Heartbreaker Breaks (A Bittersweet Lottery Love Story) (Tangled Hearts & Broken Vows: Tales of Infidelity Book 1) (5 page)

  “What does that mean?” She found herself pulling into a spot in front of the shop.

  “You wanted to know about me, I’m telling you about me.” He shrugged, “Come on.”

  His hand tentatively brushed against hers as they entered the shop. She wondered why he didn’t follow through on holding it. She wondered if she would have shaken him away.

…

  He ran through the store collecting bikinis, tiny ones with G-strings and thrust them into her hands. She stared down at the pile not knowing what to do. Although she was not a fan of one-pieces, she wouldn’t have felt comfortable exposing her body to him in such a provocative way.

  “No, but thank you,” She handed the pile off to the bored salesgirl who was hovering over the two of them, “Do you have any one-pieces?” She smiled to her and asked.

  “You’re no fun. You figure it out. I’m going to go look around.” He wandered deeper into the store.

  “He’s so cute,” The salesgirl trilled, “Is he your son?”

  This was the fourth time she had been asked this question that day. The first time had been the realtor, the second and third by the occupants of the houses they had visited. She hadn’t thought much about it before, she assumed it was part of the social contract of introductions.

  But looking at the smug salesgirl, she realized that not one of them had thought Nick was her son. They had presumed he was her lover, a toy for an older woman. They meant to shame her. Faye didn’t appreciate that at all.

  “He’s my stepson, but his father’s out of town,” She smiled her brightest and winked at the girl, something she had never done in her life to another person.

  She heard Nick’s laughter across the store and turned to see him nodding his head in approval. She had spoken to the salesgirl louder than intended. She walked towards him and spoke even louder, “Darling, you need swim trunks—

  “You mean board shorts?”

  “I suppose we could call them that.” She was used to dealing with generational verbal missteps while communicating with her daughters, and didn’t mind them but for some reason with Nick it bothered her, “We should get you some new clothes too. Your jeans are ragged and that t-shirt has seen better days… I’m not even going to mention your shoes.”

  “You just mentioned my shoes,” He leaned into her and whispered, “I dig that you’re screwing with the salesgirl, but you don’t have to do this.”

  “I’m a very rich woman. This is no different than me buying a sandwich for one of the traveler kids. And you know what? I don’t think this has anything to do with the salesgirl…” She jerked backwards, surprised that she had said that, even more surprised that she meant it.

  “I normally don’t have any problem taking advantage of people, but I’m already living rent-free thanks to you. I don’t want to…”

  “Don’t want to what?” She asked after a long pause.

  “I’m not sure. Expectations, let you down? I don’t know.”

  “If you don’t know then neither do I,” She turned to a different salesgirl who was standing in the corner, sneaking glances at her phone, “Could you help us? We need… board shorts and a few other items.”

  “Of course…” She bustled towards them.

  “Are you sure Faye?”

  “Yes.”

…

  They laid on the lounges by the pool at the Ritz Carlton down the road from Faye’s new home to be, covered in thick terrycloth robes and mounds of towels. The sun was setting on the hot day and a chill was in the air. The two of them had swum for over an hour, splashing around, racing across the pool until they were exhausted.

  “Okay, I’ve completed my part in our bargain, we swam,” She placed the menu on the low table between them and turned on her side to face him, “Tell me about yourself.”

  “What do you want to hear?” Nick turned on his side and rested his head on his hand with a sly smile.

  “I want to hear about you.” She felt her face crinkle up questioningly and relaxed. She was sure that was not her most attractive expression.

  “Who do you want me to be?”

  “You said something like that in the Valley when we met. That’s a very strange expression. I want you to be whoever you are.”

  “You have an angle, everyone does. I could tell my story a hundred different ways and they would all be true.”

  “That’s a little deep for me. Let’s start with where you grew up.”

  “I wasn’t in any one place long enough to claim it as my hometown.”

  “You’re making this very difficult.”

  “New England mostly, all over the Northeast. I lived in Ann Arbor for four years, full ride to the University of Michigan. I’m pretty sure the scholarship was based on my essay. I knew their angle, but I don’t know yours. It seems like you’re looking for an adventure, but then you’re so conservative.” He picked up the menu and lay on his back, holding it high above him to read it.

  “Conservative? I gave a fully furnished apartment to a stranger and have now spent the day with him, even though the stranger, you, have criminal tendencies. I don’t see anything conservative in that. Crazy would be a better a word choice.” She pulled the menu away from him, “Did you really go to college?”

  He swung around on the lounge and sat up, “I guess I’ll just order a burger since you won’t let me look at the menu. And, yes I did go to college. I’ll never lie to you,” He stared into her eyes, making Faye uncomfortable. She looked away, “I might be… selective in what I tell you but I promise not to lie.”

  He held his hand up like a boy scout for the second time in their relationship.

