The Perfect Mistress

by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

  He continued: “So you know we have vetted, dissected, discussed, and settled upon someone we think is the perfect fit for Carolina State. We hope that the board will take our wishes into consideration. In fact, we called you here today because we wanted to share with you the amazing plans that the association has and introduce the man we hope will help us in the execution of those plans.”

  This seemed unconventional to Lauren. Who touted the candidate in the press before he officially got the job? When she’d mentioned it earlier, Matthew said the association had wanted to go on record because the state board had a way of trying to circumvent their desires.

  “. . . At this time, we’d like to bring Dr. Matthew King up to say a few words.” Dr. Stephens stepped aside, looking like a proud father as he motioned for Matthew to take the podium.

  Matthew launched into the speech they’d worked and reworked last night. It was brief but on point. Lauren had never been more proud.

  “At this time, we’ll take questions,” Dr. Stephens said, once Matthew was finished.

  A few reporters tossed out university-related budget questions, which Matthew answered with impeccable skill, like he’d been studying for them all of his life.

  “Again, Dr. King has to officially get the job before he can lead us to the mountaintop,” Dr. Stephens said, laughing as he stepped in to wrap up the questions. “So we hope the board will honor our request to award him the coveted position.”

  “Excuse me,” a reporter in the front row said, raising her hand. “Just one more question for Dr. King before he goes.”

  Dr. Stephens nodded and stepped back away from the mic.

  “Yes, ma’am?” Matthew asked.

  She stood. “Robin Pendleton, Carolina Daily News. Dr. King, how do you plan to keep your impending personal drama from causing you to lose focus should you get the job?”

  Matthew frowned. “Personal drama? I don’t have any personal drama.”

  The reporter looked down at her notes, then said, “Hmmm, I’m talking about the alienation of affection lawsuit brought on against your fiancée, Lauren Robinson.”

  “Excuse me?” Matthew said

  Lauren’s mouth dropped open. Lawsuit? Matthew looked confused. Dr. Stephens looked blindsided.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Matthew said. “And I’m sure if there is such a lawsuit, this is some kind of misunderstanding.”

  “No, I don’t think so,” the reporter said. “It was filed in circuit court yesterday. It is brought against Lauren Robinson by Teresa Brooks, alleging alienation of affection for a long-term relationship with her husband, Thomas. She’s also cited,” the reporter paused and counted, “one, two, three, four, five other cases that are reportedly all going on right now.”

  Lauren felt like she was about to pass out.

  “Well, I assure you this is all a misunderstanding,” Matthew began, but Dr. Stephens stepped in and took over the mic.

  “A big misunderstanding,” Dr. Stephens said. “But that is not what we’re here to discuss, and we are out of time.”

  “But I think our readers would like to know because personal drama like that could affect your ‘beloved institution’ . . .” Her sarcasm was on full display.

  “Again, thank you for your time,” Dr. Stephens said, ignoring her. “And have a great day.”

  Of course, several reporters started shouting questions, all of which they ignored as Dr. Stephens ushered everyone out.

  “So, do you have any idea what that reporter is talking about?” Dr. Stephens asked as soon as they were in the hallway. Several members of the Alumni Association, including the former Miss Carolina State, were no longer looking at Lauren like she was royalty.

  “No, not at all,” Matthew answered. He turned to Lauren. “Do you?”

  “Of course not,” she replied. If she’d known anything about a stupid alienation of affection lawsuit, she wouldn’t have been within a hundred feet of a press conference.

  “Do you know this Thomas person?” Dr. Stephens demanded.

  A lie formed on the tip of her tongue, but she didn’t let it escape. Dr. Stephens might not have vetted her past, but she had no doubt that, at this point, he would leave no stone unturned in trying to get to the truth. A lie would only compromise her.

  “Yes, Thomas was a client, but I have no idea where his wife would get that something was going on.”

