by Weeks, Abby
She looked out beyond him down to the end of her property. There were no cars driving past. No one was watching her. If it wasn’t for the delivery truck in the driveway, no one would have known he was there at all. But she couldn’t risk that. She couldn’t let him leave that truck in her front driveway all morning. Plus, she couldn’t cheat on her husband. She wasn’t exactly behaving like a dutiful wife, she knew that, but she wasn’t ready to throw all of her vows, all of her marital loyalty, out of the window.
She shook her head.
“I’m being so foolish,” she said quietly. “I’m a married woman.”
The man nodded, knowingly.
“It’s just, sometimes, I get so lonely.”
The man nodded again. The look on his face told Veronica that he understood her completely. It made her remember that he wasn’t just a delivery guy, he was a person with a life of his own, he probably even had a wife waiting for him at home.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t know what came over me.”
He looked down over her body. She knew she was still alluring in her nightdress. She smiled at him. His eyes lingered on the shapely cleavage between her breasts.
He spoke in Mexican. “Solo el que carga el cajón sabe lo que pesa el muerto.”
She looked at him. She spoke Spanish. She knew what the words meant literally. “Only the person carrying the coffin knows the weight of the dead.” She wasn’t sure what he meant by them, though.
“It means I won’t judge you,” the man said. He tipped his hat to her and made his way back to the truck. As she watched him pull down the driveway she was grateful that he’d left. She wasn’t sure she’d have had to strength to send him away.
She went inside. She turned off the TV and poured herself a tall glass of cold water. She stood by the sink and drank it. What had she just done? What was wrong with her? Was she finally losing it?
She put the flowers Hank had sent her in a vase and dialed his office number. His receptionist put her through.
“Veronica, honey, did you get the flowers?”
“They’re beautiful, Hank. Thank you so much.”
“I’m sorry about last night.”
“You don’t need to apologize,” she said.
“I was just embarrassed. I was being defensive.”
“It’s alright.”
“I love you, honey. I just wanted to please you.”
“You please me in a million ways, every single day.”
“Well, I’m very sorry. I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that.”
“I love you, Hank,” Veronica said. She had no trouble saying it because it was true. She did love him, she just wasn’t sexually fulfilled by him.
“Let’s go out tonight.”
Veronica smiled. She loved when he suggested a date. “Where?” she said.
“La Toscana.”
It was one of her favorite restaurants, an ultra-expensive Italian place close to Rodeo Drive that served the best handmade pasta in the city. “Hank, I’d love to.”
“Oh, shit,” Hank said suddenly.
“What is it?”
“I just remembered, I told Matt I’d meet him tonight. He wanted some advice on a tax issue.”
“Tell him to come to dinner.”
“Really?” Hank said.
“I’ll invite Ariel. It’ll make a perfect set up.”
She hung up and drank her coffee on the couch in the living room while Oprah was on. She didn’t want to admit it to herself but she had the biggest crush on Matt Harkness. He was a contractor who Hank had done a lot of work with and Veronica just turned to jelly when she saw his big muscular arms and handsome chest. He’d redone their patio in the spring and she’d watched him work from her bedroom where he couldn’t see her. She would never admit how many hours she’d sat up on her balcony behind the ferns and azaleas. She knew if she was single like Ariel was she’d die for a chance to be set up with him.
She finished her coffee and lay back on the couch. She spread her legs open and looked at her pussy. She let thoughts of the delivery man fill her mind. He hadn’t been that attractive, just an average looking Mexican guy, medium height, medium build, but all she could think about was the fact that he would have come right into the house if she’d asked him to. He’d have come in and done anything to her that she wanted him to do. She could have got down on her knees and spread her ass cheeks apart and he’d have fucked her like a Latina teenager all morning long. She touched her clitoris. It was sensitive to her touch. She wet her finger in her mouth and rubbed her clit gently. She imagined the delivery man was in the room with her, watching her. She should have invited him in. She didn’t have to let him touch her. Was it still cheating to let a man watch? Of course it was. But how exciting it would have been to have him in the room, sitting across from her, watching her finger her pussy and orgasm all over her hand. It would have been intimate and sensual and erotic. She’d have let him see the lips of her pussy swell up pink with hunger and excitement. She’d have let him see her nipples harden, her areola grow. She would have been breathless as she fingered her pussy and anus in front of him. He’d have watched the muscles in her neck strain as her body arched and climaxed. He’d have heard the sound she made as she panted and whimpered in pleasure. She’d have had someone to share something with. She climaxed, picturing the delivery guy, his strange Mexican wisdom echoing in her mind.
Only the coffin bearer knows the weight of the dead. No one knows the burden of another.
V
ARIEL WAS SURPRISED AT HOW nervous she felt when she stepped out of her car and handed the keys to the valet. It was the first time she’d been on a date with a man other than Gabe in over twenty years. This wasn’t even a date per se, it was just dinner with friends, but Ariel knew a set-up when she saw one. She entered the restaurant and wished she had someone to walk in with. Veronica had already texted her to say they were all there, waiting. Why had she agreed to this? A set-up, it was so embarrassing.
