Savory Deceits (25 page)

25

~ALANA

              I crossed my legs and eyed the menu, trying to avoid looking at the group of men, seated on the other side of the deck, ogling me. I searched through Café Mocha’s menu, looking for something low fat to eat. Since joining the navy, I had put on twelve pounds, and vowed never to let those twelve pounds turn to twenty. Seeing that the ship pulled in early the night before, to give us a break for the Thanksgiving holiday, I decided to use that time to myself, and think. As much as I wanted to spend more time with Tony, he chose to go home, and work things out with his wife. I missed him already. Placing the menu down on the table, I sat back in my chair, daydreaming about him.

Tony, and I, spent most of the time we were at sea, talking, and getting close. Though he revealed many things to me about himself, he mostly talked about how much he loved his wife, and how he could not let her go. He also spoke about the time he cheated on her, and told me that it was the biggest mistake of his life. I could not help but envy Nena, to have such a great, caring, and sensitive husband. I had opened up to Tony about my childhood, and my mother’s illness. I loved the compassion he showed me, when I cried over not being able to pay for my mother’s surgery. He had held me, told me to have faith, and pray that everything would work out. We exchanged numbers, and he told me to call him, whenever I needed to talk. I now looked down at my phone on the table, and thought about taking him up on his offer. No, he is probably spending time with Nena right now, patching things up. The thought of that depressed me, because I secretly hoped, that his plans for reconciling would fail. With a sigh, I picked the menu back up, scanning its contents, and that is when I noticed the couple coming onto the deck. They followed the waiter that seated them at a table, near the men who were eyeing me earlier. I squinted at the man, who pulled the chair out for the woman he was with, to sit. Although, his back was to me, I thought I recognized him. Then, finally, he took his seat at the opposite side of the table, facing my direction. My mouth dropped open.

              “Is that who I think it is?” I said to myself. “No way!” I said again. When I recognized Chris, I suddenly could not help myself. Then, I rose from my table, and sauntered over to him. As I neared his table, I could see that he, and the woman, was laughing about something. Then he looked up, and his facial expression changed, when he spotted me.

~CHRIS~

What the fuck was she doing here? I wondered, watching Alana stroll on over to our table. Nena followed my eyes, and turned around.

“Hey Chris!” Alana said, faking enthusiasm. This bitch must have a death wish.

“Hi.” I mumbled, sitting back in my chair, narrowing my eyes at her. Nena’s eyes went from Alana, to me, and then back to Alana again. Lastly, Nena’s eyes rested on me, and I could see they were full of questions.

“Oh. I’m sorry. Where are my manners? Hi, I’m Alana.” She extended her hand, and Nena reluctantly shook it, darting her eyes at me once more.

“Nena,” she said, and I was sure that peaked Alana’s interest.

“Nena, huh?” Alana said, darting her eyes at me, as well. “That’s a very pretty name,
Nena
.” If this bitch said one word to Nena, I would have no problem putting her head through that stained-glass window, on the other side of the deck. Then, Nena glanced at me one more time, before saying, “Thanks.”

“Well, I didn’t mean to intrude,” Alana began, “I was just on my way out.” She finished. Alana looked at me again, and I could see she was enjoying watching me squirm. She was trying my patience, and my anger reached a new high. I was going to make sure that her ass paid for this later. Daringly, she challenged me with her eyes once more, before she turned back to Nena.

              “It was nice to meet you, Nena.” She said, glancing in my direction again. This time the corners of her mouth curved upwards, failing to suppress a smile. Nena looked at me again, and watched Alana stroll her way towards the exit. When she was gone, Nena wasted no time.

              “Who was that?” She asked me. I took a sip of water before answering, to gather my composure, because I did not want Nena to see how pissed I was.

              “That was nobody; just an old friend.” I lied. Then, Nena sat back in her chair, and crossed her arms.

              “An old friend, or an old flame?” She asked, staring me down. I started to laugh at her question, but stopped, when I saw that she was serious.

              “Oh no, sweetheart, nothing like that. Trust me on that one.” I reassured her, before picking up my menu. Though Nena did not say a word after that, I could see the whole situation bothered her. I silently cursed Alana for that. “You okay?” I asked her.

