by Leach, Kiki
“Um.” He quickly looked down at himself. “The Tea Leaf Café.”
“In the Bronx? What are you doing going all the way out there?”
“My boss,” he told her, thinking quick on his feet. “That’s who was calling me earlier, from his wife’s cell phone. He wants to have a meeting with me about some upcoming ads.”
“It can’t wait until tomorrow when you’re actually at work?”
“He said we need to get it out of the way as quickly as possible. And I’ll be too swamped tomorrow to try and fit in what he needs to tell me.”
“Alright. Well, do you know when you’ll be back?”
“No, but…” He bent down to kiss her, softly, slowly and slipped his tongue between her lips. Yanking her close to feel his growing erection and dropping his hands down well below her waist, he briefly forgot that they were no longer alone.
“Mm.” Vanessa moaned into his mouth as his tongue fluttered against hers, and dug her nails deep into the back of his neck. Their mouths opened and closed in unison as the heat from their bodies swirled around them like a blazing fire.
Sheila was both repulsed and exceedingly envious by their overt display of love and affection, and cleared her throat.
Maurice and Vanessa smiled when they finally managed to pull away from each other.
She tugged on his shirt and whispered as she stared up into his eyes. “Come back to me soon.”
“Always.” He was quick to answer and kept his eyes on Vanessa while nodding back at Sheila before heading out the front door.
As soon as it was shut, Vanessa pressed her fingers against her mouth as it burned with the taste of his lips, and turned back to Sheila.
Feeling somewhat disoriented, she dropped her hand while trying to remember what to say.
“Do you know where the hell Nathan is right this moment?”
Sheila looked behind her and pointed at the door. “You don’t want to discuss what just happened between you and Mo?”
“With you? Hale no. Now where the hell is Nathan?”
Sheila stalled for a moment before backing away and strolling into the living room. She dropped her purse on the couch and ran her fingers along the wall and bookcase, all while trying as hard as she could to avoid answering the question brought forth.
She moved over to the curtains, feigning admiration and looked out into the backyard.
Vanessa came up behind her and hollered out. “SHEILA!”
Startled, she jumped and nearly fell back into the window.
Vanessa moved in closer. “Where. Is. Nathan?”
“I don’t know,” she blurted out.
“What?”
“I don’t know where he is. After I told him that you were pregnant with Adrian’s child, he bolted from the hotel and I haven’t seen or heard from him since. I’ve tried calling and texting – I even sent him an email on the way over here and nothing.”
Vanessa’s chest tightened. She felt light headed and dizzy.
She needed water.
She needed booze.
She needed a bottle to smash over Sheila’s head or larger hands to choke every breath of life straight from her lungs.
Closing her eyes, she tried to refocus before becoming too irrational and carrying out one or both of the above acts.
“When exactly did you tell him about me being pregnant?” she asked.
“Not long after we got back to the hotel. As soon as I got in the room, I started getting some strange text messages from Joan. They didn’t make any sense, but when I finally got it out of her, she said that Nathan started texting her pretending to be me, which is how he found out about you and Adrian. She’s the one who blabbed to him about it before we left the city. I confronted him about everything he had done and the more he talked, the more I got angry. I got really, really angry V, and started running off at the mouth--”
“Like you do so very fucking well. I’m surprised your lips can even keep up at this point.”
Sheila glared. “The thing about the baby with Adrian just sort of slipped out in the middle of all of that.”
“Oh nothing ever just slips out with you!” She shook her hands up and down and started pacing the room. “It was bullshit when we were kids and it’s bullshit now – even more so! I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking even telling you this shit to begin with. I’M the real idiot in all of this. I knew I couldn’t trust you, but damn.”
Sheila took a step back, noticing the ache in her face, and grimaced. “V, I’m sorry.”
“Oh, save it!”
“V--”
“No.” She surrendered pacing and pointed at her. “Fuck you being sorry, okay? FUCK YOU being sorry, because you’ve got no CLUE as to what you’ve done, as per usual. Your mouth is always so damn quick to write checks yo’ ASS CAN’T CASH!”
“It’s not as if he’s going to run around telling people about this, Vanessa!”
“Are you stupid?!” she hollered, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “Are you actually fucking stupid?! If Nathan was spiteful enough to bring Adrian out to the Hamptons just to get under my skin because of Maurice, what the fuck makes you think he’s going to keep quiet about that baby?! He’s probably hauling ass to see him out in Queens as we speak! And you think I can just call out there to ask Adrian anything about this after I told him to stay the fuck away?! He’s gonna start asking questions that I have no WAY of answering yet!”
“You don’t know that Nathan is actually on his way out there to see him--”
“Cut the shit and stop playing stupid with me, Sheila, because you can’t actually be that fuckin’ dumb!” She moved forward and wagged a finger in her face. “If Nathan tells Adrian that I was pregnant with his child, he will be livid about this, enough to tell that asshole Harold, who’ll no doubt reveal it to the NYDN as exclusive inside information the first chance he gets. I’ll be front page fodder yet AGAIN and everything my mother worked her ass off for to keep even the relationship with Adrian out of the papers will go straight down to hell, all thanks to you and that gotdamn big mouth you’ve got!”