“Can I help you, miss?” The maître’d was a young girl in a stunning white dress. The whole place oozed class. Ariel was glad she’d spent so much time getting ready.
“I’m joining Hank Roycroft’s party,” she said.
The girl led her to the table. Hank was sitting next to Veronica on one side. On the other was a very dashing man, tall with a muscular build and a perfect California suntan.
“Ariel, you made it,” Veronica said and stood up.
She kissed Ariel on both cheeks. Hank and the date they’d arranged for her, Matt Harkness, stood and greeted her with cheek kisses. Ariel felt like she was back in Europe.
“We’ve taken the liberty of ordering a bottle of champagne,” Hank said.
“Great,” Ariel said and pulled her seat in. She was sitting next to Matt and caught his eye. One thing was for certain, Matt Harkness was a good-looking man. His dark hair was a mess. His stubble was scruffy. She could definitely see why Veronica was so eager to set him up. He was a catch!
Hank poured her a glass of champagne and then they had a little toast.
“So,” Matt said to Ariel, “how do you know Veronica and Hank?”
“We’re neighbors,” Veronica said.
“Ariel just moved onto the row,” Hank said.
“Wow, that’s a prestigious address. Those are nice houses.”
“They are,” Ariel said. “Where do you live?”
“I’ve got a place in Malibu.”
“Pretty nice, too,” Ariel said.
“Ariel,” Veronica said, animatedly, “you’ve just got to see Matt’s beach house. It’s like something out of a magazine. He built it all himself.”
“I heard you were a contractor.”
“I like to work with my hands,” Matt said and everyone laughed.
Even Ariel laughed. Usually she would have rolled her eyes at a pun like that but something about Matt saying it, about the way his strong, tanned hands looked on the table, and she couldn’t help but laugh at
the thought of him working on her with his hands.
“So is it mostly houses you build?” Ariel said.
“He builds the most amazing homes. He did Paris Hilton’s place last year.”
“Really?” Ariel said.
“Not singlehandedly,” Matt said. “I own the business with my two brothers.”
“So it’s a family business?”
“It sure is. My grandfather started the business in fifty-eight. My father ran it before passing it along to us boys. We’ve been building homes in the Hollywood hills for three generations.”
“He’s been in the houses of half the stars in Hollywood,” Veronica said.
“True, but always with my boots and hardhat on.”
“Do you have any pictures of your home?” Ariel said.
Matt took out his cellphone and showed her a few snaps he’d taken. Most were during some construction work he’d completed during the winter. The house looked really amazing, like a glass cube with a steel frame perched on a hundred-foot cliff over the ocean. She wondered what Becky would think of him. She was getting ahead of herself, she didn’t even know if he liked her. She didn’t even know if she liked him.
“How do you know Hank?” she said.
“We go back years,” Hank said.
“Hank does his books,” Veronica said. “He does all our contracting.”
“There’s more to it than that, though,” Matt said. “We’ve been good friends for a long time. Hank and I golf. Veronica used to be friends with my wife before our divorce.”
“There’s a story,” Veronica said.
“What is it?” Ariel said.
Veronica looked at Matt. The way they looked at each other was strangely intimate, almost as if they were a couple. For a second Ariel wondered if Veronica and Matt might have had an affair together at some point in the past. It wouldn’t have surprised her. Compared to Matt, Hank Roycroft looked like an old man, and considering everything Veronica had said about not being sexually fulfilled, it just would have added up.
“Do you mind if we rehash all of this?” Veronica said to Matt.
Matt waved his hand to indicate he didn’t care.
“Well,” Veronica continued, “we used to hang out all the time, the four of us. I was really close with Matt’s ex-wife, Cathy. Hank and Matt got involved in a few business ventures together. We all just socialized all of the time.”
“A lot of late nights on the deck,” Hank said.
“A lot of great nights,” Matt added.
“We even took vacations together, once to Hawaii, another time to Aspen,” Veronica said.
“Vegas,” Hank added.
“That’s right,” Veronica continued. “We couldn’t have been closer, really.”
“We were too close,” Matt said.
“Well, exactly. At least, that’s what Cathy said.”
Hank cleared his throat. “Cathy became convinced that Matt and Veronica were having an affair,” he said.
“She even accused us of having threesomes without her,” Matt added.
“She basically lost her marbles,” Veronica said.
Ariel looked at Hank. She wasn’t so sure Cathy had lost her marbles. She might have suspected the same thing if she was in Cathy’s position. She couldn’t see the threesomes, but Matt and Veronica, there was definitely something going on between those two.
“Sometimes people get an idea in their mind and there’s no getting it out,” Ariel said.
“She just grew more and more paranoid about it,” Matt said. “I did everything I could to assure her nothing was going on but I couldn’t get her to come around.”
“It must have put a strain on the friendship.”
“To say the least,” Veronica said. “She attacked me with a scissors one night.”
“You’re kidding.”
Veronica shook her head. She lifted her arm and showed Ariel a small scar on the inside of her left wrist.
“Jesus.”
“That was it,” Matt said. “That was the last straw. I just couldn’t see things working out after that.”
