Diane spent the rest of her day in a funk. She couldn't stop thinking about how poorly things had gone with Mary that afternoon. Not only had she ruined her relationship with her sister-in-law and closest friend, but she also worried that what she'd done would shatter her newfound closeness with her daughter. There was her husband, Ray, to consider as well. She knew it wasn't right to keep this all a secret from him.
It wasn't just guilt that plagued Diane's thoughts, though. There was anger as well. Why did Mary have to be so uptight and inflexible all the time? She wondered if Mary would have reacted the same way if she'd seen how happy Christina had been the night before. She felt like Mary was making her choose between their friendship and the happiness of her daughter. After all the times Diane had been there for her, it hurt knowing that her best friend was willing to throw their relationship away so easily.
As Diane reminisced about their friendship, her mind flashed back to the last time they'd had a major fight, nearly ten years ago. Mary had come over with the same tense expression on her face that Diane had seen earlier that afternoon, but she wouldn't tell her what was wrong. Finally, after much coaxing and cajoling, Mary told Diane that her husband, Tim, had suggested they start experimenting with an open marriage.
He'd recently taken a sales manager position that nearly doubled his annual salary. The only downside was that he had to spend long stretches of time meeting with clients in the city, which was a three hour drive away. The time apart had taken a toll on their love-life, and eventually, Tim floated the idea of them each being free to enjoy the company of others when they couldn't be together. Mary, being the conservative housewife she was, had absolutely no interest in sleeping with other men. By the time she finished telling her story, she was practically in tears.
Diane was furious. She knew that Tim could be insensitive, sometimes obnoxious, but this was too much to bear. In her mind, there was only one thing Mary should do: leave him.
Despite being hurt and upset, Mary wasn't ready to go that far. When she balked at the suggestion, Diane pressed the issue, insisting that Tim had no right to victimize her, that it was the only sane thing to do for herself and the children, and that she'd do the same if Ray ever tried to pull something like that.
She was surprised when Mary stood her ground, insisting that there was no way she was going to break up her family. The two of them bickered back and forth a bit before Mary finally stormed off, even more upset than when she'd arrived.
The two of them barely spoke for nearly a month before Ray, of all people, convinced Diane that it was time to make peace with the fact that she couldn't control every aspect of Mary's life, no matter how strongly she felt. Mary, of course, accepted her apology. She also told Diane that she'd decided to go along with Tim's suggestion with the understanding that he'd be safe, she never had to hear any details about what he was up to, and that he always came home ready and willing to fulfill her own sexual needs.
Diane was disappointed, but knew that Ray was right. It wasn't her place to judge. It took quite a bit longer for her anger at Tim to subside. Eventually, though, she had to admit to herself that if Mary hadn't told her what was going on, she would have no idea that Tim was seeing other women on the side. He remained as loving and caring of a father and husband as he'd always been.
As far as Diane knew, their open marriage was still a going concern, nearly a decade later. In fact, Tim was currently away on business and wouldn't be back for a few days. Diane wondered whether he wasn't balls deep in some random woman at that very moment.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of keys jangling at the front door, followed by Christina's voice shouting, "I'm home!"
Diane buried her face in the couch cushion and groaned. She was absolutely not ready to face her daughter. She broke out in a cold sweat in anticipation of the verbal barrage she'd receive when Christina found out that her secret had been revealed.
"Is anyone home?"
Her voice was getting closer to the living room, and Diane finally flipped over on her back, making a meager, and largely unsuccessful attempt at composing herself. "In here," she called back.
When Christina turned the corner into the living room, her bright smile faded almost immediately. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"I look that bad, huh?" Diane replied, hoping her sardonic smile would mask her despair.
"Did something happen? You look like you've been crying."
"No--I'm fine. I just had a long and stressful meeting with a client, and I've been feeling out of it ever since. I'll be alright. No need to worry."
"Can I get you anything? tea? hot chocolate?" Christina offered.
"No thanks. I need to start making Dinner anyways," she said, moving to get out of the couch. "Why don't you go get started on your homework. I'll let you know when it's ready."
"Okay... Sounds good. Let me know if you want to talk about... Well, you know."
"Maybe later," Diane replied, no longer able to muster any enthusiasm for the topic. She knew she couldn't avoid talking with Christina forever, but she just wasn't ready... not yet, anyways.