  Matthew shook his head in disbelief as the publicist for the Alumni Association came rushing in. “Oh my, this is not good. Every station is reporting on this lawsuit. Because these cases are so rare, they’re running with it.” He thrust some papers in Matthew’s direction. “Apparently, they have texts they say are from Lauren’s phone.”

  “Texts? Anyone can fabricate texts.” Matthew perused the papers. Lauren nervously looked over his shoulder. She had to steady herself when she read the texts. They were real. Graphic and real.

  “Dr. Stephens—” Matthew began.

  Dr. Stephens, who was trembling with suppressed rage, cut him off. “Go home, Dr. King. Just go home and I’ll talk with you later. I need to get a handle on this.”

  One of the most endearing qualities about Matthew was his placid temperament. He very rarely got upset. Once, in college, a professor had wrongly accused Matthew of cheating and he’d gotten so angry that he’d broken a chair. But other than that, Matthew was a master at keeping his emotions in check.

  That’s why the sight of his veins bulging in his neck had Lauren shaking in her stilettos.

  “Stop lying, Lauren. This isn’t making sense,” he bellowed.

  They’d left the press conference and ridden home in silence. Lauren had wanted to say something in her defense. But she couldn’t find the right words. Plus, the one time she’d opened her mouth, she’d only been able to get his name out before he cut her off.

  “Let me just read this when I get home,” he said.

  Once home, he headed straight to the living room, sat down on the sofa, and began reading. He didn’t say a word until he’d finished the entire six-page document.

  “Explain,” he demanded.

  “I-I don’t know what that’s about. I told you that.”

  Matthew shook his head. “So you want me to believe that some random woman just picked you out to file legal papers against you with no proof, no grounds. Nothing. That’s your story and you’re sticking to it?”

  Lauren didn’t know what she was thinking. She hadn’t read the lawsuit, but she doubted that this case was going anywhere, especially now that the media had gotten wind of it.

  “Matthew . . .” The doorbell rang before she could get her sentence out.

  “Hold on,” he said, agitated as he got up to answer. He looked out the peephole and a pained expression filled his face. “It’s Dr. Stephens.”

  Matthew opened the door. “Good evening, Dr. Stephens. Please, come in.”

  Lauren figured they’d be hearing from Dr. Stephens, she just didn’t know it would be this soon.

  “We need to talk.” He glanced over at Lauren. “Alone.”

  “Yes, of course,” Matthew quickly said.

  Dr. Stephens didn’t bother acknowledging her, which sent a sick feeling into Lauren’s stomach. “I’ll give you some privacy,” she said, stepping out of the room.

  Lauren stopped just around the corner so she could hear the conversation.

  “This . . . this is not good,” Dr. Stephens began.

  “We are just as shocked as you,” Matthew replied. “We are trying to get to the bottom of that lawsuit.”

  “Can you get to the bottom of this while you’re at it?”

  Pregnant silence filled the room, then Matthew said, “Where did this come from?”

  It took everything in Lauren’s power not to rush into the living room to see what Dr. Stephens had handed Matthew.

  “It was emailed to me and other board members right after the press conference. It’s a list of powerful married men that your f
iancée has apparently had affairs with.”

  “I-I don’t understand.” Matthew sounded flabbergasted.

  “Look, I wish that we could keep personal lives private, but in the position you’re about to occupy, there is no such thing as a personal life. And a scandal like this can keep you from getting the votes you need.”

  “It can’t be true. None of this can be true.”

  “I don’t know whether it’s true or not. If it’s not, you need to find the source of these allegations and nip them in the bud. The board is voting in three weeks. Such impropriety will ensure that they go with another candidate.” Dr. Stephens’s voice gained a spark of anger. “I’ve fought hard to get you this position. There are men all over the country that would love to be in your shoes. President of Carolina State is a coveted position. It is the only HBCU where our president makes over five hundred thousand. We cannot have it brought down by scandal.”

  “But . . . well, there has to be more to this story.”

