Friends and Fidelity

Jim and Ivy Braddock drove home from the Barbeque at Glenridge Station in silence. Concentrating on the road Jim’s tension eased when Ivy rested her hand on his thigh. He couldn’t help but think about Toni and Richie. He knew something was wrong with Richie when he talked to him early in the afternoon. When he overheard Ivy’s conversation with Toni about Ritchie’s infidelity he suddenly felt as though he didn’t know Richie at all.

To Jim marriage was sacred; the idea of violating the sanctity and trust of that bond was something alien to him. He of course knew that infidelity occurred in marriages. But to have it occur in the marriage of close personal friends, well it was sobering. He mulled over the days events as he drove picturing Travis with Toni and Richie with Jan.

Pulling into their driveway he shutoff the car and turned to Ivy. To him she meant everything, she was his best friend, his partner, his wife and now the mother of his child. He had everything he wanted and, in this moment, it all seemed so fragile.

“It won’t happen with us. I promise.”

Ivy had opened her door and was about to get out when she heard him. Settling back in the seat she looked at him as she took his hand in hers.

“Jimmy, I believe you. I have to.”