Diane worked mindlessly on dinner, and she was practically silent through the entire meal. It was obvious to both Ray and Christina that something was wrong. Usually Diane was the most talkative one at the table, always wanting to know every little detail of their day. Tonight, though, they could barely get two words out of her.
After everyone had eaten, Christina went off to her room to play her video-games, leaving Ray and Diane alone to clean the dishes. This was usually their special time together, a moment or two for them to simply enjoy each other's company, free from the kids and their other various responsibilities. Diane knew that Ray would be waiting to hear what was on her mind, but she couldn't bring herself to speak.
After ten minutes of complete silence, Ray finally couldn't take it anymore. "Look, you don't have to tell me if you're not ready, but I see that something's bothering you. You've been acting strange ever since last night. Why don't you tell me what's on your mind."
Diane winced as she remembered her unusual behavior the night before. She wanted so badly to tell him everything, but she couldn't stand the thought of him being upset with her. Not after everything she'd already gone through.
She struggled to meet his eyes, but was glad she made the effort. When she saw the look of pure love and concern on his face, she knew that she didn't have anything to fear. No matter what hardships they'd faced over the years, Ray had always supported her completely. In her anxiety over the situation with Mary, she'd somehow managed to lose sight of that fact.
With a sigh of relief, she started to speak, only to be interrupted by the telephone ringing. It was Mary.
Ray was closer to the phone and reached for it, but Diane nearly barrelled him over trying to grab it first. "I'll get it," she insisted, pushing him aside and grabbing for the receiver.
"Hi Mary. What's up?" she asked, doing her best to maintain an even, neutral tone. Ray's brow furrowed in suspicion before he shrugged and went back to drying the dishes.
"I need to talk to you about this afternoon. Are you free?" Mary asked.
"I was just about to have a conversation with Ray, but I can spare a few minutes."
"Okay. Meet me in my garage. I don't want Danny overhearing us."
"Sounds good," Diane replied, hanging up the receiver. Turning to Ray, she said, "I need to go talk to Mary about something. Can we put this conversation on hold for a bit longer?"
"Fine. No problem," Ray replied, doing his best to hide his obvious frustration over her erratic behavior. Diane felt guilty for leaving him hanging, but she knew it would be easier to talk with him once the situation with Mary was resolved.
As Diane put on her shoes and walked across the yard, she tried to predict what Mary would have to say. She hoped that her sister-in-law had calmed down a bit. She wasn't sure her nerves could handle a repeat of their earlier confrontation.
Mary and Tim's garage had a side-door leading out to the back yard that they left unlocked most of the time. When Diane stepped inside, she saw that Mary was sitting in the back seat of their family sedan. With a curious frown, she walked around to the other side and climbed in.
"It's so Danny can't listen in," Mary said, before Diane had a chance to ask.
Diane nodded. "Makes sense. So what did you want to talk to me about?"
Mary cheeks flushed and she looked down at her feet, unable to meet Diane's eyes. For several awkward moments, the two of them sat there in utter silence while Mary worked up the courage to speak her mind.
With a frustrated sigh, Diane said, "Look, I have two more long, awkward conversations to look forward to tonight. Whatever it is you have to say, either say it, or let me know when you're actually ready to talk, because I don't have time for this right now."
Her sharp response broke Mary out of her stupor. "I... I wanted to apologize to you," she said. "It wasn't right for me to yell at you like that. I know you didn't want to break Christina's trust, and I also know you weren't trying to hurt me. It was just so unexpected... and well... I panicked."
Diane breathed a mental sigh of relief. "It's okay. I'm sorry too. I never meant to keep this from you. I just didn't know what else to do. There's not exactly protocol for this kind of thing, I guess."
Her comment caused them both to chuckle, which lightened the mood considerably. "It is rather unusual," Mary said. "I still have no idea what I'm going to say to Danny about it, much less Tim."
"Me either," Diane admitted. "Are you still going to tell Danny that he has to end it?"
"No. I don't think so," Mary replied, sounding more than a little unsure of herself. "There's nothing I can do about it, anyways. Like you said, they're going to be alone together at college soon enough, and it's not like we can be there to look over their shoulders every second of the day. I wouldn't want to, even if I could."
"So, what changed your mind?"
Mary hesitated yet again, before mumbling, "I--I don't know. I just thought about what you said about how good they are for each other and realized you were right. It's not my place to stop them from being happy together if that's what they want."
