The Ex Chronicles

by Penelope Christian

  “Let’s just say, I had a sudden revelation that put a lot of things in perspective for me on the elevator ride down to the lobby.”

  “So…are you coming in, or did you just come back to kiss me?”

  Taye stepped inside the room, and kicked the door closed behind him. He was sure Michelle would make the divorce process difficult and ask for spousal and child support. He would gladly pay any amount of money to take care of his children…no judge would ever have to force him to do that. As much as Michelle liked to hang out and party, he could get full custody of the kids before she could.

  However, he wouldn’t be that guy- the guy who tried to take the kids away from their mother, just to spite her. He knew the kids needed their mom. He would always be in their lives, regardless of whether he was living in the same house with them, or not.

  Tonight, though, he was going to find comfort in the arms of Brie, the woman he knew he should have been with all along. And he was going to enjoy it.

  J.L. Sapphire is a self-published author and blogger. As an introvert, she spends her free time reading and losing herself in the lives of the characters she creates. Follow her on Facebook on https://www.facebook.com/jlsapphire/ and check out her blog http://jlsapphire.blogspot.com/.

  Online Secrets

  By Venita Alderman Sadler

  I sat up in our bed, leaned against the headboard and looked at my husband sleeping peacefully, oblivious to the fact that I wanted to knock him upside his head. I knew he was cheating, I just couldn’t prove it. Especially since he kept accusing me of being paranoid.

  Maybe I was a bit paranoid; I’d already checked our cell phone logs, and I would’ve checked his texts if I had his passcode. The thing was, though, what would I have done if I found a strange number?

  We have been married twenty-five years. So, would I end our marriage? After three children? After all my sacrifices including giving up my own dreams?

  All of those questions made me think I was being paranoid. After all, why would he cheat? I cooked, cleaned, raised our children, and had been a faithful wife.

  But something was going on. He’d been distant, attributing his lack of attentiveness to being tired. But tired from what? He’d been a senior partner at Coles, Gentry and Williams Law Firm for the last ten years. All he did was bark orders, and give advice. Of course he litigated cases, but he had an arsenal of law clerks to do the hard research.

  So, why was he suddenly so tired?

  It had started about three months ago, right after our youngest daughter, Casmine went off to college. We were now empty nesters and I’d expected a life of fun and freedom with my man. But it had been just the opposite. I saw less of him now than when our children were home.

  I was so stuck in my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed that Wade was awake and staring at me.

  “Hey, Beautiful,” he said.

  Those simple two words took me back…thirty years…to the day we met…

  Going to the N.C. State Fair county fair was one of my favorite things to do. And now, my sister, Jasmine and I had taken our ten-year-old cousin, Kali to a day of fun. We’d been at the fair for a couple of hours when I played the basketball game, trying to win a teddy bear, but I couldn’t score. After three tries, I wanted to give up.

  Then, I heard, “Hey, Beautiful, I’ll win a bear for you if you promise to go on date with me.”

  I turned around and laid eyes on four fine men, all around my and Jasmine’s age – twenty, twenty-one. But I didn’t know which one had spoken.

  So I said, “I’m Tiffany.” Then looking at each of them, I added, “Who’s volunteering to win my cousin that Mini Mouse?”

  A tall brother who had the same complexion as my favorite caramel candy, stepped forward. He extended his hand. “Hi, Tiffany, I’m Wade.” He smiled, showing his deep dimples. I just stood there taking in all his features…the same way I was staring at him now.

  “What’s wrong?” Wade asked.

  “I was just thinking how handsome you are, even when you’re asleep.” I smiled, not giving him any indication of what I’d been thinking.

  He sat up and played with one of the curls hanging over my shoulder. “Do you know how much I love you?”

  I sighed.

  He rubbed the side of my face and when he gave me a deep kiss, chills went through my body. I stroked his muscular arms, marveling as I always did at how he was still in great shape for a fifty-one year old man.

