Keeping Secrets & Telling Lies

by Trice Hickman

  “Oh, I completely understand,” Roberta squeaked in her high-pitched voice. “Well, since you’re so busy, I’d be more than happy to pick up your daughter and take her to the library for their field trip this weekend.”

  Victoria wished she could slap a piece of duct tape over Roberta’s big mouth. “Thanks for the offer, but that won’t be necessary,” she said and smiled.

  Roberta opened her mouth, ready to make another suggestion, but Victoria interrupted her. “Look at the time,” she said, glancing at her watch. “I’ve got an early morning meeting, so I think we’re going to call it a night.” She looked at Ted, giving him a stare that said, “Back me up.” He nodded in agreement.

  “Okay,” Roberta said and grinned. “We’ll have to get together soon. I’ll give you a call next week.”

  After they said their good-byes, Victoria and Ted turned, heading toward the door.

  “V, I know we had our disagreements about it, but like I told you, I’m fine with Alexandria being in Jack and Jill.”

  “I know, but I think Alexandria will have enough things to occupy her time between the ballet lessons she started this week and the piano lessons she’ll start next week. Not to mention homework and all the new playdates she’ll have coming up. I just don’t want to overload her.”

  “You’re right. I’ve been so busy and preoccupied, I don’t even know my own child’s schedule.”

  “That’s what you’ve got me for.” Victoria winked.

  Ted took her hand in his as they prepared to leave. They were nearly out the door when Alexandria’s teacher walked up to them.

  “Hello, Mrs. Thornton,” Emily Snow greeted with a perky smile.

  Victoria smiled back, giving her a quick hug. “Let me introduce you to my husband.” She made the introductions, glad that the two were finally getting a chance to meet. She liked Alexandria’s teacher, who was a twentysomething, young black woman with a progressive and interactive teaching style. They’d had a nice chat on the first day of school, when Victoria discovered they were both Spelman graduates. She appreciated the woman’s eclectic quirkiness and fresh innocence. She was bohemian meets elegance, with a hint of Southern charm sprinkled in. Emily Snow had not yet been jaded by years of institutional bureaucracy or the politics that often came along with being a tenured teacher at a top-tier private school. She was a genuinely sweet person, and Victoria also appreciated the young woman’s dedication to her family. She was the primary caregiver for her terminally ill mother.

  “Alexandria loves you,” Ted said, giving Ms. Snow a warm smile. “She talks about how much fun she has in your class. When kids think learning is fun, it’s a sign that somebody’s doing their job.”

  Ms. Snow beamed, flattered by the compliment. “It’s a joy to have a bright and inquisitive student like Alexandria. She makes teaching easy.”

  “Thank you,” Victoria said.

  “You two have done a great job with her. She’s so smart and outgoing, she gets along well with her classmates, and the other teachers adore her.” Ms. Snow nodded from Victoria to Ted. “She’s a regular little Ms. Congeniality.”

  Ted slipped his arm around Victoria’s waist. “She inherited her charm from her mother.”

  “I can see that.” Ms. Snow smiled, looking at Victoria. “That’s a great quality to have.”

  “Thank you both,” Victoria said.

  “Yes, Alexandria is a leader among her classmates, and she’s made lots of friends already, especially PJ. The two of them are inseparable,” Ms. Snow giggled.

  Victoria felt a cold rush slide through her veins.

  “I believe she’s mentioned his name a few times,” Ted said and grinned, not surprised that Alexandria had already learned how to steal men’s hearts—she was, after all, her mother’s daughter.

  “PJ is a joy, too. His father couldn’t be here tonight, because he had surgery.”

  Victoria felt another jolt rush through her body.

  “Oh, I hope he’s going to be all right,” Ted responded with concern.

  Ms. Snow waved her hand in the air. “Forgive me. That came out all wrong. Dr. Brightwood isn’t having surgery. He’s performing surgery. One of his patients took a turn for the worse and—”

  “Did you say Dr. Brightwood?” Ted interrupted.

