by Kim Black
His eyes immediately darkened and his jaw clenched. “You seem to forget who you are talking to Julien! I have worked really hard to build a life for us that is respectable and upstanding. You will not take that lightly. You have a wife to cater to whatever needs you have! Do I make myself clear?”
He didn’t bother waiting for my response. Instead he walked away and went on with greeting his guests. I released a breath that I hadn’t realized that I had been holding in. As I lifted my glass to my lips, Charlette strode over with her award winning smile.
“Mon Cher, what does a woman have to do to get a dance?” she asked as she pressed her ample bosom against my chest while running her soft hands through my hair.
She knew my father would be watching us the entire night and that I couldn’t refuse her without him scolding me for it. With reluctance, I took her hand and led to her to the dance floor, practically dragging her. When we reached the middle of the floor, she placed her hands around my neck and we began our dance. Hopefully it would be the only dance of the night.
“You could at least pretend to enjoy yourself dear,” she whispered while looking up at me, a minute after we started.
“Charlette my dear, dancing with you is as enjoyable as having the prostate exam, so forgive me if I am not oozing with excitement,” I retorted, enjoying the horrified look on her face. For a split second I thought I saw a bit of sadness, but she quickly gave me her usual fake smile.
“Is this about that Emily girl?”
I couldn’t help but stiffen at the sound of Emily’s name on Charlette’s lips. Anger surged through me at the thought that she would dare to speak of Emily carelessly; as if she was an afterthought. Emily was twice the woman that Charlette was. “You are never to speak of her again. Do you understand me? You may think that have a right to speak to her or of her but you do not! She is not your concern!”
“Oh my darling Jules, what has she done to you? Certainly you can’t be falling for her. After speaking to her, it was quite clear that a woman like her isn’t suited for this life. Surely you can see that?” she asked in mid turn.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I released her hand and allowed her to fall in front of the entire room. Bien fait pour vous, serves you right!
Chapter Nine
“The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves.”
~ William Penn ~
CHARLETTE
There I was, in the middle of the dance floor, completely mortified that Jules had purposely allowed me to fall. He hadn’t bothered to help me up; instead he stood over me as if daring me to take him on. Had it been anyone else, I surely would have, but it wasn’t someone else. It was Jules, my Jules.
The music had stopped as soon as I hit the ground and I was now on full display. Front and center of the dance floor for all to see and talk about. The whispers of the on-lookers were loud enough to hear.
Oh Dear, Isn’t that Mrs. Belmont?
Wasn’t Mr. Belmont cheating on her?’
Unshed tears stung my eyes as they threatened to fall but I managed to suppress them. All could do was tell myself that Delacroix’s do not cry! I wasn’t some love-struck teenager. I was Charlette Delacroix, heir to the Delacroix Vineyard, one of the most successful vineyards in all of Italy. As I slowly lifted myself off of the dance floor, a single tear managed to escape the rim of my eyes, making me curse aloud. Merde, Shit!
Julien, who was still towering over me, didn’t say a word as I stood before him just inches away from his face. I wanted to scream at him. Wanted to tell him how much he infuriated me, but instead I stood there. My eyes refused to break away from his stare. How can I hate the man so much and yet love him just as strong?
“Charlette, are you ok?” Jack said from behind me, making me break away from Jules beautiful captivating and infuriating eyes.
As I turned to face the man, something inside of me broke. I wasn’t sure what it was really. Maybe it was the fact that Jack was the one who suggested I marry Jules to begin with. Or maybe it was because there was genuine concern in his face whereas Jules was a brick wall. Nonetheless, whatever it was… I couldn’t handle it anymore and a flow of tears over took me.
“I… I… I’m sorry Jack but I have... to go!” I stuttered, before storming off.
“Charlette wait!” was all I heard as I pushed through the crowd, hoping to get to the door and into the car before the photographers could see.
I made it to the door of the limo before I felt someone tug at my arm and spin me around.
JULIEN
“Where do you think you’re going Charlette?” I demanded. The woman had insulted me for the last time. Did she really think that I would fall for those crocodile tears?
“Jules, please just… let me go,” she said as she looked up at me with her deep sea blue eyes.
I wanted to ring her neck but something held me back. What it was I wasn’t sure, but all I knew was that I couldn’t move because though she didn’t say anything else, it was as if we were finally having a real conversation.
The sorrow in her eyes, the trembling of her body as I held firmly to her arm. The heaving of her chest as we gazed into each other’s eyes. Something was different… she was different!
After what seemed to be an eternity, she spoke, “Jules… I can’t do this anymore…” Her voice was merely a whisper but the pain was evident in her voice.
I hadn’t thought that my dropping her on the dance floor would actually hurt her. Charlette wasn’t your typical woman. She never shared her feelings! She was… well… me! Just in a woman’s form.
“Look Charlette, I’m sorry about dropping you,” I apologized as I took hold of her face; a gesture I had never done in the three years of our marriage. She softened at my touch and I instantly pulled away; surprised at the surge of desire flowing through my body.
