Mickie nodded but did not offer further comment. Silence was not like her. Discreet silence was really not like her. Then the reason began to crystallize through my considerable cobwebs. “You knew.”
She arched her eyebrows.
“How long have you known?”
She shrugged. “How long have you been dating?”
“What? You think she’s been cheating on me the entire time? I don’t believe it.”
“You’d have to ask her that question, but yes, I think she has been.”
“Why would you think that?”
“The way she interacts with you, the way she treats you.”
“What’s wrong with the way she treats me?” I asked and, under the circumstances, immediately felt like an idiot. Thankfully Mickie did not take the opportunity to beat me senseless with logic.
“She treats you more like a brother than a lover, Sam. You two are more like roommates than soul mates.”
“That’s an exaggeration.”
“Really? Why did she move in?”
“I asked her to.”
“Yes, but why? Did you not say it would save on rent and utilities?”
“It does.”
“And she said it made sense, didn’t she?”
“It did make sense.”
“Yes, if you were business partners, but last I checked that’s not so good a reason for committing to a lifelong relationship together.”
“It doesn’t mean she’s cheating on me.”
Mickie looked exasperated. “She keeps a separate room.”
“She has to get up at four in the morning a lot, and she doesn’t want to wake me.”
“Very considerate of her.”
“It doesn’t mean she’s been cheating on me, either.”
“No, but the guy I saw rubbing up against her on the dance floor at a club a month after she moved in here was a pretty good indication.”
I nearly choked on my eggs. “And you didn’t tell me? You didn’t say anything?”
Mickie got up and retrieved her purse. “I have to go.”
“Wait a minute.” I stood. “You can’t say that and then just walk out.”
She dropped her purse on the couch. “Fine. What was I supposed to say?”
“Oh, I don’t know. How about, ‘Hey Sam, you know that woman you’re about to have your testicles cut off for? She’s cheating on you. She’s been cheating on you’？”
“Don’t drop that in my lap; I had no idea you were stupid enough to contemplate having a vasectomy until I saw it on your calendar.”
“So tell me she’s cheating on me, and maybe I never go down that path.”
“Okay, I tell you. Then what? You just said, ‘I don’t believe it.’ You tell me I’m wrong. You tell me it’s bullshit, that Eva loves you, that you love her. You ask her and she denies it, or she says it was an old friend and maybe I should just mind my own business. She tells you she doesn’t want to be around me. Then what happens to our friendship, Sam? You come to work every day, and we both pretend that nothing has changed? It’s none of my business what she does, Sam; my business is being your partner and your friend.”
“Is that why you’ve never liked her?”
“I’ve never liked her because she’s not good enough for you. You’ve sold yourself short, again. You always have, since high school and that fat chick with the big tits.”