Secrets in Suburbia

by Melody Calder

  ∞∞∞

  Jake’s eyes are still closed when I wake up in the morning. I carefully pull out my birth control pills that I keep in my nightstand. I’ve gotten into the habit of taking them as soon as I wake up so that I don’t forget. I would hate to have an accident, especially now. I think I’m being quiet as I open up the pink plastic case and pop one out.

  “What is it with women and vitamins first thing in the morning?” Jake’s voice is full of sleep.

  “Vitamins?”

  “Yeah, Victoria has been taking those every day for years. She said they were vitamins formulated for women or something like that.”

  I want to believe Jake is pulling my leg but considering the length of time he’s been with her, not to mention her tendency toward deceit, I think he’s serious. “Jake,” I say carefully, “these are not vitamins. They are birth control pills. You know, hormones that prevent pregnancy.”

  “No, they are vitamins,” he argues, shaking his head in disbelief.

  I reach in my drawer and pull out the information sheet that comes with the pills. “I’m sorry that I have to break another lie of hers to you, but they really are birth control pills.”

  As his eyes scan over the insert, they darken. I can see the anger building in him. For some reason, he seems to be angrier about this than anything else that he has learned thus far.

  “Bitch!” he shouts, throwing the paper and jumping out of bed. “Out of all the betrayals, this one is the worst!” He paces back and forth, stomping his feet as he does. “I want to fucking kill her right now!”

  “Jake,” I say hesitantly, “I think that might be a strong reaction for birth control pills. I know she lied to you, but maybe she just wasn’t ready to be a mother yet.”

  His eyes zero in on mine, and the look on his face instantly makes me regret saying anything. “You don’t understand,” his growls, making me flinch, “We… It was so much more than her not being ready.”

  I really need to tamper down that need to fix everyone, but not today. “Why don’t you explain it to me. You’re a bit scary right now, big guy,” I attempt to chuckle, but it comes out sounding strained.

  He continues to pace, “A few years ago, we were trying to have a child. We were both so excited to start a family. We tried for a year with no luck. She took vitamins,” he punctuates the word with air quotes. “I guess I’m a fucking idiot to not know that those are birth control pills. Fucking birth control!”

  “No Jake, you aren’t. No woman could expect a man to know what birth control pills look like unless they are told,” I try to sooth some of the hurt.

  “After a year, she still hadn’t conceived, so she talked to her doctor. Well, at least that’s what she told me,” he’s still pacing, his fists clenched. “She told me the doctor wanted us to see some specialists. I was sent to a urologist to check my health and get a sperm count done.”

  “I had to have a fucking prostate exam! You know how horrible it is to have some strange guy stick a finger up your ass and root around up there?” His face is red with anger, “And that’s not even the worst of it. We had to go to infertility treatments. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in infertility treatments. We tried in vitro fertilization three fucking times.”

  He grips his hair in his hands, “I had to fucking jack myself off in a small dirty bathroom, with magazines that I didn’t want to touch, and porn playing on the little t.v. in there!” he shakes his head in disgust.

  I don’t know what to say, so I sit quietly and let him continue, “I comforted her when she cried about having to give herself shots and go through blood test after blood test. I became her servant, bringing her food, massaging her feet… fuck, I did everything for her for a year because she was so swollen and in so much pain. I dealt with her mood swings from the hormone shots,” tears trickle down his cheeks. “I brought her the ‘vitamins’ every single morning, hoping that it would be the thing that would make it work.”

  I stand up and wrap my arms around him, “You didn’t know. You couldn’t have known.”

  “I wanted a child so badly. I wanted us to have a family. I was devastated when the doctor told us that we wouldn’t be able to try again. Victoria’s body had gone through too much and was rejecting the hormones. The doctor told us to adopt. I was willing, but Victoria said she needed time to accept it all. I agreed to give her time. We needed it anyway because the fertility treatments had ruined us financially. We only made it out because Stuart helped us,” his body wracked with sobs. “I worked really hard to get us stable again, but she still says she’s not ready to adopt. It’s been over two years of me yearning for kids and her saying she’s not ready.” He shakes his head, “Now I know the truth. She never wanted children with me.”

