The whole picture

I was so busy seeing the reflections, I never even noticed the man looking through the window at me.

Sometimes with life. we only see part of the picture, and when it is fully revealed it seems stranger than fiction. So it was with the continuing saga of Mr X

Over the next two weeks there was a flurry of texts and a couple of lunches and then a text on Saturday morning 'What are you up to?' 'Not a lot' I replied noncommittally 'Lunch? 12.30' and he named a different venue.
I turned up on time - no sign of his car in the car park, but went on in, looked round the restaurant & couldn't see him, so went to the bar & bought myself a drink (Ginger beer - if you're wondering)
No text message to explain any delay, then after 10 minutes a waitress appeared.
"Are you meeting someone for lunch?" She asked.
"Yes"
"He's waiting for you in the dining room"
"Oh, I looked before and couldn't see him"
"Follow me" she said and we walked through to a small dining room extension that I hadn't noticed.
As we rounded the corner, I looked straight at the man sitting there, turned to the waitress stony-faced and said:
"That's not him" Her face was a picture. "Oh, hang on, yes it is!"
"I saw you walk past and didn't think any woman could take that long in the ladies"
We ordered lunch and then he started to relate the most extraordinary series of events that had taken place since our last meeting.

This is a resume:
Mr X's wife, as you may recall, was going to move out to be with her new man, but two days before, it transpired that he was a sophisticated con merchant who had been grooming her since he first approached her at a major sporting event.

The seduction by this guy of Middle Eastern origin was now complete as he had sold the house that Mr X's wife had bought and thought she was moving in to. The money she had 'lent' him until he could get his money over here had gone and he denied all knowledge of ever knowing her.

Faced with a devastated wife, even Mr X tried to make contact and eventually the con guy said that he might have met Mrs X once for coffee, but nothing more.
Mr X said to me "I still can't understand how an intelligent, feisty woman could have be taken in for four years. I have been in touch with the police, but they are unlikely to be able to trace him because of the false name he used. He even said please tell that woman to leave me and my wife alone, it's upsetting the children"

Apparently men go to prestigious events specifically to look for ladies with designer handbags and no man in tow. I guess you only need one Mrs X to set you up for life.
Like Mr X, I cannot understand how this happened, or how she must now be feeling. It is all completely beyond my comprehension.

"My family has been destroyed. The children, who were trying to adjust to their mum leaving, are now looking at a woman who is perilously close to suicide."

"You are a little window of light in an otherwise hideous situation."