  Ms. Snow nodded her head with enthusiasm. “Yes.”

  “Dr. Parker Brightwood?”

  Victoria’s knees locked in place.

  “Why, yes. You don’t know PJ’s father?” Ms. Snow asked, looking at Ted and then back to Victoria. She had seen Parker and Victoria interact during the first day of school, and Parker had even told her that they were old friends. Now, seeing the uncomfortable look on Victoria’s face and the uneasy look on Ted’s, Ms. Snow knew that he was old friends with only one of them, and that the history wasn’t good.

  Then another thought came to Ms. Snow’s mind. She quickly connected the dots, and the picture became crystal clear. Her best friend, Samantha, had told her about a new guy she had met when she came to town last month to attend a coworker’s wedding. She was head over heels for him, and he happened to be best friends with the woman who her cousin Parker used to date and still loved. Ms. Snow had known Parker for years. They’d met when she went home with Samantha for school break during their freshman year of college, and just like Samantha, Parker had become like family. She was the reason he had enrolled his son in Peachtree Country Day.

  Samantha hadn’t gone into specific details during their brief phone conversation, because she wasn’t one to gossip, but she was worried about her cousin. She mentioned that Parker was going through a rough emotional time. The woman he loved was married to someone else, but he still had hopes that they would get back together, because there were unresolved feelings between them.

  Looking at the pained expression on Victoria’s face, and the tension that gripped her husband’s jaw, Ms. Snow knew that Victoria was the mystery woman whom Samantha had spoken of.

  The three stood in awkward silence before Ms. Snow politely excused herself and made a quick departure, saying that she had to greet other parents.

  Within minutes Victoria and Ted left the school auditorium and headed to their car. No words were spoken between them. But as soon as he closed the car door,Ted turned on the engine and faced his wife. “So, that’s who you were looking for?”

  Victoria buckled her seat belt and prepared for the bumpy ride that was about to come.

  Your Big Girl Panties ...

  Tyler leaned back in the chair in front of Victoria’s desk. After the tumultuous night she’d had, she called Tyler as soon as she dropped Alexandria off at school. He had just finished his morning workout at the gym and decided to drop by her office to give her moral support.

  Tyler sighed. “I knew some shit like this was gonna jump off. This isn’t good.”

  “I know,” Victoria said, putting her hand to her head.

  “So how bad did Ted go off?”

  “He was pretty mad. He’s not the type to rant and rave or raise his voice, but he was pissed for sure.”

  “You’re lucky you’re married to a white boy, ’cause a brotha would’ve gone the hell off.”

  Victoria rolled her eyes. “You know you’re not right, right?”

  “But you know it’s true,” Tyler said. “It’s not like we’re talking about a casual friend who you haven’t seen in years. This is a man you used to be in a relationship with, a man you used to sleep with, who your husband can’t stand.”

  “Loathe is a better word.”

  “See, that’s even worse.”

  Victoria knew that Tyler was right. By the time she and Ted had reached their house, he was heated and she was remorseful. Fortunately, Alexandria was fast asleep, and the babysitter eased her way out so they could finish their war of words.

  “I told you,” Victoria had explained for a third time. “Your mother had just passed away, and I didn’t want to upset you any further. Then one thing led to
another, and you were so distraught ... I just didn’t say anything.”

  Ted looked at her, trying to keep his voice calm. “We’ve always had a very honest relationship, and you know you can tell me anything, no matter what the situation, so why would you keep something like this from me?”

  “You hypocrite,” Victoria threw back at him. “Not only have you lied to me, but you’ve asked me to be patient about it. And you still haven’t told me the whole truth about the secret your mother was keeping. If we can tell each other any and everything, why haven’t you told me that?”

  “V, the situation with my mother is completely different.”

  “How so?”

