All Said and Done

“Hey, Lydia!”

“Hey, Gem! What’s going on? I haven’t seen you for a while.”

“Yah, I went on a business trip.”

“Really? I didn’t know you went on business trips.”

“It’s one of my new responsibilities with the promotion.”

“Where’d you go?”

“Hawaii.”

“That must have been great.”

“Actually, something happened there I was hoping you could help me with.”

“What’s that?”

“There was a guy there that kept throwing himself at me. I told him I had a boyfriend, but he didn’t care.”

“Was he good looking?”

“Yeah.”

“You should have sent him my way. I would have taken care of him for you.”

“Wish I had. Actually, he was always trying to get up real close to me. Finally, he just walked up one time and kissed me. After I pried him off of me I saw some other guy with a camera taking pictures of us.”

“Whoa. What’d you do?”

“I chased the guy with the camera, but he disappeared. I’m not sure what to do. I think somebody is going to try to blackmail me.”

“Have you told Don?”

“No. He gets jealous, and I’m afraid he won’t believe me. Actually, we got engaged right before I left for Hawaii.”

“That’s great! Congratulations. That would be pretty rough if you lost him now.”

“Yeah. What do you think I should do?”

“You got to tell him, Gem.”

“What if he doesn’t believe me?”

“He might have a hard time believing you, but I think he will eventually. If you’re going to get married, you have to trust each other enough that neither one of you would ever believe that the other person could be unfaithful.”

“Is that the way it is with you and John?”

“Yeah. Even if he did ever do anything wrong, I wouldn’t believe it until he admitted it to me or I saw it with my own eyes. Trust comes from knowing another person so well that you know exactly how they are going to react in any situation. And knowing someone that well comes from loving them so much that you want to spend a lot of time with them, even though you know things won’t be perfect all the time. If Don loves you that much then he will trust you. From what I’ve seen, I think he does love you that much. Besides, think of what will happen if you don’t tell him. If he finds out about the pictures some other way then he will have a much harder time believing you.”

“You’re right. I’m going to have to tell him.”

“If I were you, I’d tell him as soon as possible. You don’t know when or where the person who took those pictures is going to show up.”

“Thanks for your help, Lydia.”

“Sure, no problem. We’ll see ya later.”

“Bye.”



“Hon?”

“Hey, beautiful.”

“Can I talk to you?”

“Of course.”

“You know my business trip to Hawaii?”

“Uh-huh.”
“Well, there was this guy there in Hawaii who kept throwing himself at me the whole time. I kept telling him that I had a boyfriend, but he just ignored me. Then I saw a man taking pictures of us once. Um, there’s some pretty . . . um . . . well, suggestive pictures. I don’t know what the guy is planning to do with them. Maybe he wants to blackmail me or something.”

“Wow . . . um, . . .wow. So, what do you want me to do?”

“Well, . . . just believe me, I guess. Like I said, I don’t know what he’s planning to do with the pictures, but I’m sure it has something to do with you. But if you believe me, then he can’t do anything with them.”

“That’s true. Huh. Okay, um, look me in the eyes and tell me that you would never cheat on me.”

“I would rather die than hurt you like that. I love you so much. Do you believe me?”

“Whoa! Why are you crying? Of course I believe you. I’d be a fool not to. I love you, too. Come here. Don’t worry. No matter what happens, I won’t leave you.”



“Hi, sweetheart.”

“Mom! Hi, what are you doing here?”

“I just thought I’d come see how you were doing?”

“I’m great! Did you see Lydia when you were coming in?”

“Yes, I did.”

“I can’t believe I’m marrying such a wonderful girl.”

“Um, actually, I wanted to talk to you about her.”

“Okay?”

“You know she just returned from Hawaii.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’ve been suspicious from the start about whether she really wants to marry you, or whether she just wants to marry into our family for the money, so––

“Mom! You’re crazy! You know Lydia’s family has plenty of money, and she makes a good salary herself with her job.”

“Well . . . yes, but you never know for sure. I mean, some people are really greedy, or there might be some other reason she wants to marry you, and you can never know for sure.”

“There is another reason, mom. She loves me, and I love her.”

“Are you sure, Don?”

“Of course, I’m sure. I can’t believe you’re saying all this, mom!”

“You know, sweetheart, sometimes it can seem––

“Mom, stop this right now. I’m getting married to Lydia. She loves me and I trust her completely. Nothing you can say can change that.”

“Don, listen to me. I know you love Lydia, but you need to face the truth. She’s not good enough for you, and I can prove it.”

“No you can’t!”

“Of course I can. What makes you think I can’t? You don’t know what I’m about to show you.”

“I’m afraid that I might.”

“What?”

“Are those pictures, mom? Yes, those things that you just reached for in your purse. Are those pictures of Lydia and another man in Hawaii? Oh, mom, how could you do this?”

“Honey, I’m not doing anything! It’s your girlfriend who’s doing it. I’ve been trying to tell you. She’s cheating on you. You’ve just got engaged, and she’s cheating on you. . . . Don?”

“How could you?”

“Stop saying that! Just look. Then you’ll know for yourself.”

“No, mom. I don’t want to see your pictures. I already know what’s in them. Lydia told me all about it.”

“Don––

“No, mom, that’s enough. Take your pictures and go home. Just . . . just go.”



“Lydia? I just had to call and tell you that someone brought the pictures by. . . . Yeah, the ones from Hawaii. They were trying to convince me that you had cheated on me, but I didn’t believe them. You don’t have to worry about those pictures any more. . . .What? . . . No, I didn’t know who it was.”