Shades of Mendacity

“Emma, we have a 7.30 flight to catch. I hope all is packed and ready”, Jacques voice was visibly loud at the door. In 15 minutes, Emma and Jacques were all set for their 7th vacation since their wedding. This time the destination was Zurich. Earlier that day, when Jacques was finishing his work and assigning “To Dos” to this subordinates, Mr Hoosely, Jacques’ boss asked him whether it was a “re-igniting honeymoon”. “No Sir, it is just a vacation”, Jacques replied in a very subdued manner.

Jacques Bednorz, 34, a cardiologist by profession worked at the famous St Thomas Hospital in Paris and was married to Emma Hamilton for seven years. Emma was six years younger to Jacques and she too had a doctorate from the Dukes University. Emma however taught genetics in St Anne College of Medicine, at the outskirts of Paris. It was in 1995, at a seminar organized by the Paris Doctors’ Association to promote awareness of heart diseases amongst pregnant women did Jacques first meet Emma. Jacques was one of the speakers there.

Both Jacques and Emma had an amazing chemistry running and very soon the journey from a caller to a trusted friend was complete. Friendship turned into love and in the autumn of 1997, Jacques proposed Emma for marriage. Married life wasn’t going to be a “bed of roses” and Emma knew that. Her past was always going to haunt her. Jacques however had a very mature head on his shoulders. He was the forgiving kinds and would never hold the past against any individual, leave alone his love. This comforting factor enabled Emma arrive at a decision – the decision to get married to Jacques.

The initial year of marriage was great both for Jacques and Emma. Despite the fact that they were in love only for a couple of years, Jacques and Emma began discovering new things about themselves, as days passed by. During their second honeymoon to Turin, something had hit Emma. She was not her usual self post the holiday and it took nearly three months for Jacques to sense that. Was she hiding something from him, he wondered.

He knew that most women would seldom reveal the past unless they absolutely trusted the listener. He was always her trust worthy aide, Jacques comforted himself. Jacques garnered all his courage and on a dark rainy night, he decided to speak to her. The weather was not hospitable for a dinner outside, so Jacques made some toast and bacon for dinner and waited for Emma to arrive. The bell rang. Jacques’ heart had not pounded this hard for awhile.

“Hey Emma. Welcome home. I have made some dinner for you….see you at the dining table after your bath. We have to talk” Jacques said. Was the conversation going to be about his usual medicine questions or another vacation, Emma wondered.

Wearing her pink night gown with a towel wrapped around her black hair, Emma approached the dining table with a wine bottle in her hand. As she unscrewed the cap and poured the red wine into two glasses placed at the table, she glanced towards Jacques, “What is the matter Jacques, you seem to be preoccupied”.

“Who is this guy? And are you still in love with him?” Jacques reacted instinctively. Has he seen her with Ruud or has Ruud ditched her and broken it all to Jacques she wondered. “What are you talking about Jacques?” she threaded cautiously. “Emma, I may not know you for a lifetime yet, but I know you for awhile now and what more …you are my wife. Am I not entitled to know about what is upsetting you. I know it is to do with a guy…lets have some honesty in our relationship…atleast I deserve that”, Jacques tone was getting emotional.


“It is Ruud, Jacques”, Emma broke down. “Both of us studied medicine at Dukes...Really loved him. He was a year younger to me although we studied in the same class. We had amazing similarities and everyone at Dukes thought we made an awesome pair”. Jacques continued to listen patiently. “We were extremely passionate about each other and we were never hesitant to exhibit how much we loved each other. It wasn’t one of those candy floss love Jacques, Ruud was everything to me”.

“I forgave him for everything he did…he had a case on drug peddling at Hague running against him, he was one of the men charge sheeted for instigating the October 1992 riots in Amsterdam, something he admitted to me”.

“He was married twice within the age of 22 and had a kid and I did not hold any of the above against him, just loved him unconditionally. And suddenly in the summer of 1994, he was no longer there. Got a mail from him during June 1994 that he had decided to settle down in Rome with a woman elder to him by 8 years. Was not going to forgive him for what he did to me Jacques”, she continued crying profusely. Jacques, who was his calm self, put his hands around her and tried comforting her.

“Met him again in Turin, while doing my routine jog in the morning…you were sleeping then”, she continued. “Felt like a leach sucking my blood when I saw him. Loathe wasn’t the word to describe my feelings for him. And when he said ‘Emma, how are you doing? Missed being with you all these years and know what I am single again’….I froze for a moment. It is difficult to get over the past Jacques and for a woman who is susceptible, it is even difficult”.

“We continue to be in regular touch Jacques. Meet him once a month during the weekends. The university sponsored training trips to Italy were lies, Jacques. I am extremely sorry for being dishonest with you. Am sure you would only hate me”, Emma continued crying.

“Emma, I am not somebody who would hold your past actions against you. If you had continued to love someone after our marriage it only means I have not been able to wholly fulfill your desires, dreams, and aspirations. I have left a vacuum in your life. And don’t think I am going to hate you for liking someone else honey...we are all human beings and are vulnerable…vulnerable to situations, positions and sometimes individuals. I am an honest man and would never mask my love for you. Give me another chance and I shall tell the world how worthy you are”, Jacques said.

“I am fortunate to have you Jacques. Let me try to forget the past and start life afresh and help me through this Jacques”, Emma pleaded. “You can count on me honey” was Jacques’ reassuring response.

The past continued to disturb Jacques. Years had past since the Turin incident but Jacques was not convinced that Emma was out of it.

As both Jacques and Emma jumped onto a Paris taxi to board their 7.30 flight to Zurich, Jacques could see restlessness in Emma’s eyes. She was visibly uncomfortable. He thought this was the moment. “Are you still seeing Ruud?”, he wanted to initiate an eye-to-eye conversation. Emma did not how to respond. Is she going to tell him that she was a distrusted traitor and continued to love Ruud or was she going to lie saying that for professional reasons she has been contemplating awhile to move out of Paris.

Emma took a deep breath. “Yes”, she said “I am still seeing him”. “I know I shouldn’t be doing this to you Jacques. You are the most wonderful person I have ever met. I really love you too Jacques….It is not a weigh scale…but I myself want to get out of this. I know you hate dishonest people, hate people who don’t seek to have candor in relationships… hate people who are back stabbers. But I also know you that you have this wonderful attribute of ‘forgiving individuals’. “I beg your forgiveness Jacques”, tears rolled along Emma’s cheeks. “Can we move out to another part of the world once we are done with this vacation and start life again, Jacques”, Emma asked.

“Emma, everyone has their shade of mendacity. Skeletons surface as time wears on. But know what, time is a wonderful leveler. It moves on and does not wait for anyone. I still wouldn’t hold anything against you because I really love you. Wouldn’t want to lose you for anything in this world...I know getting back to me would take some time. But it is worth the wait”.

“I shall speak to a friend of mine in Melbourne. He runs a hospital there. I am confident that he would accommodate us. We don’t have to even come back to Paris. We can fly directly from Zurich…shall have the packers arrange for the transportation to Melbourne. I really want you to enjoy this trip. Forget the past and garner your reserves because you have a journey called “Life” waiting for you”. Emma felt she was really fortunate to be part of Jacques life. She nodded her head in consent.

The taxi finally reached the airport and Emma passed the baggage for the security check. Jacques went to get the boarding passes, when his cell phone beeped. It was a text message which read “Mission accomplished. Ruud has been killed”. Jacques smirked. The SIM card was quickly destroyed.

Walking swiftly to Emma he said “The flight is on time and promise me that you would enjoy yourself….and never lie to me again”. He winked at the end of the sentence…only he knew what it actually meant.