The Internet Masquerade

Do you ever really see it before it happens?

You can feel it coming, you can sense when it's close and you know when it's gone.

But right before it hits you, can you really see it before it happens?

She got dressed that morning feeling like something was about to change.

She stopped in her tracks and looked in the mirror.

Age, she thought, inevitable.

Life changing, soul altering, leaves us all rearranging.

Putting the past behind us, letting go of issues that keep us weighed down.

Light weight, she thought. Need to get on track with this.

Light weight.

Gathering up her belongings, preparing for the long train ride home.

She glanced back one last time before closing the heavy, wooden door.

It feels different, she thought. It's so much heavier than usual.

She leaves him lying in the bed they shared for many years.

So much joy, yet so many tears.

Rearranging.

She felt it as she put her stockings on. As she put her earrings in.

As she slung her jacket over her shoulder and closed the door.

Heavy, now. Today is different. Today brings change.

She sensed it was close, but she really couldn't see it right before it happened.

She caught a cab to the train station, boarded and settled back.

Listening. Thinking. Arranging.

Getting on the train, even the conductor wasn't the usual guy.

The stops he called sounded strange.

She wasn't ready for this change.

Inevitable, some things are just inevitable, she thought.

She knew about his "side bets" she called them.

Random women, random towns.

"Side bets," one will eventually hit she thought.

Maybe today's pick will be the one.

'But why this particular morning?' she thought.

She still couldn't pinpoint why she felt so odd.

She arrived at her office at the normal time.

Nothing different here.

She went through her files briefly, checked her messages.

All is well, full day ahead of her...nothing different here.

Called her doorman to see if anything unusual had occurred.

Packages? No. Visitors? No.

All is well he said. Nothing different there.

But still that uneasy feeling.

Feeling of not knowing. Feeling of it being close.

She senses the change but she knows she won't see it right before it happens,

Leaves her to him.

She calls, leaves messages. No response. No surprise.

So many years invested in what sometimes seems like nothing.

So different when she's there, so different when she's out of sight.

She's the only one when they are together. She believes that.

But she knows those "side bets" are a click away.

Cyber dating. She shivers at the thought.

So she settles on today will probably be the day.

She senses it coming, but still won't know until it hits.

He woke up with a spring to his step.

Something new, he thought.

Can't blame me, it's been coming for awhile.

He laced up his shoes and put his jacket on.

Sees the answering machine blinking, he knows it's her.

It's only been a few hours, what could it possibly be?

He ignores it again, feels a little remorse, but not enough to stop him.

Checks his watch. Lunch.

Lunch is waiting.

One glance back at the bed he shared with her for many years.

So much joy, yet so many tears.

Getting her to commit has been an upward battle.

'Maybe had I been true to her it wouldn't have been so hard,' he thought.

Trying to make her see past the Internet nonsense.

The other women were just pastime, they didn't exist.

But convincing her was a struggle and one he couldn't fight anymore.

Loving someone shouldn't be so hard, it's not supposed to be work.

And that was where he was wrong

Good things take work.

Great things are the rewards from good work.

Love is always a work in progress.

Love and commitment will never be easy.

It may be easy to love someone.

It may be easy to commit.

It's staying true and committed that takes work.

He felt it coming, he senses it near, he just couldn't see it before it hit him.

He got in his sports car and checked his watch.

Lunch, right on time.

The "side bet" he is meeting is just arriving at the meeting place.

Another internet hook up, he thought.

Another pretty face.

She also leaves behind a significant other left to stir.

Funny thing is he won't see it coming until it hits him either.

A vicious circle of never-ending promises, broken commitments,

and broken hearts in this Internet Masquerade.

He arrives at the meeting place and sees her waiting.

He smiles as he pulls over and gets out of the car.

She smiles and offers a short wave.

Could this be it they both thought simultaneously.

No remorse, No guilt. No charades.

All part of this Internet Masquerade.

They won't know until it hits them.

No shame in the game.

Meanwhile, his lover's heart skips a beat.

And the overwhelming feeling she feels stops her dead in her tracks.

Second time today, she thought, and she knew it was close.

The "side bets" husband stops to look at his watch, knowing but not quite sure.

He took a moment to recall her voicemail.

"Meeting an old college friend for lunch downtown," she said.

He brushed off the feeling he had and proceeded into his office building.

Flowers, he thought, it would be nice to send her some today.

Too little too late.

He buzzes and has his secretary send out a dozen red roses.

Another lie.

Our world is consumed by these lies.

Everyone is covering their tracks.

Same time, same place, he thought, as he pulled over his sports car.

Here we go, he held the door for the new lady he met online.

Another "side bet" she'd say, either way he didn't look back this time.

He gave this one all his attention, and before you knew it they ended up in a hotel room for dessert.

And at the end of their interlude, when he sealed it with a kiss, his lover would know.

And that's just how it ended.

He kissed his new girl goodbye, after making future arrangements.

The roses arrive at her office, too little too late.

And from miles away, she knew, his lover was hit, she now knew.

Her heart skipped a beat, she stopped what she was doing and she knew.

She definitely felt it coming.

She sensed it to be close but she couldn't stop it.

She couldn't see it right before it was happening.

But it was life changing, life rearranging. Life altering.

Unforgiving.

And before she knew it, all the years they spent together were gone.

Like thunder it struck. Boom!

Taking it's time to roll up on her.

And Boom! This life altering moment hit.

The exact moment he moved on to the next lover.

Her world was shaken, it was rocked.

All their lives would now be different.

Life changing. Life rearranging; the Internet Masquerade.

She knew it was coming.

Sensed it was close.

And before she knew it, it was gone.