Ariel looked again at Hank. She didn’t mean to keep looking at him but she couldn’t believe he was so blind. She’d only just met Matt and already she was sure something was going on between him and Veronica. Cathy had been right. Sure, she was loopy, you can’t go attacking women with scissors, but there was definitely something going on. The way Matt and Veronica looked at each other, it was clear as day!
*
AFTER DINNER MATT WALKED ARIEL to her car.
“That food was great,” she said after they’d said their goodbyes to Veronica and Hank.
“It’s always great here,” Matt said. “We’ve been coming for years.”
“With your ex?”
Matt nodded. Ariel looked up at him. He took her hand in his. She wanted to hold his hand, she wanted him to take her to his car and bring her home with him. He was hot as hell and she wouldn’t have thought twice about starting something, but she couldn’t get the thought out of her mind of Matt with Veronica. She took her hand from him.
“Sorry,” he said, “that was forward.”
“It’s fine, Matt,” she said. “You seem like a really great guy.”
“You’re just not ready to start something right now?”
“Well, it’s not exactly that.”
“It’s me then,” Matt said and ran his hands through his hair.
“Calm down,” she said, laughing. “It’s not you, it’s just.”
“What?”
“Well, you know.”
“Know what?”
“Veronica.”
“What about her?”
“Come on! Don’t give me that. There’s something between you two. It’s as clear as day!”
“Ariel!” Matt said. “Are you kidding me? She’s a married woman.”
“When did that ever stop anyone?”
“It’s stopped me and Veronica.”
Ariel looked him in the eye. “Are you for real?”
“For real. I’ve never laid a finger on her.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. I misjudged you. I really thought I could see that there was something between you two.”
Matt sighed. They were about to get their cars back from the valet but Matt paused. “You want to know the real story?” he said.
Ariel looked at him and nodded, slowly.
“Then lets have one more drink.”
*
THEY WENT BACK INTO THE restaurant and sat at the bar. It was getting late and the dining room was emptying out. Lone men sat in booths or at the bar, a few couples were tucked away in the corners.
Matt ordered a scotch. Ariel had a martini.
“So, what’s the story? I could tell from the moment I arrived that there was electricity between you and Veronica,” Ariel said.
Matt shook his head. “That’s it,” he said. “That’s exactly it. There’s been electricity between me and Veronica for years. There’s always been electricity.”
“That was what bothered your ex?”
“It was a bad situation. I feel bad for putting her in the position she was in.”
“What position was that?”
“She knew that I had a thing for Veronica. I couldn’t help it. I just had to spend time with her. I even love spending time with Hank because of her.”
“You’re in love with her?”
“I don’t know if I’d go that far. It’s a friendship.”
“It’s a friendship that you lost your marriage over.”
“Well, Cathy just didn’t trust me. She’d see the way I was around Veronica, the way she lit me up, and she just convinced herself that we were having an affair. What else could she think? I never lit up the same way when I was just with Cathy. She had to tell herself something.”
“And you weren’t having an affair?”
“No. I’m no saint, I’m sure Veronica’s not a saint either, but neither of us ever crossed that
line. That’s the God’s honest truth. I’ve never so much as laid a finger on her.”
“You’ve just admired her from the distance.”
“Yes, and I know that’s a sort of infidelity of its own. I just didn’t feel about Cathy the same way I feel about Veronica. That, ultimately, was why my marriage fell apart. She could sense it.”
“Have you ever said anything about all this to Veronica?”
“No. But I figure she knows how I feel. We’ve been such good friends for such a long time. She must know I have feelings for her.”
“You’d be surprised what women know,” Ariel said. “They know everything and they know nothing. I bet she’s been telling herself for years that you’re just good friends.”
“Exactly. But what is there to do about it? She’s happily married. Hank’s my best friend. Hell, he must even know I’ve got a thing for Veronica.”
“I don’t think so,” Ariel said.
“Are you sure?”
“I watched him during dinner. I don’t think he suspects a thing.”
“There’s nothing to suspect,” Matt said.
Ariel laughed. “If there was nothing to suspect, you’d be having this conversation with him.”
Matt’s face went pale.
“Don’t worry,” Ariel said. “I’m not going to say anything to him.”
“I think, in a way, Cathy’s craziness helped hide the truth,” Matt said.
“In what way?”
“Well, I think for a while there that Hank might have thought there was some truth to all her allegations, but then she confronted him and accused him of having a threesome with Veronica and me, and since then he was just as convinced as anyone that she was paranoid.”
They sat there and finished their drinks. Neither spoke much.
“You want another?” Matt said.
Ariel shrugged. It had been a long day. “Sure,” she said. “I’ll have to get a cab home.”
“Or come home with me,” Matt said.
Ariel looked at him. It was tempting. Another few drinks and she’d probably have said yes, but something told her she’d regret it if she slept with Matt. He and Veronica had a thing, she wasn’t sure what to call it, but it was definitely something and it had been going on for years. She didn’t want to be in the middle of that. If she wanted to maintain her friendship with Veronica, she knew that the safest way was to avoid sleeping with the man that Veronica was secretly in love with.
