good news. But when he saw that the subject was "About Your Wife," he almost trashed it. But curiosity got the better of him, and he opened the message.

I hate to be the one to have to tell you, but Melanie is having an affair

with Professor Bellingham. I just thought you ought to know.

A Good Friend

"What the hell?" Stunned, Adam read the message again, unable to comprehend the terrible words.

What kind of crap is this? It can't be true; Melanie wouldn't cheat on me. Someone must be trying to stir up trouble between us. But who would do such a thing, and why?

He started to delete the message, but hesitated.

This is the last thing I need to have to deal with now. It has to be a mistake, a misunderstanding. But his practical side wouldn't let him ignore it. Dammit, dammit, surely this can't be true.

Angrily he hit the Reply option on the email. "Who are you? Why are you making such a terrible accusation? What proof do you have?" He hit Send, then stared at the screen in impotent fury.

That isn't going to do any good. There's no telling when or if this guy will ever reply. And there's no way to track him down. I guess I better start trying to find out who this Bellingham is.

He opened his browser, went to the university's web page and searched the faculty for the Graduate School of Business. There was no Professor Bellingham on staff. He went back to the faculty registry to search the entire university. Again, he had no luck. Frustrated, he tried other educational institutions in the area, all to no avail.

"This is crazy," he mumbled to himself. "Did my 'good friend' just make up a name?" Next, he tried a Google search, and the search engine quickly turned up five names. But two were women and none were local.

I knew this was a fake! Somebody is trying to mess with me - or drive me crazy!

But once again, he couldn't bring himself to delete the email. Now that it was planted, the seed of doubt began to grow in his mind.

God, what if she is having an affair? I haven't seen any signs, but that doesn't mean anything. Besides, I've been so busy at work that I've scarcely spent any time with her. What if she got upset about being ignored? I know there've been times when she wanted to go out and party and I turned her down. But, dammit, I'm working almost seventy hours a week trying to get the business going. Doesn't she understand that? Can't she see that I'm doing all this for us? And, to be honest, we really can't afford to do anything extravagant. Her tuition at the business school has gone up every year, and I've been plowing anything left over into this place to try to jumpstart it. Still, I guess I have been neglecting her.

Guiltily, he started checking his calendar, trying to find the last time they'd gone out together. After going back three months without finding anything, he stopped looking. Damn, damn, damn!

But even as his guilt grew, he felt a corresponding surge of anger.

Maybe I haven't given Melanie all the attention she wants, but that doesn't give her the right to cheat on me. Besides, we discussed the sacrifices we'd have to make when we decided to start the business. She bought into it a hundred percent back then, so she hardly has a right to complain now.

His thoughts were interrupted when his foreman stuck his head in through the doorway. "Hey, Adam, good news: the components we needed just showed up!"

"Thank heavens! Okay, let's get 'em unpacked and over to the shop ASAP!"

When the foreman scurried away, Adam took a deep breath. "Well, that's one crisis averted, anyway." He gave a wry laugh. "I guess that means I can spend more time worrying about my wife."

After wasting more time searching fruitlessly on line, he sat back and tried to think.

If Mel really is having an affair, it just has to be with someone at the university. Maybe my "good friend" got the name wrong, or maybe the university just doesn't have his name posted to their website.

He went back to the university's web page and found a telephone number for the Human Resources department. When a secretary answered his call, he asked if there was a Professor Bellingham on the faculty.

"Which school, please?"

"I think it's the Graduate School of Business, but I'm not certain."

There was a pause and then the voice came back on the line. "I'm sorry, sir, but we have no Professor Bellingham at the Business School."

"What about the other schools?"

There was an audible sigh. "Hold, please."

This time there was a longer wait. When the woman finally came back on the line, her manners had disappeared. "Sir, there is no Professor Bellingham employed by the university."

A thought struck him. "Could he have been an employee a year or two ago?"

"I can only confirm our current faculty."

"Why is that?"

"It's university policy, sir. Now, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, you've done all you can do," he said, trying not to sound too sarcastic.

He made one more attempt, putting in a call to the Dean of the business school. He went around and around with an administrative assistant, but in the end he learned nothing more.

By now Adam's head was throbbing. "I need a good stiff drink!" he burst out after he'd hung up in disgust. But that thought gave him an idea, and he picked up the phone one more time.

"Hey, Jeri, it's Adam. Listen, is there any chance you could meet me after work at Maxy's Place for a drink? I've got a problem and I really need your advice. No, I'd rather not talk about it on the phone. You can? Great! I'll see you there at 6:00."

