Friendship Lost: A Lesson in Betrayal

A Helping Hand

It was a cloudy September morning, an obvious sign it would rain. I was dropping my son off at the elementary school and afterward driving to work. I kissed him and promised to pick him up in the afternoon. As I walked towards my car, it began drizzling. Once inside, I noticed a woman struggling to open her vehicle’s window. When suddenly it began raining harder. Without a thought and with my umbrella in hand, I jumped out of my car and walked towards her.

“Hi, can I help you with something?” I asked while shielding her from the rain.

“Thank you. I left my keys attached to the ignition in my rush to bring my daughter to school and my spare key is at home.”

“You can use my phone if you need to call someone.”

“Thanks, but I already called my husband, who is home, but we do not have a second vehicle.”

I don’t know why I did it, but the next thing I heard was myself offering to drive her to home to pick up the spare key.

“I’m on my way to work, but I can take you to pick up your key and bring you back here if you like.”

“That would be wonderful, but I don’t want to impose…”

“No problem. Let me notify my boss that I’ll be running late. Come, let’s get out of this rain.”

We walked to my vehicle and sat in while I contacted my boss. Was I afraid? No, I saw her as myself — a mom bringing her child to school and then driving to her job. I thought of myself and how I’d love for someone to help me if I were in a similar situation. I dialed my employer’s number and was on my way.

“By the way, my name is Elaine. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m Lisa. Thank you for helping me. I’m new in the area and don’t know anyone.”

“I’m also new. Where do you live? I live in the Ridgewood subdivision.

“That’s close to my house. I’m in the Chesterwood subdivision.”

We continued to talk while driving towards her house. I waited outside while she picked up her spare key. Lisa’s husband walked out with her to meet me.

“Hi, I’m Eric, Lisa’s husband. Thank you for your kind gesture. I called Triple A and their estimated time of arrival was 2 hours. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’m happy to do it.” Then we drove back to the school.

Lisa seemed like a nice person. Coincidently, we were both from the same place and had a few things in common. Once we arrived at the school, we exchanged numbers.

“Thank you, Elaine. I don’t know how I will repay you for your help.”

“You’re welcome, Lisa. Have a great rest of your day,” and I was off to work.

I Have a New Friend

A few days later, while watching a TV program with my husband, the doorbell rang. To my surprise, it was Lisa carrying an enormous basket of goodies.

“Hi Elaine, in appreciation for what you did for me, I put something together for you and your family.”

The basket included chocolate bars, a bottle of wine, a scented candle, cookies, a Christmas tree ornament, coloring books and crayons for the kids, and a thank-you plaque.

“This is so thoughtful, thank you, Lisa. You did not have to do that.”

“I know, but I wanted to. A few people saw me struggling to open my car. No one stopped, not even to ask if I was okay. What you did meant a lot to me.”

I invited her in for a little while so she could meet my husband and kids. After coffee, cake, and a couple of hours of talking, we concluded the visit with a play date scheduled for the weekend.

I had made a new friend, and I was happy. We shopped together, took our children to parks, rollerskating, bike riding — anywhere and everywhere together.

I had known Lisa for four years and we had a great friendship. According to Lisa, I was her best and only friend. It was something she constantly said to me. I remember telling her she was just trying to make me feel good because we always have other friends. Lisa always responded with no, I don’t have any friends. Little did I know that after four years of friendship, I would understand why I was her only friend.

The Betrayal

Lisa invited me to her home one evening for some coffee and some homemade cupcakes. While there, we talked about her cousin (Wyatt) and his fiance (Jane), who recently moved to the area. It turned out that Jane was my cousin. How awesome was that? I thought. Now it’ll be as if we are family, Lisa responded. As we spoke, I answered a few questions about Jane. I love my cousin and never have had any issues with her. Everything we talked about was a positive interaction, so I thought.

A couple of days later, Jane called and berated me about all the awful things I said about her to my so-called friend. It turns out Lisa went to visit her aunt. During her visit, she twisted everything I told her about Jane. She took what I told her and ruined Jane’s reputation with her fiance’s family. Jane told me Lisa, and she never got along well, but I didn’t know that. Lisa never mentioned it. I apologized profusely to my cousin and set off to contact Lisa. I was extremely angry, so I called her.

I politely asked her, what did I tell you about my cousin?

“That she was a good catch and mother and she’d be a good wife for my cousin. Why?”

“That’s what I’m asking you. Why did you go to your family and twist what I told you? My cousin just called and told me everything you said to her mother-in-law. You called her a no-good trash. Did I tell you that? What did I say to give you that impression? You told me things about your cousin that I’m sure Jane would not have liked. But I did not run to Jane to tell her about it.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. That’s why I don’t have friends because of the gossip. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to get to this point.

“Lisa, I don’t like gossip. I have never had a problem with any of my family and don’t expect to. Though I forgive you, things will not be the same.”

The Lesson

I felt betrayed and awful for what I did to Jane and resorted to staying away from Lisa. I needed to heal from her betrayal. Living in the same area was difficult. I constantly saw her in the supermarket or at school. But I finally made peace with myself. Realizing she made a mistake, I forgave her but stayed away and I think it was for the best.

There’s a saying that says people come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. I guess Lisa came into my life for a reason. The reason? To learn a lesson and that lesson is to keep conversations to a thing, place, or like-minded topics but leave people out of it.

Originally published on Medium on September 1, 2024. The names were changed to protect the privacy of those involved.