“Please… don’t,” she said before she lifted her hand to my hair, pulling me in, and kissed me softly on my lips.
Initially, I froze. I couldn’t move, couldn’t think. What was happening between us? When she deepened the kiss I felt something shift within me and I just fell into her embrace. I could feel her hunger for me, her need to feel me as she probed my mouth with her tongue. And while I knew that I shouldn’t be kissing her, something held me there, unable to break away! Whether I liked it or not, I was in serious trouble!
EMILY
I hadn’t gotten much sleep that night. All I could think about was the situation with Diana. It didn’t help that Suzie was now upset with me too. I needed to get to the bottom of all of this and I couldn’t do that without first speaking to Diana. Then and only then could I put all of this behind me!
My first step, I needed to call out from work! Hopefully Thomas wouldn’t be the one to answer the phone. I knew he would take any opportunity to make my life a living hell… although my friends and lovers were already doing a fine job of ruining my life. As I dialed the number, I silently prayed.
“Farjo, how may I help you?” I heard the receptionist, Samantha; say in her most cheeriest of voices.
I silently thanked the heavens for hearing my prayers before continuing, “Oh hey Sam, thank God it’s you!”
“Hey Emily, what’s going on?” she asked.
“I can’t make it into work today. Can you let the boss know and whatever you do, please do not tell Thomas! I have enough to deal with without him getting on my ass!” I murmured.
“Sure thing Emily, I’ll let him know.”
We exchanged goodbyes and I hung up the phone.
Since work was covered, I had to start the next phase of my plan. Diana was obviously ignoring my phone calls. The only thing left to do was to track her down and make her talk to me. Whatever it was that was going on had to be put on the table so that everyone could move on.
As I got dressed, I thought about how I would confront her. It was already past ten and I knew she would be at work but hopefully I could corner her right before lunch. That
way she would have no choice but to talk to me.
By the time I got into my car it was already eleven and I knew that Diana always took her lunch promptly at eleven thirty so that left me with very little time. I peeled out of my driveway and headed for her job. There was no way I would miss this chance to clear everything up.
When I finally reached her job, I checked the time and exhaled when I saw I had fifteen minutes before Diana would leave for lunch. If she agreed to speak to me, it would allow us a whole hour to discuss everything we needed to discuss. Hopefully she was in the mood to talk. When did my life get so hectic?
I contemplated going upstairs and meeting her at her desk but figured that waiting for her outside would be a better option. That way, she wouldn’t use her co-workers or boss as an excuse to talk. She would be free to say whatever was needed.
I parked in the guest parking that her bank provided, deciding that I would wait near the door. Leaning against the wall, I watched the passing people. They seemed so care free as they strolled by. I envied those who had their lives together; people who found love so easily. My life had turned into one grand soap opera with no clear path to normalcy. What I would give to have Adam completely in the past and to have Julien un-married and willing to build something together.
This situation between Adam, Diana and I had caused me put my relationship with Julien on the back burner, at least for now. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. I hadn’t spoken to him since his text message. There was no doubt that when we did speak, he would want to finish our conversation regarding Adam.
“Em? What are you doing here? Diana said, bringing me out of my reverie.
The startled look on her face indicated just how surprised she was to see me. After dodging my calls last night, she probably thought she had time before facing me. Thankfully, I wasn’t the type of woman that was so easily avoided.
“We need to talk. And since you aren’t answering my calls, I had no choice but to track your butt down,” I replied before walking up to her and grabbing her arm; ushering her to walk with me. “Now… for the sake of our friendship, tell me what the heck is going on!”
She didn’t resist. Instead she walked by my side, starring at the ground. Whatever she had to tell me, I knew I wouldn’t like it. Beads of sweat fell from her forehead and I just knew that although it was eighty degrees today, it had nothing to do with the humid hot weather. In all the years that I have known Diana, I couldn’t recall a time when she looked more nervous. That definitely didn’t give me any comfort. My stomach was doing flips and I seriously felt nauseous as I awaited her explanation. Please Lord, give me strength.
“I love you Em… I want you to know that,” she began.
She stopped to face me. She lifted her head and looked me in the eyes. I could see sorrow in her eyes but I couldn’t for the life of me understand why. What could she have possibly done?
“That night when I came over and told you about Adam, I… wasn’t exactly honest with you?” she stuttered, her voice shaking and cracking.
I had figured as much when Adam told me there was more to the story but to hear her say it herself hurt me. Why would she lie on Adam and cause me so much pain?
“So Adam didn’t cheat on me?” I asked, barely able to breathe at this point.
Who knew where I would have been now had I not broken up with Adam? We could have been engaged or even married. Things did seem to be progressing between us. Why would Diana destroy something that I loved so much? It didn’t make sense. She didn’t make sense! I felt my blood begin to boil as I stood before her. She had deliberately hurt me.
“Not exactly Em… But…” Before I could think twice about it, I had somehow allowed my hand to connect with her face, smacking her right on her left cheek.
“How could you Diana? Do you know what you’ve done?” I barked.
