Nine Years, One Betrayal

smile di

know how it is. Back-to-back meeti

"But it was productive. Closed

ne. A well-rehearsed performance. I almost could ha

tragedy. It was almost fascinating, the wa

hand. "This is a nice watch

or my husband,"

angerously soft. "The fligh

fraction of a second. A

in San Francisco. I t

right. San Francisco.

ight board at the airport had listed her flight, F-L-I-G-H-T 3-4-5, as ar

an. Your memory is getting all jumbled. San Francisco. We even talked about me t

the first. She was weaving a ne

see the calculation behind them, the frantic effort to keep her story str

pointing to the watch. "I wa

but I closed my fist around it. T

" I

sband. Or maybe, in her haste, she had mixed up the gifts. Maybe the one meant for me was still in her

n mid-air. "What

looking her straight in the eye

was obviously too small. It would have fit t

erk must have made a mistake! I told her your size specifically.

high, a little too defensive. She was blaming

placing the watch on the

back at me. "But... it'

ut on her face. "Where's my gift, Eth

surprise I had planned was no

t you anythi

reak in our nine-year tradition. I always, withou

slightly open. "You... you f

nd like she was hurt, wo

id. "I did

ript she had prepared in her head. The devoted, slightly naive husband w

dropping to a whisper. "Did somet

y hand, her face

d my ha

a gift," I repeated, my

me we had shared now felt like a cold, empty box. She didn't know what to

e silence, her voice

you had a big surprise plann

right.