Ryan decided she’d go to her favorite diner, but first she needed to pick up the prescription for her prenatal pills.
Ryan strolled through the drug store and by the time she made it to the pharmacy department, she had a hand full of items that weren’t part of her original plan. When her turn came, Ryan gave the clerk her last name and when the woman walked off to retrieve the prescription, she perused the magazines when one caught her attention.
Ryan reached for a tabloid peeking out behind a fashion magazine because she saw Anderson’s name. It wasn’t just his name that caught her attention, but the woman he was holding hands with on the cover as they appeared to be romping on the beach. It was the woman at the restaurant and the headline read, “Andy Lee Nails New Role and Co-Star!”
Ryan snatched the magazine off the shelf, pushed it behind her back. Her breathing became ragged and she took several deep breaths to maintain control of her rage.
Ryan quickly paid for her items and headed to the car, where she pulled the tabloid open to the spread. Several pictures of Anderson and his young co-star were plastered across the page. Tears rolled down Ryan’s face from behind her shades as she scanned the illicit photos of the two in swimwear as well as a few photos of what looked like the inside of a nightclub. The actress looked dreamily into Anderson’s eyes and smiled like a smitten teenager.
Ryan started tearing the tabloid apart. “You bastard,” she screamed, tossing scraps across the front seat. She banged her hands against the steering wheel, collapsed onto it and cried out.
After she’d gotten out most of her angst, she ran back inside the pharmacy and picked up another copy of the tabloid.
Ryan thought about calling Anderson, but decided she would do this in person. She vowed to muster up the courage to confront him when returned home the next week and wondered what excuse he would offer this time. She finally had proof.
Chapter 29
Vonnie
After a busy week, Vonnie was excited about having a few days off. She and her two partners worked out their schedules so that they would be able to alternately enjoy long weekends and Vonnie wasn’t due back in the office until Monday.
Her appearance on the talk show the day before went well and the producer treated her like a true VIP, picking her up and dropping her off in a limo and catering to her every need. She enjoyed everything about the experience like hanging out in the green room with the other guests and getting the chance to meet a co-star of one of her favorite TV dramas. She couldn’t wait for it to air the following week so she could see how she actually looked in front of the camera.
The other highlight of the week was getting a call from Essence Magazine, and being asked to provide a quote for an upcoming issue. It was hard to contain her excitement; she felt like a child at Christmas.
Vonnie decided that if she was going to be appearing on TV more often, maybe she should pump up her exercise regime and shed a few pounds so she could really look good on camera. Vonnie grabbed her cell phone to reach out to the girls to find a good trainer.
Pearson and Nadalia didn’t answer, so she called Ryan. Immediately she knew there was something wrong from the sound of Ryan’s voice.
“Hey, Ryan. Everything okay?” she asked. She didn’t want to share her good news if the timing wasn’t right.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Well okay. I’m just checking in. I’m off today, so I’ll be around if you want to talk.”
“Thanks. I’ll be fine,” she repeated.
“I’ll call you later to check up on you.”
After Vonnie hung up, she tried both Pearson and Nadalia again. Still neither of them answered. She left messages inquiring about wanting to hire a trainer.
For once, Vonnie had a clear schedule, but with all the excitement reeling inside of her, she couldn’t just sit at home. She decided to surprise her husband at his office with lunch and sneak in a few smooches while she was there.
Vonnie changed into a hip-hugging pair of jeans that Mike loved to see her in, a vibrant orange cashmere sweater that wrapped around her waist accentuating her shape, and slipped on a pair of high-heeled boots that were sure to entice him. She busied herself around the house until one of their favorite sushi restaurants opened at eleven.
She placed an order for takeout and picked it up on her way to Mike’s office. Balancing the food in one hand, Vonnie walked across the parking lot, through the shrill cold winds as fast as she could.
Pressing the elevator with her elbow, Vonnie headed to her husband’s company on the second floor. She walked down the hall to Mike’s office and swung the door open. When Vonnie walked up to the receptionist, she noticed something different. This young looking woman with blond hair and long red nails wasn’t Pat, the mature black receptionist who had been with her husband’s company since its inception.
