Jake, Shelly and Carla

I should have known something as going on the minute I walked in the door. The house was actually clean, I could smell dinner cooking in the kitchen and, the table was set in the dining room with candles in the centre. "Hello?" I called out, softly.

"Hey baby," Jake came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a dishtowel. He stopped when he saw me, then pasted a smile back on his face.

"Hi," I smiled and kissed him. He smelled like flour, and herbs, he smelled clean! "What's all this?" I asked, gesturing to the dining room.

"Dinner," he said, still holding the towel and looking at me in confusion. "What are you doing home?" he asked.

I turned, smiling up at him. "My flight got in early. I couldn't wait to get home!" I turned back to the table. "It's beautiful!" I said. The table was set with our wedding china and the table cloth was the one that we used when company came over. There were roses by my plate and, when I picked up my napkin, sweet smelling herbs fell out. "All right, what did you do?" I asked him, poking him playfully in the chest. I was surprised to see concern flit in his eyes as he looked at the door. "What is it?" I asked.

He looked back down at me and smiled, his blue eyes warm. He let his hand slide down my cheek and he pushed my black hair away from my face. "I missed you," he said, turning me away from the door and kissing me.

I slid my arms up around his neck and smiled, kissing him back before pulling away. "Well?" I asked, turning from the table back to him. "What's for dinner?"

"Ahhh," he looked in concern at the door again. "Ummm, salad with your mother's recipe for dressing. And chicken, mashed potatoes and red wine."

"Mmmmm, sounds delicious," I said. Looking back now, I can't believe I didn't see it before. He didn't know that I was coming home early, so why the dinner? Of course I was too much in love with him to realize. But I did ask him. "How did you know I was going to be home?" I asked.

"Your friend, Victoria called and told me that your plane was going to get in early. She said that it would be nice if I made you a romantic dinner."

I smiled over that. Victoria was always the romantic, always trying to set her friends up in romantic situations. "Well that was nice of her, now wasn't it?" I asked, sliding my arms around his waist and tilting my head up to smile at him.

Jake nodded. "Yes, it was. Now, why don't you sit down? I'll go get dinner."

I sat down and picked one of the rose's up, bringing it to my face. It had been a long time since Jake had done anything romantic for me. Of course, we were both busy people. He was a big time lawyer while I was a flight attendant. We were both busy a lot of the time, what with my always going on different flights and him having big cases.

I heard the door open behind me then and I turned, expecting to catch Jake in the act of sneaking out to get something. The words died in my mouth. I stood up. "Shelly?" the name was almost a whisper from my lips.

Shelly was my best friend when we were younger. I hadn't seen her in a month or so. We had gone through most of elementary together and all of middle school. In highschool, we went to different places, but we still kept in touch. She was always the wilder one of the two of us. She had bright, shining red hair when she was younger which she made straight and dull from all the straightening she did. Now, after many hair treatments, it was full again and caught the dim--yet homey--light in the entrance way perfectly. Her bright eyes shone as she looked down the hall into the kitchen and her cheeks were red from the brisk air outside. I remembered that she too had become a lawyer. My heart stopped. What was Shelly doing here?

My question was answered the minute she opened her mouth. "Jake? Baby I'm here! I know that you just called me on my cell, but I was already up the steps so I ignored it. Now tell me what the surprise i-" her voice died when she looked into the dining room and saw me sitting at the table.

She cleared her throat. "Carla," she said. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

I stood up, looking at her with hard eyes. "I could ask you the same question," I said, my voice even harder than my eyes.

"I-Jake called me," she said, trying to recover. "He wanted me to come see what he-what he had done for you. He wanted to be sure that you-that you would like it."

I shook my head, trying to keep the bile from coming out my mouth. Shelly and I were best friends when we were little! True, I never approved of how she hopped from guy to guy but...we were still friends. How could she do this to me? I picked up my purse from off the seat and looked around the dining room that Jake and I had decorated together. Under the tablecloth was the dark wood table that we had had specially made for our house. The highbacked, chairs around the table were made of the same wood as the table, with small designs on the back and light brown cushions. On the beige walls were pictures. Our wedding picture took up most of the wall directly behind the table. It hurt me to look at it now. We were both so happy. I remember that day so perfectly, even now, years later. My cheeks were flushed with happiness, my arms around his neck. The dress I wore was white, strapless, trailing down around my ankles. It had a low--but not immodestly low--neckline and a tight waist. Jake wore a tuxedo and looked...so handsome. I remember walking down the aisle towards him and thinking how happy I was to be marrying him.

I pulled my eyes away from the picture and tried to keep the lump from rising in my throat. Taking in Shelly's dress, I knew that I wasn't making a mistake. She was wearing a tiny black cocktail dress with sleeves to her wrists and her skirt barely going to her knees. "I need to go," I said.

Jake came out of the kitchen and took in the scene. Apparently he hadn't heard Shelly come in.

"Shelly," Jake tried to look surprised. "What are you doing here?" he was still trying to save the situation.

"Forget it Jake," I said, harshly. "I'm leaving."

"No," Jake crossed the room quickly and grabbed my arm. "Carla, please. Don't go."

I shook my head and tried not to lose it. "Jake, how long has this been going on?" I asked, trying to keep the pain from my voice.

Shelly could tell that Jake wouldn't answer. "Five months," she said.

We had only been married for a year. "So...what happened? You weren't satisfied with me?" I asked. We were married for seven months before you turned to Shelly. Was I not good enough for you?"

Jake shook his head and ran a hand through his dirty blond hair. Hair that I loved to touch. Hair that Shelly probably loved to touch too. I closed my mind to that line of thought.

"It's not like that Carla," he said, coming closer to me, reaching out."

"Don't," I ordered, closing my eyes, "Don't touch me." Looking at him, I could see the pain in his eyes. "What? So it was fine as long as I didn't find out? What were you thinking Jake? That when I found out, I would be reasonable about it?? That I would be fine with it?"

Jake rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know what I thought. I didn't think. I'm sorry Carla. Just...please. Pleae don't go."

I shook my head sadly. This dinner, this romantic dinner, was for another woman. My husband used our wedding china, our good tablecloth, for another woman. He bought her roses, our flowers. And then he had the balls to pretend that it was all for me. "I can't stay here Jake. I can't bear to stay in this house anymore! This is the house we bought together, Jake. This is our dream house, the one we bought together, we decorated together. It is--was--the basis of our hopes. We dreamed together in this house, Jake. We planned to have children together, to make a life together. And now...you defiled that, Jake. I-I can't be with you anymore. I can't." I grabbed my coat from the railing and pulled it on. "I have to go," I said, when he started to come after me. "Have a good life with Shelly." I closed the door on the both of them. I was closing the door on my life.

As I walked down the steps, I tilted my face up and smiled to see the stars just starting to appear. I would be okay. Jake betrayed me, Shelly betrayed me, but I would be okay. I rubbed my stomach. I had someone to live for now.