She stood there with tears pooling at the rims of her eyes as she cradled her red cheek. The look of regret was etched across her face. A look I would have catered to under normal circumstances but I couldn’t stand at the moment. She didn’t deserve any forgiveness. She had betrayed me in the worst way possible and I just couldn’t find any remorse for hitting her within me.
“You don’t get it Em. You don’t understand how it feels to be your friend; to stand on the sidelines while every guy overlooks me and bee-lines for you. I will never be as sexy as you, I know that! When you met Adam, I tried so hard to… to be happy for you guys; to be your best friend. But, somewhere along the line I…”
“You what? Just tell me Diana! What could make you do this to me?” I demanded.
“Tried to not fall in love with him…”
I starred at the woman I had called my best friend since my move to California. The woman I had entrusted with my… well… everything! The shock that was coursing through me was great. How could my best friend fall in love with my boyfriend and then betray me in such a huge way? How could I have not seen it?
“You… love him?” was all I could muster up to say.
A now sobbing Diana cradled her face into her hands and she shook her head. She loved him all of this time and I, like a fool, hadn’t noticed!
“So what really happened that night Diana? Had you even gone to the job at all?” I asked, unsure if I wanted to hear what else she had to say but unable to walk away wondering.
“I went. I came on to him… he declined of course and I lied to you! I’m so sorry Em… I… I am a horrible person! I know there is no way that you could ever forgive me!” she cried.
I wasn’t sure if I could ever forgive her for what she did. How would I ever trust her again? It was then that I remembered that look on her face the night I met Julien. I was sure that I was wrong but now looking back, she was in fact jealous. Damn…
It was there all along! And I hadn’t seen it. Diana was the most elegant woman I had known, beautiful in every way. It was something that I myself admired about her. But, looking back… I couldn’t remember a time that she had ever been in a relationship. Never had she mentioned a past love. Had she ever even been in a relationship and how could I have not noticed until now?
“You should have come to me Diana and told me how you felt! Instead you go behind my back, throw yourself at my boyfriend and then ruined my relationship with lies. How can you ever expect me to trust you again?” I asked while battling my dual feelings. On one hand, I hated her for what she did to me. Yet, something inside of me felt pity for her though I wasn’t quite ready to display that to her. This was something she couldn’t just apologize for.
“I don’t expect anything Em. I’ll understand if you never want to see me again.”
I needed time to think all of this through. What Diana told me changed everything! Had it not been for her, I would be with Adam right now. But what about Julien? Yes he was married, but did that mean that there was no future for us? I had never felt such passion with a man before. Just the thought of him heated my body. And Adam… well he was my first real love.
“I need to think…” I murmured as I turned away from her and began to walk away. There was nothing left to say. Nothing she could do to change what she had done. I needed to figure out my feelings and I couldn’t do that with her around.
JULIEN
When I woke up that morning, I hadn’t remembered where I was. I stared at the ceiling for a full minute confused before the events of the night before hit me. It was then that I felt the warmth of Charlette’s body next to me. Everything was still blurry but one thing was for sure. I didn’t belong with Charlette. How could I have allowed myself to sleep with Charlette? This was all wrong.
She stirred in her sleep, groaning softly as she adjusted, causing me to hold my breath, afraid that if I exhaled she would wake. I needed to get out of her place; and needed to think of a way out of this mess.
After a few moments Charlette began to snore softly and I was reassured that she was fast asleep. I gently shifted myself to the edge of her bed, wondering
why such a petite woman would need such a monstrous bed. Thoughts of all I would have done just a few months ago in a bed like this. The amount of women that I would have entertained on it would finally top my fathers sordid sexual past.
I pushed the thought out of my head and focused on lifting myself off of the bed, determined to make it to the door and away from the nightmare that was Charlette. I looked around for my clothes but suddenly remembered the stripping of clothes in the limo the night before, and cursed myself for being such a weak fool. Connard, Idiot!
Had it been Emily on that bed, I would have written a note explaining my departure, but Charlette was no Emily. It was cruel, I know, but I could not afford to lead her on more than I had the night before. I still couldn’t explain what came over me, but what happened when we reached her home further confirmed what I already knew. I was in love with Emily!
Though my body responded to Charlette’s kiss last night, nothing I did gave me the satisfaction and fulfillment that being with Emily did. Each time I pounded into Charlette, I felt emptier and emptier. I hadn’t meant to get so rough with her, but no matter how much I tried, it was to no avail.
Thoughts of Emily flooded my mind and no matter how much I tried to shake them off, I just couldn’t. What was this spell she had over me? I didn’t understand how one woman could ruin me for all others. My body was no longer my own, it belonged to her. She was its master; it yearned for her and her alone.
Though Charlette was an attractive woman underneath all that crazy, my body had already chosen its eternal mate. When Charlette’s moans turned in to screams of a mixture of pleasure and pain after hours of savagely screwing each other, I finally gave up. I was beginning to hurt her and I knew I had to stop. I didn’t care much for the woman but I surely didn’t want to cause her pain.