“Uh, excuse me?” Vonnie caught the woman’s attention as she looked around. Mike didn’t tell her about any changes to the office or hiring new people.
“Hello. How many I help you?” The woman smiled and her big brown eyes seemed to twinkle.
Vonnie smiled through her confusion. “I’m looking for Cyber Vault.”
“They moved months ago. They are now downstairs in suite 110,” she said.
“Oh…thank you. I’m sorry to bother you.”
“No worries at all. We still get a few people in here looking for them all the time.”
“Have a great day.” Vonnie smiled, masking her shock. Why hadn’t Mike told her about moving the office? They never kept secrets.
Vonnie headed downstairs. Surely Mike would have an explanation. She stepped off the elevator and followed the descending numbers down the hall to suite 110.
This office was a third of the size of Mike’s previous location. Vonnie spotted Pat behind a reception desk half the size of the old one.
Pat looked up and stretched her eyes. A suspicious feeling crept over Vonnie. Usually Pat was excited to see her and now she looked nervous.
“Mrs. Howard…Hi!” Pat stammered. “It’s been so long. Was Mr. Howard expecting you?”
“Hi Pat. Actually no! I was trying to surprise him with lunch.”
“He’s not here,” Pat said and began shuffling papers around on her desk.
Vonnie watched her for a moment, feeling Pat’s unease under her watch. “Will he be back soon?”
“I don’t think so. Mr. Madison spends more time out of the office than he does inside these days.”
“Oh. Okay.” Vonnie thought for a second. “Well, do you like sushi?”
“Uh…yes. I love sushi. Why?”
“Because someone may as well eat this lunch. I don’t think it will make it back to my car. Some of the sauce spilled and the bag is falling apart. If you haven’t had lunch, you’re welcome to it.”
“Oh. That’s so nice of you,” Pat said, taking the bag from Vonnie.”
Vonnie gave her a smile that hid just how annoyed she really felt. “Have a great day, Pat.”
“You too, Mrs. Howard. And thanks again for lunch.”
Vonnie went to walk out and turned back toward Pat. “When did you guys move again?”
“After we downsized,” Pat said. “We’ve been here since November.”
“Oh yeah! That’s right!” Vonnie pretended to recall. “It’s been so long since I’ve been here and things have been going haywire at the practice.” Pat smiled. Vonnie knew that she wasn’t buying it. “Well enjoy.”
Vonnie hurried to the car, pulled out her cell phone and stabbed the screen to unlock the phone. She swiped her way to Mike’s number. Just as she was about to press talk a call came in. She recognized the Connecticut number as being from Noelle’s school.
“Hello.”
“Mrs. Howard?”
“Speaking.”
“Good afternoon, Ma’am. Sorry to bother you.”
A chill ran through Vonnie’s body. “Is Noelle okay?” She never received calls from Noelle’s school
.
“Oh yes, ma’am. This is Mrs. Berry. I’m calling from the billing department. I’ve tried to reach Mr. Howard unsuccessfully, which is why I’m calling you. This is regarding Noelle’s tuition balance.”
“That’s been paid.” Vonnie’s face scrunched in confusion.
“In fact, ma’am, it hasn’t. There’s still a balance of ten thousand dollars from the fall semester and this semester has yet to be paid. Would you like to apply that to a credit card today?”
“What? I…I don’t understand. Mrs.…” Vonnie paused, trying to remember the woman’s name.
“Mrs. Berry,” she filled in for her.
“Ah. Thanks, Mrs. Berry. Let me get in touch with my husband and I can call you back regarding that bill and to rectify the situation.” Vonnie wanted to tell the woman that she was mistaken, but after finding out that her husband had downsized his business without telling her, she decided that the woman could be right. Vonnie was furious and couldn’t wait to speak to Mike.