  I leaned back, thinking that I had to be crazy to think my husband was cheating. And then, he stopped. He pulled away, rolled over, and swung his legs over the bed.

  “Where are you going?” I wondered if he could hear my disappointment.

  “To work; I have a long day ahead of me.” He added, “Can you make me some breakfast?”

  “Sure,” I said as if his explanation was okay with me.

  As he shuffled into the bathroom, I shook my head. I would’ve been happy with just five minutes, but I couldn’t get that. Still, I wrapped myself in my bathrobe and took the long walk to the stairs, passing by each of my three children’s bedrooms. This hall used to be filled with music, laughter and chatter. I missed my girls far more than I expected.

  Inside the kitchen, I went to work, and by the time Wade came downstairs, I had a warm bacon, eggs and cheese bagel sandwich waiting for him. He grabbed his cup of coffee first, took a sip, and then reached for the bagel.

  “Thank you,” he said, as he bit into the sandwich. “You’re the best.”

  “What would you like for dinner?” I asked him because I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. What are your plans for today?”

  Now, I shrugged. “I’ll clean up, go to the gym, then swing by the grocery store.” I paused. “Why, do you need me to do something?”

  “No, just making conversation.”

  It had come to this. We didn’t have anything of substance to say to one another. After a few silent minutes, Wade wiped his mouth with a napkin, gulped the last of his coffee, kissed me on the forehead and left. I watched from the living room window as he got in the car and backed out the driveway.

  Something was wrong.

  But I pushed my paranoia away and cleaned up the kitchen. Instead of thinking the worst, I wondered what I could do to get us back in romance mode.

  After just a few seconds, it hit me.

  There was no surprise in our marriage. We used to be spontaneous and that gave me an idea.

  I pulled chicken from the freezer and took out the Pinot Noir to chill. As I gathered the ingredients to make parmesan potatoes and a salad, I thought about what I would wear. It had to be something fitted to remind him of what he’d seemed to have forgotten. Yes, he was in great shape, but so was I. I didn’t work my butt off four days a week at the gym for him not to notice that even at fifty, I could fit into size eight jeans.

  It wasn’t only my shape; I kept my whole body tight. I had few wrinkles, no bags, all my teeth were real and white and my eyes had become a lighter green- grayish color as I got older. I’d kept my hair shoulder-length and healthy. There were a few gray strands peeking out, but overall, I was still good to look at. Today, I was going to remind Wade of that.

  Once I had all the food together, I turned my attention to my clothes. It was chilly outside, so I picked my white leather jumpsuit with the jacket. Yes, it was after Labor Day, but I cared nothing about those old-fashioned rules.

  I added my red pumps, grabbed a red silk scarf, and was ready to go. With the lunch in the back of the car, I headed out. It was about twenty minutes before noon and I’d get to his office right before he ordered lunch.

  I parked in the deck, and then took the elevators to his office. But before I could walk up to the receptionist, I looked to the left and saw Charlotte, Wade’s secretary rushing toward me.

  “Hello, Mrs. Howell,” she said with enthusiasm.

  That made me frown. Charlotte had been Wade’s secr
etary for almost five years. She knew my last name was Gentry. She grabbed my elbow, swung me around and practically dragged me toward the elevators.

  “Charlotte, what in the world are you doing?” I demanded to know.

  With one press of the button, the elevator doors opened and she shoved me inside.

  “Charlotte!” I yelled.

  “Please Mrs. Gentry,” she whispered. “I’ll explain when we can get somewhere safe.”

  She pressed the button for the third floor, and I stayed silent as we rode down. What was going on?

  When the elevator stopped and we stepped off, there were a couple of Korean ladies standing at the elevator banks.

  Charlotte spoke to them – in Korean!

  One of the ladies nodded, then Charlotte led me down a hallway. I wanted to ask Charlotte all kinds of questions, like where did she learn Korean? But I only had one that I wanted the answer to right now. “What is going on?” I asked the moment we stepped inside the conference room.

  “Mrs. Gentry, please have a seat,” she said with more patience than I had.

