by Tracy Reed
Kyla reached into her bag for her phone and began dialing. “Hi Antonio, I found out who referred Olivia King. When she calls, schedule her for Thursday afternoon, around two. Thanks.”
Ten minutes later Kyla’s phone rang. She recognized the honking horn ringtone, “Hi Antonio…she did…she can…good, I’ll call you back when I’m on my way. Would you please walk Winnie…thanks.” She put her phone into her bag. “We’re all set for Thursday at two, can you…”
“You don’t even have to ask.” She sat down across from Kyla. “I don’t understand how Eric was able to get away with it for so long.”
“Careful planning. We’re, at least I am a very private person, and he said he needed his space. So he gave me money to get us a place. From the beginning, we’ve been meeting at an apartment we have down in Chelsea. We felt it was best to be far away from where either of us lived. He’s upper west and I’m upper east.”
DeeDee shook her head. “I just don’t believe it. Was it only sex? I’m sorry.”
“I understand. Sean asked me the same question. In the beginning, we were like any other couple. We would go out, take trips, everything a couple in a committed relationship does. He never came to my office or apartment. That was part of the arrangement. He did hire me to decorate his office.”
“And Olivia didn’t know?”
“Hey, as far as I knew, he wasn’t married.”
“I get it. He’s a clever…”
“You said they’ve been together almost seven years?”
“Yes. I remember when she first told me about him. She met him at a charity dinner.”
“That’s how we met…that son of a—”
“Kyla.” DeeDee stopped her.
“I’m sorry. It’s just…I thought…” She stood up and started pacing and pounding her fist into her hand. “He made me think I was calling all the shots. He said he wanted to get married because it would help his career.”
“That’s true. From my understanding his father told him he would use every resource their family had to make him the number one marriage therapist in New York, but he had to get married. Did he love you? I don’t know. Does he love Olivia? Again, I don’t know. Personally, I think the only person he loves is himself. If it’s any consolation, I think he cared more for you than he does Olivia. How many times did he propose to you?”
“Three.”
She nodded. “He proposed to her once.”
“I know. I designed that proposal perfectly where the only possible answer would be ‘yes.’ What woman would turn down a weekend in Paris capped off with a picnic facing the Eiffel Tower.” She paused. “He called me before he asked her. He said he wanted to give me one last chance to change my mind and accept his proposal.”
“What?”
“The night before their wedding, he was with me. He left our bed and went to their wedding breakfast.”
“Oh, my God.”
“And their wedding night, he called me because he was having problems getting aroused…I helped him do what he needed to do.”
“Oh, my God.” DeeDee felt like her ears were bleeding.
“Now you see why I couldn’t see her. I felt I was responsible for the sham of a marriage she’s in. And now I find out, he played me.”
“Would it have made a difference if you’d known about Olivia sooner?” DeeDee asked.
Kyla shrugged her shoulders.
Chapter 54
IT HAD BEEN OVER SIX months since Kyla was last at the apartment she frequented with Eric. In the past, she looked forward to her visits here. Today, however, it felt more like the after effects of a bad hangover. She walked in and waved at the doorman, continued down the hall to the bank of elevators, and rode up to the tenth floor.
She walked inside, closed the door behind her and looked around. She stood still, allowing all the memories to settle down. She put her bag on the chair next to the door and laid her keys in the bowl next to the picture of her and Eric in Maui. Happy times, or were they? It was a wild week. They had spent their days at the pool and their evenings clubbing, followed by wild sex well into the early morning hours.
She walked into the kitchen and checked the refrigerator, hoping for a bottle of champagne, but there wasn’t any. She closed the door and walked around the apartment. Every room was filled with memories. Although she took advantage of the cleaning service, she could still smell her parfum and Eric’s cologne. Every surface was soaked with their scents.
She walked into the bedroom and stood next to the queen- sized bed, remembering all the things she and Eric had done. Some things she liked, and some she was ashamed of. Looking back now, the thought of Eric on top of her sickened her. Sean was right, her new self wasn’t comfortable in this place and what it represented. She wanted to get this meeting over and done with so she could get back to her new life…her boyfriend. That term sounded so juvenile. How could such a simple term make a grown woman blush and act like a school girl? Simple, she’d never had someone like Sean in her life.
Sean was more than a boyfriend. He was her best friend. When he told her he wanted to come with her today, she had mixed emotions but quickly said no. Kyla had been working hard to change her life. Although Sean knew about Eric, she didn’t want him here picturing her with Eric. It was bad enough she couldn’t look at herself. She couldn’t bear having Sean look at her, picturing her in some lewd act with her ex-boyfriend. No, it was best Sean never come to this place.
She had contacted a client she did apartment staging for and asked her to give her information on renting the place. She told her that without looking at it, but based on the building, units like hers were renting for about $5,000 a month. Kyla was shocked. She had bought the apartment at a steal…it was part of a bitter divorce settlement, and the couple was eager to get rid of it. She only paid $550,000 for it. Even with the market taking a dip, she was still, if she wanted to sell, looking at around a million dollars. Not too bad, but her client said that’s if it’s in good shape. She looked around and thought, a million dollars to rid herself of the last brick to her past…maybe.
