Walking Their Own Paths

Hazel Fresco, Jack Brook’s wife, was nestled in the arms of a young man named Bennett Oldham.

“Mrs. Brook, your dessert is here.”

Kai glanced across the crowd and set the dessert on the table with his head lowered.

Hazel took it and placed it in front of Bennett.

“Your favorite mango shaved ice is here. I heard it was the last one, so good thing I gave the kitchen a heads-up. Otherwise, you’d throw a fit if you couldn’t have it.”

She affectionately pinched Bennett’s nose and added, “But you can’t have too much. You’ve got a cold, so take it easy on the cold stuff.”

Bennett said, displeased, “You promised me I could eat whatever I wanted on my birthday!”

My high school best friend, Alex Clare, spoke up for her with a smile. “Hazel is just looking out for you. You’re still sick. If you ate something and it made you worse, she’d be devastated.”

A few women close to her also spoke up for her. “Bennett, come on, that’s not fair. Don’t you know how much you mean to her?

“Your birthday landed on the same day as Hazel and Jack’s anniversary, and she stood him up just to be with you. Doesn’t that prove how much she loves you?

“Because of you, every time Hazel sleeps with Jack, she takes the morning-after pill. She even had Alex tell him he’s got a condition that makes him infertile, so he’s been thinking it was his fault this whole time!

“But Hazel, when are you going to come clean with your husband? You can’t keep this from him forever.”

Hazel scooped up a spoonful of dessert and gently held it to Bennett’s lips as she said dotingly, “Let’s wait until I’ve had Ben’s baby. Then, I’ll bring him and the kid back with me.

“Jack thinks he can’t have kids. Maybe he’ll accept Ben’s child and mine.”

Jack’s face went deathly pale.

Even his hand, which was gripping the door handle, trembled uncontrollably.

He had known Hazel for ten years and been married to her for five. She had never once gotten pregnant.

He had gone to the hospital and asked Alex to run tests on him. Alex had pulled out a stack of test reports and said that he was the infertile one.

So, he had always believed it was his fault. He kept taking medication and getting injections.

He had suffered so much, yet he still had not been able to get Hazel pregnant.

Because of that, he had always felt guilty toward Hazel all those years.

Had all of that been a lie?

He could have kids. Hazel had just been secretly taking birth control.

On top of that, she was already pregnant with another man’s child.

Even Alex, his best friend, had helped her lie to him. He had just stood by and watched him suffer all this time.

It felt like a knife to the heart, over and over again.

Before he could even process it all, Kai pushed the door open and came out. When he saw Jack, he panicked.

“Mr. Brook!”

Hearing Kai’s loud voice, everyone in the room looked up as well.

“Oh, my! It really is Jack!”

“Jack, when did you get here?”

Alex also stood up from his chair and held his breath. “Jack, how much did you hear?”

When Hazel looked up and saw Jack standing in the doorway, she looked completely unfazed.

“Honey, since you’ve already seen everything, let me introduce you to Bennett. He’s twenty-one. He went to the same school as you. He’s a few years behind you. Come say hi.”