She was right again, but there was no reason to confirm her thinking. “You’re wrong.”
“Say what you want, but I know what I know.”
“Like I said, I’m hanging up now, and you take care.”
“You take care as well, Curtis, and I’ll speak to you tomorrow.”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Of course, I will. Either that, or I’ll just plan on seeing you when you get here. Late afternoon or anytime in the evening would work best for me. But I also have no problem switching one of my appointments around if you wanna come by earlier.”
“Good-bye, Sharon,” he said.
“See you soon.”
Chapter 24
Beads of sweat lined Charlotte’s forehead and trickled down the sides of her face. Her chest, stomach, and back were soaking wet, too. She’d been on the treadmill for nearly fifty minutes, power walking at a speed of 4.7 miles per hour, and she’d never felt better. Her brain had released a huge amount of endorphins, and she absolutely loved this feeling. There was only one other form of activity that could compare to this kind of natural high—that being sex—and it was the reason she worked out so religiously. As a matter of fact, she hadn’t felt this good since yesterday morning, the last time she and Michael had made love. They’d awakened bright and early, pleasured each other one last time, and then gotten dressed and headed to the airport in separate cars. They’d even taken different flights as a precaution, even though they’d both flown back to O’Hare.
Charlotte glanced at the number of calories and carbohydrates she’d burned, watched the last five minutes of The Young and the Restless, and then thought about Curtis. He’d slept in the guest bedroom again, of course, but when he’d come into their room this morning, he’d taken a shower, shaved, and gotten dressed, and he’d seemed very pleasant. He hadn’t said anything at all to her except, “Good morning,” but what puzzled her was how normal he acted. He hadn’t seemed annoyed by her presence, frustrated by what they were going through as a couple, or bothered by much of anything, for that matter, and she couldn’t help speculating why that was. She wondered why his demeanor was noticeably calm when their marriage was in an uproar—admittedly a silent uproar, but an uproar nonetheless. They were no longer screaming and yelling at each other, but they still had serious issues to contend with. Yet now they connected more like roommates than they did as husband and wife.
But Charlotte decided this wasn’t the time to focus on Curtis. Not when she was overcome with such mesmeric euphoria. So, she upped the treadmill to 5.0 for the final two minutes of her sixty-minute session and then dropped it back to 4.0 for the start of her cooldown period. She breathed heavily, wiping her face with a plush white towel, and when her cooldown ended, she read the final reading on the digital display, stepped off of the belt, stretched, and picked up two eight-pound hand weights. She watched the news while toning her biceps and triceps, then sat on the Bowflex seat and worked her legs. After that, she positioned herself on the floor and did two hundred crunches. Now she lay there with her eyes closed, resting.
Finally, she got herself up, went up to the main floor, and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. She had already downed one about thirty minutes into her workout, but she was still pretty thirsty.
“That whole Emily and Patty story line is really starting to get to me,” Agnes said, complaining about one of the current Y & R story lines.
Charlotte took a swig of her drink. “I know. I was watching it downstairs. What I wanna see play out, though, is this whole thing with Adam. He’s gotten away with all his dirt for much too long, and it’s time he got what’s coming to him.”
“You got that right. I can’t wait,” Agnes said, laughing.
Charlotte smiled. She and Agnes rarely missed a day of their favorite soap opera, and they talked about the characters as if they were real. Even when she couldn’t be home at eleven, she never worried because the family room DVR was set to record it like clockwork. She’d been watching Victor, Nikki, Jack, and the rest of them for years, and it was by far one of her guiltiest pleasures. Well, it used to be her guiltiest pleasure—that is, before Michael had come back into her life. Gosh. She just couldn’t stop thinking about Florida, and she needed to talk to him. Needed to hear his voice. Wanted to know what he was doing at this very moment. So she quickly went up the stairs and called him.
“Michael Porter,” he said.
“Hey.”
