5. Fractured Trust
Chapter 5
Fractured Trust
Lila
I stretch, stifling a yawn. It’s the third time I’ve yawned in the last ten minutes. I’ve been sitting in front of my computer for six hours now, working out the details of my latest project. It’s for an event I’m planning to hold next month.
Attention to detail is the key to a successful event. I’ve already started working on the 3D interior arrangement of the venue.
I’m a perfectionist, so I can’t afford any mistakes.
The one time I made a mistake, at Sue’s wedding eight years ago, almost cost me my career. It was the lowest point that I’ve ever gotten to in my life, and almost made me quit on life. I was just recovering from a breakup the year before, and those words had been like ripping into scar tissue.
I questioned everything about myself. Was I as good at this job like I’d been led to believe, or had I been fooling myself all along? Were people only going along with it because they liked me, not because I was talented? Was Sue only using me to plan her big day because she was my best friend?
My self-esteem was destroyed, and I spent years after that encounter fixing the damage that it had done to me—that HE had done to me.
Cole Matthews. My lips curl in disgust at the thought of him.
My best friend is married to his best friend, so it’s inevitable that I would have seen him a few times since the wedding.
I’d always find an excuse to duck out of sight and leave before we could run into each other. It’s not like he’s ever tried to apologize to me for that day. He’s probably so used to treating people like trash, I’d be surprised if he’s given it a second thought. For the ten millionth time, I wonder how someone as great as Greg could be so close to such an asshole.
He's gotten incredibly successful over the years. It’s hard to read any tabloid without seeing his latest conquest splashed on the headline. The most eligible bachelor everyone seems to want.
I feel the sudden urge to break something.
I could care less about his apology anyway, and yet, the more time that went by without me getting one, the more furious I became.
Sue and Greg tried multiple times to apologize for him, saying he was going through something, that this was not like him, but I never gave them the chance to explain. I made it clear I didn’t want them to ever bring up his name up again, and they haven’t.
I stand, proceeding to make my way into the kitchen to pour myself a drink from the fridge. The sound of my ringtone causes me to pause mid-step.
Sue’s name pops up on my screen.
I smile, instantly taking the call.
“How do you always—”
“Lila, Lila, I—” she sobs.
“Sue? What’s wrong, honey?” My stomach tightens as an uneasy feeling settles in my gut. I wait for her to calm down enough to tell me what’s wrong.
“It’s okay, just breathe,” I say softly when she can’t seem to get the words out. “I’m here, honey. Whatever is wrong, I promise you, we’ll deal with it together, okay? Just tell me what’s going on,” I continue.
My head races with every imaginable thought of what could have happened. I’ve never seen Sue like this; she’s always everyone’s rock. Even when Greg—
Dread curls in the pit of my stomach like a tight rope.
Oh, God. Did something happen to Greg?
“Tell me what’s wrong, Sue. Is Greg okay? Is something wrong with him?”
At the mention of his name, she seems to sob harder. My heart drops, dread churning in my belly.
“Sue, honey, talk to me please,” I beg.
“Greg is fine,” she sniffles, momentarily pulling herself together enough to get out a few words.
“But I—I’m not okay, Lila. I just had to get out of the house. I needed to—” she whispers, her sobs starting up again.
“Okay, okay. Can you tell me where you are right now?” I ask.
“I’m in the bathroom,” she manages in between sobs. “At the little bar where we had drinks the other day,” she sniffles.
“Okay. That’s not too far from my house. I’m going to be right there, okay? Just stay there. I promise you we’ll fix whatever is wrong together, okay?” I say softly.
“Okay,” she sniffles.
I quickly change into some jeans and a t-shirt. I grab my keys and run out of the house.
The bell above the door chimes as I walk into the bar. I look around the dimly lit space searching for Sue. I immediately see her familiar head bent in the back, sitting at the same booth we shared the last time we were here.
I walk up to her briskly, slipping into the seat across from her.
