Johnny took a long sigh. “I already told you. I was showing a property to a couple who just had a baby and want to upgrade to a bigger house. Late night is the only free time they have in their busy schedule, and being the professional I am, I accommodated them.”
“Yeah, right. Who, or shall I say, what else, are you accommodating?”
Johnny smirked. “You’re trying to get a rise out of me, but I’m not gonna let you do it. Now turn the TV back on,” he said casually.
“Why’re you acting like nothing’s wrong?”
“Because it’s not. Now for the last time, turn the damn TV back on.”
Geneva couldn’t understand how Johnny could possibly believe his behavior was acceptable, that is, unless he knew it wasn’t. Maybe this was his way of turning the tables to make it seem as though he was a hardworking man trying to build his business, and his unreasonable wife couldn’t understand or appreciate him. But whatever mind game he was trying to play, Geneva knew she couldn’t let up, not this time. And no matter how much Johnny protested, she was going to get answers. She needed them. “I still don’t understand why you couldn’t call me back,” Geneva said. “If you were really showing a property, you could have called me on the way there, or better yet, before you left, so I would know you’d be running late.”
Just then Johnny’s cell phone rang. He glanced at the screen and answered the call before it could ring again. “What’s up, man,” he said in his deep baritone.
Geneva watched intently as Johnny held the phone close to his ear. She could see his thumb pressing the volume key on the side of his smartphone, adjusting the sound level to a volume so low that Geneva couldn’t hear what was being said on the other end.
“Okay, yeah, I can leave,” Johnny said into the phone as he stood and walked over to the hook near the door and removed his keys from it. “I got your back. I’ll be there . . .”
Geneva cut him off midsentence. “Who’re you talking to and where are you going?”
“Bernard,” Johnny whispered, covering the phone with his hand. “He’s having some issues with Candace again. He needs somebody to talk to.”
“I don’t believe you.” Quicker than Johnny could blink, Geneva walked up to him and took the phone out of his hand. “Who is this?” she asked in a hostile tone.
“Um, hey, Geneva. It’s Bernard. How you doin’ this evening?”
Geneva’s eyes hit the floor, and she wished she could undo her bold move. “Oh, hi, Bernard. I um, I’m sorry I interrupted your conversation.”
Johnny grabbed the phone back out of her hand. “Man, I’m sorry about that. I’m leaving the house now and I’ll see you when I get there.”
Get where? To his house? To a bar? Geneva wanted to ask where he was going but she was too embarrassed. She felt bad about what she had just done, and she knew that Johnny was furious.
“See, this is what I’m talkin’ about,” Johnny snarled. “I work hard, I pay the bills, and I take care of my family and friends. I’m a responsible brother tryin’ to do the right thing. But all you can do is nag, complain, and accuse me of shit I’m not even doing. Well, you know what, Geneva,” he said, letting out a deep, frustrated breath, “since I’m getting accused of all sorts of things, I might as well go out and make good on some of them.”
Johnny slipped on his loafers, retrieved his wallet from the counter, and headed toward the door. “Don’t wait up.” And with that, he was gone.
Geneva walked toward the front window and watched the taillights of Johnny’s SUV as he sped down their street. He’d said he was going to meet his friend Bernard, but he didn’t say where, or what time he’d be back. “I can’t take too much more of this,” she said aloud.
Twenty minutes later Geneva slipped under the cool, freshly laundered sheets she’d put on the bed only hours earlier—when she’d been anticipating a tantalizing romp after a romantic meal with her husband. But instead she was lying on her Egyptian cotton sheets all alone, and it was becoming a regular occurrence. As Geneva stared up at the ceiling, her mind replayed the interaction she’d had with Johnny. Even though she’d heard Bernard’s voice on the phone, she wasn’t convinced that the call was on the up-and-up. She didn’t want to admit it, and she’d been fighting the reality for a few months, but now she had to face what she feared. Her husband was involved with another woman.
