Savory Deceits (36 page)

39

~NENA~

“Nena Simone Skye!” The loud voice boomed through the speakers. Seated in the second row, I stood up, and proudly walked across the stage, to accept my Masters in Psychology diploma. I smiled, shaking the Dean’s hand, and glanced over at the crowd, hoping to see my sister. Disappointment clouded my face when I did not see Naima, but a smile returned, when I saw Chris waving at me from the crowd. I walked past the Dean, and went to stand on the other side of the stage, with the rest of my fellow graduates. After they called the final name, we took off our caps, and tossed them in the air, extricating a loud cheer from the crowd. While cheering, I glanced over at Chris once more, and he blew a kiss at me, mouthing the words, I love you.

Later that night, Chris took me to a five star restaurant to celebrate. Seated across from each other, hand in hand, he studied my face. Delightedly, I looked back at him.

              “Baby, I know how much you wanted Naima there, and I’m so sorry she didn’t come. After all, you did your part, and reached out to her, so now it is her turn to do the same. It’s time to stop feeling guilty, and let yourself be happy. I’m so proud of you.” He grinned, and I smiled back.

“I am happy. Thanks Chris.” I said appreciating him being with me. Then he stopped, and stared at me again, before speaking. Chris had been so loyal to me, ever since the day we met. How can I not have fallen in love with him?

“I’ve loved you for a long time Nena, and a part of me still can’t believe that this actually happened… that we finally happened. You do not know how happy I am to have you by my side. I want to be with you forever.” With that said, he rose from the table, and got down on one knee. Then he pulled a small velvet box from inside his jacket pocket, and I gasped. “Nena,” he said, taking my hand, and then kissing it. “I want to be with you forever.” He repeated softly. I could hear awe’s coming from the people seated at the tables nearby. At that moment, I blinked back tears, as I looked in his eyes. “Will you marry me?” He asked, opening the box to expose a large, shimmering, square-shaped diamond ring. I gasped again at its beauty, and the world seemed to have stood still. The waiters, and the other guests, stopped what they were doing to watch us, awaiting my answer. My hand went to my heart, touched by his gesture. Blinking back tears again, I nodded my head.

“Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.” I said, letting him place the ring on my finger, and then kissing him. Suddenly, everyone in the restaurant started clapping and cheering. Soon after, our waiter brought us a bottle of champagne, and set it on our table, with two crystal glasses.

“This is on the house, compliments of the owner.” He said with a nod.

“Thank you!” Chris said, reaching for the bottle.

“Please, allow me.” The waiter said, popping the cork, and filling both glasses. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.” He then said, before turning to leave. I started eyeing my new engagement ring, adoring its beauty.

“I take it you like the ring.” Chris said, taking a sip of champagne.

“Like it?” I asked brows rose. “I love it!” I beamed. As I continued to admire my ring, reality began to set in, and my expression turned serious.

“What is it?” He asked, studying me again.

“This is beautiful Chris,” I began, still staring at my ring, before looking back up at him. “And I would love to be your wife, but Tony and I aren’t even divorced yet.” I reminded him.

“I don’t care about that, and I’m not going to pressure you to get one either. All that matters is that you agreed to marry me. Whether it takes six months, a year, or hell, even ten years, Nena; for you, I’d wait forever.” He said, kissing my hand again. Then I smiled, eyeing my ring once more. At that point, I thought about Tony. I had not seen, or spoken to him in months, ever since the night he and Chris went to jail. A part of me missed him, but another part of me hated him, for putting his hands on me. In any case, I knew I would have to face him eventually. Now that Chris and I were engaged, it had to be sooner, rather than later.

~CYNTHIA~

“Honey, you sure you don’t want to come see the movie with us?” I asked Eric, one more time, on the way out the door. I really wanted him to change his mind. I missed him.

“No, you two go on ahead. I am going to stay here, and finish some paperwork, and maybe later go back to the office. I think I left my laptop there.” He said, from behind his desk in the study. My eyes narrowed. I knew that his having to, ‘go back to the office,’ meant that he was going to see his whore. Alana noticed my expression, and then eyed Eric suspiciously. Since finally meeting her, he barely ever had enough time to hold a decent conversation with her, let alone spend time with me. However, I still loved him, so I quickly masked my disappointment. I wanted my daughter to give him a chance, and not be so quick to judge him, as she did with my past lovers.

“C’mon mom, let’s go. We’re going to be late.” I heard my daughter say. Reluctantly, I grabbed my purse, and followed her out the door.

~STARR~

“Oh!” Naima cried, holding onto her stomach.

“You okay, mamma?” I asked, alarmed.

“Yeah, Braxton Hicks, that’s all. I have been having them all week. I’m all right, though. Go. Have fun.” She said to me.

“Are you sure honey, because I can stay if you need me? I’ll just call Eric, and cancel.” I already had my cell out, ready to place the call.

“No! Go!” Naima shouted, leaning against the kitchen counter. “I’m not due for a couple weeks, so go. You need to get this over with, so stop stalling and go.” She urged, shooing me towards the door. I studied her for a minute, unsure if I should leave, with her condition. With Naima’s due date looming, I had already cancelled several dates with Eric, to stay with her, just in case she went into labor. However, the real reason why I was considering cancelling this particular time was that, Eric and I, were going to have ‘The Talk,’ about our future together. We had tried talking on several occasions before, and failed miserably. Our over stimulated libidos kept taking over, but this time we agreed to have dinner at a restaurant, and just talk.

“All right,” I said reluctantly. “But call me,” I said, waving my cell phone in the air. “If you need me okay, and I’ll be back in a New York minute, all right?” I assured her.