  “It’s about family business, something that my mother intended for only me to know. It has nothing to do with a third party outside our marriage. Parker is your ex-lover, and you felt the need to keep this from me, even though you’ve had contact with him on several occasions.”

  Victoria crossed her arms. “Well, no matter how you want to couch it, keeping a secret is keeping a secret, simple as that.”

  “Your entire argument about secrets is a misnomer. My mother was the one with the secret, not me.” Ted paused, staring at his wife with suspicion. “Do you have a secret that you’re not telling me about? Is there more that I need to know?”

  Victoria bristled. “Don’t turn this on me when you’re still withholding information.”

  Their conversation wavered through a laborious back-and-forth for another hour before they agreed to call a truce. Ted assured Victoria that he would tell her about his mother’s sordid past in due time, leading her to believe that Carolyn had committed some small indiscretion that was unethical but not harmful. And Victoria told him that he had absolutely nothing to worry about with Parker, giving him the impression that their interaction had been brief and strictly platonic, centering around their children. After all was said and done, they finally laid their heavy burdens on their pillows, falling into a restless sleep.

  Just as quickly as they’d gotten back on track, the wheels started coming off again.

  Back in the present,Victoria shook her head as she thought about the way they had practically avoided each other as they got dressed this morning, and about the small, passionless kiss that Ted had placed on her forehead before heading out the door.

  Victoria rubbed her temples as she spoke to Tyler. “I can’t believe that your new girlfriend is best friends with Alexandria’s teacher. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “ ’Cause I had no idea.You know I don’t talk about your business, not to Sam or anyone else. All she knows about you is that you’re my best friend, my ace. Any other information she’s gotten has been on her own or through Parker. But honestly, Sam’s not the gossipy type.That’s one of the things I like about her. She doesn’t get into that ‘he said, she said’ nonsense. And trust, if she did, your shit would’ve been blown up long before now.”

  “I can’t believe that in the course of two months my marriage has gone from sugar to shit.”

  “It’s called trials and tribulations. Right now you’re in a Splenda stage.”

  “You think this is funny?” Victoria huffed.

  “No, I think it’s fucked up, but shit happens. As I recall, someone very smart once told me, and I quote, ‘Tyler, everyone makes mistakes.’ ”

  Victoria smiled, remembering the advice she’d given him years ago, when he had been lamenting over the mistake he made when he broke up with Juliet. The two friends observed a moment of silence in his dead wife’s memory.

  “How’s it going with Samantha?” Victoria asked, drawing both their minds back to the present moment.

  Tyler smiled but didn’t show any teeth. “It’s, um, okay.” He avoided Victoria’s eyes.

  She looked at her friend as she leaned forward, searching his face to confirm what her intuition had already told her. “You’re falling in love, aren’t you?”

  Tyler knew he couldn’t skip around the truth with the one person who had always been his closest confidant. With the exception of Victoria, he had been afraid to open up his heart to anyone, because it seemed that everyone he truly loved either ended up dead or walked out of his life.

  But the connection he felt with Samantha was organic, and he couldn’t ignore it, even though he had tried. From their initial encounter he’d wanted her. They’d made love that first night, and he was hooked. He liked the fact that Samantha was tough, yet gentle, and her genuine, authentically flawed nature had made him fall for her quicker than a New York minute. He had started looking forward to her phone calls and texts and thinking about her when they were apart. But the things he loved about her were the very things that scared him the most, making him reluctant to get any closer. He didn’t want a bad fate to befall them.

  “I’m not gonna lie. I’m feelin’ her. She’s a good woman. But I’m not sure that she’s the woman for me,” Tyler answered.

  “Why not?”

  He shrugged. “It’s complicated.”

  “Falling in love usually is.” Just as Victoria was about to continue, she looked up and saw Denise walking through the door.

  “I knew I heard the voice of one of the most handsome, intelligent, sexy men on the planet,” Denise said and smiled wide, walking toward Tyler with her arms outstretched for a hug.

