by Patti Doss
So, I asked, “Rachel, are you okay?”
Rachel looked at me like I was crazy and replied, “Do I look okay, Tammie?”
I shrugged off her little attitude, because I knew she was hurting, but I replied, “I know you may be sad, but it’s no reason to get smart, because I’m not the one who made you cry. You knew that guy, whoever he is, was married from the beginning, so you set yourself up for this hurt.”
I shouldn’t have said that, but she needed to hear the truth. I wasn’t trying to hurt her feelings, but sometimes things have to be said without all the sugar coating. This was one of those times.
Rachel looked at me like a lion ready to attack, and I returned the look.
Persia saw that look also and said, “Okay, guys. Attacking each other is not going to help this situation at all.
“Tammie, I don’t think Rachel wants to hear I told you so right now, and, Rachel, there is no need for you to take your problems out on Tammie. You know the risks of dating a married man. You knew how discreet this man was because, hell, none of us even know who he is, so what made you think he would leave his wife for you? He kept you a secret for a reason, Rachel.”
When Rachel’s eyes filled with tears again, Sharon went over and hugged her. I saw the hurt in Rachel’s eyes and, although I wanted to scold her for dating a married man, I didn’t.
Instead, I told her, “Rachel, I’m sorry. I know you are hurting right now, but you deserve better. You shouldn’t cry over being number two in somebody’s life. You need to find a man who wants you to be number one in his life. You’ve got to stop chasing love, affection, and attention from all the wrong people. If it isn’t given freely by another person, it isn’t worth having. If it comes with restrictions, rules, and regulations then that’s the type of love, affection, and attention that you don’t need.”
Persia replied, “That’s right, Rachel. Stop wasting your time on men that will never be yours. There are plenty of single men around who would love to be with you.”
Tears continued to fall from Rachel’s eyes. Even Sharon’s eyes started to well up. Sharon got up to get some paper towels to clean their face.
Wiping her eyes, Rachel cried, “I know. I know.”
Persia replied, “Just look at it this way, Rachel. At least things ended before his wife found out, because who knows what would have happened if she found out or caught you two together.”
Rachel looked like all the blood had left her body.
Sharon responded, “Let’s just be thankful that it didn’t come to that. It’s going to take some time to get over him, but eventually you will. You’ve got to learn from this experience so that it won’t happen again.”
Rachel replied, “I hear you guys. I promise I do. But it’s not that easy.”
“Nothing in this world is easy,” I told her. “If something comes easily then something is wrong. It takes time to get over someone you love just as it takes time to fall in love with someone. Although it hurts, Rachel, you’ve got to pull yourself together. It’s almost time for school to get out, and I know you don’t want your boys to see you like this.”
I walked over to her and hugged her. Persia and Sharon joined in to make this a group hug.
When one of us was hurting, all of us were hurting.
We all prepared to leave. As Rachel walked us to the door, she seemed a little better but the hurt was still evident in her eyes. Persia and Sharon said their goodbyes first and left. Then it was just Rachel and I.
I turned to Rachel. “I don’t mean to act like I’m your mother all the time, but I just get so tired of seeing you make the same mistakes over and over again. If you ever want to talk, I’m here.”
Although, I was talking about her relationship with a married man, I was also talking about much deeper issues. Rachel was raped when she was a teenager. I believed this had a lot to do with her problems with men.
I looked at her and said, “I love you, girl. You are going to get through this.”
She replied, “I love you too.”
I smiled. “Well, I have to go before my kids get home, but I’ll call you later to check on you.” Then before leaving out of the door, I asked, “Do you know that you are missing an earring?”
She reached her hand to see which ear the earring was missing from. She had a confused look on her face, as if she were trying to remember where she lost her earring.
“I didn’t know I had lost one, but I’m sure I’ll find it,” she shrugged.
We hugged once more, and then I left so that I could make it home before my kids got out of school.
Chapter 4
Mike
Now that I’d finally broken things off with Rachel, I had to make things right with my wife. Tammie has been suspicious for a while now. I need to reassure her that she is the only one for me. I called Edible Arrangements and ordered an arrangement for Tammie, which included a dozen chocolate covered strawberries and a half-dozen of white chocolate covered strawberries. I also called American Bloom and ordered a dozen red roses with a note that read:
Clear your schedule for the rest of the day and head to the spa. Pick out your best dress and your sexiest heels because we are going out tonight!
Love, Michael.
After I made it to the office, I took the brown envelope that held Rachel’s photos and shredded the contents. I had to change my number before Rachel decided to call me again. Since it was time for my upgrade anyway, I took my cell phone and dropped it in a cup of water. I knew water damage was a sure-fire way to get a new phone and an opportunity for me to change my number. I called Tammie from the office phone to tell told her that I lost my phone at lunch and was stopping by Sprint to get another one and would be home by 6:30.
Since I still had a lot to do, I called Persia.
“I need you to do me a big favor,” I told her as soon as she answered.
“What’s up, Mike?”
“Can the kids stay over tonight? I want to surprise Tammie with a dinner date.”
I could hear her smile as she answered, “Sure, no problem. Just call me when you’re on your way.”
“I need another favor too. I need you to do a little shopping for me. I need you to find me a king-sized red comforter set with all the trimmings, a bottle of the best wine you can find, wine glasses, white rose petals, body/massage oil, whipped cream , and anything else you feel I would need to have a romantic night with my wife. After Tammie and I leave for our date, I need you to make our bedroom look as romantic as you possibly can. I’ll stop by and bring you the money to get the items in a few minutes. And do not tell, Tammie. I’m serious. I know that’s your girl and all.”
We both laughed as she promised, “I won’t tell her. I swear.”