              “Yeah. Why do you ask?” She replied, without looking at me. I watched as she pretended to study the menu, as if the words were foreign to her.

              “You just seem a little preoccupied that’s all. If you are thinking about Alana, trust me when I say that she is not important. She’s just another bitc…” I caught myself. Nena raised her brows at my choice of words. The side of me, which I only showed to whores like Alana, was showing up in front of Nena, and that rattled me even more. “I’m sorry baby, that came out wrong.” I apologized.

              “What was that I saw between you two?” She asked, ignoring my apology. Nena seemed threatened by Alana, and that was pure ridiculousness.

              “Baby look, you have absolutely nothing to worry about with Alana, or any other woman for that matter. I’ve already found what I’ve been searching for.” I said, placing my hand on top of hers. She gave me a slight smile, and then went back to reading the menu. I would deal with Alana’s skanky ass later, I was sure of it. In the meantime, I wanted to enjoy being with the insatiable, love of my life. Then, I glanced at the exit Alana went through, and suddenly realized something. If Alana was back, that meant Tony was too.

26

~TONY~

              I awoke to a bright light that shone through the bedroom curtains. Next, I glanced at the clock on the nightstand, which read 11:45AM. When I stretched my arms out, I suddenly realized, I was alone. Then, I quickly sat up, and looked around the room. My sea bag was still on the floor near the door, where I dropped it, after coming in last night. I got out of bed, and went into the bathroom. Nothing appeared to have been touched. Then, I left the bathroom, walked out of the bedroom, and into the living room. Everything was still as it was. When I turned, and started to head towards the spare bedroom, I heard someone put a key in the front door, and unlock it. Then, Nena walked in, carrying some bags from the grocery store.

              “Tony!” She cried, definitely stunned to see me standing there. “You’re back,” she said, walking past me towards the kitchen. Dumbfounded, I watched her set the bags on the counter. “When did you get in?” She asked me.

              “Last night,” I answered. “I wanted to surprise you.” I said, eyeing her suspiciously. She avoided my stare, and started to unload the bags. Then, I walked around the counter to join her in the kitchen. Surely, she did not just walk up in here, as if nothing was wrong. “You didn’t come home last night. Where were you?” I questioned. Then, she sighed, and turned to place the turkey in the refrigerator. I watched her move a few things around in the fridge, before closing the door. “Well?” I persisted. “Were you with him all night?” I questioned again, getting straight to the point. I was tired of the bullshit. Then, Nena stopped, and placed a hand on her hip.

              “Tony, please, let’s not do this now.” She said.

              “Then when can we dammit!” I shouted, slamming my fist down hard on the counter. The noise startled her. “How many times are we going to do this Nena? I hated the way we left things, and I was happy to come home early so we could talk, and put all this behind us. I waited up all night for you! I even called your cell, but it kept going straight to voicemail!” I stopped, to give her a chance to explain, but she stood there mute, averting my eyes. Now, that right there, confirmed my suspicions, and my temper flared. “All that talk about oh, ‘I want to be with you Tony’ and ‘I love you Tony,’ was nothing but bullshit wasn’t it?” I asked in disgust.

              “Tony please,” she tried to say.

              “Please what!” I shouted. “You were talking about how much you want us to work it out!” I yelled, knocking a stack of ceramic plates off the counter, in a fit of rage. “And I come home last night, to do just that, just to find you walking in here at fucking twelve o’clock in the afternoon!” I screamed at her. Her gall pissed me off.

              “Tony it’s not what…” she tried to say again, but stopped, when I took a step towards her. Then, she backed up frightened, and I could see her start to tremble.

              “Don’t stand there, and act like you wasn’t out fucking that son of a bitch last night!” I said, pausing to gage her reaction. “Oh,” I continued, when she remained silent. “Don’t have shit to say now, huh? Why is your hair wet? It damn sure didn’t rain, so where the fuck did you take a shower at this morning huh, Nena? Was it at Chris’ place? Did he fuck you in the shower too!” I shouted, wanting to hit something. She tried to walk around me, but I grabbed her by the shoulders, and then slammed her back hard against the wall. It took everything in me, not to wrap my hands around her neck, and choke the shit out of her. “Were you out fucking him last night!” I yelled, pinning her against the wall.

