A Stranger's Touch

by Beth D. Carter

  Gordon St. Roth popped in her mind, and her body flushed with memories. She hadn’t had a chance to wash up, so his touch still lingered on her skin. An invisible tattoo that would forever leave indelible fingerprints.

  The shrill ring of the phone startled her out of her musings. Aubrey walked over to it and saw caller ID came from Morgan’s cell phone. She didn’t answer. Instead, once the phone stopped she hit the “message” button to hear what he had to say.

  “I’ve texted you several times, Aubrey, and I can only assume you went home. What the hell? You know how much this conference means to me and you pull this fucking stunt? Are you really that pissed for wearing the goddamn green dress? I can’t believe you’d be so petty as to punish me just because I was fucking honest with you! When I get home, we will talk about this.”

  “No we won’t,” she whispered before deleting the message and picking up the phone to call her best friend Merryl.

  “Hello?” Merryl answered.

  “It’s me.”

  “Aubrey? Are you okay?”

  “Can I come over?”

  “Aren’t you in St. Louis?”

  “I left Morgan.”

  “You left him in Missouri?”

  “No, I left left.”

  “Oh shit. Good riddance. I mean, yes! Yes, of course, come over.”

  “Can I come over for a few days?”

  “You can come over forever if you want, Aubrey. You know that.”

  Relief poured through her. Aubrey sniffed back the emotion choking her. “Thank you. I’ll be there in about an hour.”

  “All right,” Merryl said. “I’ll put some tea on. You okay to drive?”

  “Yes,” Aubrey whispered. “Thank you.”

  “You don’t need to thank me. Just get your ass over here.”

  Aubrey smiled as she hung up. She’d met Merryl her first week of living in Los Angeles, and they’d built a strong friendship. Merryl, however, had disliked Morgan, and according to him, the feeling was mutual.

  She headed upstairs to the bathroom attached to the master bedroom and took off the green dress she now hated. She tossed it into the trash can, not caring at all that some of the material fell onto the floor. The mirror revealed a tired-looking face, tangled red hair, and blurry eyeliner that made her blue eyes seem bruised. As she stepped into the shower and turned on the water, tears welled up in her eyes. For a long time she stood under the hot spray, letting all her emotions out so they washed down the drain. She made a vow to herself that this would be the last time she’d cry over a marriage that was doomed to fail from the start.

  Morgan hadn’t even asked for her hand. She’d ended up asking for his, and his reluctant yes only hammered home that he hadn’t really wanted the commitment. There were many warning signs she’d ignored. Perhaps one of the things she needed to do in her new lease on life was take a self-help class.

  After her shower, she dressed in sweats and grabbed another large suitcase to pack up everything she wanted to take with her, mostly consisting of her clothes and a few personal items. Everything else Morgan had picked, much of it put on credit, so she considered it his. She wanted nothing from him.

  As she drove to Merryl’s house, she tried to get her thoughts in order. She was going to have to find a job. And she wanted to finish her degree. She’d dropped out of college with only a few credits short of finishing, and now it was time to take back her aspirations. She was well aware that life was about to become a little messy, but how did one prepare for the storm about to hit?

  When she pulled into Merryl’s driveway, her friend threw open the front door and rushed to the driver side where she opened the car door and held out her hand. Aubrey took it, squeezing it, trying to show her appreciation.

  “Come on,” Merryl said. “If tea doesn’t work, we’ll grab the wine.”

  “My luggage—”

  “Don’t worry about that right now,” Merryl said, guiding Aubrey into the house. She gently pushed her toward the couch. “Sit down, let me get you a cup of tea. I suspect you’ve had a helluva night.”

  Instead of thinking of Morgan, her mind flashed to Gordon. The shower had erased his scent on her skin, but nothing could erase his memory. Her body heated at remembering how he’d driven her to the peak of pleasure from the magic of his mouth, how she’d never had such a powerful orgasm in her life. Now she knew sex with Morgan had been lukewarm at best, and certainly nothing to brag about.

