Free Rachel's Folly by Monica Bruno

getting divorced.” She sounded remorseful, but then she got defensive. “But there’s just no passion in our marriage anymore. We’ve been more like buddies than lovers for years now. Other than our sons, we have absolutely nothing in common.”
    “What about marriage counseling?”
    “Oh, we’re way past that.” Lisa shifted her full-figured body uncomfortably in her chair. “Look, I know what you’re getting at and this all must sound so ridiculous, but I’m not here to talk about my husband.” She fidgeted in her seat again and tossed back her dark red hair over one shoulder. “Do you think Keith is ever going to leave his wife? I mean, I get that she’s recovering from breast cancer, but he never wants to talk about the future. Every time I bring it up, he says we should just live in the moment.”
    “And how does that make you feel?” Rachel looked at Lisa expectantly, knowing this question would probably provoke her to open up about her expectations for the affair.
    As Lisa went on venting her frustrations, Rachel thought about how differently she would have felt about Lisa’s dilemma a few months ago. Although she had always tried to remain neutral during her sessions, sometimes during her clients’ confessions about infidelity, she couldn’t help but feel a little irritated. She saw quite a few women, usually in their late thirties or early forties, having incredibly risky affairs, most of which did not end well. The reasons for their infidelity ranged, but most were just feeling stuck in their marriages, looking for excitement in their lives. But now sitting there listening to Lisa, Rachel felt uncomfortable. She used to tell her clients that their thoughts drove their behavior. They were, literally, whatever they thought about. She suggested they only needed to stop thinking about the person and eventually their feelings would go away. But now, she knew just how daunting that task really was. She couldn’t get Jack out of her head, and she knew better. She considered herself happily married, so her previous beliefs about why women cheated were now muddled. She thought maybe the true reason why some people cheat might be so buried inside, it would take years to uncover. Or maybe, just maybe, there was no reason at all.
    She didn’t feel qualified to dissect other women’s motives anymore. She decided to keep her questions and comments at a superficial level. Luckily, Lisa didn’t seem to notice and left promising to reflect further on her actions and expectations for the affair.
    Once Lisa had gone, Rachel moved over to her desk to check her voicemail before her next appointment arrived. There was just one message: from Elena. Her voice sounded joyful.
    Hey Rach, it’s me. I miss you. It’s been too long since we’ve seen each other. We have extra tickets for La Traviata this Friday. Let’s do an early dinner and then go to the opera. I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer, missy! Call me.
    Rachel’s stomach churned. She quickly erased the message and started to think of an excuse so she wouldn’t have to go, but then realized it had been a while since she and Elena had seen each other. The last time was just a brief visit a few days after Elena returned from her honeymoon. Plus, she had already turned Elena down for dinner on two occasions since then. Surely, Elena would start wondering if Rachel was purposely avoiding her, which of course she was. Rachel realized if she kept dodging, Elena would start suspecting that something was wrong. She sighed and decided to call Mrs. Richards to see if she could watch Jacob on Friday night.
    She stared out the old French window waiting for Agnes to pick up. She watched a gray cat lounging in the shaded grass outside. The cat rolled around, stretched, yawned and occasionally stopped to lick its coat. She envied the cat’s carefree disposition.
    Rachel spoke with Mrs. Richards and thanked her for agreeing to take care of Jacob, then hung up the