  “See, you know how to make a brotha feel ten feet tall. No wonder Vernon’s been hangin’ in there all these years,” Tyler replied and grinned, standing up to give Denise a big hug.

  “You know that’s right. How’ve you been?”

  “I’m good.”

  Denise leaned against Tyler’s chair as she turned her attention to Victoria. She instantly read the melancholy in her friend’s eyes and knew that something was wrong, especially given that Tyler had made an early morning appearance. “What happened?” she asked with caution.

  “Tyler, Denise knows about my salacious rendezvous with Parker,” Victoria said. “So now everything’s out in the open among friends.” If it weren’t for the fact that Debbie was trying to rebound from her own messy affair,Victoria would have patched her in by conference call so she could have joined the powwow.

  Denise and Tyler looked at each other and shook their heads, both full of worry. Then panic spread across Denise’s face. “Oh, sweet Jesus,” she gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. “Did Ted find out?”

  “No,” Victoria sighed. “But he may as well have.” She gave Denise a brief rundown of the incident that happened at last night’s PTA meeting.

  “See, I told you to leave Parker’s slick ass alone. You should’ve stayed away from him from the very beginning. Remember, I told you he’d be trouble,” Denise said, sucking her teeth.

  Victoria looked from Denise to Tyler, then back to Denise again. “I sure am lucky to have friends who like to continually say, ‘I told you so.’ Aren’t you the one who said I should stop focusing on what I can’t change and move forward to try and fix things?”

  Denise nodded. “Yes, I did. And I’ll say this, too.... Yeah, I’m the kind of friend who’ll tell you, ‘I told you so,’ but I’m also the kind of friend who loves you enough to give a damn and tell you what you need to hear, when you need to hear it.”

  “Amen,” Tyler said. “So dry up that sad face, put on your big girl panties, and start handling your business.”

  Victoria could only nod her head, because she knew her friends were right. She didn’t have time to sulk or contemplate. She’d made a litany of poor decisions, but now it was time to forget about the mistakes she had made and work hard to repair the dents that had pierced her marriage. She knew she had to act quickly if she wanted to keep her man.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The Shit Had Hit the Fan... .

  An hour after talking with Tyler and Denise, Victoria found herself riding up the elevator to the twenty-fifth floor of the ViaTech building. She decided that she needed to start making up for lost ground. Her marriage was in need of repair, and she knew just
the particular set of tools that would do the job.

  She planned to strut into Ted’s office and surprise him with a little midday pick-me-up—a quick afternoon romp on the top of his desk. And even if he was in a meeting, she’d wait, because at the moment there was nothing more important than doing whatever it took to jump-start their passion again.

  She felt a sense of déjà vu when she stepped off the wood-paneled elevator and headed toward the opulence of Ted’s office on the executive floor. She remembered the days when she worked at ViaTech and walked those very halls. It all seemed like a lifetime ago. She hadn’t visited his office since she went to meet him there before the company’s Christmas party last year, and now she had a party of her own in mind for him.

  She greeted Ted’s assistant with a huge smile. “Hi, Jen. How are you?”

  Jen lit up like Ted had just given her the day off. She’d always liked Victoria. They regularly kept in touch about Ted’s schedule. Jen was his woman from nine to five, before handing him over to Victoria to claim at the end of the day. The two had come to develop a great relationship.

  “Victoria, it’s so good to see you!” Jen said, nearly leaping from behind her desk to give Victoria a warm hug. “Ted didn’t tell me you were coming by.”

  “He’s not expecting me. I thought I’d pop in and surprise him,” she said, looking at Ted’s closed office door.

  “Well, he’ll certainly be thrilled,” Jen said, shifting her chipper smile to one of mild concern. “He needs a good surprise.... He’s been a little on edge since he came in this morning.”

  The one thing Victoria knew about her husband was that he was cool under any kind of pressure, and if he had allowed his mood to show, he was probably more upset from their argument last night than she had thought. “Is he in?” she asked.