“Gosh, how thoughtful of her.”
Charlotte dropped her handbag on the luxurious sofa, and Curtis led her into the bedroom, but as soon as they entered it, Charlotte almost fainted.
Curtis stopped in his tracks. “What in the world?”
“Well, I certainly didn’t expect you to bring the little wifey with you,” Sharon said, leaning against a stack of large pillows with her legs crossed, dressed only in a lacy negligee.
Curtis took a step closer to the bed. “Sharon, what are you doing here?”
She chuckled. “Oh, so now you wanna act like you’re surprised to see me, huh? But you know you invited me.”
“I did not.”
“Of course you did. You invited me a month ago when you told me your wife wouldn’t be coming on this trip. Plus, when I called you at the church yesterday, you said you couldn’t wait to see me.”
Charlotte was too stunned to speak or move.
Curtis was outraged. “Why are you lying like this, and how did you get in here?”
“Well, since you forgot to leave me a key at the front desk, I found a nice woman from housekeeping who had no problem letting me in—at least not after I told her I was your wife. She even helped me light all the candles so you’d be surprised.”
“I want you out of here,” Curtis said, but Sharon folded her arms and relaxed farther into the pillows. “I’m warning you, Sharon. Either get out or be put out.”
Charlotte finally found the will to say something. “Curtis, why is this woman here? Did you really invite her the way she says?”
“Baby, no. I would never have done that, and I haven’t even spoken to her since Tuesday morning. And the only reason I called her then was to tell her our friendship was over.”
“Liar, liar, liar,” Sharon said. “Say what you want, baby, but you and I both know what the truth is.”
Curtis went over to the nightstand and picked up the phone. “Either you get your things and get out or I’m calling the police.”
“I don’t think so. Not unless you want everyone at Deliverance Outreach to know you’ve been sleeping around on your wife.”
Curtis lowered the phone back down. “What are you talking about? I never touched you.”
Charlotte shook her head. “Oh my God.”
Sharon gawked at her. “Yeah, that’s right, sweetie. Your husband has been sleeping with me on and off for months, and since everything is now all out in the open, where do you think he was last year, that day your son was held hostage at his school? Why do you think he was ignoring all his phone calls? He did it because he was in bed with me.”
Charlotte squinted at her husband. “Curtis, is this true? Were you with her that day?”
“Baby, look, I can explain.”
Sharon laughed. “And while he’s explaining, you might want to ask him where he was last Sunday. Ask him who he came running to right after you came home sloppy drunk. Ask him who he was with for hours.”
“You know I’ve never slept with you, Sharon. So why are you doing this?”
“I’m doing it because it’s time you stopped playing games and told her the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That you and I are going to be married as soon as you divorce her.”
Curtis picked up the phone again and this time he dialed zero. “Yes… we have an uninvited guest, so can you send security up here as soon as possible?”
Sharon scooted out of the bed and grabbed her pants and jacket. “Fine, I’ll leave, but, Curtis, you know this had to be done. Actually, you should have told her a long time ago, so, sweetie,” she said, glaring at Charlotte, “I’m glad you came. I’m glad Curtis and I now have all our cards on the table, and there’s no reason for us to hide our relationship any longer.”
Curtis tossed her overnight bag into the living room area. “You’re sick.”
“I know you’re upset, baby,” she said, pulling on her jeans, “and that you didn’t want your wife to find out like this, but what’s done is done, and now we can finally be together without hiding out at my place.”
There was a knock at the door, and Sharon hurried to slip her shoes on, tossed her purse onto her shoulder, and went into the other room. Curtis followed behind her and opened the door.
“Is there a problem, Pastor Black?” Charlotte heard a man asking.
“Yes, we’d like this woman to leave.”
“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to come with us.”
“Gladly,” she told the man, but then said to Curtis, “Call me later, baby, okay?”
Charlotte walked into the living room and saw that she was finally gone, and Curtis rushed over to her. “Baby, you have to believe me. I never invited that woman here. I don’t know how she got in, and I’ve never once slept with her. As God is my witness, I—”
Charlotte held up her hands. “Just stop it, Curtis. Stop trying to cover up this game you’ve been playing, because I really don’t want to hear it. You’re such a liar and to think I actually started to believe you a few days ago when you swore you hadn’t slept with her.”
“I’m not lying.”
“So you’ve never been to her house, then?”
Curtis covered his face and Charlotte’s question was answered. “Baby, look. I only went there twice. That day Matthew’s teacher held them hostage and then again on Sunday. But I didn’t sleep with her.”
“If that’s true, why did you tell me the only thing you’d done with her was talk on the phone? Why didn’t you tell me you’d been to her house?”
“Because I was afraid if you found out, you’d think I’d slept with her, just like you do now.”
Charlotte picked up her handbag. “Wow, I can’t believe I’ve been such a fool. I mean, here I’ve been begging you like a child to forgive me, and then I was dumb enough to believe all you’d done was talk to that woman. That was bad enough, but now to find out you’ve been sleeping with her and that you were with her the day our child could have been shot…. Oh my God.”
