“I can’t stand her. She’s always posting pictures of her and Jerome on vacay,” Natalie said with a look of disgust. “Who?” Melanie ask. “Jessica. She’s always posting about how wonderful her hubby is,” she said as she rolled her eyes. “For instance, last week Jerome bought her a new truck. Whoop-de-doo. I don’t understand why you talk to that woman anyway,” she said. “She’s really nice and she has a great heart. Don’t you talk to her too?” She asked. “Well yeah, but only because she’s your friend. I don’t understand her. I mean you don’t see me posting pictures of me and Jevon or talking about how wonderful my hubby is,” she said. Melanie shook her head. “But, maybe, I should start,” Natalie said with a sly grin. “I’ve seen you post a few times about Jevon,” Melanie said. “Well, not all the time like she does.” Melanie shook her head.

    Just then, Jevon walked into the house carrying a bouquet of roses. Natalie’s face lit up and she winked at Melanie as she walked to the door to greet her husband. “Here you go honey. These are for you,” Jevon said as he handed her the flowers. Natalie hugged her husband. “Thank you honey, you shouldn’t have,” she said. “I know, but I just wanted to show you how much I love you and care about you,” he said with a smile. “Thank you,” she said again as she walked to the Kitchen to locate a vase to put them in. “Hey Melanie,” Jevon said as he walked towards the kitchen. “Hey,” she said back. “Honey, I’m going upstairs to relax,” he said as he peered through the kitchen door.” “Ok. Thank you again for the flowers,” she said as she filled the vase with water.

    Natalie walked into the living room where Melanie was seated, and she placed the vase full of flowers on the coffee table. She took a picture of it and posted it to Facebook. Natalie sat back on the couch next to Melanie with a sly grin. “How did I know you were going to do that?” Melanie said. “What?” Natalie said with a puzzled looked on her face. “Do you think God would want you comparing yourself with someone else? It’s just something we shouldn’t do. It can create envy,” She said. “I’m not comparing myself to anyone. I’m just showing the world what a wonderful husband I have,” she said. “Yeah, in the hopes Jessica will get jealous. She probably doesn’t even care. I’m sure of it.” Natalie wasn’t listening when Melanie spoke because she was too busy trolling Facebook. “It’s your move, Jessica,” Natalie said aloud. “Alright, I should be going. I need to get home. Jeremy is probably wondering where I am. Hopefully the kids aren’t driving him bonkers,” she said as she chuckled. Natalie looked up from her phone. “Thank you for stopping by. The pair got up from the couch and Natalie walked her to the door. The pair said their goodbyes and Melanie left. Natalie went upstairs and went to bed.

    The next day Natalie got up early and went to the gym. She worked out for a solid hour. Just as she was finishing up on the treadmill, she saw a familiar face walking towards her. To her surprise it was Jessica. Natalie got off the treadmill and walked over to meet Jessica. “Hey lady. How are you?” Jessica asked. “Hey girl, I’m doing good. I just finished my morning workout. How are things with you? She asked. “Oh, everything is going good. God is so good. He’s been blessing my family like crazy,” she said. “That’s good. How are the boys?” She asked. “They’re doing good.  Jerome is doing good. Everything is going well,” she said with a smile. “That’s good. Glad to hear that,” she said. “How’s Jevon?” She asked. “He’s doing good. He actually just got a promotion.” “That’s wonderful. Congratulations to you both.” “Thank you.” Natalie looked at her watch and realized she had to leave. “Girl, I have to get home and clean up. We’re having company in a few hours.” “Oh, I was just leaving too. We can walk out together.” The pair walked out the door towards the parking lot and walked towards their vehicles. “I didn’t realize we parked right next to each other. Did you get a new truck? Natalie asked. “Oh yeah, Jerome bought it for me for my birthday.” “It’s really nice. What is it a 2018 Cadillac Escalade?” Natalie asked. “Yes girl. I’ve always wanted it in red and now I have it,” she said excitedly. “That’s awesome. Congratulations,” she said. “Thank you. I posted it on Facebook the other day. I thought you may have seen it.” “I must have missed it,” Natalie said. “Hey before you go, Jerome is throwing me a birthday party next Saturday at our house. It starts at six. We would love for you and Jevon to come,” she said. “Yeah. That sounds great. Let me talk to Jevon first to make sure we don’t have anything planned and I can text you once I find out. “Great. See you later,” she said. The women got in their vehicles and left.

    “I can’t believe that girl. What would make her think I saw her new truck on Facebook. I need to call Melanie,” she thought. “Hello,” Melanie said. “Hey girl, you will never believe who I just saw at the gym. “Who?” “Your girl Jessica.” “That’s good,” she said. “No, it’s not. She was talking about her new Escalade that Jerome bought her. Oh, and she invited me to this party that Jerome is throwing for her,” she said with disgust.” “Well that’s nice,” Melanie said. “Nice? There’s nothing nice about that girl. I felt like she was bragging the whole time.” “Is someone Jealous?” “Jealous? Yeah right. I have a great husband too.” “You should pray and ask God to remove the spirit of jealousy from you. You keep comparing what your husband does to her husband and you shouldn’t do that. You have a great husband that treats you well and there’s no need to compare what he does to someone else’s husband. You don’t know what goes on behind closed doors in Jessica’s home. You don’t anything about their relationship. Just because everything looks perfect on Facebook doesn’t mean it is."

    "There was a girl I use to work with and her husband was always sending her flowers and gifts to the job. We all thought she had the perfect marriage and the perfect husband. She had us fooled the whole time. One day I saw her crying at her desk and she told me the truth. She said their marriage had been rocky for years and he cheated on her a lot and was disrespectful to her. Every time he messed up, he would send goodies to her work. Prior to her telling me this, she would also brag about how great her marriage was and how she had this wonderful man. Keep in mind that just because people post happy moments on Facebook doesn’t mean everything is perfect,” she said. Natalie sighed. “Ugh, you’re right. Sometimes I don’t like talking to you because you always give it to me straight. I know I really needed to hear this. You’re right about Jevon. He is good to me and I should be grateful that I have a wonderful man.” “Yes, you should.” The pair continued their conversation.

THE END