Just One Time

"Oh what tangled web we weave..." - Sir Walter Scott (1808).

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Sarah was ten minutes late getting to the restaurant. Her friend Melody had invited her to lunch, but there had been some last-minute issues at the office that delayed her departure.

Melody smiled when she saw her friend. "You're late." It was more an observation than a complaint.

"The office is crazy today. I almost didn't get away."

They spent the next ten minutes in idle conversation while they scanned the menu and placed their orders.

"So, have you thought about what I asked?" Melody was hoping that her friend would agree.

Sarah took a deep breath. "This is nuts. You know what happens if you get caught?" It was as much a statement as a question.

"I won't get caught. It's just one time. Bill will be out of town. We're going down the highway to a place where no one knows us. It'll be okay."

"Famous last words of everyone who has ever thought they were too smart to get caught."

Melody giggled at her friend's concern. "I know you're only trying to protect me, but I've got everything covered. Bill will never know, and what he doesn't know won't hurt us."

"You're so damn confident. That's going to be your undoing. You know that don't you? Nobody ever things of everything."

"You're such a worrier! Everything will be fine."

Sarah was shaking her head at her foolish friend. "Maybe it will and maybe it won't."

"Relax" Melody said. "Either way, it's my head! All I want you to do is give me an alibi. Bill probably won't even ask, but if it comes up in conversation you can just tell him that we had a good time and hope to do it again soon." She was giggling at her own joke.

"That's what I'm worried about. You won't stop at just once. You say it's one-and-done, but you'll do it again. Maybe it's the same guy and maybe it's someone different, but you won't stop at just once." Sarah was becoming increasing annoyed with her friend.

"You worry too much. We go shopping together all the time. This time you just go by yourself, and we meet up later to check in."

The two were quiet for a moment. Sarah was still considering the request and Melody was hoping she'd support her.

This is when Sarah glanced to her side and noticed the woman at the next table watching them. There was a horrible sadness written across her face. Melody and Sarah stared at the woman, one seeing the pain written across the woman's face and the other one annoyed.

"Do you mind? We're having a private conversation."

The woman looked at the two and didn't acknowledge Melody's challenge. In a quiet voice she said, "Perhaps I can help you with your decision. Let me tell you a story about a foolish woman.

"There once was this woman who had it all. She had a loving and handsome husband, two great kids, a job she loved, and a house that was a home in every sense of the word. She had it all, but she wanted more. She had grown complacent and at times bored with her life. She lost sight of what was important.

"There was a man where she worked. He was younger, good looking, and he knew all the right things to say. They started going out for lunch. The lunches got longer and turned into dinner. The conversation became more intimate. Dinner became dancing and pretty soon they were planning to go to bed together. It would be just once, but one became two and two became more until it was a regular thing for them to just sneak off and be together.

"She needed an alibi for all her overtime and Saturday shopping trips, so she enlisted her friend to lie for her. The friend decided it was none of her business and agreed somewhat reluctantly.

"She got sloppy, and then she got caught. Her husband was furious. She fled the house thinking he'd calm down in time, but he never did. His friends prevented him from doing anything stupid, but he declared war on everyone who knew. He told the husband of the friend who gave his wife the alibi and the husband of every other friend who knew about it, or who he thought might know about it. Soon the husbands stopped trusting their wives, and once trust is gone..." The woman just sat there lost in her memories and shaking her head.

She eventually looked at Melody. "One woman's itchy twat killed four marriages and caused four divorces. The irony is even the boyfriend moved on to greener pastures. She was left with nothing."

Melody looked at the woman and felt genuinely sorry for her, but knew that she'd been foolish. "I'm sorry you got caught, but your mistake was turning it into an affair. I'm going to be more careful. It's just one and done. My husband will never know, so there's no harm."

The woman looked at Melody with what can best be described as disgust. "Oh, you misunderstood. I never cheated on my husband." The woman turned to face Sarah. "I was the friend who gave her the alibi."

The two tables were quiet after that. The woman finished her drink, slipped a few bills under her wine glass, gathered her things, and left. All the while they watched, and the sadness never left her.

Sarah turned to Melody and said too quietly for anyone else to hear, "I'm out. If you do this, you're on your own. I'm not lying for you." With that, she grabbed her purse and left. Sarah was thinking that every minute she spent with her friend placed her and her marriage in greater jeopardy. Melody was dangerous and the price of her friendship was too high.