Read Love Triangle: Three Sides to the Story for Free Online Page A

heart.
    “That’s good,” she looked at me fully, her face set in friendly lines. “I know I am not your favourite person, Marie, but I have to tell you this.”
    “Okay,” I gave her one of my monosyllabic answers.
    “My husband cheated on me for years”
    I gasped and looked at her fully. I was surprised that she knew and even more surprised that she would say it out loud to me.
    She half-smiled. “I know that you know. Hell, the whole district knows. Her name was Bertha.”
    I held my head in my hands and stared at my overlong toe nails.
    “Can you imagine your man taking up with a lady whose name is Bertha? My grandfather had a cow on his farm whose name was Bertha. I preferred to think of her as a cow-looking woman with little sense. I buried my head in the sand. Then one day I met Bertha.”
    “You met her?” I asked curiously.
    “Oh yes.” Mrs. Cameron crossed her legs and leaned back on the step. “She was a beautiful woman with a tremulous smile. She confessed that she loved Norman and that he loved her too and they did not want to hurt me.”
    “What did you do?” I wanted to know. These days I felt indignant on behalf of all the wives who were two-timed and left to pick up the pieces.
    “I cried for months, I threw tantrums, I made his life a living hell,” she grinned. “He did not leave me for his Bertha, even when I was a nag and a bore and I decided if the man can still stay with me when I was at my worst, then it must be worth something.”
    “You should have left him,” I said with finality, “he was with that woman for close to five years.”
    “I loved, love him and he was with me for close to forty so I waged a campaign to get him back. I knew him better than Bertha ever would, so I won him back fair and square, and Bertha the cow is no longer an issue.”
    “And the moral of the story is?” I asked sarcastically. I was in no mood to hear about fighting for something that was already mine.
    “If you love him, you’ll fight for him.” She smiled and patted my leg.
    “Karen is no longer an issue,” I mumbled, “he fired her two months ago. I personally went to the bank to check.”
    “And if she was still an issue?” Mrs. Cameron raised her eyebrows.
    “I would pack my bags and leave. I am not into self-sacrificing and staying for the children.”
    “It’s probably too soon after the event to have this conversation with you.” She got up reluctantly and gave me a vague look of sorrow and went into the house.
    “What did that mean?”
    I was so suspicious of everything these days that the moment anything seemed even remotely mysterious I would tear it apart, piece by piece. I was so busy unravelling the conversation with Mrs. Cameron that I did not even hear when George pulled up in the garage or feel his presence at my back. He cleared his throat and I jumped.
    “Are you trying to kill me?” I yelled.
    “No.” He seemed to move with great effort and his expression was pained. “Will you ever trust me and respect me again?”
    “I don’t know,” I answered reluctantly. “What are you doing home so early?”
    “I … well … ” he stammered his way through. “I … well … ”
    “Don’t tell me you are cheating on me again,” I said spitefully, stressing the word cheating . “What’s her name? Let’s see you had a K last time so this time it’s an L. Is it Lolita or Loraine?”
    I knew I was being unnecessarily bitter, but everything he did was suspect.
    “Marie, you have to stop this.” George was looking at me earnestly. “The children are in the house. We have never had a fight before them, but each day it seems as if you want to lash out at me in front of them.”
    “Oh, I should shut off my feelings and pretend to be happy for the children,” I hissed at him. “Are you implying that I am trying to break up this family?”
    “No, Marie. I did not say that but you refuse to come to the counsellor since the last session, and everyone can see