  I sat down and crossed my arms.

  Charlotte took a deep breath. “Before I begin, I want to ask if you could keep me out of this. I really like my job and want to keep it.”

  “Okay,” I said, slowly. “What is it? Where is Wade?”

  “He’s not here. He actually told everyone that he was leaving to spend the rest of the day with you…in the hospital.”

  “What?” I said. “What hospital?”

  She held up her hands. “I’m just putting it together in my head. Let me ask you this – were you in a car accident a couple of months back?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “Why would you think that?”

  “Well,” she began. “Mr. Gentry told us you were in a bad accident.”

  “What?”

  “I know. We were all worried and I wanted to come and see you, but Mr. Gentry said that you couldn’t have visitors just yet.”

  I could not get this information to compute in my head.

  She continued, “We’ve been thinking that he was spending his time out of the office in the hospital with you.”

  “I haven’t been in the hospital.”

  “I know that now. I knew that as soon as I saw you get off the elevator, looking like you were about to go shopping. That’s why I had to act fast. To protect you and Mr. Gentry. I didn’t want anyone who knew you to see you. I didn’t want you to have to answer questions if anyone you knew saw you.”

  I let the information settle in and it didn’t take long to realize that my paranoia was more like intuition. I’d been right.

  The emotions that flooded me left me confused, hurt – and angry.

  I’d been sitting quietly for too long because Charlotte said, “Mrs. Gentry, I’m so sorry.”

  I guessed Charlotte had come up with the same conclusion that I had.

  I shook my head. “There’s no need for you to be sorry. I thank you,” I said, now thinking about how horrible it would have been if one of the partners had seen me. “Can you do me a favor?”

  She nodded.

  “I know your allegiance is to my husband, but don’t tell him that you saw me today.” And if she had any doubt, I added, “And, I’ll keep your name out of it.” I stood, and turned toward the door.

  “Mrs. Gentry?”

  My hand was on the doorknob when I turned back.

  “What about this?” She pointed to the basket that I’d prepared for our romantic lunch.

  “You keep it,” I said. “You can eat it, give it away, or throw it away, I don’t care.” Then, I had a second thought and I grabbed the wine.

  I don’t know how, but I made it to the car without breaking down. I didn’t release my tears until I got behind the wheel. Even though this is what I’d been imagining, I couldn’t believe it.

  What was I going to do?

  I called the only person I could trust, my sister, Jasmine.

  My plan had been to tell her the story in a calm manner, but the moment she picked up, I started crying again.

  “Tiffany! What’s wrong?”

  I wasn’t going to have her playing twenty questions, so I told her what I’d been suspecting and what I’d just found out.

  “I’m on my way,” she said.

  “No, you don’t have to come. It’s too far.”

  “Are you kidding me? I’ll be there in three hours.”

  My sister lived two hours away, in Petersburg Virginia, so she was giving herself an hour to throw some things into a bag. I was so grateful; I really needed her.

  For a while, I drove around, not wanting to go home and sit and think. So I stayed in my car – and sat and thought.

  When I was just too tired to drive anymore, I went home, changed into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and went to baking. That’s right – I started baking cookies. All kinds of cookies – chocolate chip, oatmeal. Baking was the thing that got me through whenever I was stressed.

  By the time Jasmine arrived, I had about five dozen cookies ready to go.

  “Are you hungry?” I asked her.

  When she nodded, I was sure that my sister expected one of my home cooked meals, probably a steak, cabbage and macaroni and cheese. But all I had for her was some wine…and those cookies.

  So we sat in the dining room and talked and drank and ate all the cookies. I cried and Jasmine listened.

  “Okay,” Jasmine said a couple of hours into what was becoming my drunken stupor. “You’re going to stay in the hotel with me tonight.”

  “You got a hotel? I thought you were staying here.”

  “Not after what you told me. Before I got on the road, I made a reservation at the Marriott. We’ll stay there tonight and figure this out.”

