Episode #55: Flashback to Three Girlfriends

*The following story is true. Names and locations have been changed or withheld to protect the innocent.

In a large metropolitan city, at a small international company, there were three women. At one time, these ladies did not get along. But, after a while, they all found common ground in which they became friends. One lady was an executive assistant, wife and mother of 2. We’ll call her Mandy. One lady was an executive assistant, wife and mother of 1. We’ll call her Candy. And the third was a department manager and wife. We’ll call her Soap.

As these three women became friends, one common topic of conversation was marriage. Soap’s husband had just left to move 2,000 miles away. Candy and her husband very rarely got along. And Mandy… well, it appeared that she had the perfect husband and the perfect life. She was just tired of being “Mommy”.

As time went on, these three girls became great friends. They spent time together at work and not at work. Because of their positions, there were a lot of work functions where they were some of the only women there. At these functions, they were surrounded by salesmen who flirted, spent money on them, and were just a fun group of guys.

At one particularly large work function, there were salesmen from out of town. The three girls decided no one wanted to go home that night, so they got a hotel room at the event venue. And that was the night that started another commonality. By the end of the night, 2 of the girlfriends had started extramarital relationships.

Ultimately, all three of the girls had one. What is interesting is what happened in the end. Mandy had the most long-term (and twisted) relationship. She integrated her boyfriend into her life, had him over for parties, he joined her family at church on Sundays. Just about everyone at work suspected the relationship between Mandy and this person, but they denied it. After months of this, Mandy found herself pregnant and not entirely sure who the father was.

Candy’s boyfriend lived out of state and was also married. They took a few weekend trips to meet in the middle. Thanks for phone calls and emails and his need to come to town for business, they kept the relationship going. Candy was falling for this guy faster than gravity could pull her and it was a wonder how long this could keep going.

Soap had it a little easier since her husband lived out of state and never came to visit her. She and her guy went out, hung out, and just had fun. He was also married (though unhappily), but a dreamer. He talked of dreams of him and Soap being together. Though she was enjoying her relationship with this man, she knew in the back of her mind, she was going to leave and join her husband for one last try.

At one lunch, the three girlfriends talked about their situations and wondered how all this would end. Would all three of them stay married to their husbands? Or were they all going to walk away and try to start a new life with Man #2?

In the end, it was mixed. Mandy, before her baby was born, broke it off with her boyfriend (he did become a little psychotic) and recommitted to her husband. He never found out about the affair and secretive testing after the birth of her baby proved it was her husband’s child. She is now a happy stay-at home mom.

Candy and her husband did not make it much longer. They had a very nasty split and are still fighting over custody of their child. Her boyfriend also left his wife. He quit his job and got a new one in the same city as Candy. They are now living very happily together, with their kids getting long great and everyone enjoying life.

Soap did leave the city and tried to make it work with her husband. The man she was seeing wanted to wait for her, but they did not stay in touch very long. If you read this blog, you know Soap’s marriage did not last either. And almost a year after the split was started, she has found herself a wonderful man that makes her happier than she thought was even possible.

At the time, I don’t think any of the three girlfriends could have predicted how it would end. They don’t talk much (if at all), and no one really mentions what happened during that time. There was one conversation at lunch about how interesting it would be to put our stories in writing. Years later, here it is. Fortunately, we now know we are all happy. Because, in the end, that is what we all wanted.

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