“Sue,” I say softly, touching her hand on the table. Her eyes meet mine sadly. They are red-rimmed and swollen from crying. My heart hurts for her even more, and I take both her hands in mine, rubbing my thumbs back and forth across the tops.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you like that,” she says, a few fat tears rolling down her red cheeks.
“No. Don’t apologize for needing me. I’m your best friend. It’s literally why I exist. Now tell me what’s wrong.” I nudge her hand softly with mine.
“Greg is cheating on me.”
My eyes widen involuntarily.
Her voice is nothing more than a whisper, yet saying the words seem to have taken so much out of her.
“Wh—What did you say?” my voice is a shocked croak.
“I can’t even believe I’m saying these words out loud, but I think he’s having an affair.”
“Wha—how—” I stutter, unable to string together a complete sentence. “Why would you think that?” I ask finally.
She continues like she hadn’t heard me. “I just don’t understand how—how could he do this to us, Lila? I’ve given him everything. I don’t understand how he can betray me like this. We’ve been married for eight years, Lila. Never could I have seen this coming. I didn’t want to believe it, b—but I—” her lips start to tremble, eyes glistening with unshed tears.
I reach out to hold her hand again, unable to say anything myself.
I’ve known Greg for as long as she has, and I can’t wrap my head around the idea of him cheating on her.
He has literally adored her from the moment they first met, in words and actions. The way he looks at her like she’s the only woman in the world makes me yearn for that type of love. It gave me hope to see that love like that still exists, and hope that love like that could someday exist for me.
Greg and Sue are what renewed my faith in love. Because of them, I was convinced that I would one day meet the man of my dreams. A man who would look at me the same way Greg looks at her.
There’s no way that he could cheat on her with another woman.
It’s simply not something I can wrap my head around. I refuse to.
“How could he do this to me, Lila? How could he do this to us?” she whispers. The tears stream down her face endlessly now. Her eyes are hollow. Tired. She suddenly looks exhausted, her pain reflected in her eyes.
“What makes you think he’s cheating on you? The Greg that I know loves you more than anything in the world.”
“Apparently not,” she says sarcastically.
“It doesn’t make any sense to me. You two are literally the dream couple. I can’t understand why he would sabotage that, for any reason. It just doesn’t make any sense,” I murmur.
My heart sinks into my stomach as I stare at my best friend. The pain in her eyes pierces through my heart like a knife. I want to kill Greg for hurting her like this, yet a part of me still can’t believe it.
“Tell me what happened. What makes you think he’s cheating?” I ask.
“His email has been logged in on my phone from the last time he used it when we were on vacation, and he lost his phone. I’ve never opened it before, but I did today to get flight details that were sent to his email since I needed to make sure I wasn’t double booking him. I opened it, and there were all these…emails,” she says, a tremor in her voice.
“For the past five months, he’s been communicating with this woman. Some bitch named Julie. She’s in Denver. He’s traveled to Denver six times in the past five months, Lila, for ‘work.’ Each time he stayed a week there.”
Shit!
“It doesn’t exactly say ‘hey, we’re having an affair,’ but they’re probably just trying to keep it under the radar. I found a bunch of receipts of payments he’s made to this woman over the last few months. Payments he never told me anything about. We tell each other everything, Lila! Why would he keep this from me if he weren’t—” she breaks, unable to keep talking.
Shit! Shit!
“It doesn’t say what the payment is for, but why else would he be sending another woman money?”
Shit! Shit! Shit!
“I’m so sorry, Sue. I—I don’t even know what to say. Greg doesn’t seem like the type. Have you said anything to him about it?”
She shakes her head repeatedly, sniffling.
“I wouldn’t even know what to say to him. I left the house as soon as I saw it. I just needed to get away,” she explains.
“I don’t know what to do, Lila. What do I do?” she asks, teary, hollow eyes looking to me for help.
But I have no answer, so I just sit there staring at her like a deer in the headlights.