Vanessa ran her shaky fingers through her hair down to the tips and shuffled to the other side of the living room in a panic. “FUCK!” she screamed out.
An apologetic Sheila dropped her head and sighed. “What can I do?”
Vanessa whirled around and guffawed. “Are you joking? I think it’s pretty damn clear that you’ve done enough.” She pressed her fingers down hard against her forehead to relieve herself of the pounding feeling inside her head.
Sheila wiggled her foot back and forth and waited. She knew it would be selfish to ask, but couldn’t actually help herself the moment her lips parted and words started spilling out. “Do I still get to write my column for your magazine?”
Vanessa immediately dropped her hand. Squinting, she shoved her face closer to Sheila’s if only to make certain that an actual person lived behind those eyes.
“Are you…?” She started. And then she crazily shook her head and threw her arm toward the foyer. “You know what, just get the hell outta my house!”
“V--”
“No! You are crazy as hell! My life could be in shambles within a matter of seconds; so could Maurice’s as a matter of fact because he’ll know that I lied to him about this! And all you care about is ya damn self and that stupid ass column that I should have NEVER agreed to let you write in the first damn place.”
“I--”
Vanessa quickly raised a hand, stopping her. “The only way I would ever allow you to write a single damn word for me is if you knew for certain that your future baby daddy from hell would keep his mouth shut about the one thing that you couldn’t. But you can’t be sure that he won’t muzzle it because you can’t even find his ass. So now I’m telling you that no, you are not going to write for me, ever. Point blank, period. Think about that shit on the way out of my house while I attempt to fix yet ANOTHER mess that you’ve gone out of your way to create for me.
”
“You’re so quick to blame me for this, and yes, I shouldn’t have said anything and I’m sorry. But I didn’t make you sleep with Adrian, Vanessa. And I didn’t make you get pregnant with his child! All of those things are on you.”
“Yes they are, you’re right. They were also my gotdamn business before you decided to stick your nose into it by bringing Adrian’s ass back here in the FIRST damn place, all so that I would stay away from the very same dick that you can’t seem to keep your hands around! You wanna play this game with me, because bitch I can go all night.”
Sheila stared at her for a few minutes, eager to go another round but knowing it was pointless and that she would lose.
“Fine.” She grabbed her purse and stuck it beneath her arm. “I’ll go and maybe try to use some of my dad’s resources to help track down Nathan.”
“Yeah, why don’t you go and do that.”
“In the meantime, what do you want to do about Adrian?”
“What are you talking about?” Vanessa snapped.
Sheila glanced around the room, confused. “Don’t you think somebody should probably give him a heads up?”
“Did you not hear one word I just said about that man?! The point is to keep him from learning anything about this. You giving him a heads up is like tipping off the cops to a coke house while also giving them your name, home number, address, email and cell phone! You’re just asking for it all to be thrown out there in the streets and labeled a snitch. Look, just get out so that I figure out how the HELL to clean up this fucking mess before it travels any further than it should.” Grabbing Sheila by the arm and shoving her through the foyer, Vanessa opened the door quick and pushed her outside. “Don’t come back here unless you’ve found him.”
Sheila didn’t even have time to apologize again before the door was slammed in her face.
On the other side, Vanessa found herself terrified. And anxious. And spent. And feeling more stupid and vulnerable than ever before.
She didn’t know how to start, where she should go, who she should talk to about any of this or what they would say if she did.
But she sure as shit knew how it would all end. And it would be far from the pretty that had been her life with Maurice for the last few months.
Part Two
After somehow managing to straighten out her own post-Hamptons-mortem mess with William, convincing him that she was more determined than ever to keep their relationship in tact despite Oscar’s wife Melanie being convinced of otherwise, Nikki now found herself completely alone inside his home.
Not because William had left her to go off and question for himself whether or not he was still willing to put forth the effort into their relationship the same as her.
And not because he wasn’t ever coming back.
But because not long after they had resettled back into his place with plans to further discuss what they had each wanted and expected from each other and the future of this ‘recommitment’, he received an anxiety ridden phone call from his ex-wife regarding their ten year old daughter, Corrinne. Before she could even get the words out of what had taken place and why he was needed, William was on his feet and calling for his personal driver to get him out to Connecticut as soon as humanly possible.
It was the first time Nikki had been inside of that house without him. She almost didn’t know what to do with herself and certainly didn’t have a clue as to what rooms she was allowed to go into, or what rooms were off limits to her and others who had come through before her because William never specified.
Everyone had places in their home that belonged solely to them, which meant that company or those who didn’t rightfully live there were meant to keep out.
Vanessa had a place just like that in her own home, it was called her bedroom.
