Drunk in Love 2: An Original Love Story (17 page)

“That’s where it gets confusing for me. How in the hell did something like that just happen?”

“I don’t have any explanations. I honestly don’t. I don’t think neither one of us was in our right mind. Mark had already come in pre-occupied with thoughts and feelings that something wasn’t right with you.”

Olivia frowned. “What does that mean?”

“Well for starters, he came in looking tired and a bit frustrated. I told him that he could’ve waited, because I sensed something was wrong with him. He acted as if it was all good and said that he would put up the bed, anyway. Once we were in Romeo’s room he started questioning me about you.”

“Questioning you?” Olivia pondered, knowing that Mark hadn’t mentioned any of this to her.

“Yeah, he just straight up said that he had a gut a feeling that you were cheating on him. He even said that he had the right mind to have you tailed, because it was something up with you going to Atlanta on a regular.” She said, now feeling like she had to come up with her own version of events to make sure that she stayed in the clear.

Olivia’s thought process went into overdrive. “He never said anything to me about this.”

Felisha smacked her lips. “Do you think that he would’ve told you this? The man was thinking about having you tailed for God’s sake. Hell, he had me feeling some type of way about it since I’m practically the only person that knows about you and Zay fucking around.”

Olivia’s neck jerked a little, taken back at how the conversation was now headed in a different direction.

“Even though he didn’t go through with it, just the thought scared me shitless.” Felisha continued. “Without a doubt, I knew that you were going to Atlanta to party with Zoe for her birthday.”

“I sure did,” Olivia cut in like she was making a point.

“But, I also knew that you would be going to see Zay, too. Ain’t no way you could be that close to him and not meet up.” She said, wanting to still sound like Olivia’s bestie, but was also digging for information.

Olivia’s facial expression gave her away as she looked somewhat cut, causing Felisha to feel like she was now in control. 

“Anyway, I told him that you’d never cheat on him. You know I would never give him any information like that.”

Olivia just sat there listening. She was at a loss of words for the moment as she sipped on her drink, trying to put the pieces together. Reading Felisha wasn’t as easy as it was in the beginning as she continued to explain her side of the story. 

“Next thing you know, I’d started going in on my bad relationships with the no good men that I’ve dealt with while letting him know that he’s not like them and that you appreciate him. I convinced him that you would never do him like that, because you’ve seen what it’s like to not be able to settle down.” She said, speaking of herself. Wiping the tears from her eyes she reached over and softly touched the back of Olivia’s hand.

Olivia glanced up at her. Her eyes had started to tear up. Felisha was right. Mark had been a good man to her. She shouldn’t have ever gone outside of her marriage. “You shouldn’t have been so hard on yourself,” she spoke in a low tone, not realizing that she was now becoming the weakest link.

“Nevertheless, going into depth about my poor decisions led me into a downhill spiral. Next thing I know, I’m crying and feeling upset and Mark comes over to console me and it just happened. I don’t know where that came from, but it just happened.”

Olivia wiped her eyes. For the first time, she felt bad that they’d been put in that situation. Even though it never should’ve happened, she almost wanted to take the full blame for it.

“There was no love, there was no connection, and there was no desire for it to ever happen again. It was a moment; just a moment.” She sadly said, wiping more tears with the napkins that the waitress had brought over. “I am truly, truly sorry.”

Olivia sat quiet for the next five minutes, as did Felisha. The waitress had come over and sat the pizza down and neither of them moved or said anything. Olivia knew that she wasn’t going to accept Felisha’s apology, not that easily. The pain was still there and nothing could take that away, regardless of who was at fault.

Felisha sat there feeling like she should’ve won an Oscar for the performance that she’d just put on. The truth was that she loved Olivia and would do just about anything for her. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop her from wanting Mark. She wanted the life Olivia lived. She wanted at times, to be Olivia and even though she fought hard with those feelings, they’d still resurface.

“Tee-tee,” Lil Romeo nudged on her shirt causing Olivia to break the trance she was caught up in. “You didn’t tell me that the pizza was over here.”