  “What did you study?”

  “Finance—

  The waiter coming to take their order interrupted them. She ordered the salmon and Nick, true to his word, a hamburger.

  “It’s getting late,” Faye said after the waiter had left, “I have to call… my husband.” She hadn’t thought about Adam all day, and resented the fact that her duty to him shadowed her day with Nick, “Be quiet,” She held her finger up the her lips, “Shhhh.”

  She was relieved when her call went to voicemail. She left a long message, prattling on about the leathers for her handbag collection and Bergdorfs. Nothing she said made any sense.

  “That was quite a story,” he fell back on the lounge laughing, “How long have you been making the bags? Is that one of them?” He pointed to her purse loosely swung over the vacant lounge next to them, “I like it.”

  “Five years and thank you. I was a stay at home mom before that. But more importantly, back to you. How did you know so much about the homes we saw, the quality of the workmanship, the architectural styles?”

  “My stepfather, Brian, was a carpenter. He was a good man.” He placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

  “Has he passed on? I’m so sorry.”

  “No, he’s not dead. I think he lives in Maine now. I haven’t talked to him since I went away to college.”

  “Why don’t you speak to him?”

  “I don’t know… My mom left when I was three, drugs… I was alone in that broken down apartment for a week before Brian found me. He dated my mom on and off…” Nick shrugged as if it were no big deal, “He raised me, no reason to do it, he could have dumped me into a foster home but he did it anyway. I figure I would give him a break, let him live his life.”

  “Lack of object constancy…” Faye said to herself.

  “What? Lack of what?”

  “I’m sure he doesn’t want to be free of you,” She looked to him and decided not to explain it to him a lack of object constancy was a symptom of an attachment disorder, of which she was certain he was suffering from, “I’m sure if you called him right now, he would be happy to hear from you.” She reached for her phone and held it up to him, “A physical distance does not equal an emotional distance.”

  “No Faye,” He shook his head as if she were a small child suggesting a trip to the moon, “But thanks.” He added sarcastically.

  The waiter appeared with a cart full of silver domed platters and served their dinner on the small table between them.

  “New rule Faye, and this one’s for you. No more trying fix me, okay? You threw a bummer onto our great day.”

  “It was a great day, wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah, it was…” He stared into her eyes, hypnotizing her, “What are you doing tomorrow? Going into work?”

  “No… I haven’t been to my workspace in two weeks. This lottery business is taking all of my time. I’m lucky to have an excellent assistant overseeing the day- to-day responsibilities. I’m touring a shelter downtown tomorrow. You could come with me. We could have lunch in Little Tokyo.”

  “A homeless shelter? Why are you touring it?"

  “I want to make sure my donations will be responsibly taken care of. Some of the shelters suffer from horrible mismanagement.”

  “That’s a lot of work, but okay. What are you going to do with all that money?”

  The tension between the two of them faded away as she told him of all the things she had done to ensure her privacy and her plan to rid herself of the money by the end of the year. He asked about why she was hiding all of it from her husband. Her answers were evasive. He accepted her reluctance to discuss it further.

  Faye ran from the garage into her house. She was happy to see that Adam’s car was not in the space next to hers. The sight of him would have dulled the inexplicable happiness that had filled her since she had woken up on Nick’s shoulder in the car.

  He had insisted on taking the driver’s seat on the way back to Los Angeles, saying that Faye looked sleepy. He had been correct. She had fallen asleep before they had exited the long and winding driveway of the hotel.

  Faye slept deeply, waking to the feel of his fingers running through her hair and Nick's deep voice, gently saying her name over and over again. She had kept her eyes closed for a few moments, wanting to hold onto to the sweet and peaceful feeling. Opening her eyes, she turned her head, her nose grazed his and the timber of his laugh sent waves of bliss through her.

  After how long she did not know, she moved away from him, sitting straight up in her seat. This made him laugh even more. She felt as if he could read her every thought, and she didn’t mind. She hoped he would explain it to her because she had no idea what was going on.

  A few minutes of talk of nothing important, followed by confirmation of a time and place to meet the following day and Faye drove off. Her first impulse was to call Cassandra, tell her the crazy story. The day had made Faye feel like a teen again.

  However, Faye was not a teen, and she knew tending to responsibilities came before fun. She walked purposely through her house, making as much noise as possible. She called out to Adam, wanting to ensure that he was not home. He could have gone out for drinks with Dario and taken an Uber home. It was unlikely, but she needed to be certain.

  Satisfied that she was alone, she headed into the family room/office and securely shut the door behind her. She sat down on the computer chair she hadn’t thought of since buying fifteen years before. The swiveling chair definitely showed its age but functioned as a chair should, sturdy and comfortable.

  Faye wasn’t one to replace what wasn’t thoroughly unusable or broken beyond repair, but she made a mental note to look into the newer ergonomic models. She thought of the chic and prohibitively expensive furnishing stores on Beverly Blvd in West Hollywood. She had never dared to do much beyond stare into the windows of those shops before.