  “How did the doctor not pick up on the birth control?” I question. “I mean, there had to be some sort of negative reaction that could be picked up by the doctor.”

  He shrugs, “I don’t know. I just blindly followed Victoria’s orders. I was busy with work and just let her tell me what I needed to do and what the doctor said. I’m so fucking stupid!”

  “Oh Jake, you’re not stupid. You aren’t a doctor or a woman that knows these things. Heck, I’m a woman and I don’t even know how she pulled it off.” I rub circles on his back, trying my best to comfort a man that has once again had his marriage upended.

  “I wish I could make this all better for you,” I squeeze him tight, “Knowing all this, you need to leave Victoria. You don’t deserve to be stuck in this never-ending cycle of betrayal. You deserve to have a woman that loves you and that wants to have your baby.”

  “I- I can’t,” he straightens up, getting a reign on his emotions. “I am stuck with her. I’m stuck in this life. This is my penance for all the bad things I’ve done.”

  “I can’t think of anything you could have done to deserve to be stuck in this life.”

  He starts putting on his clothes. A sinking feeling settles in the pit of my stomach as I realize where this is going. “Samantha, I’m sorry, but I need some time alone to think this through. I need to talk to Stu. He pulls on his shoes and then bends to give me a peck on the cheek. “Thank you for being here for me. I’m sorry to leave you like this.”

  “Can you please just send me a text and let me know you are doing okay. Can you promise me that much?” I ask.

  “I will,” he says simply, “If I don’t talk to you before then, have fun on your date,” and with that he walks out the door.

  I stand there in shock, staring at the doorway that he just exited, until the slam of the back door jolts me back into reality. I must find out more about them. Time to finish that background check.

  “What the hell?” I wonder out loud when I still can’t find any personal records on Jake and Victoria Taylor. No marriage or birth certificates are coming up in my search. I even tried Victoria Johnson for the birth records search in Utah with no luck. It seems as though they don’t exist.

  I type out all the information I do have on them and send it out in an email to my skip tracer. He has a few more tools at his disposal than I do, so maybe he will have better luck. I close my computer and decide to spend the rest of the day watching trashy t.v. shows. I need a break from reality after today’s craziness.

  Chapter 22

  My stomach is doing flips as I apply the last of my makeup, bold red lipstick. I took Jake’s advice and put on my black dress with the crisscross back. My blonde hair is in a braided updo with a few long, curled tendrils I let escape to frame my face. I’ve spent an hour getting the perfect smokey eye, having to start over only a few times. I take myself in and question my choice of red lipstick. I wonder if it is too bold for a first date.

  Me: Does red lipstick give the wrong impression?

  Jake: I can’t give an accurate answer unless you send me a picture

  Jake: Damn! You look hot!

  Me: So yes or no on the red?

  Jake: YES! No man wants to go home with lipstic
k all over his face like a clown.

  Me: Trying to protect my virtue. My hero <3

  Jake: Have fun beautiful and remember just a peck.

  Though Jake’s words make me feel better about my choice, they do nothing to calm my nerves. I glance at the time and decide that I can leave a bit early. I’d like a little extra time to check out the restaurant before going in. Plus, blasting my music during the long car ride to Atlanta will do me some good. Mario, my date, had suggested we meet at the restaurant. He felt that a public meeting place would make me feel more comfortable with our blind date. It was sweet of him to think of that.

  I pull up to the valet at Vito’s Italian Ristorante. It’s a very popular upscale Italian restaurant that I haven’t been to before. While waiting for the valet to fill out my ticket, I look around trying to spot Mario. We had exchanged photos so that we could recognize each other. I don’t know if that’s the standard dating protocol nowadays, or if he just wanted to see if he needed to bail on our date or not.