Tears streamed from Geneva’s eyes. She felt alone and unwanted, and she knew this couldn’t continue. Her marriage was on the brink of dissolving right before her eyes, and as she cried until her lids felt tired, she knew that their argument tonight was just the tip of the iceberg to come.
Chapter 2
JOHNNY
Johnny Mayfield was highly impressed with himself. He knew that not only was he charismatic, handsome, and a smooth talker who could think quickly on his feet, he was, without a doubt, smarter, more resourceful, and more creative than most men could dream of being. Johnny didn’t consider it braggadocio to believe such things because he knew it took the brains of Einstein, the strength of Hercules, and the trickery of Houdini to consistently fool a woman, day after day, and that’s exactly what he’d been doing throughout his five-year marriage, and in particular, the last five months. He’d been deceiving his wife, Geneva, by carrying on the most illicit affair he’d ever been involved in.
But after tonight’s showdown with his wife, Johnny knew that his carefree days of coming and going as he pleased would soon be coming to an end. Geneva was fed up with his late nights away from home, as well as the emotional distance he’d put between them, and she’d told him so. She’d even snatched his phone out of his hand to find out who he’d been talking to. Johnny knew that was uncharacteristic of his wife, and that meant she was at the end of her rope.
As Johnny cruised down the highway he hit redial on his phone. “Hey man. I just left the house about five minutes ago. Where you at?”
“Home,” Bernard said into the phone. “And that’s exactly where your ass should be.”
Johnny laughed. “I’m a grown-ass man and I can go wherever I like.”
“You playin’ a dangerous game, and you need to pull back before it’s too late.”
Johnny shook his head. He could picture all six-foot, two-inch, two hundred forty pounds of pure muscle that Bernard carried, reclined in his comfortable leather chair, downstairs in his man cave, talking shit. If Johnny were a betting man he’d say that Bernard was probably sipping on lemonade instead of a real drink—brown liquor—thanks to his pushy girlfriend, Candace.
Johnny still didn’t understand what in the hell Bernard saw in Candace Taylor. Bernard was a handsome man whose rugged good looks rivaled those of the actor Idris Elba. But Candace, on the other hand, looked as plain as any woman walking down the street. She was so ordinary looking that even after he’d met her, it had taken Johnny several times to remember who she was. But for reasons that still baffled Johnny, Bernard couldn’t get enough of Candace, and he acted like she was the only woman who’d ever donned a bra. That’s how caught up he was.
Bernard Seymore was Johnny’s best friend. They’d grown up on the same street in Southeast Amber, played on the same Pop Warner football team, gone to the same high school, and had been the best man at each other’s weddings. The two men were like brothers. But lately, Johnny’s extracurricular activities were starting to drive a wedge between them.
“Listen,” Johnny said. “I’m handling my business. I’m cool.”
“I hope you’re not on your way to do what I think you’re about to do.”
Johnny chuckled low and deep as he drove at breakneck speed. He was on his way to see Vivana Owens—his mistress, or as Bernard called her, trouble with a capital T.
Johnny had been seeing Vivana for five months, and so far they had been five of the most thrilling, exhilarating, freaky, and adventurous months he’d had the pleasure of experiencing in a very long time. He grinned as he thought about the mind-blowing sex he was going to have with the s
eductive woman whom he couldn’t seem to get enough of. The more he was with Vivana, the more enthralled he became. Her passion was hotter than the late August heat outside. “Man, it ain’t nothin’ but a thing,” Johnny said slowly to Bernard as he steered his white Navigator around a sharp curve. “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”
“You sure?”
“I can’t believe you just had the nerve to ask me that. Of course I’m sure.”
“I don’t know,” Bernard said. “When your woman jumps on your phone, you can’t be sure of anything.”
“I ain’t sweatin’ that.”
“You’re standing—on one leg, I might add—on some very dangerous and shaky ground. Shit’s gettin’ real, fast, and in a hurry. Cut this off while you’re still ahead, and while you still can.”
Johnny smirked. Bernard must be smelling those flowers Candace is shoving up his ass, he thought. “I know you’re not going soft on me?”
