Idle Lies. Lian Knight
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Kate looked at her friend in bewilderment. ‘I don’t understand … he’s not in prison.’
Angela gave her friend a gentle squeeze. ‘It’s a saying. There are different types of liars. Bad liars feel guilty. They feel uncomfortable about lying, and they want the act to be over quickly. So they often give themselves away by their expressions or their awkwardness, or by clumsily changing the topic, which makes it more obvious. That’s where the expression comes from.’
‘Oh,’ said Kate. ‘I see.’
Angela pushed her empty cup away and continued.
‘There are also pathological liars. These liars can’t stop themselves from lying; they tell little lies all the time. They don’t get their facts straight, or they tell different things to different people, and at some point someone compares notes. Eventually their stories don’t add up and they get caught.’ She paused, checking that her friend understood.
Kate nodded.
‘And there are good liars. Good liars don’t lie until they need to, when it’s going to get them something that they really want. They do their homework. They plan ahead, they work out what they’re after and how they’re going to get it, and they only lie when they must.’
Angela let go of Kate’s hand and adjusted her chair as a waitress edged past with fresh coffees destined for a table nearby. When she returned her gaze, her friend was deep in thought.
‘Oh,’ said Kate again. ‘So what type of liar is Matt? I can’t remember him planning anything, and that’s floored me.’ She gently massaged her forehead with the tips of her fingers. ‘I don’t think he is a pathological liar. And he couldn’t be a bad liar or it would have come out. If he had been one of these I would have seen it. But he can’t be a good liar either – he can’t even get himself organised on time for work. He just does things on the spur of the moment.’
‘Does he?’ asked Angela, tilting her head. ‘That TV he got recently. What was it?’
‘The latest Ultra High Definition with OLED,’ said Kate, hearing herself repeating Matt’s sales pitch. ‘It’s the best in the market.’
‘Exactly. So how did he manage to get the best? He planned it. He researched it. He did the homework.’
‘So?’ said Kate perplexed. ‘That doesn’t make him a liar.’
‘What did he tell you about it before he bought it?’
‘Not much. Just that he’d get a budget one with good picture quality.’
‘Were those his precise words?’ Angela quizzed.
Kate thought for a moment. ‘I thought he said … budget. I didn’t take a lot of notice, I was too concerned that we couldn’t afford it, on top of the house repayments. I remember him saying it was okay, it had reasonable quality. Turns out it was the best one on the market – the most expensive.’
‘Budget one, or best for the budget?’ quizzed Angela. ‘Sometimes the hardest lies to catch are those that are misleading. They are sort of telling the truth, but they are told in a way that leaves a false impression. Or they just leave some important facts out. This makes these liars very skilled in their deceptions. They tell you what you want to hear.’
Kate sighed, and rested her head in her palms. ‘I didn’t see it coming. I should have studied psychology more closely like you did.’
‘I didn’t study much more than you, I just make observations about people. The best liars are masterminds at this game, and they can deceive all of us. Their lies are not just clever – they can be considered well in advance and remain hidden or dormant until they need them.’ She lowered Kate’s hands back onto the table, grasping them again tightly. ‘But if it’s any consolation, I didn’t pick it either.’
Kate’s shoulders slumped.
‘You’re a good person,’ said Angela. ‘You’re smart. You’re caring. You’re strong. You’re a wonderful and passionate nurse. You didn’t do anything wrong. It will take a little while, but you will get over this.’
Kate felt a single tear trickle down her cheek. She opened her mouth to speak but something was lassoing her throat.
‘It’s okay.’ Angela gave her another consoling squeeze. ‘It just takes time. If you are feeling really low, I can prescribe you something to make you sleep. If you rest, you will feel more on top of things.’
‘Thank you,’ Kate said at last, drying her eyes. ‘I don’t need any medication, just a little support.’
‘You don’t have to explain. That’s what friends are for.’
‘Hello!’ a voice said suddenly. Two young women appeared at their table, their faces a mixture of wellbeing and concern. The taller girl, dressed neatly in office attire, stretched over and kissed Kate on the cheek, holding her decorative cotton scarf close to her chest so that it didn’t knock the items on the table. She slipped a single wisp of brown hair behind her ear to join the rest of her long plait and stood up. ‘I’m so sorry to hear your news. It’s awful, I can’t believe it.’
‘It’s alright, Lauren.’ She reached over and helped pull out a chair for her.
Lauren Kerr stepped back to allow the shorter girl to come forward.
‘I’m sorry too. Oops!’ cried the other as her security pass catapulted itself from her top pocket into Kate’s cup, spraying coffee onto the tablecloth. ‘Now look what I’ve done. These badges are such a damn nuisance.’
Kate and Angela both reached forward to mop up the mess.
‘Don’t worry Lucy, it’s no big deal,’ said Kate. ‘There’s a spare chair over at the next table. Just grab that and I will order fresh drinks.’
Lucy collected the chair and plonked herself down, not bothering to straighten her uniform. ‘I am so clumsy, I always botch things up,’ she said sheepishly.
Angela wiped the security pass with a napkin and gave it back to her. ‘Here you are, Miss Snyder,’ she said. ‘I hope it will still work.’
‘Thanks. The place is so lax they wouldn’t know which cleaners were coming or going,’ said Lucy derisively. ‘I can borrow one if I need to.’
‘These passes are as tough as cockroaches,’ said Lauren, sitting down. ‘You can’t destroy them, and they have an art of disappearing when you most need them so that you are continuously locked out.’ She pulled her own badge from her bag and displayed it proudly. ‘I planned to superglue mine to my forehead but it might affect my future career prospects, so I think I’ll wait for the chip implant.’
‘Really?’ said Lucy. Her eyes widened, making her long eyelashes look even longer. ‘They’ll do that?’
The other girls chuckled.
‘Don’t laugh!’ mused Angela. ‘You never know, it might become my next line of business, badges surgically inserted or removed!’
‘Guys, I’m so glad you’re here,’ said Kate, and for a few moments her face was a picture of relief. ‘I didn’t want to face this on my own.’
‘How did it happen?’ Lauren asked. ‘You two seemed rock solid.’
Kate relayed the events as they had unfolded. Her friends listened attentively as she explained her feelings of sheer disbelief when she had returned to the house to find it almost completely empty and her bag still lying unpacked from the trip.
‘What a jerk,’ Lucy said, after Kate had finished. ‘He’s the front runner for “Arsehole of the Year”, I reckon. How could you come back from a holiday and do that?’ She screwed up her face and her hazel eyes flashed.
Kate shook her head. ‘That’s the thing, he planned it. I don’t know