Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN WITH THE RED LIPSTICK
Maren’s lipstick was almost always red.
I noticed only afterward.
Photographs from industry events.
A hotel opening.
A charity dinner.
Red.
Not a clue.
A preference.
We should be careful about turning every ordinary detail into evidence because once betrayal appears, the mind wants to retroactively prosecute reality.
Maren did not stalk my husband.
She did not drug him.
She did not secretly pretend he was single.
She knew he was married.
She knew I was pregnant.
Nathan knew all the same facts.
Whatever happened belonged to both of them.
But the marriage vow belonged to him.
That distinction kept me from making Maren the center.
The affair was not a competition between women.
It was a decision inside my marriage.
Diana disagreed.
Her first response when I told her about the elevator kiss was:
“What did that woman want?”
I answered:
“Your son.”
Diana:
“Women want married men because they come pre-approved.”
I stared.
“Your son kissed her back.”
Diana:
“I am not excusing him.”
Then spent forty minutes doing exactly that.
Men respond to admiration.
Pregnant marriages become tense.
Nathan had enormous professional pressure.
A kiss was not a family-breaking offense.
Did I want my child born into divorce because of seconds in an elevator?
I hated the question because part of it worked.
I did not want that.
So I tried counseling.
May you like
Diana interpreted my attempt as acceptance.
She mistook grace for permission.