Curtis stepped closer to her. “Baby, you have to listen to me. Sharon is lying.”
“No, I’m outta here.”
“Baby, please,” he said, but Charlotte pushed the door open and stormed to the elevator. If she hadn’t been so sure this was reality, she would have sworn she was dreaming. Or having the nightmare of her life.
Chapter 31
Thankfully, it was late in the evening, so not a lot of guests were in the lobby, which meant very few people saw how distraught Charlotte was. She was an emotional mess, and it was all she could do to get on the elevator and make her way down to the front desk without passing out. This thing with Curtis and Sharon had slashed her heart in two, and for a few moments, she’d felt as though she couldn’t breathe. Curtis claimed he hadn’t slept with this woman, but why would she lie? And what person in her right mind would fly all the way from Chicago to Detroit, finagle her way into his suite, and then pretend she’d been invited if she hadn’t? It didn’t make any sense, and just the fact that Curtis had so conveniently not told her about his visits to Sharon made her suspect he was lying even more. The other thing that unnerved Charlotte was the way Sharon looked—just like her in so many ways—so there was no doubt Curtis was attracted to her. This whole situation was very bizarre and so unnecessary, and Charlotte was tired of thinking about it.
“Here’s your credit card and ID back. How many keys will you be needing?” the woman at the front desk asked. Charlotte had come straight down there so she could book another room for the night.
“Just one.”
The woman programmed the key, slipped it into a tiny paper jacket, and passed it to her. “Is there anything else I can help you with? Do you have luggage?”
Charlotte pulled out the stub a bellman had given her earlier in the day when she’d first arrived and had checked her bag with him. She passed it across the counter.
“I’ll have it brought right out.”
C
harlotte stood there waiting, and when she looked toward the entrance, she saw Sharon walking outside with her garment bag. Charlotte’s blood boiled, and if she hadn’t been the wife of a well-known pastor or thought fighting was totally beneath her, she would have beat Sharon down to the ground and waited to be arrested. Although, the more she thought about it, what good would that have done? It certainly wouldn’t change anything, and it certainly wouldn’t stop Curtis from continuing to sleep with her if he wanted to.
Charlotte turned back toward the desk but then turned around again when she heard a male voice saying, “Ma’am, is everything okay now? I’m with hotel security.”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Good, but please don’t hesitate to contact us if you need to.”
“Thank you.”
Charlotte stood for only a few more seconds, and the bellman brought out her roller bag.
“Can I take this up to your room?”
Charlotte opened her purse. Normally, she always wanted help with her luggage, but right now she just wanted to be alone and didn’t feel like having any small talk on the elevator with a young man she didn’t know. Plus, she wasn’t the best company for anyone at the moment. “No, I think I can handle it, but thank you,” she said, passing him a ten-dollar bill.
The man smiled. “Thanks so much.”
Charlotte started toward the elevator but stopped when she heard someone calling out to her. It was Lana, walking alongside her niece, Tracey.
“I thought you and Pastor were locked away in that big ole suite we booked him upstairs. So what are you doing down here?”
“It’s a long story, Lana. You have no idea.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Auntie,” Tracey said, “I’m going to head up to my room so I can call home, but I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”
“Sleep well.”
“Take care, Charlotte,” Tracey said.
“You, too.”
When Tracey left, Charlotte and Lana walked farther away from the desk and down toward the elevators. It was a lot more private there.
Charlotte leaned against the wall. “Do you know Sharon Green?”
“Not personally, but I know she’s a member of the church. As a matter of fact, we just saw her getting into a taxi, but when I spoke to her, she turned her head and didn’t say anything. She seemed really upset about something.”
“I’m sure she was.”
“Why? Did you talk to her?”
“No, but she had a lot to say to Curtis as soon as we walked into the suite and found her in his bed.”
“What? I know you’re joking. You have to be.”
“I wish I were.”
“Wait a minute. She was actually in Curtis’s bed?”
“Yeah.”
“How? I mean, I knew she was probably going to book a room at this hotel because just two days ago, she called the church, saying she’d seen online that Pastor was speaking at a conference in Detroit, and she wanted to know if any women from the church were going. Then, when I told her my niece and I were, she said there were a lot of recommended hotels listed on the conference website, so she just wondered where the Deliverance members were staying. And that’s when I told her I wasn’t sure but that Pastor and my niece and I were staying here.”
“Well, I don’t know if she booked her own room or not, but she was lying in Curtis’s bed wearing a negligee and swears he invited her.”
“I don’t believe that. And now that I think about it, it was sort of strange, anyway, that she called the church about a national conference at the last minute.”
Charlotte’s phone rang, but when she pulled it out and saw it was Curtis, she pressed Ignore and dropped it back inside her purse.
“Was that him?”
“Yep.”
“Honey, you should go talk to him.”
“For what? I’ve seen and heard all I need to for one night. Plus, if he really wanted to talk to me, he would have followed me down here.”
“I know you feel that way, and I’m sure he wants to, but with how upset you are, if Curtis had come running behind you, there would have certainly been a scene. And you know people are just dying to publicize your business.”