“Hey, yourself. I was just thinking about you.”
“Oh yeah? What were you thinking?”
“How I haven’t felt this good about anything in a long while.”
“We did have a good time this weekend, didn’t we?”
“The best,” he said and then asked her to hold on for a second. She heard him talking to someone in the background, but then he was back with her.
“So have you had a busy morning?” Charlotte asked.
“Very. But it’s been good, though. One of my top clients who’s worth millions just decided to move his entire portfolio over to me. I’ve handled a good portion of his money for a few years, but a couple of hours ago he came in and said he couldn’t be more happy with my services and saw no reason to deal with anyone else from this point on.”
“That’s wonderful, Michael.”
“It is. I’m pretty excited, to say the least.”
“Good for you. I can only imagine how great it feels to have a career you love, and I really miss that.”
“Then, why don’t you go back to work?”
“I don’t know. I worked as a paralegal at a top law firm, but when we founded Deliverance Outreach, Curtis wanted me to quit so that I could focus on the church operations with him.”
“That’s all fine and well, but that’s his dream. Not yours. Am I right?”
“To a certain extent. When we first moved out here, I fully supported his desire to start his own church, and I had no problem helping him do it. But I also wanted to keep working as a paralegal.”
“Then, you should do what makes you happy. And if your husband truly loves and respects you, he’ll encourage exactly that.”
“Maybe I’ll think more about it.”
“I hope you do. Because no one should put their dreams on hold. No one should deny themselves of being happy.”
“I wish life was really that easy.”
“It can be.”
“Maybe in a perfect world, but not in real life.”
There was silence, and then Michael said, “So when can I see you again?”
“I don’t know.”
“What about this Sunday? Valentine’s Day.”
Not once had Charlotte ever considered the idea of spending the most romantic holiday of the year with anyone else, not since marrying Curtis, and a certain sense of sadness besieged her. Although, if she were honest with herself, she knew Curtis probably didn’t even care.
“I’ll have to see,” she finally said.
“Why? Do you think it would be hard getting away for a few hours?”
“No. Not really. Especially since Curtis is acting so laid-back.”
“So he wasn’t upset when you got home?”
“No. He seemed more at ease than before I left.”
“Does that bother you?”
“Well, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t, at least a little.”
“Well, just so you know, Sybil didn’t have much to say either. She was very calm, and for the first time, she didn’t complain about the fact that I didn’t call her once while I was gone. Normally, she rants and raves for hours, so what I’m hoping is that she’s finally realizing it’s all a lost cause.”
“Being in a bad marriage is tough.”
“Tell me about it. Actually, I’m tired of the whole situation, and I’m this close to asking her for a divorce. I want to end things with her so badly, and if you ever made up your mind to leave Curtis, I would tell her in a heartbeat.”
Charlotte had threa
tened Curtis with a separation and possible divorce, but deep down, she wasn’t ready for any of that. “I can’t think about that right now, and I honestly don’t know what the future holds for Curtis and me.”
“But you know you’re not happy with him.”
“Yes, but divorce is a major and very permanent step. And while I really care about you and enjoy my time with you, I haven’t stopped loving Curtis either. I have to be honest with you about that,” she said, trying to determine if what she mainly loved about Michael was the passionate way he made love to her and how attentive he was to her needs.
“I do believe that you still love him, but I’m not so sure you’re in love with him. Not anymore, anyway. And there is a difference.”
“Yes. I know that. But I guess I just need some time to sort things out.”
“No problem. I told you before that I’m willing to wait, and I really meant that.”
“I appreciate that.”
“But in the meantime, let’s just enjoy each other as much as we can. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said.
“And I’m serious about Valentine’s Day. I really want to see you.”
“I want to see you, too, and I’ll let you know in a couple of days.”
“Sounds good. All right, well, I have another meeting, so I’d better get going.”
“It was good talking to you.”
“Same here. And call me later if you get a chance.”
