My best friend believed I was settling in my marriage
The Scent of Deception and the Exposure.
My best friend told me to divorce my husband because he’s too ugly for me while she was literally wearing his cologne. Melissa sat in my kitchen wearing my husband’s Tom Ford cologne and told me I deserved better than someone who looked like him.
“You’re beautiful, successful, could have anyone,” she said, gesturing with my coffee mug.
“Why settle for someone who looks like they got hit with a brick?”
The cologne was unmistakable. Tobacco venil, $350 a bottle. I bought it for James last Christmas. He wore it exactly twice. Once on New Year’s Eve and once to his company dinner in March.
But here was Melissa, my best friend of 15 years, absolutely drenched in it on a random Thursday morning in May. I didn’t say anything about the cologne, just smiled and changed the subject to her new job at the bank.
She kept pushing though, pulled up Instagram profiles of random men. Look at this guy from my gym. Investment banker, 63, actual jawline. Then she started listing James’ supposed flaws. His crooked nose from boxing. The scar above his eyebrow.
His ears that stuck out slightly. How he was only 5′.
“You could do so much better, Ila.”
“I hate seeing you waste your youth on him.”
What Melissa didn’t know was that James and I had been trying for a baby for 3 years. IVF failed four times. We’d spent $80,000. Our marriage was rock solid, built on actual love, not whatever shallow garbage she was spewing.
James might not be conventionally attractive, but he held my hand through every injection, every negative test, every loss. He made me laugh when I wanted to die. He learned to cook 40 different meals when depression killed my appetite.
He never once complained about the cost, or suggested we give up. That same night, James came home without his wedding ring, said it was getting resized. His gym bag had a receipt from Walgreens for cologne, the same cologne Melissa was wearing.
I knew then, but didn’t confront either of them. Instead, I started planning. See, Melissa always wanted what she couldn’t have. In high school, she pursued my prom date after I mentioned I liked him.
In college, she applied to my internship after I got accepted. When I got engaged, she suddenly started dating frantically, desperate to beat me to the altar. Her whole identity revolved around one-upping me. So, I gave her something to really want.
Started posting about how amazing James was. Not fake posts, real ones. Pictures of the surprise trip to Napa he’d booked for my birthday. The Cardier bracelet he bought when I got promoted to regional director.
The handwritten letters he left on my pillow every Friday. Things that were always true but I’d kept private before. Melissa started texting immediately.
“Must be nice.”
“Some people get all the luck.”
“He never did that before.”
That last text was interesting. Before what? Within a week she was openly bitter. She complained that her boyfriend Kyle never did romantic gestures. She started asking specific questions about James’ schedule, his preferences, and his favorite restaurants.
I answered everything honestly, knowing she was taking notes. Two weeks later, James confessed, broke down crying in our bedroom. Said Melissa had been pursuing him for months. It started with innocent texts about planning my surprise birthday party.
It escalated to showing up at his gym, his office, and the coffee shop he went to every morning. She told him I was cheating with my coworker, Robert. Said she had proof but would only show him in person.
When they met, she tried to kiss him. He pushed her away, but she’d already doused herself in his cologne from his gym bag.
“I’m so sorry,” he sobbed.
“I should have told you immediately.”
“I was scared you’d believe her over me.”
I held him while he cried and told him I already knew. That’s when we planned the vow renewal. Not a real one, just a performance. We announced it at my company party where Melissa was my plus one.
“10 years deserves celebration,” I announced to 50 colleagues, “especially after everything we’ve overcome.”
I made sure to mention the date, the venue, the designer dress, and the $20,000 budget. Melissa’s face went through six different emotions. The next 3 weeks were beautiful. She texted constantly, fishing for details.
What time? Who’s invited? What was James wearing? Where were we honeymooning? I gave her crumbs. It was enough to keep her hooked, but never enough to satisfy. The day before the fake renewal, she broke and called me crying.
“I need to tell you something about James.”
“Oh,” I said, examining my manicure.
“He… He tried to kiss me two months ago.”
“I didn’t want to hurt you, but you’re about to renew vows with a cheater.”
I laughed. Actually laughed.
“Melissa, I know about everything.”
“The texts, the gym stalking, the cologne you stole from his bag.”
“James told me everything.”
Silence. Requested reads is on Spotify now. Check out link in the description or comments. The phone stayed quiet for so long. I checked to make sure the call hadn’t dropped. Then Melissa’s voice came back shaky and wet.
