Betrayal
“Right, Ellie, I’m off!” Tom waved as he left, “I’ll transfer the money to Mum, don’t worry.”
As the door closed behind her husband, Ellie sank onto a stool and suddenly burst into tears.
“Mum, what’s wrong?” Her son entered the kitchen. “What’s happened?”
“Nothing,” Ellie was embarrassed by her own weakness. “Nothing, darling, I’m just in a bad mood and I miss the kids.”
It was the holidays and the kids, her son James and daughter Sophie, were staying with their grandmother.
“No,” James insisted, “you don’t cry like this just because you’re in a bad mood, and you talk to them on the phone every day. I’m not a kid anymore, Mum, I understand some things.”
Ellie looked at her sixteen-year-old son, taller than she was, and hesitated before speaking aloud something she feared to admit even to herself.
“I think Dad’s going to leave us soon,” she explained in response to his unspoken question. “He’s cheating on me. It’s been nearly six months…”
James didn’t know how to react. He’d thought maybe someone had upset his mum at work or on the street, or that she’d had a falling out with a friend. But this? And his dad? How could he? Anger started to rise within him, and his mother noticed straight away.
“James, no. This happens sometimes with adults, you’ll understand one day. Your Dad is a good person, but you can’t command the heart.”
Ellie spoke, but she didn’t really believe her own words. She wanted to scream and shout, to stomp her feet and smash dishes, but here she was, trying to convince her eldest son to forgive and understand his father. But James clenched his fists.
“Let him go, then. We can manage without him! Why have a traitor at home?”
“Son, you say you’re not a kid, yet you’re acting like one. Everyone makes mistakes, don’t they? Your Dad will realise it’s just a fling and that what’s important is us, his family…”
“Mum,” James, acting all grown-up, suddenly started to cry too, “why did he do this? I can’t respect him like I used to anymore!”
“It’s okay; it’ll all work out, love,” Ellie stroked her son’s hand. “Just don’t say anything to your brother and sister.”
“You too,” James wiped away his tears. “Don’t tell them I cried either, or they’ll lose faith in their strong and almighty big brother.”
Ellie glanced at the clock.
“Aren’t you going to be late for training?”
James jumped up.
“I am! Damn!”
Left alone, Ellie was deep in thought. While speaking with her son, she managed to stay rational, but alone, the hurt overwhelmed her, and the tears began to choke her.
“How? How could he betray everything we had?”
When they first met, Tom was carefree, always surrounded by girls of all kinds, whom he called “birds”. When Ellie told him she wouldn’t be just another of his birds, Tom seriously replied, “Why ‘another’? The one and only, for life.”
And she believed him, the fool. For all these 17 years they’d lived together, she believed they were lucky. And he? Three kids and countless shared experiences later, he still betrayed them.
It all began six months ago. Or maybe even earlier, but she hadn’t noticed? No, probably not… Six months ago, they were invited to a wedding — Tom’s favourite nephew, Jack, was getting married. Ellie couldn’t go but urged Tom to, insisting he couldn’t miss it. Tom resisted for show, but for one thing, his sister would take offence, and for another, the family would ask questions… Ellie later saw some photos from the wedding online, and in every picture, there was a girl, quite free-spirited, always hovering near Tom. It bothered her to see it and she made a snide remark about the girl, but Tom distractedly replied:
“What? Who? Ah! That’s the bride’s friend, I think. Honestly, I didn’t even notice her. I don’t know why she was always nearby. I swear, Ellie! Are you jealous?” Tom grinned at the time. “Jealous! She’s not even my type!”
Back then, she believed Tom; the girl indeed wasn’t in Tom’s type as she knew it! But a week later, strange calls began, with no one speaking on the line. Ellie told Tom about it.
“Can you imagine? Calls where no one speaks, just sighs? Seems like James has his ‘birds’ now!”
After that, the calls stopped, but Ellie didn’t connect this fact to her conversation with Tom until much later — when Tom, a fan of jeans and sweaters, started wearing suits, shirts, and ties, and began using fancy cologne rather than the old ‘Old Spice’, a fondness inherited from his father. Simultaneously, he started working late all the time. When Ellie asked what was going on, Tom, without a hint of suspicion, declared:
“We’ve got a strategically important project, Ellie! No idea how long it’ll be, but then! — Tom’s eyes took on a faraway look — Then we’ll have everything, a holiday to wherever you want, and I’ll buy you the fur coat you’ve been eyeing, and for James, maybe a hoverboard or even a quad bike. Bear with it for a bit, okay?”