“Gotcha. Now go.” She said, waddling to the couch, and then easing down on it slowly. I eyed her one last time, before leaving.

~TONY~

I heard the doorbell ring, and went to the door. My heart quickened, because I knew who it was. Looking through the peephole, I paused for a second, before opening the door.

“Hey. Come in.” I stepped aside to let Nena in. “Want something to drink?” I said, walking past her, and into the kitchen. I opened the fridge and grabbed myself a beverage.

“No thanks.” She said, still standing. Then, Nena eventually followed me towards the kitchen, and took a seat at the dining room table. She briefly scanned the room, and seemed nervous. I joined her at the table with a cold bottle of beer, and took a long swig, watching her. She picked at her cuticles, and that is when I noticed it.

“Nice ring.” I said, taking another gulp of beer.

“Oh. Thanks.” She replied, removing her hands from the table. I placed the bottle back on the table, and crossed my arms looking at her. The person sitting across from me was in fact my wife, but she was now a stranger to me. Painstakingly, I realized that I never really knew her at all. She avoided my stare, so I got straight to the point.

“The reason I asked you here was to give you this.” I said pushing back from the table. I got up, went into my bedroom, and then soon returned with some papers. She took them from me, and read what she already knew were divorce papers; papers that I had already signed. Then, her eyes glistened, with what appeared to be tears.

“Tony, I,” she began to say, and then I raised my hand to stop her.

“Don’t,” I said, “it is what it is.” I remained standing, and she rose too.

“Can we at least be…?” She started to say again.

“What?” I said looking at her sideways. I know she did not just try to say, what I thought she was about to. “Friends?” I questioned. “You can’t be fucking serious.” I shook my head, wanting to smack her again, just for saying some stupid shit like that.

“I just don’t want to end it like this.” She said softly. I shook my head at her again. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to hold her, and I wanted to kill her. I wanted to hit something, someone. So many emotions were running through me. I was angry, and I was pissed, but I was mostly hurt. “I don’t know what else to say. I’m sorry.” She said teary eyed.

“No you’re not.” I said, scowling at her. She started to object, but I continued. “You may think you are, but you’re not.” I said sternly. “If you were sorry, you wouldn’t have fucked him again, behind my back! Then, you moved in with him, and now you got a goddamn ring on your finger! So, what? You’re going to marry him now? Is that it?” I yelled, hating the fact that my jealousy was even a factor. She hung her head in shame, and I hoped my words made her feel every bit of the contempt, I now had for her.

When she said nothing, I continued. “You really think you can have a future with someone like that? He is grimy as hell Nena! You have no fucking idea! Look at what he did to me… to us! I have known him my whole fucking life, and I never would have thought, he could conspire some shit like that, to take you away from me! And now, you can stand there, and honestly say that you trust his scheming ass enough to marry him?” Tears now streamed down her face. Good, I thought. I wanted to hurt her just as she hurt me. Then she blinked several times.

              “Wait. What are you talking about? What do you mean
conspire
? There is no conspiracy here, Tony! We didn’t plan this!” She said in his defense.

              “Humph. You didn’t, but I sure as hell know for a fact, he did.” I said, wanting to whoop Chris’ ass again.

              “What are you talking about?” Nena asked again.

              “Why don’t you go home to your
fiancée,
and ask him.” I said, disgusted at the thought of Chris marrying, what I thought was, the love of my life.

“What do you mean, you know for a fact?” She asked, ignoring my snide remark. I paused before speaking, and then I looked at her, shaking my head again. “Would you stop that, and talk to me!” She screamed.

“Alana told me everything. About how Chris used her to get to me, so he could get to you.” I finally unveiled.

“Alana? Who’s Alana?” She asked confused.

“She’s the bitch I started fucking, after I realized you were still sleeping with that motherfucker!” I did not give a damn about her feelings anymore, and I could tell that my response unnerved her.

“You’re not making any sense.” She said, shaking her head.

“Funny. I can say the same about your behavior this past year.” I retorted. Then she looked down, and seemed to think for a moment. A few minutes passed, and finally, she appeared to begin to put the pieces together.

“What do you mean Chris used her?” She asked, looking up at me. I guessed she now figured out who Alana was.

“He was hoping that she would seduce me, and get it on tape, which would piss you off enough, to go running straight to him. Humph, and you did.” I chuckled at the irony of it all.

“No,” Nena said, shaking her head at me. “There’s no way. Chris wouldn’t do that. He couldn’t. He loves me!” She said, in complete denial.

“Yeah, he loves you enough, to do just about anything to be with you.” I said. Then I shook my head at her. “Think about it Nena! You’re smarter than that! Alana told me about the time she saw you two at the coffee shop. How did Chris seem to you when he saw her, huh?” She opened her mouth, but stopped, and thought about it again. I watched her face, as the realization slowly came to her, piece by piece. Then, what appeared to be horror, clouded her face.

“He never seemed to care about what would happen if you ever found out about us.” She said to herself.

“That’s because he was counting on it.” I told her. Then I watched, as tears filled her eyes again, and I hated myself for wanting to hold her. Why I could not completely rid myself of the feelings I still had for her, was beyond me. I must be crazy to continue loving a woman, who had done what Nena did to me.

“I have to go.” She said, grabbing her purse, and then leaving the divorce papers behind, unsigned. Within seconds, she was out the door.

40

~STARR~

I had a huge smile on my face as I entered the penthouse, wondering what Eric had in store for me this time. I dropped my purse and keys, at the coffee table in the living room, and headed for the bedroom.

“Babe?” I said, pushing the door open to the dimly lit room. Suddenly, the lights clicked on, and I gasped.