When Sadie, Lori, and their husbands go away for the weekend — eager to celebrate a birthday — Lori’s husband, Ben, gives Sadie a cryptic message about a secret he’s keeping. Sadie struggles between keeping the secret or telling her best friend — maybe some secrets aren’t worth keeping?
Since high school, Sadie and I have always been best friends. We grew up in front of each other, and we grew together. At home, Lori was regarded as another daughter.
“Lori,” my mother would ask every evening, “will Lori be joining us for dinner?”
So, we went through everything together, including the fact that we dated, and now are married to, two best friends — Benjamin and Keith. I still remember meeting them in school. I was convinced that I was going to end up with Benjamin, but Keith ended up winning me over, along with Lori and Benjamin finding their soulmates in each other.
Of course, we were each other’s maids of honor, our bond strengthening as our lives intertwined further. As time went on, Benjamin and I grew close too, forming a quartet of friendship and love with our spouses.
Now, we’re couples who love to do everything together — from birthday dinners to holidays. So, to celebrate Keith’s birthday, we rented out a little chalet because we wanted to celebrate somewhere else.
“Book a place, Sadie,” Lori said. “You do the accommodation, and Ben and I will do the food.”
We were both childless and more than excited to get away — even if it wasn’t far.
Keith’s birthday rolled around, and we got to the place early, ready to party. I ordered a birthday cake, which Lori picked up, along with enough food for two weeks, even though we were only going to be there for the weekend.
Things were great until the evening took an unexpected turn. We were all drinking — nobody was going to be on the road. We were safe. But Benjamin, having indulged a bit too much, sought solace in the cool night air on the balcony with me.
Inside, Lori and Keith were singing along to YouTube music videos.
“You know, Sadie,” Benjamin began, his words slurring, “there’s something I’ve been working on for Lori.”
Intrigued, I nudged him for more.
“Ben, what are you planning?”
“It’s a surprise! But you’ll have to keep it a secret if I tell you. It’s been so hard hiding bottles from Lori…”
“What bottles?” I asked.
“Oh, you know,” he said, his voice trailing off as the alcohol took over him.
Lori and Benjamin were not big drinkers — they had the occasional drink with Keith and me, but it wasn’t something they did by themselves. It all stemmed from Lori’s father being an alcoholic, so she was uncomfortable with having alcohol in their home.
“What mischief are you two up to?” Lori’s voice, light and playful, couldn’t mask the sharp edge of curiosity.
Benjamin recovered quickly, spinning a tale of how he and Keith had gotten stuck in an elevator earlier that week.
“We just sat on the floor and waited,” he told Lori.
“I know,” she said, her eyes narrowing. “You told me this story the moment you got home.”
My best friend shot a smile before going back inside.
I spent the rest of the night trying to figure out whether I should tell Lori about the secret bottles of alcohol that Ben was hiding around their home.
On one hand, they had a great relationship, and Ben was always going out of his way to do things for Lori. He thrived on making her happy.
But on the other hand, Lori’s father frequented their home. If he had a relapse, Lori would never forgive herself.
“What should I do?” I asked Keith once we had gone to bed.
“Do you think Ben was serious?” he asked. “He was pretty out of it.”
“Wouldn’t that just be him telling the truth?” I asked. “More lubricated to the truth.”
Keith laughed.
“Sadie, if you’re worried about it, if you think that maybe you should speak to Lori. If anything happens, you’ll just blame yourself for knowing.”
Keith was right. I would blame myself if something was amiss — even if Ben hadn’t given me enough information.
I couldn’t keep it to myself.
The next morning, Lori and I took a walk, grabbing coffee on the way. As we strolled along, I told her everything Ben had said, or indicated.
“Are you sure?” she pressed. “Are you sure he said ‘bottles’?”
“Yes, but, listen, I’m just speculating. I wanted to tell you in case anything happened. I know how you feel about these things with your father around.”
Lori looked at me for a long moment.
“Ben has been secretive lately,” she agreed. “But it cannot be what you think it is!”
We walked back to our rental, talking about everything and nothing — specifically nothing about the bottles, and what we both thought they were.
Lori didn’t seem as phased as I thought she would be. But still, I felt relieved that I had told her what I knew. It was up to her to be prepared for anything that came her way.
We got back to the rental to find Keith packing our clothes away and Ben mopping the floor.
“We should head out soon,” Keith said.
We checked out and went to a little café for lunch before driving home. I didn’t expect Lori to question Ben with Keith and me around, but I wondered what she was thinking.
I wasn’t prepared for the text Lori sent me the next day.
You saved my life. Call you later.
The words echoed in my mind. I had no clue what she was talking about, but it was ominous enough to turn my blood cold.
Later, when she called, Lori told me how, during her day, she decided to take an early lunch during work.
“I just wanted to get home and dig around a bit. For bottles, or whatever, you know? I needed to find whatever Ben was hiding in our home.”
So, she walked into their home and was instantly met with the smell of gas — in their rush to leave for work that morning, neither of them had checked to see if the gas was switched off.
“Can you imagine if I just came home and switched the stove on, Sadie?” Lori chattered on. “Our home would have gone up in flames. Probably with us in it.”
I could hear the shiver in her voice.
“Did you find anything?” I asked curiously, as Lori calmed down.
“I did,” Lori said. “They were behind the towels in the linen cupboard.”
“What were they?”
“They are bottles,” she clarified. “But they’re not alcohol.”
I sighed in relief. I hated being in the middle of the situation. I hated that I had betrayed Ben’s trust, but at the end of the day — Lori came first.
“Sadie,” she said. “They are antique perfume bottles. Well, not all. There are a few perfume bottles, and there are other antique bottles. I’m not sure why Ben has those, but they’re worth a lot. There are tags on each of them.”
It made no sense to me. I knew that Ben was into antiques — sometimes he would buy them to collect, storing everything in his parents’ home. But sometimes he would buy them just to sell them off at a higher price.
When Lori confronted him that evening, Ben’s confession laid bare the depth of his love for her.
“Lori, every bottle sold was a step closer to our dream. I wanted to surprise you with a trip to Paris for our anniversary. So, I bought those vintage bottles online and have been selling them off for a profit,” he said.
“And what about the perfume bottles?” Lori asked.
Ben said that they were for her — straight from the set of one of her favorite old movies.
“They’re supposed to be the first present,” he chuckled. “Paris was the second.”
I couldn’t understand how Ben had the time to locate, buy, and sell these items. They were ridiculously expensive. Keith would have been impressed if I had picked up the hobby.
“Maybe it’s just his way of showing his love,” Keith said when I caught him up over dinner that evening. “Lori does love her old movies.”
In the end, I felt ashamed of myself for ruining Ben’s surprise — although Lori didn’t actually reveal that I told her about our conversation. She just said that she stumbled upon them when she was doing laundry.
“He has no idea,” she reassured me.
But I still felt justified in having told her — what if, in a turn of events, Ben was hiding alcohol in their home. It could have unleashed a horrible set of consequences.
Now, all is well, and it looks like my best friends will actually be going to Paris in a few months. Keith and I have taken a bet regarding whether they invite us along for the trip — let’s see.
Do you think I was wrong to tell Lori?