More than just being mad, Vonnie was hurt. What other secrets had Mike been keeping from her? She ended the call and dialed his number.
“Hey, babe! What’s up?”
“Don’t babe me!”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“You tell me. I just went to your office to surprise you. Guess who was surprised?”
Mike didn’t respond.
“Hello! Why didn’t you tell me you moved?”
“Babe! I…let’s talk about this when I get home tonight.”
“Oh, but wait, there’s more!” she said sarcastically as if she were delivering great offers in a commercial voice. “I just got a call from our daughter’s school about unpaid tuition. What else should I expect today, Mike?”
“Babe, I can explain.”
“Damn right you will!” Vonnie’s chest rose up and down. “Since when do we keep secrets like this? What the hell is going on?”
“Babe—”
“Where are you?” Vonnie yelled. She felt her cheeks grow hot.
“At work.”
“Liar! I’m sitting outside of your office!”
“Babe. I’m still working. I’m about to meet with a client. As a matter of fact, he’s ready. I’ll have to call you back. I promise I’ll explain everything when I get home. Okay?”
Vonnie pressed END and tossed the phone into the back seat. Her hands shook as she wrapped her fingers around the steering wheel. Too riled up to drive, she dropped her hands and rocked back and forth.
When she had her irritation under control, Vonnie started the car and drove home trying not to cry. How could he deceive her like this? They had built their relationship on trust. They shared everything. He had to have a valid explanation for all of this. At least she hoped he did.
She wanted answers and couldn’t wait hours for Mike to get home. Once she got in the house, she went into their shared home office and sifted through the mail in search of Noelle’s tuition bill. Finding more than she ever expected, she filtered through piles of other unpaid bills, marked with large red ‘past due’ stamps. Among the delinquent notices included the mortgage payments, car notes, and several credit card bills. The only bill that appeared to be up to date was the membership fee for The Beck, which has just been paid in a few weeks back.
Vonnie couldn’t help the tears. The deception made her heart feel like it had severed. She couldn’t come up with one valid reason why Mike had hidden this from her. Ignoring important bills while keeping his country club membership payment current baffled her.
Vonnie went to the wine cooler and pulled out a fresh bottle without even bothering to see what kind it was. She uncorked the bottle and drank straight from it. Hours later, she was still sitting in the same spot, waiting for Mike to walk through the door.
Chapter 30
Vonnie
When Mike came home that night, Vonnie had already downed at least four glasses of wine. Her lips felt numb, but her anger was still fresh. Normally Vonnie greeted him at the door what a hug and a kiss. Today, she stayed put. Minutes after she heard him come in, he cautiously strolled into the kitchen.
She sneered at him. “And how was your day?” she asked, cutting her eyes at him. She took a long sip from her fifth glass of wine without taking her eyes off him. She slammed the glass down. “Why didn’t you answer my damn calls?”
Mike still hadn’t stepped all the way into the kitchen. “Babe, I told you I had meetings.”
“Until...” Vonnie looked at her watch and squinted. “Ten o’clock at night? Are you lying about that, too?”
“V! I never lied to you.”
“Yes, you did!” Vonnie banged her hand against the table and knocked her glass over. Mike walked over to the sink, pulled off a wad of paper towels and cleaned up the spill, while Vonnie continued to lay into him. “Keeping secrets is just as bad as lying. Since when did we start keeping secrets from each other, huh?”
“I can explain.”
“Yeah! Well explain these while you’re at it!” Vonnie held up the pile of overdue bills and then tossed them at him. “Everything is past due and Noelle’s school called me today because they haven’t been able to get in touch with you!”
Mike’s eyes stretched wide. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it back, shaking his head. “Just let me explain. Please!”
“I don’t even know if I want to hear what you have to say. How many more lies or secrets,” she said, curling her fingers into air quotes, “are you going to tell me?” Vonnie went to the cabinet, snatched it open, grabbed another wine glass and walked back to the table.
Mike scooped the glass up before she could pour more wine into it. Vonnie glowered at him.
“It looks like you’ve had enough.”