Bernard sighed. “Listening to you, no one would ever think you’re a grown-ass man because you say some simple, elementary school shit.”
“This is real talk. You goin’ soft, man.”
“This has nothing to do with goin’ soft. I’m trying to help you, brother. When you know better, you do better. What you’re doin’ ain’t right, and it’s not gonna end well.”
Johnny breathed in deep. “We ain’t Oprah and Gayle, man,” he said with a loud laugh.
“You think this shit’s funny? You think it’s a game?”
“Damn. Calm the hell down,” Johnny said. “You’re my boy. I know what you’re trying to do, but I got this.”
Bernard sighed on the other end. “When Geneva came on the line I didn’t know what she was gonna ask me.”
“Hell, neither did I. She surprised me with that one.”
“Keep on, and you’re gonna get a lot more surprises.”
“Thanks for the encouragement.”
“Hey, like you said, it’s real talk.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. For what it’s worth, thanks for what you did tonight. Geneva had me jammed up until you called. You called right in the nick of time.”
“Save the thanks. If I’d known you wanted me to call so you could get out the house . . .”
“Man, you trippin’.”
Bernard huffed loudly, clearly agitated. “I asked you a few weeks ago to stop involving me in what you’re doing. I was caught off-guard tonight and pulled into some bullshit that you created. Johnny, I don’t appreciate that shit, man. If you want to jump down the rabbit hole, be my guest. But don’t drag my ass down there with you ’cause I’m not tryin’ to mess up what I got.”
Johnny laughed. “Hold up. Now I see what’s goin’ on . . . you’re scared you’re gonna get put on lockdown by the warden.” He could only shake his head when he thought about the weak excuse for a player that his best friend had become since he’d started dating Candace six months ago.
Bernard had always been a hard-core ladies’ man, even when he’d been married. He was the only man Johnny knew, besides himself, who could say he’d bedded more women than he’d actually known, and that was because in many cases he didn’t know the women at all. They’d simply been one-night stands. But Bernard had gotten sloppy at the height of an intense affair with a woman who Johnny had never thought was quite worth the risk. Bernard’s wife, Suzanne, had caught him cheating, which had happened repeatedly throughout their eleven-year marriage. But this time Suzanne had reached her limit with his constant lies, manipulation, and philandering. Bernard had given her an STD that left her infertile. She filed for divorce, took half of everything he had, and never looked back. That was five years ago.
Bernard had been going through life just fine until Candace came along. Now, in Johnny’s mind, it seemed as though his friend constantly caved to Candace’s demands.
“Say what you want, but Candace is the best thing that could’ve happened to me. I don’t fear her, I respect her.”
“Uh-huh . . . where is she right now?”
“At the hospital; she’s pulling a double shift. Why?”
“Just checking.” Johnny chuckled. “I’d hate to get you in trouble for talking on the phone past your bedtime.”
“Man, fuck you.”
“You know I have to mess with you for acting all scared.”
“I’m not scared for me. I’m scared for you, fool,” Bernard told him.
“You’re talking to the man with the plan. It’s all good.”
“Your plan must not be that good because you’re dragging me into it. And for the one hundredth time, I have no interest in being part of what you’re doing. Geneva is a good woman.”
Johnny reached under his seat for the box of condoms he’d placed there yesterday. He sat them on the passenger seat as he turned onto the exit ramp that would lead him to his rendezvous with Vivana. “I thought you were my boy. You’re supposed to have my back, B.”
“You say some childish shit. I wouldn’t be talking to you like I’m doing if I didn’t have your back.”
“You the one acting like a little girl.”
“Listen, don’t question my manhood or my friendship. Just because I don’t want to see you mess up like I did, or be a part of it, that doesn’t mean I’m goin’ soft, or that I’m not your boy. You know I’m the realest cat you got in your corner. So don’t come at me with some bullshit just so you can justify your own shit.”
