And if they had discussed something more complicated behind my back, I wanted to know the truth before I made any decisions about my future.
I didn’t intend to hurt anyone.
I didn’t want revenge for the sake of revenge.
I wanted the truth.
And I had a feeling that, once the truth appeared, none of us would be able to pretend that everything was normal.
The Rules of the Swap
The four of us met on Thursday evening to discuss the arrangements.
Nancy arrived wearing a cream-colored blouse and carrying a bottle of wine. Alex followed her inside, greeting Sean with the easy familiarity of someone who believed he had already won an argument.
Everyone acted cheerful.
Too cheerful.
Sean opened the wine.
Alex joked about how strange the next week would be.
Nancy asked whether I had started packing.
I watched them carefully.
They seemed less nervous than I expected.