From that day, not only was Tom stuck at work late; he sometimes disappeared on weekends too. Just as they would plan a family day out in the park, there’d come a call and a guilty look:
“Ellie, I’ve got to go. Deadlines are looming.”
Ellie wanted to find that girl from the wedding photos, to claw her eyes out, but to avoid the temptation, she didn’t even try to find out her name or her whereabouts.
Six months of this turned Ellie into someone on the brink of emotional collapse. In public and with the kids, she maintained a facade, but alone, she would crumble. After today’s conversation with her eldest son, Ellie decided:
“I’ll talk to him. I’ve got to do something. I won’t have James hating his father too!”
But Tom pre-empted her. He called and asked her to meet him at a restaurant.
“Ellie, we need to talk. Preferably out of the kids’ hearing.”
Ellie bitterly smiled, acknowledging that he was trying to avoid a scene, knowing she wouldn’t cause one in public.
At first, Ellie thought of going in everyday clothes; why dress up? Then she considered turning up looking like she’d just finished gardening. Embarrass her husband! But an hour and a half before she had to leave, she changed her mind:
“I should look as beautiful as ever! Let him see what he’s losing!”
In the taxi, the driver looked at Ellie in the mirror. As she paid, he unexpectedly said:
“Such a beautiful woman, and so sad! Don’t worry, you’ll see, things will get better!”
The unexpected compliment lifted her spirits a little, and Ellie entered the restaurant with a smile. Tom was holding a rose, which surprised her. If he was there to announce he was leaving, why bring flowers? Or was this some symbolic gesture – a flower for the funeral of their love? Ellie chuckled to herself, what strange thoughts, not like her at all.
They dined, chatting about inconsequential things. Inside, an invisible spring coiled tighter, ready to snap at any moment. Finally, she couldn’t hold back.
“Tom, you said we needed to talk…”
He nodded.
“You’re right. So, here’s the thing, Ellie.” He paused, as if gathering courage. “Listen, I’ve been thinking… You won’t mind if we don’t go on holiday or buy a fur coat and quad bike, would you?”
The spring was ready to release, but Tom continued before she could interrupt.
“We got paid almost double today, with the bonus. And I was thinking, James is already 16; he’ll soon be independent. Let’s use the money to buy him a flat. I’ve looked into it. If we invest in something new, it should be ready as a gift for his 18th birthday. What do you say?”
“I understand, Tom,” Ellie started, but then snapped back to the conversation. “What? A flat? What flat?!”
“Did you not hear anything? You’ve been so distracted lately. What’s going on, Ellie?”
Then Tom erupted. He held his cool in the restaurant, but once they stepped out, he let it all out.
“Are you insane?! What mistress, what affair?! I explained everything, an important project, I’d be late! You didn’t say a word in protest; I even bragged to everyone what an understanding wife I have! Yet this ‘understanding’ wife invented all kinds of nonsense!”
Walking home, Ellie listened to her incensed husband, blissfully smiling. All his reproaches and anger sounded like heaven’s music to her. Once they reached home, Tom finally calmed down. At the doorway, he stopped and said:
“I told you once, you are the one and only for me. Have I ever lied to you before?”
…James’s day had been rough. His mother’s morning revelation had thrown him off balance. He was late for training and got scolded by the coach. During training, he got beaten thoroughly, as he couldn’t fight back. He also had a stupid argument with a friend, and later wandered the town, looking for trouble. He wanted to release his pent-up anger by having someone come at him, but he couldn’t make the first move; his conscience wouldn’t allow it. However, he didn’t encounter any hooligans, and headed home, where he saw a couple kissing near the entrance. He recognised his mother’s coat instantly, and it burned him inside: accusing his father of cheating, yet here she was! Clenching his fists, he stepped forward…
“Oh, son,” Tom smiled a bit awkwardly, “we were just…”
…It’s great when everything ends well, isn’t it?