“I’ll tell you what I’ve had enough of...”
“I know. My lies,” he said sarcastically. “I get it. Can I explain now?”
Vonnie snatched the glass out of his hand, but sat down without pouring more wine. “I’m listening,” she said, folding her arms.
Mike sat across from her at the table and placed his hand over hers. She pulled her hands back. Mike sighed.
“I ran into some trouble with the business.” Vonnie looked away for moment and then refocused on what Mike was saying. “We hit a rough patch, baby. I don’t know what happened. The market started changing. Business didn’t just slow down. It practically came to a halt. Technology can sometimes change like the wind. Clients were bailing for newer options that cost less money. I went through the company’s nest egg to pay salaries until I had to let people go. I’ve been working with an engineer on a new idea. I need to be able to compete with some of the newer technologies in order to stay afloat. But I needed money to fund these new products.” Mike dropped his head.
Vonnie knew he felt ashamed, but refused to give in to the sense of pity that was moving in on her anger.
Vonnie got up and paced. “Our house, Mike. We could lose our home! I can’t understand why you would keep this from me.” Vonnie swiped at the tears that streamed down her face.
Mike dropped his head into his hands. “Babe.” He looked up with pleading eyes. “I’m sorry. I am trying to fix this. I didn’t want to worry you. I didn’t want to disappoint you and have you think that I failed you!”
“Mike! I could have helped.”
Mike slammed his hand against the table. “Dammit!” Vonnie flinched and look at him as if he’d lost his mind. “I said I’ll fix it. I told you I’ll take care of you...of this and I will. Just give me a chance.”
“Well, something needs to be done now.”
“I. Will. Fix. This. I don’t need your help right now. I have a few things in the works and after that, I will be able to catch up on everything and we will be fine. I can take care of my family.”
Vonnie thought for a moment before speaking again. She had a few more pieces of her mind to toss at him, but it was obvious that his sense of masculinity had been bruised. She walked back to the
table and sat down. After a few moments, she put her words together in a way that she hoped wouldn’t cause more damage to his ego. She was still furious, but understood where he was coming from. Mike and always prided himself on being able to take care of his family and having a wife who worked only because she wanted to. “Fine! Nevertheless, I’m a part of this too, and I don’t appreciate you leaving me out. Now I feel like I can’t trust you.”
Mike looked into her eyes and shook his head. “Baby. You know you can trust me.”
“Keeping secrets from me makes me feel like I can’t.”
“I just needed time. That’s all.”
“Okay. I’m telling you now; I’m going to use my money from my savings to help pay some of those bills. So if you want to get all mad about it, start now. This ship ain’t going down without me taking a turn at steering this boat to stiller waters.” Vonnie stood. “I’ll tally what we owe and see what we have to put toward getting back on track.”
“No.” Mike held his hands up.
“Don’t tell me no!” This time she yelled. “This is my life too.”
Mike looked away.
“If we owe more than what’s in my savings account, then we’ll cash in some investments, take out a loan, or something.”
“I really don’t want you to do that!”
“Well that’s too bad.”
“Just leave it alone for now. I have something in the works that will take care of everything.”
Vonnie threw her hands up. There was no use in fighting him. Mike was stubborn. However, she was still going to tally her accounts which she now considered their reserve. This made her realize how oblivious she had been with their financial standing and that scared her.
“If you’re going to handle this, then fine, but I want to be included in helping to manage the bills from now on. I realize how uninvolved I’ve been.”
“Vonnie!” Mike said her name softly, but looked in the other direction. “Baby,” he said. “I said I’ve got this. Can you please…just trust me?”
Vonnie groaned. She didn’t like it but knew that Mike wouldn’t put them into a bad situation that he couldn’t get them out of. She sighed long and hard and then her mouth said, “Okay,” but in her mind, she knew she’d be checking on things when he wasn’t around. If his business tanked, there was no way they could afford this lifestyle. The reality hit her hard. If he wasn’t able to handle this situation, their entire lives would change.
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