“Well, he should have thought about that before he slept with that whore.”
“What do you mean?”
“I told you… it’s a long story.”
Lana sighed and shook her head. “Lord, what a mess.”
Charlotte grasped the handle of her luggage. “I appreciate your concern, but there’s not a lot you can do. This is all on Curtis.”
“Why don’t I walk up to your room with you so we can talk a while longer?”
At first Charlotte hesitated, but then she agreed because deep down, she did want to tell Lana everything. So they went up the elevator.
When they walked into the room, Charlotte turned on the lights, and Lana sat in one of the chairs. Charlotte sat down on the side of the bed, facing her. “Gosh, where do I begin? I guess the first thing you need to know is that Curtis has been talking to this woman every single day for at least a full year, and then I find out tonight he’s been going to her house.”
“Did he admit that?”
“He didn’t have a choice but to, because I finally pulled his cell phone records. Then, tonight, when Sharon said he’d been to her house, he admitted that he had but still claimed he hadn’t slept with her.”
“Why was he over there?”
“The same reason any man goes to visit a single woman.”
“I know it may be hard to believe, but what if he’s telling the truth? I know he was wrong for talking to her and for going anywhere near her house, but you never know about some of these women.”
“But if he wasn’t sleeping with her, why didn’t he tell me last week that he’d gone over there? All he kept saying was that he’d never done anything more than talk to her on the phone.”
“Maybe he was afraid you might think exactly what you’re thinking now. I agree that he should have told you everything, but I’m sure he thought if he told you he’d been to her house, then you’d be even more suspicious.”
Curtis had given that same explanation, but Charlotte still wasn’t buying it. “I’m not sure what to think anymore, but I know I’m tired.”
“The two of you have been to hell and back more than once, but I think you need to do a little more investigating on this one because your husband isn’t the average man. He’s exceptionally handsome, he’s known by hundreds of thousands of people, and he’s a prominent pastor. Your husband has money and power, and there are women out there who will sell their souls to the devil just to have one night with him. Some of them are willing to do worse than that, especially if they think they can replace you. I’ve seen and heard it all for years, and you’d be amazed at how devious, two-faced, and sneaky some of these women are. As it is, we’ve had to stop a few of them from sitting in the front row because of all the skintight dresses and skirts they wear. Some barely cover their little narrow-tail behinds, yet they’re the first ones to go plopping down on the front pews so Pastor can see them.”
“I hear you, and I know all that’s true, but imagine how you would feel if you’d finally gotten things right with your husband, enjoyed your time at a conference with thousands of women, and then come back to the hotel and walked in on a woman who was half-naked?”
“I wouldn’t like it at all, but don’t you think if Pastor had invited her, he wouldn’t have been so happy to see you? Do you think he would have taken you up to his suite?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, I do. So something isn’t adding up.”
Charlotte didn’t say anything.
“Honey, I know you’re upset and now you’re wondering who to believe, but why don’t you call Pastor? Why don’t you call him down here so you can talk to him?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Well, if you won’t do it for yourself, th
en do it for me, okay?”
Charlotte could tell Lana wasn’t going to take no for an answer, so she agreed. “Okay, I’ll call him.”
The two of them hugged.
“You guys are going to be fine, you hear me? I’ll check on you in the morning.”
“Thanks for listening.”
“Of course.
“Good night, Lana,” Charlotte said, shutting the door and eyeing the minibar. She’d gone almost a solid week without drinking, but now she needed something to calm her nerves. She knew vodka, gin, or brandy would do the trick, it didn’t matter which one, so she pulled out the first tiny bottle she laid her hands on and opened it.
Chapter 32
Curtis plopped down onto his bed, wondering how this thing with Sharon could have happened. It was barely after six a.m., he hadn’t slept a wink, and he was worried to death about Charlotte. He’d been calling her cell all night, and then when he’d called downstairs to see if she’d checked into a different room, he’d had them ring her hotel room several times. But she refused to answer. He knew this whole incident with Sharon didn’t look good and that Charlotte had ample reason not to believe his side of the story, but what bothered him was that even though he was telling the truth, he honestly couldn’t prove it. For the first time since he’d been married to Charlotte, he found himself in a his-word-against-her-word situation, and he had no idea how he was going to confirm his innocence. Sharon had insisted they’d slept together, he’d told Charlotte they hadn’t, and now Charlotte wouldn’t even talk to him. So there was no doubt who she believed. He also knew he couldn’t blame anyone for this but himself, because he’d had no business driving out to Sharon’s house in the first place. He’d known it was wrong both times he’d gone there, but he’d still carelessly allowed his pride and pain to override sound judgment and this was the result.
He dialed Charlotte’s cell phone again, but the call went straight to voice mail. It had begun doing that around three this morning, which meant either her battery had died and she hadn’t charged it, or she’d turned her phone off altogether. He wasn’t sure what else to do at this point, so he dialed Lana. He’d tried his best not to involve her, but he was desperate and needed her help.
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