While thoughtlessly moving around from one room to the next, exploring every tiered ceiling and rose colored chandelier that hung high above her head, Nikki heard the doorbell. Unsure of who it might be but convinced that whoever it was had come to see William, she hung back for a bit, hoping that they would realize that he wasn’t home and eventually go away.
But as the ringing sustained, she became more anxious and decided to head for the front door herself and peek out the peephole. At the very least, she felt she needed to know who was waiting outside and why they were so damn anxious to be inside.
As she bent forward and poked one eye against the hole, she jumped back after instantly recognizing the face of the man standing before her.
“Oscar,” she breathed. A mixture of ire and fury encased by lust and strong yearning to be near him flowed throughout her system and she peeked through the hole again. Her nails clawed against the wood and as he rang the bell again, she leaned her head down and closed her eyes. “Why now, why now, why now, why now?”
When he knocked, she stood back and wrapped a single hand around the front of her throat. Her mouth was becoming dry just as her eyes were becoming wet with tears.
“What do you want?” she croaked, silently refusing to answer the door. She didn’t care if he couldn’t hear her, she just needed to get the words out loud enough for herself.
“Nik?” she heard him say. “Nik, I need to talk to you about something.” His normally large voice was somewhat muted by the thickness of the door, but still perfect to her – every word flowing from his lips as soft as silk blowing across her skin.
“I can’t let you in here,” she said. “William’s not here and--”
“Please,” he begged. “Please open this door to me. If William’s not there, it’s all the more reason I need to talk to you. Please.”
As a single tear rolled down her face, she instantly wiped it away. Inhaling and exhaling a few times and sliding her hand down to her chest to feel the crazed beating of her heart, she reached down for the knob with her other hand and gently pulled back on that door.
There he stood, like an Adonis statue come to life.
He took one step forward and, resting his feet on top of the threshold and placed his hand on the side of her throat.
Instinctually, she leaned into him, despite every single muscle, every nerve ending, every feeling – every ache in her erratic pulse telling her not to.
She went against them, left and right, she went against every single choice set before her and made the only one that agreed with her heart.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice soft, questioning. “I thought after what happened this weekend, Melanie would have you on a tighter leash.”
“Maybe she would,” he said, staring down at her face, at her mouth. As her full lips split apart and she exhaled, he wrapped his other hand around her face and gently brought her head down. “If I hadn’t told her that we were done. That this marriage is something I can be in any longer.”
Nikki looked up at him, narrowing her eyes and wrinkling her brows. Inside she was jumping for joy at finally hearing those words for him – they had been too long coming.
But on the outside, she couldn’t be sure if what he had done was the right thing, for any of them.
“I chose you,” he said, spreading his lips into a smile. “Okay? I chose you. I chose us, and this.” As he leaned in to try and kiss her, to re-solidify what they once shared – what he was certain they would always share, she placed her hands on top of his and pushed him away. A puzzled Oscar reached out for her. “Nik--”
But she crossed to the other side of the foyer and wrapped her hands around the back of her head.
An anxious Oscar, fearing he might have actually lost her to another man, walked over and rested his hand at her back. She flinched but he didn’t pull away.
“What did you do?” Her voice remained quiet.
He crawled his fingers up and down her back and she stiffened. “I did what needed to be done. What happened between us was a long time coming.”
“What happened between you happened because of me,” she said.
“Not because of you
alone. Because of this, because of us. After seeing you with William this weekend and understanding what you were bound to become, what he wanted with you, from you, I realized that I can’t have any part of myself away from you anymore. I’m done being miserable and waiting for the other shoe to drop in a marriage that was dead long before the official time of death was called out. I’m tired of trying to be a good man for my wife when all I want is to be an honest man with you, which includes being honest with myself. I know how all of this might sound to someone else, to anyone who didn’t understand us – or me, but not you. Because you know it’s what have both needed for a long time,” he said. He moved closer, pressing himself against her. “It’s what we’ve both needed for a long ass time now.”
“I…”
Her voice caught. She couldn’t speak, she could barely think. But she could feel. Oh, hell, she could feel him as he rested against her, as he rocked himself against her, as his shaft grew in size against her. And she wanted it. Dear God, did she want it bad.
“I want us,” he whispered, leaning down to her. “I want you and me. I want us to start over, fresh. To be out in the open, in the public where people can see us and know that we’re together, to know that you’re mine.” He trailed a finger down the center of her back and her entire body quaked.
“Are you still mine?” he asked her.
Her heart continued to overrule every other emotion signaling throughout her system. It was like an alarm bell telling her to fight, fight, fight… win.
Everything he said, every touch he gave, every pull, every tug at every string that had given him complete control over her – mind, body and soul, was all she ever wanted, all she ever dreamed of hearing and feeling and needing. Oh, did she need it.
Everything, absolutely everything in that moment with him was like a long forgotten fantasy finally coming to life.
Except…
“I’ve already recommitted myself to William,” she said. “I told him that I moved past everything with you and that I’m ready to move forward with him.”
“Was it the truth?” he asked her. He wrapped his hands around her waist and gently dipped his body beneath her.
