A man can go from being a lover to being a stranger in three moves flat…but a woman under the guise of friendship will engage in acts of duplicity which come to light very much later. - Anita Brookner
“We’re going to have to move soon; I really think Eleanor is beginning to suspect.”
“What makes you think that?” asked Hazel, handing him his drink and then moving behind him to rub his shoulders.
“Nothing I can really explain,” he said, then after a sip: “When you’ve been married to somebody for twenty-seven years, you get to know all her little ways, and you notice when they change. You were married before, you know what I mean.”
“Yes. But how do you know she isn’t cheating on you, too?”
Ted laughed. “You don’t know Eleanor; she’s as cold a fish as there is. We were both virgins when we got married, and once we were done having kids she just wasn’t interested any more. I’ve already told you this more than once.”
“There’s no need to get testy,” she said reassuringly. “I just want you to consider all the possibilities so you don’t start acting nervous and setting off her radar.”
“Like I said, I think I already have. Oh, I’ve been very careful; before I met you I saw escorts for years, and before that I had cultivated a pattern of not really telling her much about my comings and goings. And since she leaves the money to me, it’s always been easy to use as much as I want without her being the wiser. But lately, she’s been requesting a lot more money for all sorts of things, as if she’s trying to probe the state of our finances.”
“Has she been questioning you or anything like that?” 
“No, she wouldn’t. Eleanor is maddeningly indirect; she never makes a statement when an insinuation will do, and whenever she’s angry at me it always takes me days to figure out why. I’ll never understand why so many women are like that; is it something on the X chromosome?”
“You have an X chromosome as well, Ted.”
“I know, but maybe something on the Y cancels it out. Maybe real sneakiness requires a double X.”
“Oh, really! Now you’re just being ridiculous. I’m relatively straightforward, and you’re extremely sneaky; if quietly converting most of your investments to negotiable form so you can fly off to Tahiti with your mistress doesn’t qualify, I can’t imagine what would.”
Ted looked as though he had been slapped. “I’m not leaving her destitute,” he said quietly; “In fact, as per your suggestion I transferred the house and several large investments into her name. I just want to divide the money fairly rather than leaving it to courts and lawyers who would probably give her everything.”
“Oh, I’m sorry!” she said, hugging him closely. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. It’s just that I feel nervous, too, and dumb female stereotypes always get me irritated. Please forgive me.”
“See, Hazel, this is what I’m talking about. You know how many women would apologize like you just did? Practically none. That’s not a stereotype, it’s just the truth; men usually end up having to apologize no matter who was wrong. I don’t think you really understand how different you are from most women. I never believed I would fall in love with anyone ever again, much less want to live my life with her. But you just make me feel so special, so safe. I know I can trust you, and that we won’t end up being strangers sleeping in the same bed like Eleanor and me.”
“I promise you that will never happen,” she said through glistening eyes. And then she kissed him, and for a while there was no more conversation.
****************************************************************
A few days later, though, she brought up the subject again on the airplane. “I just can’t help but feel guilty about what we did. I know the two of you really shouldn’t have married in the first place, and that you haven’t had a sex life in over 15 years. I know the kids are grown up, and we really do love each other, and there really wasn’t a home to break up. But damn, don’t you feel bad about running off with all the negotiables as well as the stuff he put in your name?”
Eleanor shrugged. “Not really. I left documents donating the house back to him, and he’s still under fifty; he has twenty more years to build up again, and with no alimony that’ll be easy with his salary. He’ll be a lot better off in the long run than I would’ve been had he been the one to run off with you as he thought would happen.”
“I suppose you’re right,” sighed Hazel. “But I still feel bad about playing him like I did.”
“No worse than he thought he was playing me,” Eleanor huffed. “He got what he deserved.”
“Maybe,” she replied. “But I guess he was right about women being the sneakier ones, after all.”
