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She stared at the phone in disbelief.  How long had she been standing there, glass shattered on the floor and the phone in her hand?  Long enough for the cola stain to spread beneath her feet, anyway, and her socks were soaked now.  That made her angry, and she ripped them off and threw them across the room.

She should call Betsy back, she new.  Betsy would be frantic wondering if she fainted, or broke the phone, or had a heart attack.  She didn’t want to talk anymore, though, not right now.  That was wrong, she knew – and if she didn’t call, Betsy would be coming over to check on her.  That was much worse.  She dialed the number quickly.

“Claire!  What happened?  Are you all right?” gasped Betsy on the second ring.

“I’m fine, Betsy.  Thanks for letting me know,” answered Claire.

“Well, what are you going to do?  I hate to be the bearer of bad news, you know that, Hon.  I just felt you needed to know what Tom was up to.  He seems so wonderful and all, but to go out on you like this, parading that girl all around town….”

“I know.”  Claire cut her off harshly before she could get rolling again.  “Look, I don’t want to talk right now, OK?  I’ll call you later, I promise.”

“But Hon,” began Betsy, but Claire had already hung up the phone.

Tom and Claire had married three months ago on a sunny Autumn New England day.  It had been a hasty wedding, for Tom’s job relocated him across the country and they only had a short time to finish the move.  Claire’s best friend Sara was her maid of honor, and had worked miracles putting everything together and making the day magic.  Then she had driven them to the airport, hugged them both hard, and waved cheerily as they headed for a new life in Oregon. 

It had rained every day since, and though Tom’s job was going well, Claire could not get settled in.  How she missed Sara!  How she longed for the crisp October skies and crackling leaves of home!  Everything here was sodden; and Betsy, the landlady, was the only woman she knew.  Tom was a wonderful man, gentle and caring and oh, so patient… and, evidently, having an affair with a beautiful blonde.