Before he left, he checked his email one more time. There were no more messages from A Good Friend.

When he walked into Maxy's Place, Adam spotted Jeri sitting at a table in a quiet corner. In front of her were a glass of white wine and a mug of his favorite draft beer. He went over and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks for the beer and, more importantly, for coming tonight. I really needed to talk with you."

After he sat down, she took a sip of her wine and then gave him a long look. "Okay, Adam, out with it: what's going on? Is there a problem with your business?"

Uncertain where to start, he stared at his mug for a moment and then blurted out, "Do you by any chance know a Professor Bellingham at the university?"

She shook her head in puzzlement. "Bellingham? Never heard of him. Why?"

He heaved a sigh and then handed her a print-out of the email. "I got this today."

She scanned it quickly, gasped, and gave it a second reading. Then she looked up at him with sympathetic eyes. "Poor Adam, no wonder you didn't want to talk about this on the phone. What do you make of this?"

"I don't know what to think, Jeri. I can't believe it's true, but I don't want to stick my head in the sand and pretend nothing is wrong, either. I wasted the whole afternoon trying to track down this mysterious Professor Bellingham, but I hit a stone wall at the university.

"Now I don't know what to do. I can't afford to hire a private eye, and I don't have time to play detective myself. That's why I wanted to talk to you. You've been a good friend to Melanie and me for a long time. Please tell me what you think."

She took another sip of her drink and then reached over to give his hand a quick squeeze. "What you're really asking is do I think she's having an affair. I can't give you that absolute assurance. On the one hand, I've neither seen nor heard anything that makes me think she's been unfaithful to you. On the other hand, I haven't seen very much of her in the last few months."

His face creased in pain, and she hurried on. "You know as well as I that there are people out there who like to stir up trouble, and this could be something like that. Or you could have business enemies who'd like to see you distracted by friction in your marriage. There are probably other scenarios I haven't even thought of.

"What I do know is that you can't ignore this and hope it will go away. I know how strongly you believe in marital fidelity, and I know any hint that your marriage has been violated will eat away at you. If you don't deal with it, ultimately, doubt will kill your relationship with Melanie as effectively as an affair would."

He stared at her with a haunted expression. "I know you're right, Jeri, but what can I do?"

"In my opinion, you ought to show this damned thing to Melanie. She needs to know that someone has accused her of being unfaithful, and she deserves a chance to shed any light on it she might have. After all, Adam, if someone made this kind of accusation against you, you'd want to know, wouldn't you?"

He sat there silently for a minute, then nodded his head. "You're right. If I don't share this with Melanie, it's going to color the way I act around her. In the long run, it'll drive us apart as surely as if she were actually cheating on me."

He stood up and gave the dark-haired woman a hug. "Thanks for helping me think it through, Jeri. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You know how much I care about the two of you, Adam. If I can do anything to help you, please let me know."

He nodded gratefully and headed for the door as she stood there watching.

When he got home, Melanie was waiting for him. "Where have you been, Adam? I tried to call, but you didn't answer."

He ignored her question. Taking her hand, he led her over to the couch and sat down with her. "I need to show you something, Mel, something that's really thrown me for a loop."

She sat down beside him, her face betraying her nervousness.

He handed her the print-out. "I received this in my email today. Can you tell me anything about it?"

She read it quickly. Then, to his surprise, she jumped up and began yelling. "You think I'm cheating on you? I don't believe this! You get some piece-of-crap accusation from some anonymous 'friend,' and you're ready to accuse me of adultery?"

"No, no, honey, I wasn't accusing you of anything. I . . ."

"If you weren't accusing me, then why did you show me this filthy lie?" She snatched up the print-out, wadded it into a ball and threw it at him. "You might as well stab me in the heart! This hurts me so deeply. You believe someone who's too much of a coward to even sign his name more than you trust your own wife."

She grabbed up her purse and stalked to the front door. "I can't bear to even look at you right now. I'm going out, and I don't know when I'll be back." With that she stormed out, slamming the door behind her. In a moment he heard the roar of her car's engine and then the screech of her tires as she sped out of their driveway.

"Oh, damn, I never expected that. I'm worse off now than I was before," he moaned, slumping back down on the couch and holding his head in his hands.

As he sat there, Adam's first thoughts were defensive.

Why would she get so upset? She didn't even let me finish. I didn't accuse her of cheating, I just showed her what somebody else said, that's all.