  “Now,” Merryl said as she sat down next to Aubrey, holding out her cup. Aubrey wrapped her hands around the mug, liking how the heat stung her palms. “What happened?”

  “I’m not sure where to begin.”

  “Start at the point where you left left Morgan.”

  Aubrey took a deep breath. “I finally decided I wanted a divorce so I made an appointment with a divorce lawyer. I don’t love him anymore, Merryl. I don’t even think I like him.”

  “You don’t have to justify with me, Aubrey. I never liked Morgan.”

  “I know,” Aubrey said. Merryl was a very outspoken individual and she’d made no secret of her dislike for Morgan Lennox. “The lawyer called me tonight. Or I guess it was yesterday. Feels like forever ago. Anyway, he told me that the marriage certificate was never filed.”

  Merryl blinked. “What does that mean?”

  “It means, according to Mr. Parker, that Morgan and I are not legally married. There’s an expiration date on filing the certificate and it’s come and gone. And California doesn’t recognize common law marriage, so … I’m single.”

  “What? Get the fuck out of here!”

  “No, it’s true. Morgan and I are not legally married.”

  Merryl sat there for a moment, eyes wide, staring at her. “What happened to the certificate?”

  “I don’t know. When we were moving here from Kansas, we stopped at this old church Morgan insisted we go to. We both signed our names and the last time I saw it, Morgan put it in the inside pocket of his coat.”

  “Was it a rental?”

  “No.”

  “You think he forgot about it and lost it somewhere along the way?”

  Aubrey hadn’t really thought out the hows, but what Merryl said sounded plausible. “I guess that’s as good an explanation as anything else.”

  “How does one lose a marriage certificate? Or forget to tell you that he lost it?”

  “Both excellent questions, but at this point I don’t really care.”

  “When’s your appointment with the divorce lawyer?”

  “Monday.”

  “Do you want me to go with you?”

  Aubrey shook her head. “No, but thank you for letting me crash here.”

  “You can stay here however long you need. You know that. Have you thought about what you’re going to do?”

  “I’d like to finish my degree, but I also need to make money. Jesus, I haven’t worked in ten years.”

  Merryl pursed her lips. “I may be able to help with that.”

  “Help with what?”

  “A job. Our receptionist is going on maternity leave the week after next. You could replace her. Mind you, it’s only temporary. Until she comes back from maternity leave.”

  Aubrey blinked. “Really?”

  Merryl shrugged. “I’m the HR director. You could start Tuesday, come in so Jenny can train you on answering phones and whatnot. I had been thinking of contacting a temp agency, but you’d work out perfectly. Live here with me. I won’t charge you rent, save up your money, and we’ll figure things out as they come.”

  Aubrey set down her mug then leaned over to hug her friend. “Thank you, Merryl. You have no idea how much I appreciate you.”

  Merryl hugged her back. “You’re my best friend.”

  Again, Gordon popped into her head, and Aubrey frowned. She had to stop thinking about a man she was never going to see again.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “What?”

  “You got a weird look on your face
.”

  Aubrey hesitated. What would her friend say about having a one-night stand only hours after she’d left her husband?

  “Something happened at the airport.”

  “Something bad?”

  “No,” Aubrey said. “My plane was going to be a few hours so I decided to celebrate in the airport bar. This man bought me a drink.”

  “Look at you! One hour newly single and already getting free drinks!”

  Merryl chuckled.

  “It was … more than that,” Aubrey replied, taking a deep breath. “We talked. We rented a hotel room. We had sex.”

  Merryl stopped laughing. Her jaw dropped to form a little “o.” She blinked a few times as if trying to process, and then she patted Aubrey on the back.

  “Good for you! Was he tall, dark, and handsome?”

  Aubrey nodded. “Oh my God, he was gorgeous. And boy, could he kiss. I didn’t know sex could be that good.”

