Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I have worked, and become close friends with a woman, Larla, over the last ~10 years. She's had a live-in partner for close to 20 years (they've never married). He's a lovely guy, we've all socialized together, they've been to my house for major holidays, etc.
Anyway, I had an event (networking type of thing) to go to tonight after work with another coworker, Michelle. Larla knew where we were going and where it was going to be held. Midway through the day, she sends both Michelle and I a message saying that her spouse might be at this event we're headed to, and if we see him would we please cover for her. Apparently several weeks ago she told her spouse that she and Michelle had to travel to a work event together. At the same time, she was telling all of us at work that she was going out of town for a getaway with spouse and his relatives who were here from out of town.
Now, I know that Larlas had a really difficult time of it lately. She and her spouse have both had very ill parents for years that have required a lot of care, been in and out of hospitals, and one passed away. She's been under a lot of pressure at work, too. I can understand why she might need to get away, but beyond that I'm kind of at a loss.
Do I ask her what the hell is going on now that I know this? Just pretend like it didn't happen? She obviously didn't want to share this with me, and only did so because she thought we might see her spouse. I'd like to be a good friend here but I'm not sure exactly what that entails under these circumstances. Is she cheating? If so I don't know if I want to know and be put in the position of keeping that secret, so I'm not sure I want to ask more questions. But if you're so stressed (and she has very legitimate reasons to be) that you're lying to everyone to run away for a few days, maybe it has nothing to do with cheating but you're on the verge of some kind of breakdown and need someone to talk to?
Happened to me, too. Though the event was a getaway that I had to cancel on so two other women also backed out, but “Jane” still went and even made fake social media posts to cover her tracks. She also lied about what happened to our deposit. Ultimately, I decided that I felt uncomfortable with deceiving her SO. We are no longer friends.