“My bad boo,” Olivia said, discreetly wiping her tears. “Sit down and eat. You mom is about to leave for work and I’m gonna keep you for the rest of the day. We have a lot of catching up to do.” 

Felisha took that as her cue and was more than happy to get the hell on. She’d started feeling mushy and she hated when that feeling came over her. “Yeah, Mommy is gonna get on outta here. Duty calls.” She said, getting up from her seat and walking around the table to kiss Lil Romeo on the lips.

“You gotta do the new design you showed me yesterday.” Lil Romeo said.

“When I do, I’ll take a picture and show you.”

“Okay, love you, mommy.” Lil Romeo said in the sweetest voice ever. He was just too grown for his age.

“Love you, too.” She said, and then passed by Olivia slightly rubbing her on the shoulder. “Just drop him off at the shop or the house. Call me first and I can tell you where I’ll be.”

Olivia never said a word. She just nodded her head like she understood.

__________

Twenty minutes later, Lil Romeo was finished eating his two slices of pizza and was now in the game room getting his last minutes of playtime in. Olivia just sat there and watched him. She enjoyed their conversations. He was too smart for his own good. He’d told her about Mark coming over and tucking him in, but he was sad that she didn’t come. It was a good thing that Mark at least mentioned that or her head would’ve really been all over the place. Felisha had said some things that made sense. Mark never went into full blown detail as to what happened and maybe he didn’t, because then he would’ve had to confess his part in plotting. She was appalled that he was actually thinking of spying on her.

Olivia picked up her cell phone to call Zay. She felt the need to give him an update since he’d been there for her during the most difficult of times. He always had a way of making it bearable while bringing peace and joy in her world. She sat there tapping her fingernails against the wooden table and patiently waiting as his phone rang. On the second ring, he picked up.

“Hey baby,” his deep, sexy voice answered.

“Hey,” she softly spoke back. His voice always did something to her. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” he responded. “How are you?”

“Guess I’m okay; I’m alive,” she teased with a smile.

“That’s always a plus,” Zay teased back. “Don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Olivia blushed. “Yeah right,” she responded.

“So,” Zay started. “Have you met with Felisha yet?” 

“Yeah, she just left.”

“Where are you?” Zay asked.

“I’m at
Stevie B’s
. I thought we should discuss this situation over pizza and a soft drink. Plus, I had her bring Lil Romeo so I could see him. He’s actually still here playing with the games.”

“That was smart,” Zay said, knowing that she’d compose herself around the kid. “How your meeting go?”

“She pretty much made me feel bad.” She started, but then decided it was just too much. “Long story short, she is basically confirming the same thing that Mark is saying. The only difference was that Mark confided in her that he thought I was cheating. It was something that Mark left out when he spoke with me, but now I know.”

“That’s interesting,” Zay stated. “So, he slept with her because he thought you were cheating?”

“Not exactly, but him thinking that I was cheating had certainly come up.”

Zay sat quiet for a moment. He was simply putting his own pieces of the puzzle together. “Did she also say that it happened only once?”

“She did and she acted like it really just happened and that it meant nothing.”

“I see,” Zay said. This within itself made him want to bring up Mark. “Do you believe her?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you believe Mark?”

Olivia took in a deep breath then let it out along with these words. “I slept with Mark last night and he gave me the business.”

Zay frowned. “Gave you the business?”

“It lasted for over an hour and he did things that I never imagined he’d do.” She wiped her forehead with a napkin, sipping from her drink then swallowing hard. “And, it was good.” She added. “It’s never good.”

Zay was shocked that she was being so candid. It was actually playing in his favor more than she knew, though. It was no doubt in his mind that Mark would step up his game and show off. Plus, they were married. He couldn’t stop her from fucking her husband, let alone no one else if that’s what she really wanted to do.

“I’m sorry,” Olivia said after hearing nothing but silence on the other end of the line. “I just wanted to talk to somebody about this. It’s very confusing. I’m just so confused.” She admitted.

