Bradley entered the living room, looked steadily at me and said, “Liz, sweetie, have a look at your calendar, Jim and Carla have invited us out this Saturday.”

I looked at my calendar and realized I had time for this, so I agreed.

“What’s up with going to dinner with your co-worker?” I asked.

Bradley sighed as if with relief that I could go. I hadn’t seen him look so chipper and involved in his own life in such a long time. I was happy to see him in such a good mood. Something had changed.

“Oh, just thought we’d try something different.” His said, smiling with delight.

After years of living together in a one-bedroom apartment, our relationship had hit an open road. A long stretch of not much happening. No place to turn off or turn around, so we just kept going.  I worked days at the insurance company and he worked afternoons at the mall. He was a suit salesman, not by intention, but because it was the best job he could find in a challenging economy. We shared the bills, ordered pizza every Saturday night and watched movies at home.  It was a cozy existence, but all signs of romance had vanished.

Considering this, I was ready to experience something different on Saturday night. So it was dinner with Jim and Carla. Bradley was delighted, like he hadn’t been in a long time.  They had picked a restaurant in the Great Northern Lights Mall where Bradley and Jim worked. It was fine cuisine, elegant, offering a choice of dishes from around the world: Italian, French, Chinese, Mexican, including a long list of wines and beers.

Bradley took me on his arm and led the way to our reserved table.  Jim took Carla by the arm and led her to her seat. The guys were being so formal.  It made me feel like something special was about to happen. Both men were smiling from ear to ear.  I looked over at Carla, a woman I had never met before, to see if she were picking up on any clues. She looked over at me as if wondering who I was and why we were here today.

As we looked over the menu, I tried to figure out the possibilities. A promotion at work? A raise? Some kind of incredible opportunity?

Bradley smiled and looked down at the menu, “Oh my, look at item 10. It’s Big Happy Family, a combination of lobster, shrimp, chicken and ham. We should have some of that!”

“I like Green Jade,” I said, trying to be sociable, but not in favor of what seemed to me a strange mix of food.

“Big Happy Family. Yeah, let’s see how that works.” Jim said looking across the table at Bradley.

They gave each other one of those “knowing looks.”  I felt like there was another conversation beyond our attempts at conversation. Bradley had always been upfront with me about everything. Now I was beginning to feel there was something going on that I didn’t know about.

Carla looked over at me and glared.

We ordered our meals, and afterward sipped our wine. It was a pleasant dinner complete with the guys talking about baseball scores and golf. We women sipped our wine and waited.

Bradley was the first to speak, but not to Carla or myself, he nodded to Jim. “I suppose now is the time.”

“That’s what we’re here for,” Jim replied.

I looked over at Carla. She sat up and braced herself. I looked questioningly at Bradley for an answer.

“We are lovers,” Bradley announce.

“Yes, we are, I guess,” I innocently replied with a smile.  It felt so false. I began thinking how Bradley and I hadn’t really been very affectionate in several years. We appeared to be lovers.

Carla was much more aware than I was.  “You two men are lovers?” She asked. It seemed as if the hair was standing up on her back, her shoulders rose so sharply. “I’m having nothing to do with this,” she announced. “I have a daughter. I thought I had a man who loved me. But apparently not.”

I looked at Bradley. He looked me deep in the eyes, like we were old friends and he expected me to understand. “Liz, we thought it would be wonderful. We could all love each other.”

I instinctively looked at Carla.  She rebuffed me with a hostile glare. With the realization of what had been indicated, my world was starting to tilt on its axis.

“I’m having none of this,” she announced.  “Divorce papers will be on their way shortly.”

I nodded sympathetically toward her. She had invested in her relationship with Jim, to the point of having a child, only to discover her husband was having an affair with my—live-in-boyfriend? 

Wow, was I glad I hadn’t married Bradley. The things you sometimes don’t know about people!

But being the amateur psychologist/anthropologist that I was, I began to wonder if someday relationships like this could be accepted.  Bradley, what a guy! A truly nice person. All he and Jim wanted was a big happy family.