  Traffic had been terrible, so I wasn’t as early as I had hoped to be. I spot Mario inside the entrance, leaning casually against the hostess stand, his face buried in his phone. He looks like a GQ model; his grey suit hugs him in all the right places. He doesn’t wear a tie, his white dress shirt open enough to show a small patch of dark hair on his chest. I’m surprised to see his hair is long, chin length dark curly hair. He must have had it pulled back in his picture. I normally don’t like longer hair on guys, but he really pulls it off with his gorgeous Italian heritage evident in his darker skin and dark eyes. He looks like a Roman god.

  When I think I’ve spent enough time staring at this fine specimen, I finally gather my wits and greet him. “Mario?” I question.

  “Samantha, it’s a pleasure to meet you in person,” his eyes take me in, and a genuine smile breaks out on his face. He turns to the hostess and lets her know we are ready to be seated. He gestures for me to go ahead of him, I’m sure to check out my ass.

  I follow the hostess to a private dining table in the back of the restaurant. Mario pulls out my chair like a gentleman, and thanks the hostess, ignoring her flirtatious smile and inuendo of providing anything he needs. “That will be all, thank you,” he dismisses her curtly.

  “Would you like some wine?” Mario asks.

  “No thank you, I’m not much of a wine person,” I respond. “I prefer beer.”

  He raises and eyebrow, “Well that’s a bit of a surprise. Every date I’ve been on, the woman has insisted on a bottle of the most expensive wine.”

  I laugh, “I’m not your average woman.”

  “No, I don’t think you are,” a look of wonder crosses his face. “I’m beginning to understand why Stuart told me that you were something special. I’m quite curious to find out more.”

  With that, we fall into an easy conversation, far from what I was expecting on my first time back in the dating pool. When I have trouble reading the menu, which is printed in Italian, he insists that I try the house special. “There’s no pigs feet or cow tongue in it, right?”

  Mario chuckles, “None of that, but maybe a frog leg.” He looks at me conspiratorially, “I guess we will have to see if you are half as daring as me.”

  “Considering you jump out of planes for fun, I can guarantee I’m not even close to as daring as you,” I tease, joining his laughter.

  “A girl who hunts down debtors and criminals for a living, and lets Stuart set you up on a blind date,” he jokes, “It sounds to me like you are more daring than you give yourself credit for. I’m sure I could get you to do a jump with me.”

  “Oh no,” I insist, “my feet will be staying firmly planted on the ground.”

  Once he’s paid the bill, refusing my offer to go dutch, he asks if I would like to go for a walk in Woodruff Park. Not wanting the night to end just yet, I agree. I swoon a little bit when he offers me his suit jacket to ward of the chill in the night air.

  “You know, Samantha, men like me don’t get much of a chance to enjoy dating.”

  “Really? I would think that a charming and handsome guy like you would have women falling all over themselves to spend time with you.”

  He sighs, “That’s the thing, women want me for only my money and what I can provide for them. They try to lure me into bed with the hopes that I will be stuck paying child support to them for the next eighteen years.”

  “Honestly, I thought that stuff only happened in movies.” I shake my head and laugh at myself, “Considering the work I do, you would think that I would know that.”

  “Sorry to ruin your innocence, but it does happen. I’ve managed to find a way to get the things I need without getting stuck in a bad situation.”

  “Now you’ve piqued my interest, Mario. Do tell your secret,” I beg.

  “You might be sorry you asked,” he says hesitantly.

  “Remember, it was you that said I was a daring woman, unlike any other.”

  He shrugs, “Well, if you insist. Just remember I warned you.” He goes on to tell me about a high-end escort service that he and his well to do friends use. “Please don’t take offense. I mean this as the highest compliment, but I think you would be in high demand in that industry.”

  “You think I would make a good prostitute?” I huff, stopping in front of the waterfall, my anger boiling. So much for the perfect gentleman.

  He shakes his head vehemently, “No, no. Not like that Samantha. These are escorts that don’t have sex with their clients. They provide companionship.”