  “Unless the story is a blatant lie, I’m not interested in talking about it. One thing you’ll learn about me is that I don’t pussyfoot around. You’ll have to pardon my bluntness, but if this is true, you have some hard decisions to make because no matter how much you love someone, you can’t turn a ho into a housewife.”

  That was it. Lauren couldn’t help it. She took a step forward and stood in the entryway. Both Dr. Stephens and Matthew looked in her direction. She expected Dr. Stephens to mutter an apology, but he just glared at her like she was dirt. “I’ll be in touch,” he announced before walking out the door.

  Lauren felt some kind of way about Matthew allowing that man to talk about her like that, but she knew now wasn’t the time for that discussion. “Matthew, I’m sorry.”

  “Too late for sorries.” His jaw was tight as he handed her the paper that Dr. Stephens had just given him. “Guess you don’t know anything about these guys, either, huh?”

  Lauren felt faint as she read the paper. She knew how much he wanted this job.

  “I need you to help me understand what’s going on.” He walked over to the bar to fix a drink. “Now the board is getting emails listing all the married men you’ve been with. This is like a bomb to my candidacy. You really pissed someone off.”

  “Matthew, I swear I don’t know what this is about.” Her stomach was in complete knots. “Obviously, someone is out to cause havoc in our lives.” She glanced back down at the email. The headline read, “Carolina State’s Finest.” Under that was a picture of Lauren and Matthew, then the words, I wonder if he knows all the married men she’s slept with.

  Listed on the paper was 80 percent of the men she’d been seeing. Who knew all of this and how?

  “This is some garbage,” she said.

  “First the alienation of affection lawsuit. Now this. What’s really going on?” The look in his eyes told her that he was still hanging on to hope that this could all be explained away.

  “I have no idea!”

  “So you don’t know these men?” He grabbed the paper and read some of the names. “Thomas Brooks, Craig West, Lewis Cole, David Yen.”

  Lauren stopped him. “This is some bull. David Yen is my dentist!”

  Matthew didn’t seem persuaded. “What about the rest of them. Cornell Jacobs, Felix Seawood?”

  Lauren was still trying to figure out who in the world could have connected all of these dots. Not one of them knew the others existed.

  “So, again, someone just randomly levels these charges against you and just randomly makes up names?”

  “Someone is intent on ruining me. On ruining us.” Lauren’s mind raced as she tried to make sense of this. Teresa, Thomas’s wife, must be behind this since she filed the lawsuit. But how in the world did she know all the other stuff?

  “Maybe it’s one of your ex-girlfriends,” Lauren said.

  Matthew ran his hands over his head like he was seriously considering that possibility. “I wonder if Carla would do something like this.”

  “Who is Carla?”

  “She’s an ex that didn’t take our breakup too well.”

  “You’ve never told me about her.”

  “Have you told me everything about everyone you dated?” he said, glancing down at the paper. “This is all just too much. You know what, maybe you should concentrate on your mother and let me figure this out. Lauren, I have really worked hard to get to this position, and I need a minute to process the fact that it could all be crashing down.”

  No way could she come clean. The lie that she originally stated came barreling out. “I don’t know who these men are. I don’t know why someone would spread these vicious lies about me.”

  Yet an inner voice was asking: How would she be able to start over when she was always forced to lie?

  Matthew didn’t believe her. “I’m tired of the lies, Lauren. I need to know what’s going on. I have a lot at stake, and I can’t solve this problem if you’re not honest with me.”

  “I don’t know why someone is doing this,” she replied. That was the truth.

  “Are you cheating on me?”

  “No,” she said. “Absolutely not.” She was still thinking through her options. This mess seemed like it was only going to get worse, so she needed to come clean. At least, somewhat clean. “I may have messed around with a married man, but it was before you and I got together.”

  Okay, so she couldn’t make herself come all the way clean.

  “What do you mean, you may have? Either you did or you didn’t.”

  “No, I mean, I did.”

  “Did you know he was married?”

  Another lie almost came out, but she slowly nodded.

  “Is it the guy from the lawsuit?”