“I will.”
Charlotte laid the phone down, but as soon as she did, her phone rang again. She frowned when she saw the word Private displayed, and wondered who it was.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Well, well, well,” the man said. “I can’t believe I actually caught you on my first try.”
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, come on now. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten my voice already. Not when we were just together barely a week ago.”
Charlotte widened her eyes. It couldn’t be.
“It’s me. Tom. You know, the guy who rocked your world when we left the jazz club last Tuesday.”
Charlotte’s heart raced. “How did you get my number?”
“Well, remember after we made love? And you fell asleep? Well, I got kind of bored sitting there all alone, and the next thing I knew, I was rummaging through your purse and found your phone. So I figured what the heck. Might as well dial my number with it. That way I’d have your number and could store it into my own phone.”
“But why?”
“So we could keep in touch, of course.”
“I guess I don’t understand.”
“You will. All in good time.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Let’s not worry about that now. I do, however, wanna see you again. And that same little sleazy motel we went to last Tuesday is more than fine.”
“Well, I’m sorry to tell you this, but that’s not going to happen.”
“Sure it will. You’ll see me or else.”
“Or else what?”
“I’ll be calling your husband, your parents, your son, and a whole slew of other folks I got from your contact list. I copied down one name and number after another, and I know they’ll love hearing about our little sexcapade.”
Charlotte swallowed hard and tried steadying her shaky hand. “Why are you doing this?”
“I told you. Because I wanna see you. I wanna see the freak come out in you again like it did the first time.”
“Look,” she said, trying to scare him. “I don’t know who you think you are, but if you call this number again I’m—”
“Are you threatening me?” he interrupted her. “Because I don’t take very kindly to threats.”
Charlotte was devastated. She couldn’t fathom why he was doing this. He had no reason. “What is it you want from me?”
“I already told you. So, either you plan on meeting me at our same little love nest or I’m calling Pastor Black. Understood?”
Charlotte knew he wasn’t playing. The tone in his voice confirmed it, and she could only think of one way out of this. “I’ll do anything but that. I’ll even pay you. All you have to do is name your price.”
“I don’t want money.”
“Why?”
“Because.”
“Because what?”
“What I want is to have my way with you whenever I want.”
Charlotte was speechless.
“I know this must be a lot to take in so suddenly, so I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you two or three days to get used to the idea, and then we’ll schedule a time to meet.”
“But—”
“But nothing,” he said. “I’ll call you soon.”
Charlotte waited for him to say more, but he hung up. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Worse, she couldn’t believe she’d been stupid enough to get drunk and sleep with this lunatic. He’d been a complete stranger, but to her, it really hadn’t been all that big of a deal. Simply about two people having a good time and then moving on with their lives. But apparently Tom had decided otherwise.
What really worried her, though, was that he didn’t want money. He was blackmailing her but didn’t want to be paid in dollars and cents, and that made her nervous. What he wanted was for her to have sex with him again, and she couldn’t do that. Sleeping with Michael was one thing, but sleeping with Tom or any other stranger on a regular basis wasn’t an option. Or did she even have a choice? Especially since Tom had made it clear that he would tell Curtis about them if she didn’t do what he asked. So what was she going to do? How was she going to fix this latest debacle she’d created?
Truth was, she had no idea. She hadn’t a single clue, and all she could hope was that this new dilemma would go away quietly. Maybe Tom would forget about her and that would be the end of it. Somehow, though, she knew this was wishful thinking and that she would have no choice but to deal with him head-on. She could just kick herself for being so foolish.
Chapter 25
This is a quick summary of what we’d be looking at interest-wise and how much we’d be paying back over a period of thirty years,” Raven said, passing around copies of a document that outlined information for the additional loan they were considering taking out. Curtis, all the elders, and a few other finance committee members were in the conference room discussing the possibility of purchasing a pretty nice-sized piece of land situated next to the new building. Raven passed Curtis his copy but could barely look at him, and Curtis knew it was because of the way she’d tried to come on to him last week. She was having a tough time being in his presence, and he couldn’t deny that being around her felt a bit awkward as well, especially since he couldn’t ignore how radiant she looked today.