  “You didn’t know? Honey, if you aren’t sweaty, sticky, and walking funny then you’re doing it wrong. So was this a one-time thing or did you two exchange numbers?”

  “No numbers. When he was showering I snuck out. I’ll never see him again, but I suspect he’ll be in my dreams for a while.”

  “Your wet dreams,” Merryl said, snickering a little. “Good for you, Aubrey. You deserved a little wildness.”

  “I still can’t believe I did it. I can’t even blame the two drinks I had, although they did help lower my inhibitions because going off with a stranger is the definition of unsafe.”

  “Yes, it can be, but since nothing happened let’s not think about the what ifs. Let’s just focus on the here and now.”

  Tiredness hit Aubrey between the eyes with a sledgehammer. As she yawned, she placed a hand over her mouth. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “Suddenly I’m exhausted.”

  Merryl glanced at the clock. “Yeah, I bet, a lot has happened to you. I have to go to work in about three hours and I know you’re probably exhausted, so why don’t we get some rest?”

  “Yeah, I was hyped up on adrenaline for the better part of the night but I think I might be crashing.”

  They stood and Merryl hugged her. “I’m so glad for you, Aubrey. You deserve only happiness.”

  “When the lawyer told me the news, all I felt was relief. Then I was ecstatic. It was like a big weight was lifted from my shoulders. I know this is far from over, but knowing there is an end is all I need.”

  They pulled apart.

  “Let’s get your luggage and I’ll help you settle.”

  “Okay.”

  They retrieved all of her bags, and Aubrey thought it was sad how all her worldly possessions now fit in one large suitcase. Tomorrow she would have to go to the bank to sever the joint checking account.

  Twenty minutes later, after brushing her teeth, Aubrey lay in the guest bedroom. She wondered if Morgan would try tracking her down. He didn’t know where Merryl lived, but it wouldn’t be hard to figure out where she worked since they were both on social media. She figured she would deal with him if that scenario arose. As she drifted off to sleep, instead of Morgan, it was Gordon’s dark, sultry eyes that filled her dreams.

  Chapter Five

  Later that Friday afternoon, after a long nap, Aubrey waited in front of the bank teller as the woman counted out her withdrawal. She’d come to California with Morgan with two thousand four hundred and sixteen dollars, so that was what she was taking back. To take her name off the account she would need Morgan, so the next best thing was making sure he couldn’t screw her out of her money. She’d already removed herself from the credit cards, since she was only an authorized user and not the actual account holder.

  Taking her money to another bank, she opened up a checking account, the first one entirely in her name. That small accomplishment, however, was a monumental step toward being independent. Truthfully, the concept scared her a little. She’d gone from being supported by family to being supported by Morgan, but she was well aware of how pathetic it sounded that a thirty-two year old woman was terrified about having to balance her checkbook.

  The phone buzzed in her pocket and she didn’t even have to look at caller ID to know who was knocking. Yet still, she pulled it out and looked down at the text message.

  This is ridiculous. You’re being childish.

  Anger boiled in her belly. Why was it always her being childish? Wasn’t it childish that he insisted she change the dress she already had on? Another message came through.

  Why are your rings here? You could’ve lost them. Do you know how much I spent on them to make you happy?

  Aubrey shook her head in disbelief at that accusation, implying she only liked big, flashy jewelry. She wouldn’t have cared if the ring had been a plastic toy gotten from a quarter machine. All she had wanted was his love and support and he couldn’t even give her that.

  Pissed, she placed a call to him. Morgan picked up immediately.

  “Where the hell are you, Aubrey?” he demanded.

  “I’m back in Los Angeles.”

  “What the fuck are you doing there? There’s a mixer tonight!”

  The words that had been stuck so long in her throat bubbled forward. “Fuck your mixer. I left you, Morgan. It’s over.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Our marriage is over.” She snorted. “Actually, we never had a marriage.”

  Tears clogged her throat but she swallowed down hard, trying to clear them. She swore never to cry again and that was what she was going to not do. He wasn’t worth the time or effort.