She walked back into the living room. She didn’t want to sit down because every piece of furniture reminded her of an encounter with Eric. She looked over at the green club chair and the memory of being bent over the chair with Eric behind her pressing himself into her, made her sick to her stomach. She ran down the hall to the bathroom to hug the white porcelain toilet. She reached for a towel on the counter, soaked it with cold water, and placed it on the back of her neck. The dampness of the towel cooled her body but did nothing for her nerves. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and instantly, the memory of being in the shower with Eric making love, made her queasy again.
“I can do this.” She took a deep breath and began praying. “Dear God, help, I know I can do all things with Your help, and right now, I’m begging for Your help. Give me the right words to say to Olivia, and please help me to keep my tongue and not slip back into my old self. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
She looked inside the medicine cabinet for her toothbrush and brushed her teeth. When she finished, she dropped the toothbrush into the wastebasket along with the tube of toothpaste and a bottle of Opium parfum. “I’ll have the cleaning service come and clean up.” She walked back into the bedroom and pulled open the drawers of the chest, touching the thousands of dollars of beautiful lingerie she kept here. She only wore these things here with Eric. The bottom drawers were filled with the various toys and accessories Eric liked using. The top drawer of both bedside chests were filled with the same thing…condoms. She never trusted Eric when it came to that area in their relationship. If he was lying to his wife, how could she trust him to make sure he had condoms.
She put all the lingerie into a couple of Bergdorf bags. “I wonder if it would be considered tacky to give these to Goodwill?” She looked at the things that still had the tags attached. “At least I can return these. After almost six years, and this is what I have to
show for it…a beautiful apartment, which I can’t stand to be in, a couple bags of lingerie, some pictures and a small portion of my dignity.”
She walked into the living room and her phone rang. She quickly walked over and picked it up. The barking dog ringtone tipped her off to who was calling. “Hi.” She looked at her reflection in the mirror as she was talking on the phone. The sound of Sean’s voice made her feel better about this meeting.
“How’s it going?” Sean asked.
“They aren’t here yet.”
“Are you okay?”
She could sense the concern in his voice. She knew he wanted to be here, and part of her wanted him to be here. Having Sean here would ease the tension and pain this meeting was sure to bring. It would also mean sharing a part of her life even she was having a challenge with and she couldn’t do that. She didn’t want the good things in her life contaminated with the bad, sinful things of her past. Sean had never looked at her with judgment or shame, only love and compassion, and that’s how she wanted it to remain.
“I’m fine.” She was speaking in faith. She was a nervous wreck.
“Sure you don’t want me to come over?”
“Sean, I’m a big girl. I don’t…,” She took a deep breath. “Baby, would you please do me a favor?”
“You name it.”
“Pick Winnie up at the groomers at four-thirty and bring her home?”
“You got it. Is there anything else?”
“No, that’s it. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome and I’ll grab dinner and meet you at your place.”
“Okay…baby, I know you want to be here, and I love that you want to be here, but…”
“I understand.”
“Thank you. Bye.” She pressed the button ending the call and looked at her reflection in the mirror. “Thank you God, for bringing Sean into my life.” She let out a deep, cleansing breath and looked in the mirror again. For the first time since she got there, she felt strong.
She reached into her bag for her lipstick, and the small brown box with a grey ribbon caught her attention.
The intercom rang and startled her. “Hello…send them up…Thank you.” She looked in the mirror. “Okay God, let’s do this.” She took another deep breath and waited for the door bell to ring.
A few minutes later, ding-dong, ding-dong. She waited for it to ring again before answering. Ding-dong. She looked out the peephole and saw DeeDee and another woman. She put on her practiced smile and opened the door.
“Hi,” Kyla said as she ushered them inside.
DeeDee walked in and hugged her and whispered, “Are you okay?” Kyla nodded and closed the door. “Kyla James, this is my friend Olivia King.”
Olivia looked just as Kyla remembered. Average height, thin, shoulder length, brown hair wearing a camel Michael Kors sheath and matching boots.
Kyla extended her hand to shake Olivia’s. “Nice to meet you.”
“I am a huge fan. I love your work. If I’d known all I…”
Kyla interrupted her, “Let’s sit down.” She ushered them into the living room. DeeDee and Olivia sat on the sofa and Kyla took the chair across from them.
“Your apartment is beautiful. Is this your home?” Olivia asked.
“Not exactly.” Kyla looked at DeeDee.
“Olivia,” DeeDee started to speak.
“What am I thinking, you wouldn’t have booked a meeting at your home. This is probably a lab or studio.” She stood up and started walking around, looking and touching everything. She stopped at the credenza by the door. “Huh, that looks like Eric.” DeeDee looked at Kyla. “So does that and that,” she looked at Kyla and then back at the picture. “Is that…how do you…what’s going on? DeeDee?” She turned to face DeeDee.
“Olivia, come sit down,” DeeDee said calmly.
“No. Answer me.” DeeDee stood up and walked over and helped Olivia back to the sofa. “What’s going on?”
“Olivia, I want you to listen very carefully to what Kyla has to say.” She looked at Kyla. “Go ahead.”
