"Hi." The blonde gave a brilliant smile, showing off her perfect teeth. "I'm Candy. Leslie told me you needed a ride to work. He had an important appointment to go to this morning."
"So he sent you to pick me up instead?" Janet was still too startled to have truly absorbed the new information.
"That's right! Are you ready to go?"
"Sure! Just let me grab a few things." Janet took an apple and a Twinkie from the kitchen for her lunch at work, threw her keys into her purse, and followed Candy back out to the car.
He never told me his friend who owned a car was one of his female co-workers, Janet thought to herself as she got into the front seat beside Candy. I wonder how good of a friend she is. "So how long have you known Leslie?" she asked as Candy drove along.
"Since right before Christmas," the blonde replied. "He's such a nice guy, isn't he? He's bailed me out more times than I can count. The least I could do was to loan him my car when he asked me."
What in the world did she mean by that? wondered Janet. While Candy was waiting for the light to change, she used the opportunity to re-apply her lipstick, and at the same time, Janet noticed a piece of paper sticking up from between the car seat and the center console and, on impulse, grabbed it and stuffed it into her purse.
She felt guilty right away. I shouldn't have taken it, she told herself. It doesn't belong to me. It's none of my business what it is. Still, she couldn't shake her concern about Candy's relationship with Leslie, and any worries over the integrity of her actions were more than balanced out by that uncertainty. "Thank you very much!" Janet said when they reached the flower shop.
"No problem," Candy replied.
Janet grabbed her crutches and hobbled into the flower shop and was soon so busy at work that she'd quite forgotten about the piece of paper. At lunch, she had a sandwich from the small cafeteria beside the flower shop and, while eating her apple afterwards, suddenly remembered the piece of paper, took it out of her purse, and opened it. She saw that it was a letter and couldn't resist reading it.
Dear Candy,
I want to thank you for the most memorable night of my life. I've been with plenty of women, but after being with you, I know I'll never want anyone else again. I can't wait until the next time we're together. I know our next lovemaking session will be even better than the first one.
Love,
L
Devastated, Janet ripped the letter into tiny pieces and threw it away as she burst into sobs. How could he? she agonized. I thought I knew him! Too distraught to finish her work day, she called a taxi to take her home, where she spent the afternoon trying to watch television but was unable to concentrate.
Jack came home at the usual time to find her sitting on the sofa with the most woebegone expression he'd ever seen. "Why the long face?" he asked.
"Men!" Janet exploded.
"All right, what did he do?" asked Jack.
"He's having an affair with Candy!" Janet spat.
"Who?"
"Candy, this girl he works with," Janet replied. "He had to go to an appointment today, so he asked her to pick me up and take me to the flower shop. I found this letter folded up inside her car and read it on my lunch break. He t-told her that he'd never want any other woman but her again!" Suddenly she was sobbing even more loudly than she had earlier while Jack awkwardly attempted to comfort her. A moment or so later, the doorbell rang and Jack opened the door.
"Hi! Is Janet here?" asked Leslie.
"Tell him to go away!" Janet cried. "I never want to see him again in my life!"
"You heard her," Jack said to Leslie. With a bewildered shrug, the Englishman went to his own apartment.
Terri arrived much later, accompanied by Nigel. The sight of Leslie's brother was like a knife through Janet's heart. Nigel and Terri were having such a good time talking and laughing together that Terri didn't even notice Janet's glum expression until after Nigel had left.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Leslie's having an affair with a girl that he works with at Sammy's," Jack said through his teeth.
"Oh, no!" Terri exclaimed. "You're kidding me!"
Janet shook her head miserably. "I found a note he wrote to her."
Terri frowned. "Where?"
"It was stuck down beside the seat in her car."
"And you just took it and read it without even asking her?" Terri was incredulous.
Janet nodded. "I knew it was wrong, but I just couldn't help myself. Now I'm glad I took it, because if I hadn't, I never would have found out the truth about them."
"Oh, Janet, I'm so sorry!" Terri went to her friend and embraced her, and Janet cried on her shoulder.
Puzzled, Leslie decided to give Candy a call. "Hi, this is Leslie," he said when she answered the telephone. "I was wondering, did Janet seem all right when you took her to work and brought her back today?"
"She seemed fine to me on the way to work," Candy told him. "But she wasn't there at all when I went back to pick her up in the afternoon. One of her co-workers told me she got really upset at lunchtime and left early."
"Did they say why she was upset?"
"No, why?"
"She refused to even talk to me when I popped in to see her this evening. I simply can't imagine why she's so angry at me." He wondered what to do about picking her up for work the following morning and decided that it would be best to just leave her on her on for now.