Johnny could tell by the tone in Bernard’s voice that he was starting to get upset. Johnny had already gotten his friend caught up in a lie that Bernard had to tell Candace last month when Johnny had used him as an alibi for one of his late-night romps with Vivana. Bernard had been livid. “I hear you, partner,” Johnny said.
“Good.”
“I’m almost there now. I’ll be careful.”
“Man, you’re playing with danger. Vivana is nothing but trouble. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave that alone. But if not, just leave me out of it.”
Johnny didn’t want to get into it again with Bernard, and he didn’t want to ruin what was going to be a great evening ahead by talking to a man who had clearly lost his edge. He knew that just because his friend had messed up it didn’t mean he would, too. “Man, I’m about to bounce, but I hear you. We’re solid.”
“That’s all I’m sayin’.”
Johnny nodded on his end of the phone. “All right, playa. I’ll hit you later.”
“Be careful, man.”
“No doubt.”
“Later.”
Johnny steered his truck around to the back of the Marriott Courtyard Hotel. The parking lot was crowded, but he managed to find a spot, which was, unfortunately, right under a bright light. Anonymity was key, so he definitely didn’t like the position he was in. “Damn . . . oh well,” Johnny said.
Normally, he was a man who loved being the center of attention, but only in certain situations, because despite his seemingly brazen behavior with Vivana, Johnny prided himself on discretion. That was the reason he’d never been caught cheating since he’d been married. He couldn’t count the number of women he’d hooked up with, and had secretly photographed and in some cases videoed their sexual exploits for his own private pleasure, all without his conquests knowing. That’s just how slick he was. Vivana wasn’t his first affair, and she certainly wasn’t going to be his last, but she was definitely the most exciting.
Johnny reached for the box of condoms he’d placed on the seat, took out two, and put them in his pocket. He’d always had free reign over his truck and what he put in it because Geneva never set her foot in his vehicle. But after her tirade tonight, and the tone she’d used with him, he knew things were about to change. Geneva was becoming bolder by the day, and the excuses, lies, and deceptive tactics that used to work for him in the past were starting to wear thin on her.
Johnny breathed in deeply and placed the box of Trojans in his glove compartment. I’m gonna have to find a new hiding place for these, he thou
ght. He didn’t know what had gotten into Geneva tonight. Sure, he’d been out late, and yes, he knew his behavior over the last several months had been suspicious, but she’d always dealt with it, just as he felt any good wife should. Geneva was easygoing and calm about things, which was one of the qualities he genuinely loved about her. She was an old-fashioned, good woman who took pride in herself, valuing her commitment to him. There was a time she’d never have talked to him the way she had tonight, and he didn’t like it.
“I guess my excuse for a father was right about one thing,” Johnny said aloud. “Shit changes.”
He knew he needed to have a talk with Geneva first thing in the morning before her attitude got too far out of hand for him to control. But for now, Johnny didn’t want the weight of his best friend’s cautions, or his wife’s nagging, to sink the cloud he was floating on. He opened his driver’s door and began to walk toward the hotel’s back entrance, where Vivana stood waiting for him, like clockwork. He pushed his troubles to the side because he knew the next three hours were going to feel like Nirvana.
Chapter 3
VIVANA
Vivana smiled as she watched Johnny step out of his truck and walk toward her. The very sight of him made her panties wet, and she could barely contain herself. With each stride his long legs took to reach her, she lusted with bated anticipation, excited about their night ahead, and if she was lucky, and her plan worked, their good time would spill over into the early hours of the morning.
“Hey, baby,” she said with a sexy smile as she opened the heavy glass door and greeted him. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Hey,” Johnny said with a hurried smile. He rushed past her like a strong wind, barely looking at her as he entered the building. “Let’s head upstairs.”
Vivana wanted him to embrace her, hold her close, and kiss her passionately. But instead he’d acted as though she was a casual acquaintance. She’d received a better welcome from the greeter at Wal-mart this afternoon than from the man whom she wanted more than she cared to admit. But she knew she couldn’t allow herself to become upset because of the reality of their situation.
Secret Indiscretions Page 2