              “Tony, stop it! You’re hurting me!” She cried. I did not care, because I was livid. I really was not trying to hurt her, but she was making it hard for me not to.

              “Answer me bitch!” I yelled angrily, as tears started streaming down her face.

              “No! Let me go, please!” She screamed, trying to push me away. I slammed her back one more time against the wall, and then smacked her clear across her face, with the back of my hand, knocking her down. Startled by my own actions, I backed up. Then, a feeling of bewilderment washed over me, and I just stood there, watching her cry on the kitchen floor, holding the side of her face. My eyes got bigger, when I saw blood trickle down the corner of her mouth. At that point, I took a step forward, and then reached out to help her up, when she flinched. “Get away from me!” She screamed still crying. I opened my mouth to apologize, but nothing came out. As bad as I felt for hitting her, a part of me felt like she deserved it. I watched as she helped herself up, still holding the side of her face.

              “Get out.” She whispered.

              “What?” I contested.

              “Get the fuck out!” She screamed, picking up the glass vase on the counter, filled with flowers and water, and then hurled it at me. I jumped to the side, letting the vase smash against the wall behind me.

              “What the…” I said, over the deafening crash.

              “Get out!” She screamed again, picking up another kitchen item to throw at me.

              “Nena,” I started to stay, when she hurled the wooden knife holder at me. This time I ducked, and barely avoided it, because all the knives flew out of the slits, at the impact of her force. Then, I glanced at the mess behind me, and fought the urge to smack her ass again. Instead, I angrily grabbed my cell and keys off the counter, and walked out the door, slamming it behind me. All the years we have been together, I have never put my hands on her. Alone, I sat in my car, contemplating what I should do. I was ashamed of what I did, because I did not believe in hitting women. I have always thought that men who beat women were punks, because any man, who would hit a woman, would never step to a man. I knew I should go back in, and apologize, but I needed her to calm down first. If I did not leave when I did, I was sure that the blender would have been the next thing she picked up, to throw at me. Nevertheless, I could not blame her for being angry. I did get out of line, calling her a bitch, and then hitting her. My mother had raised me better than that. When I started to leave my car, to go back into the house, my cell went off.

              “Yeah?” I answered.

              “Hey Tony, it’s me, Alana. Can you talk?” I sighed, looking back at my building, considering whether I should go back in. “If this is a bad time, I can call back if you’d like.” She suggested.

              “No, you’re good. What are you doing?” I asked her.

              “Um, nothing really, just laying here watching TV. What are you doing?” She asked me.

              “You mind having some company?” I asked, ignoring her question. I was through playing the nice guy with Nena.

              “Um sure, if you want to.” She said, sounding surprised.

              “Cool. Where do you live?” I asked her. Alana gave me directions to her apartment, and then I glanced at my building once more. After jotting down the information, I started my car, and sped away.

~ALANA~

              I still could not believe that Tony was actually coming over. When we last spoke, he was adamant about repairing his marriage. I wonder if his sudden change of heart had anything to do with what I saw this morning at Café Mocha. I was sure-enough surprised, to see Chris out in public, with Nena like that. Having finally met her, I really could not see what all the fuss was about with her. Nena was cute and all, but she could stand to lose about twenty pounds or so. In spite of that, however, she was very curvaceous. Her weight distributed evenly, in all the right places, and she had a killer shape on her. Even so, I still looked better, without trouble. A quick glance at the clock made me wonder how long it would take Tony to get here. Then, I rolled out of bed, wondering if I should put on something more, than just the large t-shirt and panties, I already had on. I went to my dresser drawer, and changed into a more fitted t-shirt, that stopped just below my waist.
Soon, there was a knock on my door, and I bounced towards the door excitedly. Without looking through the peephole, I pulled the door open. Then, my smile quickly faded as Chris stared back at me. I quickly looked past him, to see if anyone was behind him, and then he smiled at me. I wanted to slap that smug look off his face.