The Dating Chronicles: Betrayed

The Dating Chronicles

Betrayed

April 19, 2019

It was over. But Dave had known for awhile and had kept silent.  Now, his best friend Carl sat across from him with his head down.  He was confessing that he had been seeing Dave’s fiancée for the last four weeks.  His voice quivered, as he begged for forgiveness.  He spoke about their friendship and how much it meant to him.  They had been friends since childhood.

Ironically, Diane confessed the night before, and then, as now, Dave never let on that he knew.  She told him that she had been indiscreet, but she loved him still and she would pray for his forgiveness.  “I still want to marry you,” she said with tears in her eyes, as she gave him back his engagement ring.

He listened in silence and left in silence.  He was shattered inside, but he had not let on.  He knew his silence would be unnerving and he intended it to be.  As he sat listening to Carl, he recalled the day he first saw them together and the memory was painful.  He had just bought her a new car and was rushing to surprise her for lunch.  She and Carl were standing in front of her office looking at each other in a way that was surely not platonic.

His instincts told him quickly that it was not a chance meeting.  He recoiled in hurt as he stepped into a nearby doorway to avoid detection.  He drove the car home and parked it.

His uncle had been the only person he’d told what he saw.  He could hear his uncle’s words now as he rose to leave Carl in his misery.   “Humans make mistakes, but few confess them”…If you love her, forgive her.  Real love is too hard to come by.  And if you can…forgive your friend, too.”

As Dave left the restaurant, he decided he would break the silence and invite her over. The engagement ring and the keys to her car were still in his pocket.  He decided to forgive her.

Tomorrow, he would call Carl.  Maybe.