“Men are weak - not you, of course – and they let you down, but just as often it’s the women who’ll really betray you,” she said.
“I know. You’ve said this before,” he said.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Getting sarcastic. He didn’t like it when she got like that. “Am I boring you, sweetheart?”
“No, it’s okay. Go ahead. You were saying. Women will betray you, too. I was listening.”
“That’s right. Like that Tess.”
“Yeah, her.”
“She stole from me.”
“Well…” Technically speaking, he was thinking, then decided it wasn’t worth getting into a debate.
“That’s basically what she did,” she said. “That money was mine. She had no business hanging on to it herself.”
“It’s not like she spent it on herself. She did use it to-”
“Enough! It makes me crazy, the more I think about it. And I don’t appreciate you defending her.”
“I’m not defending her,” he said.
“She should have found a way to tell me and make things right.”
And how would she have done that, he wondered. But he said nothing.
“Are you there?” she said.
“I’m still here.”
“Was there something you wanted to say?”
“Nothing. Just…well, that would have been a bit tricky, don’t you think?”
“I can’t talk to you sometimes,” she said. “Call me tomorrow. If I need some intelligent conversation in the meantime, I’ll talk to the mirror.”