Curtis scanned the sheet of paper. “This all looks good, and of course, the plan will be for us to pay the entire loan off much sooner than thirty years.”
“Exactly,” Elder Jamison added. “So, if you ask me, we can go ahead and take a vote right now, because the last thing we want is to take a chance on someone else coming along and buying it before us.”
“I agree,” Curtis said. “There’s so much public enthusiasm about the new church that we’ll need to build on an addition in no time. And when that time comes, I want us to be ready.”
Elder Dixon set the document down in front of him. “You know the old saying, ‘When you snooze you lose,’ so we need to jump on this immediately. Need to snatch that property up before it’s too late.”
Everyone else in the room agreed, but they took an official vote anyway. The outcome was unanimous, and after discussing a few other minor items, Elder Jamison adjourned the meeting. As everyone got up, preparing to leave the room, Curtis asked Raven to stay.
Elder Jamison was the last person to exit, and when he closed the door behind him, Curtis looked at her.
“I thought it might be best if we had a conversation about the other day.”
Raven made direct eye cont
act with him, but only for a second, and then glanced away.
“Look, the bottom line is this. I don’t want you feeling bad about any of what you said, and I don’t want things feeling strange between us. We’ve always had a great working relationship, and there’s no need for that to change now.”
Raven looked at him again. “I never should have said those things to you, regardless of how I was feeling. I had no right approaching you that way.”
Curtis smiled. “But everything you said was the truth, though, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then, there’s nothing for you to worry about. I wasn’t offended. Shocked, maybe. But not offended or upset with you.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
“I mean it. There was no offense taken, and I don’t want you walking around feeling embarrassed or out of place.”
“That really helps, and I have to admit, I’m very relieved. I was so worried that you were angry with me and that my job might be in jeopardy.”
“No, not at all.”
“If I could take everything back, Pastor Black, I would. And again, I’m really sorry.”
“Apology accepted. Now get back to work,” he said, smiling.
Now, Raven smiled as well. “Oh, and were you able to contact Richard Cacciatore okay?” She was referring to the attorney she’d recommended to Curtis.
“Yes, I did, and we had a good conversation. I like him already and can tell he’s as knowledgeable as you said he was. I’ll definitely be hiring him on at some point to handle a few items for me.”
“Great. I’m glad you felt comfortable with him.”
“I did, and thanks again for the recommendation.”
“No problem.” Raven slid her seat in close to the table and left.
Curtis leaned back in his chair, thinking about a number of things, mostly stuff he wasn’t proud of. For one, he replayed the way he’d just scanned Raven’s body from head to toe as she’d turned and walked out of the conference room and how he’d then imagined what it might feel like to be in bed with her. The temptation was killing him, and between her and this Sharon woman, he could barely think straight. He knew he was wrong, but he was also human, and humans just weren’t perfect. They had flaws. They were blemished, and even Romans 3:23 talked about all human beings committing sins and falling short of the glory of God. It was just the way things were, and there was no getting around it. Curtis didn’t want to fall short, but suddenly, he was having a hard time trying to do the right thing. He was starting to feel that he was fighting a losing battle and that it wouldn’t be long before he lost control. He’d been trying to talk to himself daily, but for some reason he wasn’t getting through to himself, and sadly, all the praying he’d been doing didn’t seem to be helping. But then he thought back to Romans 7 again. He’d focused on verses fourteen through seventeen the other night, but this morning he’d read verses eighteen through twenty, which repeated much of the earlier passage but still made a lot of sense. “I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can’t make myself do right. I want to, but I can’t. When I want to do good, I don’t. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. But if I am doing what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is doing it.”
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