  I went with my sister because I didn’t want to face Wade. Not when I had no idea what I was going to do. So, we packed an overnight bag and I left Wade a note, telling him I was with Jasmine.

  I know, that was thoughtful of me. But even though he didn’t deserve my consideration, I didn’t know any other way to be.

  But if I thought we were going to sleep at the hotel, I was so wrong.

  “What are you going to do?” Jasmine kept asking me.

  “I don’t know,” was my constant answer. But then, I added, “I can’t do anything until I have proof.”

  “Don’t you think you have enough?” Before I could answer, she continued, “Remember what Grandmom used to say – beating or cheating, you need to leave him.”

  “But I don’t have anything really, and I’m not willing to throw away my marriage without proof and an explanation.”

  Jasmine got that, so we came up with a plan. “You need to see it for yourself, so that’s what we’ll do.”

  It was almost dawn by the time Jasmine came up with the whole plan and then we drifted to sleep. I had dreams of seeing Wade doing all kinds of things, with all kinds of women. By the time I woke up, my thoughts had turned from Wade’s cheating, to my revenge. But all that was on my sister’s mind was food.

  “I came all the way here – I need you to cook for me since you didn’t last night.”

  “Well where am I supposed to do that?” I asked her, looking around the hotel room.

  “Doesn’t this hotel have a kitchen?”

  I laughed because I knew my sister was only half-kidding. Yeah, she was trying to lighten the mood, but she was serious.

  “If these people knew who they had staying at their hotel, they’d be asking you to make breakfast, too.”

  I shook my head. My sister sure knew how to make me smile, taking me back to my dream of being a chef, the dream I’d put on hold to focus on my husband and our family.

  “If these people knew what I knew about you…” She laughed.

  I shook my head, but quickly, my smile went away. It was the look on my face, that made my sister become serious, too.

  “Are you ready?” she asked in a soft voice.

  I nodded and
we dressed in silence before we drove to Wade’s office in Raleigh. We drove into the parking lot to make sure that Wade was even at work; because of what I learned yesterday, I wasn’t taking anything for granted.

  “Suppose he doesn’t come out today?” I’d asked Jasmine that question last night, too.

  “Didn’t his secretary say he left every day?” Like last night, Jasmine kept on before I could answer. “And if we don’t catch him today, we’ll catch him tomorrow or the next day.”

  Finally, around eleven, Wade strutted from the elevator to his car. It was a good thing that Jasmine was driving because I could hardly breathe as she cranked up her rental and followed him.

  “Where do you think he’s going?” I asked.

  My sister didn’t take her eyes off of the road. “We’ll soon find out.”

  Just about a mile from his job, Wade stopped his car in front of Sullivan’s Steakhouse, a restaurant that he’d taken me to many times. As he tossed his keys to the valet, I asked, “Do you think he’s meeting someone?”

  Jasmine didn’t answer me as she pulled over to the curb a few feet behind the valet stand. I was just about to jump out of the car when my sister said, “Wait.”

  “Wait for what?” I asked. “I want to see who he’s having lunch with.”

  “He didn’t go in yet.” She motioned with her chin.

  I turned back; it was a good thing that Jasmine was with me because I would have confronted Wade when all he was doing was standing in front of the restaurant, glancing at his watch.

  “Sit back,” my sister said. “It shouldn’t be too long.”

  Before I could become even more nervous, a small red sports car pulled up. Wade rushed in front of the attendant, opened the door, and a very tall, very slender woman with a short boob eased out of the car. She leaned into my husband and the two shared a lingering kiss.

  My heart stopped beating.

  It didn’t start again until Wade and his mistress walked into the restaurant.

  Putting her hand over mine, my sister asked, “Are you okay?”

  I nodded; I couldn’t speak.

  So my sister did all of the talking as we waited. I hardly heard a word that Jasmine said because my mind was inside that restaurant with Wade and that woman. How could he do this? My mind was still trying to find an answer when Wade and that trick finally emerged. We sat low in the car as Wade gave two tickets to the valet, then just a few minutes later, both cars were brought around.