V Is for Vengeance

trial. An agreement was reached and the business was swept under the carpet.
    At least twice a year some outrageous impropriety would come to light, and the two would busy themselves trading rumors and howling with delight. Nora and Meredith had built an entire relationship on salacious gossip. This allowed the two women to compare notes, test their mutual values, and reinforce shared attitudes, to swap any number of snobbish put-downs. Not that they considered themselves snobs.
    Then Meredith met Abner and within a year the two had abandoned their respective spouses. Nora and Channing had stood for them at a simple ceremony at city hall, followed by an elegant lunch at the Bel-Air Hotel. As Channing and Abner were such good friends, the two women became even closer. Nora had been a staunch support to Meredith after she’d caught Abner in the first affair. The irony wasn’t lost on either one of them. They’d forged a bond based on the misfortunes of others, and Meredith’s suffering now occupied front and center. Nora became her sounding board, counseling her during hour-long telephone conversations and drunken lunches, wherein Nora played life coach and marriage counselor, feeling wise and superior and above it all. Together they analyzed every nuance of Abner’s infatuation with the other woman, who (to their way of thinking) was not only coarse, but had put herself in the hands of the wrong cosmetic surgeon. Problematic was the fact that Meredith loved the lifestyle Abner provided, so once she’d exhausted her emotional responses, she managed to make her peace with his infidelity. Though he never admitted to the affair, he bought her an armload of expensive jewelry and took her on a Silver Seas cruise through the Mediterranean.
    With Meredith’s discovery of affair number two, the same scenes played out. A renewed cycle of tears, rage, and vows of revenge continued during the next few months. Nora found herself bored, though it took her a while to admit it to herself. She wanted to be loyal and sympathetic, but the drama soon became tedious, and she was impatient with the ineffectual anguish and spite. Meredith would never file for divorce so why make such a big deal of it? The breaking point was when Meredith made a scene at a dinner party where the other woman was in attendance. The hostess quickly put a stop to Meredith’s drunken catcalling, but not before she’d made a thorough fool of herself. This offended Nora, who thought Meredith’s conduct was unseemly and unbecoming. Regardless of the righteousness of Meredith’s position, there was the matter of etiquette. In their social circle, everybody was supposed to be too well-bred to expose any unhappiness to public view. Whatever their marital status, whether delirious or disaffected, couples were expected to maintain at least a facade of amicability. No sniping, no zingers, no hostility expressed as teasing or bantering. Nora realized that Meredith had become hooked on playing victim because she loved to occupy center stage. Nora confided this sentiment in a candid conversation with a mutual friend, a moment of openness that turned out to be a miscalculation on her part. She knew it was indiscreet to pass along information she should have kept to herself, but the other woman had brought it up and Nora couldn’t resist. Somehow Meredith had gotten wind of it, and she and Nora had had a huge falling-out. Over time they’d mended their fences, but Nora was uncomfortably aware of having failed her friend and was therefore happier keeping her at a distance.
    Channing had invited them up once before without consulting Nora, and she had bitten her tongue. She’d spent two days walking on eggshells, and once Abner and Meredith were out the door, she’d made her feelings known. “Jesus, Channing, the last thing in the world I want is her unloading on me. I feel sorry for her, but I don’t want to be in the position of having to commiserate. If you can avoid inviting them again I’d be grateful.”
    This had apparently annoyed him, though his tone of voice was light. “Just because you and Meredith had a parting of the ways doesn’t mean Abner and I should be penalized.”
    “It’s not a question of penalizing anyone. You have to admit it’s uncomfortable, knowing what Abner’s up to. I mean, what if she asks me outright? What am I supposed to say?”
    “What he does and how she feels about it is none of our business.”
    “Maybe not, but