“Yes, I know your husband.”
“Did you used to date?” Olivia asked.
“Yes.”
“And you still want him. Is that why you agreed to this meeting?”
“No. Your husband and I had been seeing each other for almost six years,” Kyla blurted out.
“What?” Olivia asked.
“A few months ago…Eric and I had an understanding and I wanted him to break it so we could play, but he wouldn’t because it was his day with you.”
“What?”
“Eric and I met almost six years ago, and this is where we met four times a week.”
“I don’t believe you,” Olivia retorted.
“Olivia, listen to her,” DeeDee jumped in.
“DeeDee, did you know about this?”
“Not until the other day. She came to me about her ex- boyfriend’s wife and that’s when I told her you had been trying to reach her. When I told her your name that’s when she told me everything.”
“Her boyfriend?” Olivia replied.
“I didn’t want to tell you, but DeeDee said it was the right thing to do. I figured you’d be better off not knowing,” Kyla confessed.
“I see.” She stood up and walked around the back of the sofa. “Six years. How did you meet?”
“The Milford Gala.”
“That’s not possible. We’ve been going to that gala every year for the past six…oh, my God.” Olivia looked at Kyla. “How long did you say you were with Eric?”
“Almost six years.”
She walked around the living room not saying anything. “Then I guess you know how long we’ve been together?”
“Yes. For the record, when we hooked up, he told me he was single. In fact, before we started sleeping together, I asked him if there was anyone else, and he said no.”
“I see and when was the first time you had sex with my husband?”
“Olivia, you don’t need to know that,” DeeDee jumped in.
“DeeDee, stay out of this. This woman says she and my husband were intimate for almost six years…I think I deserve to know details.”
Kyla stood silent, holding back the words she really wanted to say. She wanted to tell Olivia she knew where every mole, scar and freckle were on Eric’s body. And about the gray hairs in a place she knew she wouldn’t want DeeDee to know about.
She looked at DeeDee before responding. “I agree with DeeDee, you don’t really want to know that.”
“Then how do you expect me to believe you?” Olivia asked.
“Fine. The day after the gala we met for breakfast. The next day we met for lunch. The next day, we met for breakfast at the Mark.”
“So you had a couple of breakfasts and lunch. That’s no big deal,” Olivia said smugly.
“I would agree except the second breakfast was in bed, after we made love.”
“You’re lying.”
“Then how would I know Eric has a mole right under his navel? The first time I saw it was that morning, after I brought him to his knees in the shower.”
“Oh, my God…and the apartment?”
“After the first time, he said he had nosey neighbors and he didn’t want to invade my space, so he told me to get a place, and gave me money.”
“How much?”
“I don’t see how that’s relevant.”
“How much!” Olivia shouted.
Kyla looked at DeeDee and she nodded her head. “Three thousand a week.”
“Oh, so you’re a prostitute.”
Kyla lunged toward her and DeeDee jumped up and stopped her. “Kyla…settle down.”
“Look, I didn’t go after your husband, he came after me. I thought he was single.”
“When did you find out about me?”
“He pointed you out to me a few months before you were married and said he was going to ask you out.”
“I don’t understand.”
“He said
he wanted to get married and I didn’t.”
“Are you saying I was his second choice?” Olivia asked.
“I don’t think so, because when he had to make a choice, he picked you.”
“Did he propose to you?” Olivia asked. Kyla looked at DeeDee. “Why are you looking at her?”
“Because I don’t think you want to know the answer to that question,” DeeDee replied.
“Why not? Unless, it’s all a lie.”
“Olivia, she’s trying to spare you the embarrassing details,” DeeDee said calmly.
“DeeDee, I’ve got this. So you want to know everything?” Kyla asked.
“Did I catch you off guard? I know DeeDee doesn’t like Eric and she’s been telling me for years not to trust him, but I didn’t think she’d go to such extremes.”
“Are you serious?” DeeDee asked. “You think I set this up because I don’t like your husband? Please.”
“Why else would you have come with me? She’s only a decorator. The city is crawling with them. If you didn’t want to share yours, all you had to do was not give me her number.”
“I don’t believe you.” DeeDee stared at her friend of over twenty years, confused at her behavior and statements.
“I guess you thought you and this woman would tell me a few things and I’d believe you. I’m a lot smarter than that. If you expect me to believe this…story, then you’re going to have to give me proof, otherwise I’m out of here,” Olivia retorted.
“Remember, you asked for this,” DeeDee said to Olivia. “Kyla, tell her everything.”
“Eric proposed to me three times. The first time was six months after we met. The second time was on our first anniversary. And the third time was the night he proposed to you.”
“Now I know you’re lying. Eric proposed to me in Paris.”
“I know. He flew you to Paris for the weekend. You stayed at the Crillion in separate rooms. He called me and I…said some things to him that got him through the night so he could sleep. On the night he proposed to you, while he was waiting for you, he was on the phone with me. He needed a quick phoner and afterward, he asked me to reconsider his proposal. I said no and he took you on a moonlit picnic facing the Eiffel Tower and proposed. The night before your wedding he was here, with me.”