  “So you found out?”

  She froze as the meaning of his words penetrated through her sadness.

  “What did you say?” she whispered.

  His sigh came through very loud. “I’m assuming you found out about the marriage certificate. It’s all right, Aubrey. This sham of a marriage lasted longer than I thought it would.”

  “You … you knew? And what do you mean by sham? We had a ceremony, Morgan! We said vows…”

  “You were the one who pushed for this stupid marriage,” he replied coldly. “By then I knew our time was up.”

  “Our time was up?” She couldn’t seem to stop asking stupid questions. “What do you mean?”

  “It was fun at the beginning but by the time the position with Worldwide Mutual came along, I was ready to move beyond you.”

  Every word out of his mouth was a razor blade. “And the marriage certificate?”

  “I tore it up,” he admitted.

  Aubrey thought she was going to faint. She hurried to a bus stop so she could sit down before her knees crumbled.

  “Why?” she asked, completely at a loss.

  “For fuck’s sake, Aubrey. I never wanted to marry you. Why do you think I never asked you, even after six years of dating? I liked being single.”

  “B-but you weren’t single. We were living together.”

  “There were positives for living with you, mainly being the fact you helped pay rent and cooked the meals. That may not seem like much but they were two major perks. And when I wanted to have a date with a woman, you believed my ‘working overtime’ line.”

  To the testament of how numb she now felt, his infidelity admission didn’t even phase her. “I don’t understand, Morgan. You asked me to move to LA with you.”

  “No, you assumed I wanted you to come with me,” he sneered. “Look, Aubrey, what it comes down to is this—Worldwide Mutual likes family men. I suppose it presents a caring, lasting company to its clients. Bullshit, I say, but if that’s what they wanted then I provided them a wife.”

  “You married me to get your job?”

  “There are worse reasons to marry.”

  “Not for me,” she muttered.

  “I didn’t want to marry you, Aubrey, but I figured it was the only way to get the job so I started researching annulments and divorce. That’s when I learned about expiration dates on marriage certificates. I figured if I kept everything
in my name, then when this moment came, I could tell you to pack up and get out while keeping all my assets.”

  “You … you’re a horrible person,” she said. “Why did you drag it out for four years?”

  “The promotion to New York,” he replied. “I was going to admit everything after the two-year deadline, but then I heard that one of the senior executives was going to retire soon. Of course, I thought soon meant in a couple of months, but he dragged his feet on the deed. Anyway, I wanted that raise and you helped solidify that I’m a family man. I used you to my advantage once, I figured I’d do it again before kicking you out. They’re going to announce the succession tonight. I’ve been telling everyone you suffer from migraines to garner sympathy. When they say my name, the past four years will have been worth it.”

  “You’re a son of a bitch, Morgan.”

  He gave a humorless chuckle. “Look who’s finally growing a pair. Listen, Aubrey, since this charade is finally over, I want you to get the hell out of my house.”

  “I’m already gone.”

  “Good. Remember that your car is mine, as well as the phone you’re using now. We’ll chalk this whole thing up to an abridgement of time. I will warn you, if you try to damage my property or steal anything that I bought, I will have you in court.”

  As if she couldn’t feel any worse. “Yeah, right after I explain how you falsified our marriage vows and destroyed the certificate.”

  “Nothing I did was illegal, Aubrey.”

  “What about tax fraud?”

  “You’ll find I always had mine amended. I committed no tax fraud.”

  “You’re unbelievable, Morgan Lennox. I hope to God I never see you again, or talk to you.”

  “I’m sorry you feel that way. We had some good times, if you can remember. Back in the good ‘ole days before our wedding.”

  She could imagine the air quotes around that last word. “You took ten years of my life, Morgan. I just can’t believe how much I misjudged you.”

  “Yeah, well, you also drained ten years of mine. But I’m a shoe-in for this promotion so c’est la vie.”