She rolled her eyes with a dismissive smile and replied, “Employees always exaggerate their experience, just tell Stephen I am here and I will wait in the living room.”
She walked into my living room, sat comfortably on my sofa, and placed her feet on the coffee table that Stephen and I had bought years ago at a yard sale during the first year of our marriage and refinished together in our garage.
“Could you bring me water?” she called out from the sofa, “with lemon, and lots of ice please.”
I brought her a glass of water with lemon and far too much ice exactly as she requested.
She looked at the glass critically and said, “Is Stephen upset with you or something because he does not like things done this way.”
“How does Stephen like things done?” I asked.
“With attention and efficiency, and respect for guests,” she answered confidently.
“Are you a frequent guest here?” I asked calmly.
“I come here every Tuesday and Thursday when his wife is working, and sometimes on Saturdays if she is at book club,” Amber said casually as if reciting a schedule.
I did not have a book club and I had changed my work schedule two months earlier, something Stephen clearly had not noticed.
“You seem to know a lot about his wife,” I said.
Amber laughed and replied, “I know enough, she is older and probably boring, Stephen says he stays with her only because divorce is expensive.”
She continued speaking with the same casual cruelty. “He says she cheated on him years ago and now he feels trapped with a woman who probably does not even know what Botox is.”
I unconsciously touched my face while listening, aware that at thirty seven I certainly had a few lines on my face but I hardly looked disheveled.
“Stephen deserves someone better,” she continued proudly, “someone young and attractive who understands his needs instead of a housewife who probably thinks missionary is a bird.”
“Maybe she works,” I suggested quietly.
Amber laughed again. “Please, Stephen told me she has a tiny little office job somewhere, probably answering phones or something insignificant.”
My little job happened to be running the company I founded eight years earlier, a business with two hundred employees that paid for the house we were standing in as well as Stephen’s car and the failing medical practice he had been running for three years.
“Stephen’s clinic must be very successful,” I said calmly.
Amber shrugged and replied, “Between us things are great, he just needs a woman who pushes him to be ambitious because his wife probably coddles him and pays the bills while he survives on a mediocre salary.”
I walked quietly into the kitchen and pulled out my phone.
Stephen was at his golf club as usual for Saturday mornings.
I sent him a message telling him to come home immediately because there was an emergency with the house.
He replied that he was in the middle of a game. I sent another message saying that the roof of his office had collapsed and that he needed to come home right away. He answered that he would be there in fifteen minutes.
I returned to the living room where Amber was checking her phone. “Stephen is on his way,” I said.
She smiled again and replied, “Perfect, I wanted to surprise him because we are going to Cabo next week, I booked a villa and everything.”
Cabo was beautiful and extremely expensive.
“Stephen pays of course,” she added proudly, “that is what real men do.”
“How long have you been together?” I asked.
“Six months,” she replied happily, “the best six months of my life because he buys me anything I want and takes me to the best restaurants.”
She leaned forward and added proudly, “Did you know he spent eight thousand dollars on a necklace for my birthday?”
I knew that because I had seen the charge on the credit card statement from our joint account.
“That is generous,” I said quietly.
“Yes he is generous with the right woman,” Amber said smugly, “his wife probably gets grocery store flowers and cheap dinners.”
Just then I heard Stephen’s car pulling into the driveway.
Amber jumped up excitedly and called out, “Stephen, surprise!”
Stephen walked through the door looking worried until he saw Amber standing in the living room.
His face turned pale.
Then he saw me.
He became even paler.
“Amber, what are you doing here?” he asked nervously.
“I came to visit you silly, your helper let me in,” she said cheerfully.
“Your helper?” he repeated while staring at me.
I simply smiled.
Amber looked confused while watching Stephen’s expression change again and again.
Stephen finally said quickly, “This is my administrator, she helps with finances and paperwork around the house.”
Amber relaxed slightly and her confident smile began to return.
I lifted my left hand and showed my wedding ring clearly before speaking calmly. “I am his wife, and I have been for twelve years.”
Amber’s face turned completely white.
She staggered backward and grabbed the doorframe for support while her designer handbag fell to the floor.
Stephen tried to say something but I raised my hand and said calmly, “Both of you sit down because we are going to have an adult conversation.”
They sat on opposite ends of the sofa while I remained standing.
I asked Amber to tell me everything about her relationship with Stephen.
She looked at him nervously but he stared at his hands.
Amber finally began speaking in a shaky voice. “We met six months ago during a hospital fundraiser where Stephen was networking for patient referrals.”
She explained that Stephen told her he was unhappily married to an older woman who did not appreciate him.
Stephen tried to interrupt but I stopped him immediately.
I asked Amber about the money and gifts Stephen had given her.
Her voice trembled as she described expensive restaurants, designer shopping trips, the eight thousand dollar necklace, luxury hotels, and the upcoming twelve thousand dollar villa in Cabo.
Tears filled her eyes as she spoke.
I opened the banking application on my phone and showed them the credit card charges.
“Dinner at Bellucci Restaurant, four hundred seventy dollars,” I read aloud.
“Tiffany necklace, eight thousand two hundred dollars.”
“Hotel at the Ritz, six hundred per night.”
Amber looked horrified.
She turned to Stephen and asked, “Did you really spend your wife’s money on me?”
Stephen tried to explain that his medical practice had been struggling but that he would repay everything someday.
I interrupted him again and said calmly, “His clinic has been losing money for three years and I have been paying all the bills.”
Amber looked sick.
I explained that every dinner, gift, and vacation came from the salary I earned running my company.
Amber looked like she might vomit on my sofa.
Stephen sat there silently while his face turned red with anger rather than shame.
Amber began crying loudly and demanded to know what else Stephen had lied about.
Then she mentioned something unexpected.
“Stephen promised he could help my father’s career,” she said.
“What is your father’s name?” I asked.
“Victor Lane,” she replied.
My stomach tightened because Victor Lane worked in the operations department of my company.
I looked at Stephen and asked calmly, “Did you promise promotions in my company to your girlfriend?”
Stephen looked down at the floor and said nothing.
Amber cried harder and called him pathetic.
Finally I told Amber she needed to leave my house immediately.
