Betrayal of the Heart

Bullets. There was no other word to describe the steady sting pelting her bare back. Dana stood beneath the shower head hoping the steam would bring clarity to her rampant thoughts. Salty tears mingled with the rivulets of hot water dripping from her chin and pooling down her heaving chest.

She couldn't erase the tangled web of today's memories any more than she could forget her own birthday. She shut her eyes tight, blocking out the power of sight, unable to trust the vision repeatedly playing back and forth in her mind.

Her best friend since seventh grade, Jess, the girl who'd worked her way to the top, the married mother of two beautiful children, sat across from Dana with that nonchalant look on her heart shaped face, the pregnancy test with two positive pink lines laid out on the table with the glaring truth.

"Does Michael know?" Dana whispered, twisting the floral printed paper napkin in her lap.

"Michael is not the father." Jess leaned forward and picked up the evidence of her unfaithfulness, tucking the personal piece into her purse like a disposable receipt.

Dana glanced around the polished restaurant, taking in the clink of white china being scraped by expensive silverware as fellow diners talked and laughed, setting a buzzing background of noise. The savory lemon pepper chicken she'd previously consumed now soured in her stomach as she processed Jess's confession.

"I knew things had gotten bad, but doesn't he still deserve to know?" Dana pushed her own plate away, no longer hungry.

Jess stared at her hard, with a small smile. "About the affair or the baby?

Dana shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with her friend's indifference, "Either. Both! I know I would want to know."

Jess arched a perfectly manicured hand in a dismissive wave. "Oh, sweet Dana, with your perfect, organized life. You like things to stay the same. You couldn't live with that much truth."

Their waiter arrived with the bill before Dana could form a reply to the hurtful words. Now, alone in her bathroom, her shower finished, she allowed the words that should have been said to freely flow out loud as she spoke them into her foggy mirror.

"Michael needs to be told." Dana's reflection frowned back at her. She shivered and reached for her soft powder blue bath robe. Wrapping herself in it's familiar comfort, she began blowing the remaining wet droplets from her hair with the soothing heat of the blow dryer.

Her phone lay on the tile counter within reach. Michael's number was in her contacts list since she sometimes babysat the couple's children. She opened a social media app, scrolling through the happy pictures on her friend's profile page; Michael and Jess on their wedding day nine years ago, Michael looking dashing in his Marine uniform, Jess dressed in white, wrapped in his arms; then another the two of them on vacation in Mexico last summer. She leaned against the sink, drowning in sadness with the weight of her decision left to make.

She tapped on the green call button, then hung up just as quickly. Jess was right. This wasn't her business. And wouldn't the truth come out eventually anyway? Or would Jess be selfish enough to convince Michael he was the father? Lately, she didn't feel as if she knew her friend at all anymore.

"Hey, babe, everything ok?" Dana's husband, Blake, stood in the open doorway, his tall frame almost filling every inch of available space.

Dana started, and dropped the phone, guiltily. Her hand collided with Blake's as he reached to pick it up for her. His hand enveloped hers as he drew her into his embrace. He nuzzled her neck, and she swatted him away, playfully, the phone forgotten.

Later, as Dana lay curled into her husband's side she blinked into the darkness. The question still lingered in her mind. Should she call Michael tomorrow? If it had been the other way around, and she had seen Michael with another woman, she knew she'd have gone straight to Jess and let her know.

Black stirred, shifting in his sleep. Dana didn't want to admit how much truth Jess's words had held and how hard it had hit her today. What if the roles were reversed? Would she want Jess to tell her if Blake had broken her trust or would she prefer not to rock the boat, to go on pretending, to accept the status quo?

Good thing Blake wasn't that kind of man. Dana lay her head on his strong shoulder, breathing in his unique scent, mingled with the earthy sandalwood soap she always bought for him. Jess had been in love with Michael this way once, too. So, what had changed in their relationship? Dana wondered.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed from inside the bathroom where she had left it on the hardwood floor. The alarm clock beside her bed read 1:00 a.m. She slid out from under the comfortable cotton sheets and stumbled in the dark until she clutched the cold case in the palm of her shaking hand.

Michael's number flashed in green as the phone continued to ring. She gently pressed the reject button. Three missed calls had come through during the last few hours. She must have turned the volume button down when she dropped her phone earlier.

Michael must be wondering why she'd called him yesterday evening. Maybe he was even hoping she'd spoken to Jess on his behalf. Being the mediator between the two of had taken its toll on her. Oh, why had she so foolishly rang his number? What was she supposed to say. "By the way, Michael, your wife is pregnant with another man's baby, but she isn't going to tell you."

How well would any man respond to that bit of relayed information in the middle of the night? No, it would have to wait. And if she did finally get the courage to tell him, would Jess ever speak to her again? Which was most important, Dana's oldest friendship, or her own sense of marital justice?

Blake was no longer softly snoring when she returned to bed, gently placing her phone on the end table.

"Who was that calling?" he mumbled.

"Nobody." Dana crawled over to his side.

Blake stiffened, "Car warranty companies don't call in the middle of the night."

Dana straitened, offended at his jealous tone. "It was Michael. He and Jess have been having another rough patch."

"You shouldn't get involved. You care too much, and people take advantage of it." Blake swung his arm across the bed pulling her close again.

"Michael wants to work it out, but I'm not sure Jess is willing to." Dana confided.

"He needs to stop calling you, and call his own wife. Especially at this time of night." She couldn't see Blake in the dark, but she could hear the annoyance in his voice. She didn't dare tell him that she had called Michael first this time.

"Blake, Jess is pregnant." There, she'd finally breathed life into the secret in the quiet stillness of the night, if not to Michael, then at least to someone.

"Another reason for them to work it out then." Blake suggested.

"It's not his." Dana added.

"Does he know?" Blake asked, sitting up.

"No, and I'm the only other person who does, that I know of." Dana finished, shivering again, whether from the cold or just anxiety she wasn't sure.

"I don't want you in the middle of their mess." Blake stated, pulling the covers up over the two of them. Dana blinked back tears for the second time in the last twenty four hours, silently wishing she hadn't told him after all.

The next morning when she blinked sleepily awake, Blake had already left for work. She had continued to toss and turn all night long, and was looking forward to some morning coffee.

As Dana sat at her kitchen table, enjoying the strong roasted Colombian bean aroma, her doorbell rang. She rose to answer it, surprised to see Michael standing on her doorstep.

"Do you mind if I come in?" He stared down at his feet.

"Well, I'm not really dressed for company." Dana admitted sheepishly. A car horn honked in the distance, and the neighbor's dog yipped at them from the window next door.

"I won't be long." He glanced down the street, reluctant to meet her gaze.

Dana opened the door and gestured for him to have a seat in the kitchen as she poured him a cup of coffee. She was embarrassed to be seen in her pajamas even if they were perfectly decent.

"Dana, I didn't know how to tell you, so I'm just going to start with this." Michael slowly pulled a rumpled picture from his coat pocket and placed it on the breakfast table.

"No! It's not true!" Dana gingerly touched the photograph with her pointer finger, turning it this way, and then that. Twisting it, as it did her heart. Looking at it from every possible angle. There was no denying who the father of Jess's child was. Her elbow bumped her coffee cup, it's foamy contents sloshing over and scalding her arm. She didn't feel a thing, she was too numb inside.

"I'm sorry." He said, gently mopping up the hot spilled drink with a nearby paper towel.

"I feel so..." Dana realized there were no words to describe her anger and helplessness.

"Betrayed." Michael supplied.