White lies

There was an awkward silence between them. Ella wrung her hands wondering where to begin.
“You said there was something you wanted me to know...”, her fiance Jack smiled at her encouragingly.
“Yeah”, sighed Ella looking into his eyes, “I just don’t know how you’re going to take it.”
“Come on”, Jack looked at her lovingly.
“You know about my marriage, right?”
“Yeah. The first one. The one that didn’t work.”
“Um...”, Ella bit her lips, “It never really happened.”
“What?”, Jack sat up, perplexed, “I-I don’t understand.”
“I never really got married.”, Ella said in a flat matter-of-fact way.
“Then what about the divorce?”, Jack asked slowly trying to make sense.
“The divorce also never happened.”, said Ella smiling pleasantly, “The whole thing was a lie.”
“A lie?”, Jack twisted his face and gaped at Ella.
Ella explained, “I needed three months off and the only way I could get it was by telling my office that I got married.”
Jack sat motionless.
Ella continued, “I tried other ways but they refused. I did not have a choice.”
There was a long pause where Jack frowned and looked into Ella’s eyes, lost deep in thoughts.
“So there’s no first husband out there.”, Jack spoke up.
“No.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before.”
Ella sighed deeply. “I have been living with this lie for the last one year so that the HR grants me that leave. And I know what a burden it is. The last thing I would want to do is burden you with that lie.”
“So you’re telling me now since you’ve quit that company.”
“Yes.”
Jack looks pensively at the table and then back at Ella. “Ella, I want you to understand that my feelings about you haven’t changed because of this.”