“I’m glad you trusted me enough to call me.” Zay spoke up, wanting to calm her down. “I figured that Mark wouldn’t let you go so easily. If he loves you then he’s supposed to fight for you. However, he’s continually not being honest about something and instead of you beating yourself up about fooling around with me; you need to get to the bottom of his bullshit. I could be wrong, but I think he and Felisha have been fucking for quite some time now.”

Olivia scratched her head, staring in the game room at Lil Romeo as he played. “I don’t knooooow,” she hesitantly commented. She wanted so badly to believe that it had only happened once.

“The only way you can find that out is to get them in the same room. This has to be thought out and not something where they’re suspicious. If their guards are up, you’ll never find out the truth. But, if you catch them with their guards down while this time paying attention, you’ll get your answers. The truth has been under your nose for no telling how long. You just didn’t know to look for it.”

“You’re probably right,” she said.

Zay nodded his head knowing that he’d never tell her anything wrong. Mark was a snake in the grass to him and all he wanted was for Olivia to see it with her own eyes, so she could move on for good.

“Look, call me or text me when you get some free time. I have to meet this new client in about an hour and I still haven’t gotten dressed yet.”

“Okay,” Olivia said. “I’ll text you later.”

“Hey babe,” Zay called out. “Take care of yourself and be easy. Don’t let what people say influence your decisions in knowing what’s right and what’s wrong. In most instances, your gut feeling doesn’t lie.”

“I hear you,” she softly responded.

“Hit me up later.” And with that, Zay ended their call.

Olivia sat there replaying the advice he’d given her over and over in her head. Still looking at Lil Romeo, she frowned. There was something there for a moment, and then he looked over at her and waved with a big smile on his face. She smiled, waving back.

“Nah, I think my thoughts are driving me crazy now. I need a real drink.” She whispered, gathering up their things. She was headed back to the hotel for a day-in of cartoon, cookies, and milk for Lil Romeo while she’d sip wine, wine, and more wine until she could figure out where she should go from here.

Chapter 15

Zoe looked over at Dillon and smiled as he drove her home. It was late in the evening and the top was back on Dillon’s smoke gray, convertible Camaro. Zoe removed her seat belt for a quick moment and leaned over, kissing Dillon on the cheek. He smiled as he looked over at her. She was sexy as hell to him and he was certainly caught up in his feelings.

The wind blew lightly in the air, making the sweet ride just that pleasurable as Zoe fastened her seat belt back.
Kissin’ on my Tattoos by August Alsina,
played in the background, causing Zoe’s pussy to purr inside the little white shorts she had on. Her ponytail swayed from side to side as she rocked an expensive pair of Gucci sunglasses while popping on a piece of spearmint chewing gum. Dillon had definitely squeezed his way into her life and her heart. Without a doubt, she was feeling him, but she couldn’t let her guard down just yet. What she never mentioned to anyone was that the break-up with Chico had been devastating. Even though she pretended that she was the one that left him, he’d actually decided to leave her. She was heartbroken and felt that she was the cause of him leaving. Then she turned around only to get in a verbally abusive relationship with someone else for the next two years. He was the rebound from hell. That was pretty much the worse two years of her life, but her family would never know it.

Dillon drove down I-20, going through the heart of Atlanta, as the streetlights had started popping on and the lights from the buildings seemed to dance with a jiggle as he shot past them. He reached over, putting his hand on Zoe’s smooth thigh and gripped it a little. She blushed from just his touch as he gave her that million dollar smile. With the same hand that he touched her thigh with, he used to turn down the music so she could hear him talk.

“Are you ready to tell your sister about us?” He asked.

Zoe shook her head. “I don’t think now is a good time.”

“Well, when will be a good time? I’m seriously feeling you.” He admitted to his surprise. “You’re feeling me, right?”

“I am,” she said with an innocent smile.

“It’s been four weeks already since we’ve been kicking it.”

“You think I don’t know that. It’s actually been thirty days,” she looked down at her Gucci timepiece. “Twelve hours and two minutes.”

Hearing her say that made Dillon grin to himself, because he knew that she was feeling him. Playing hard to get was her forte and she had proven more than once that she was a hard cookie to crack.