  “No,” she said out loud to herself, “That’s how it starts. One chair turns into one office table, and on and on until we’re beyond broke, living in squalor.”

  She turned on the computer she had been using since her oldest daughter had started high school. She thought of updating and getting the latest model. Again she reprimanded herself. The computer was fine, perfect working order.

  She opened the browser to the Special Olympics webpage and searched for the Los Angeles chapter. She usually devoured the information regarding the charities, reading even the smallest print of their mission statement, but not this night. She donated 20,000 dollars and logged out in less time than it took for the page to open.

  Satisfied that she had atoned for Nick’s puckish misdeeds, she dug the phone out of her handbag and called Cassandra. “I had the most amazing day.” She slunk into her chair, legs splayed out.

  “Faye? What? It’s so late.”

   She glanced at the time on her computer and saw that it was past midnight, “Oh my gosh… I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I’ll call you in the morning.”

  “It’s okay,” She laughed, “I was just getting into bed. I’m surprised you’re up so late. Tell me about your day. Did you save all the downtrodden in our City of Angeles?”

  “No… I’ve only rid myself of 20,000 dollars today, Special Olympics—

  “Rid yourself, you’re so funny.”

  “I do need to work on shaking that feeling… I bought a house too, but that’s not important either—

  “That’s not important? You’ve lost your mind. I thought you were going to take me along before buying one.” She laughed again.

  “I forgot… I’ll take you down this weekend. It was Nick—

  “Nick? The boy you met in the Valley?”

  “Yes…him” Faye sang into the phone. “He picked it out… Well he didn’t pick it out but he knew it was the right one. He’s so—

  “He’s so hot? How did you? Why did you?” Her voice trailed off.

  “He was in front of my house this morning. He’s so deviant and disarmingly vulnerable. I don’t know, I can’t explain. I think I have a crush. Okay, I know I have crush. Absolutely ridiculous, but so much fun.”

  “This is the wrong kind of fun… Believe me, you know I’ve always thought you should have an affair, show Adam or maybe yourself that you do not deserve to be taken for granted, but this isn’t right.”

  “Stop, I’m not going to have an affair. I’m just having fun. Things are very stressful right now with Adam and the curse of the money. I’m trying to turn into something positive. Nick makes me feel—

  “I can imagine how he makes you feel… Do you remember how you worried about people finding you, swindling you out of your money?”

  “Serge took care of that—

  “I know he did, but now you’re inviting one of them in.”

  “Nick’s not like that.”

  “Didn’t you tell me he was a big-time drug smuggler?”

  “I’m sure I never said that,” A laughing fit fell over Faye and she found it hard to catch her breath, “He hustles through life. He’s not much different than Adam at that age.”

  “I don’t remember Adam engaging in illegal activity.”

  “Adam was always selling things. The origins of those items were questionable at best.”

  “So you’re looking to have an affair with a young Adam? I should have forced you on Serge. Serge was a dream…”

  “I’m not going to have an affair.”

  “Sure, if you say so.”

  “Stop, let me tell you about my day—

  “How was your day?” Adam asked.

   Faye shot up out of her chair and threw her phone up in the air, barely catching it in her hand, “Adam you scared me.”

  She looked closely at him for a sign of how long he had been in the room, if he heard her talking about Nick. His expression was what it had been since she had stomped out of their bedroom a month before, downcast with a trace of shame. She felt safe that he had not heard her girl-like infatuation confessions to Cassandra.

  “Sorry….” He stared off and ran his hand through his hair.

  “I’ll talk to you tomorrow Cassandra. Goodnight.” Faye put her phone down but didn’t get up from the chair.

  “You’re up so late.” Adam said in her general direction.

  “I’ll be up to bed in a minute,” she replied.

  The idea of trudging up the stairs by his side was more than she could handle.

  “Faye…” He sighed deeply and looked directly at her as if were the most difficult of tasks. “I love you… It didn’t mean anything.”

  If he had ended his apology at that, Faye knew she would have melted and happily tried to mend the damage.

  But he continued, “It was only the one time…”

  Faye shook her head in disgust and turned back to computer, mindlessly opening a webpage when all she wanted to do was go to sleep, “That’s fine Adam. I’ll be up in a moment.”

  “Can we put an end the coldness?” His voice was timid, void of the accent she had always loved.

“Really, Adam, it’s fine. I’m just very busy with the Bergdorf's order.”

  “We should talk about this…”

  She turned to him, looking him directly in the eye, “Everything is fine, Adam.” The coldness in her voice shocked her, and she shook her head as if an actual chill had flown through her.

  He sighed heavily again, “Will you be coming up to bed soon?”

  “Soon,” She dismissively said.

  “Okay,” Adam walked away, scratching his head.