  “I’m not sure I understand what you are saying,” my anger still burns.

  “Look, guys like me, we work long hours to be where we are. We love our work, but it gets lonely,” he explains. “We seek someone to spend time with, a platonic female friend. As you’ve heard me explain a bit already, it is near impossible to find a woman who isn’t looking for a sugar daddy.”

  “Okay.” It comes out as more of a question. My anger is dissipating as we start walking again, back towards the restaurant.

  “In my position, I’m expected to attend a lot of charity galas and events. I’m expected to bring a date. I don’t have much time to go on real dates like this, but the few times I have they have been awful experiences. It’s not worth the stress for me. The escort service provides me with women that are bound by contracts to be just a companion to me when I need a female guest. They aren’t allowed to get into a real relationship with their clients.”

  “Oh.” I wait for my mouth to catch up with my brain, “So what makes you say that I would be perfect for something like that?”

  “When Stuart asked me to take you out, I said no. He insisted that you weren’t like other women, and he knew I would treat you right. His obvious concern for you intrigued me, so I changed my mind.”

  “Stuart has been there for me since the beginning of my suspicions about Rich and has stayed by my side ever since.” Emotions making me choke on the words, “He is a true friend to me.”

  He nods in agreement, “Stuart is certainly a good friend. Anyway, to answer your question, this is the best date I’ve ever been on. You are easy to converse with. You’ve made me feel comfortable since we sat down at the table. You have this vibe about you that intrigues me.”

  “Thank you,” I blush.

  Giving me a wink, he adds, “Plus you are absolutely gorgeous.”

  I bump his shoulder with mine, “You aren’t so bad yourself.”

  “Thank you, Samantha. You are the whole package.” A hint of sadness evident in his brown eyes, “If you weren’t going through a divorce and not ready for anything serious, I’d keep you for myself.”

  “That’s very sweet of you.” I let out a breath as we reach the valet stand, “But I don’t know that I will ever be ready for something serious.”

  As I hand him back his jacket, he brushes a light kiss against me cheek and whispers, “If you ever are ready, I’ll be waiting for you.

  ∞∞∞

  My head
is spinning. I don’t know whether I’m going to throw up or faint. I feel like I’m having an out of body experience. This isn’t my life. It wasn’t supposed to end this way. I hear voices around me, but I don’t know what they are saying. I can’t make out the words. I see faces around me, but they are all blurred. Am I dying? Is this what dying feels like?

  Stuart’s words are not registering in my brain. I can’t believe what just happened.

  “Samantha,” Stuarts voice finally cuts through the fog, “just take deep breaths. Are you with me?”

  I take gulps of air, my lungs burning. I must have been holding my breath. For how long I don’t know. When I catch my breath and the dizziness fades, I nod to Stuart, indicating that I am okay.

  “We will figure out a way,” his voice cutting out again as one face comes into focus in the background.

  Rich.

  Smug look on his face that I want to slap off. I can’t believe what just happened. “How?” I ask Stuart, “How did this happen?”

  “I don’t know,” the anger clear in his voice, “This was a cut and dry case. I have never witnessed this judge dismissing evidence and playing favorites like he did today.”

  I feel something wet on my cheek. When I go to wipe it, I realize I’ve been crying. How long have I been crying? I hope that mother fucker Rich didn’t see it. I don’t want him to think I’m crying over him.

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” my voice cracking, much like my resolve.

  “Samantha, you got the house. I know it is horrible that you didn’t get any of his money, but you got the house you wanted so badly,” Stuart tries his best to be the voice of reason, but I can see the pain in his eyes.

  “You saw my financials. I don’t make enough to pay for it, let alone give that fucker twenty grand for his part of the down payment.” I just got screwed and I didn’t even get to enjoy it.

  Stuart puts an arm around me and guides me out of the courtroom, “I will help you figure it out. I know we can come up with something. I’ll try all the legal avenues I can. I will look into it and see if any other attorneys have had this strange behavior from this judge.”