  She nodded again.

  “Wow. Okay. So this is his wife doing all of this?”

  “I don’t know,” she said.

  “It has to be,” he said with finality. “And that means, we need to have a conversation with him and her. Are you still seeing him?”

  “Absolutely not,” she said. “That’s why I don’t understand this.” She couldn’t bring herself to tell Matthew that she didn’t know which wife it was.

  “We’ve got to get this under control. Our image is everything. The public is scrutinizing me and, by default, you.”

  “Well, I didn’t ask to be scrutinized,” she snapped.

  Matthew wasn’t dealing with attitude at this point. “Look, I’m not trying to upset you. We just have to get to the bottom of this. My job is on the line here. Not only is the presidency at risk, but I could lose my job altogether because the board isn’t going to want any of this bad publicity. There’s no telling what this woman has up her sleeve next. I just want us to nip this in the bud before it gets out of control.”

  Lauren didn’t know why she was snapping at Matthew. It wasn’t his fault that she’d messed with the wrong woman’s husband and now, someone was out for revenge.

  Matthew paced back and forth.

  “Look, Lauren. Maybe you shouldn’t go to the dinner with me tonight. Maybe you should just stay here and get everything ready for your mother.”

  Lauren’s feelings were hurt, but she couldn’t do anything but say, “Okay.”

  Although she wouldn’t go to the dinner, she wasn’t staying home. Lauren was about to get to the bottom of this because she’d be damned if this woman—whoever she was—would ruin the life she was planning.

  Joyce couldn’t believe how much she missed that snaggle-toothed man. She didn’t realize it, but Ernest had provided her only joy in this place. If she were to come back and visit anyone, it would’ve been him.

  The memorial service for him today had been beautiful. Joyce loved how the staff had come together to put on a beautiful reception. They even had a slide show featuring Ernest in several of his comical moments. In each picture she didn’t see the face of someone dying. She saw the face of someone choosing to live.

  “Nice service,” Pearl said. Even tho
ugh the reception was held at the facility, they all had dressed up in proper mourning attire.

  Joyce nodded. “I just wish I’d gotten the chance to say good-bye.”

  “We all do,” she replied. “Unfortunately, that’s the thing about life. We don’t know how to embrace the joy until it’s gone.”

  Lily, one of the more quiet patients, spoke up. “I’m going to call my sister today. I don’t want to die with regrets.”

  Pearl said, “That’s what Ernest used to always say. Live so you die with no regrets.”

  Regrets. Joyce had lots of those. Yet she could spend her last days making things right with Lauren. She didn’t want to die with regrets.

  Wanda said, “On another note, I saw that mess with your daughter.”

  Joyce cut her eyes in Wanda’s direction. Only her messy behind would bring up a topic like that at this time of mourning.

  “Alienation of affection?” Wanda continued. “Ain’t that that thing that woman sued that American Idol singer for?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t get in folks’ business like that. Maybe you should try it,” Joyce retorted.

  “Hmph, and here I was thinking she was an angel for always coming here to see you,” Wanda sneered. So much for them bonding over Ernest’s death. She was back to her old ways.

  “You don’t know anything about my daughter,” Joyce said flatly.

  “Seems like I know she screws other folks’ husbands,” Wanda replied with a chuckle.

  “You must be trying to join Ernest in the afterlife,” Joyce growled. She was using a wheelchair but she wouldn’t hesitate to get out of it if necessary.

  Wanda waved her off. “How she gon’ get mad at me because she raised a loose child,” she told Pearl.

  “Wanda, now isn’t the time,” Pearl said, also disgusted.

  Joyce debated arguing with her, but decided it wasn’t worth the effort. “Bye, Pearl,” she said, spinning around and wheeling off. She couldn’t wait to get away from this place.

  Lauren couldn’t believe how in a matter of hours, her life had taken such a drastic detour. Dr. Stephens wasn’t playing. Her past had come back with a vengeance, and now the man she loved was going to pay the price.