I finished up my work, transferred my emails to a new email address and deleted the old one. Then I dropped the money off at Persia’s house and went to Sprint.
* * *
I got home earlier than I expected. Tammie met me at the door.
Guess she heard me drive up.
She gave me one of the sweetest kisses ever and hugged me like I was about to disappear forever. She said, “Thanks for the flowers and the Edible Arrangements, honey. They are so beautiful!”
I replied, “Just like you.”
She playfully hit me on the chest and said, “Stop it, Mister. You’re starting to sound like you’re running game or something.”
I responded, “No games. I just want you to know how much I love and appreciate you. You haven’t seen anything yet. Part two is coming.”
“So, how many parts is it to this surprise?”
“So far it’s three but it may be more, who knows,” I told her.
We kissed again and went on into the house. We got ready for our night out together. Although the night appeared to be so promising, I couldn’t help but think about the situation with Rachel. My guilt began to take over me. I wanted to come clean. I wanted to tell Tammie, but I knew it would break her heart into
a million pieces to know that I cheated on her with one of her best friends.
I knew that nothing good could ever come from me telling her, so I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind and decided to focus on the evening. As far as I was concerned, Rachel and I were over!
Chapter 5
Mike
We had dinner at Carrabba’s in Kennesaw. It was wonderful. I couldn’t remember the last time Tammie and I went out and had some one on one time like this.
My wife looked great in her cream maxi dress. Tammie was a little over 5’2”. She was what people would call plus-sized, but her curves were in all the right places. Although her stomach wasn’t flat, considering she had three children, her full hips and thick ass made her stomach look tiny. Tammie had an ass that most women paid thousands to get. I think that is what captured my attention the most when I met her. After getting to know her, I realized that she had the total package: beauty, brains, and booty! I knew then she would eventually be my wife.
I don’t remember all that we talked about at dinner, but I know we laughed, flirted, and kissed, more than we ever had in one day.
I didn’t want the evening to end because, for the moment, everything was perfect. I know getting it to stay that way would be hard, especially with a broken heart on the loose, ready to seek revenge.
Nevertheless, once again, I pushed those thoughts aside and called Persia to see if she was finished because we were about to be on our way home.
“It’s ready,” she told me.
I asked, curiously, “What did you do?”
Once again, I could hear her smile, “You’ll have to see for yourself.”
“Okay. Thank you for all of your help,” I told her before hanging up and leaving out of the restaurant bathroom.
As we left Carrabba’s and headed home, my mind was filled with all types of thoughts; from this affair with Rachel to the surprise for Tammie to work- everything.
Tammie must have sensed that something was on my mind because she asked me, “Are you okay?” as she placed a hand on my thigh.
I assured her that I was fine while pushing everything negative out of my mind. I thought of the positive and good things in my life. I thought of the day I met Tammie at the laundry mat, I thought of our wedding day, the birth of our children, and the day we moved to Georgia.
I began to smile; a sincere smile.
I looked at Tammie and said, “I love you, baby. I love you so much. I know I don’t say it as often as I should or show you as much as I should, but I’m going to work on that. I promise you, I’m going to try to be better.”
Tammie responded, “I love you too, baby.” Then she crawled over to me as much as she could, kissed me on my neck and laid her head on my shoulder.
That small, simple act let me know that my wife still loved me as much as she did when we first met, and she didn’t deserve all the things I had done to her.
I felt so bad. My emotions were going all out of control, but I hid them as best I could.
* * *
“Close your eyes,” I told Tammie as I unlocked the door.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw red and white rose petals lining the staircase leading upstairs to the bedroom with small tea light candleholders and candles on each step.
“Okay. You can open them now, baby.”
Tammie opened her eyes, and she squealed, “Oh my God! This is so beautiful!”
I took her by the hand, and we walked up the stairs together. I looked at Tammie, and she was crying like she did on our wedding day. I stopped and held her face in my hands, kissed her and told her, “I love you. You deserve this and so much more.”
We continued up the stairs until we reached the top of the stairs.
There were no more red rose petals, only white rose petals leading to our bedroom door, which was closed. On the door was a card.
“Open the card and read it aloud,” I told Tammie.
Timidly, she took the card from the door. “I look forward to waking up everyday to the sound of your breath on my neck, the warmth of your lips on my cheeks, the touch of your fingers on my skin and the feel of your heart beating with mine. Knowing that I could never find that feeling with anyone other than you…” She stopped reading and said, “Mike, is this the poem from our wedding.”
“Yes it is, baby.”
Tears started to fall from her eyes, but she continued to read the card. “…I love the way you look at me, your eyes so bright and true. I love the way you kiss me, your lips so soft and smooth. I love the way you make me so happy and the ways you show you care. I love the way you say ‘I love you’ and the way you’re always there. I love the way you touch me, always sending chills down my spine. I love that you are with me, and I am glad that you are mine. I love you, baby!”
I didn’t tell Persia to do all of this. I only wanted her to decorate the bedroom, but it was working, and Tammie was really enjoying her surprise. I must say, I enjoyed watching her smile. I hadn’t seen her smile like that in months. Let alone, cry. Tammie was not a crier. In fact, she hated to cry. The fact that she had been crying so much tonight let me know that she was really and truly happy.
After she finished reading the card, she kissed me and held me like she never wanted to let me go.
“Open the door,” I insisted, in a bedroom voice meant to turn her on further.
She opened the door, and I think both of us gasped at the same time. It was so beautiful. I had to blink twice to make sure that this was our bedroom. There was a white comforter set on the bed with big fluffy pillows. Red rose petals were on the pillows. In the center of the bed was a heart made of rose petals with a Victoria Secret red lace halter babydoll and a pair of Jessica Simpson red pumps.
It was so stunning.
Tammie was still standing there with her hand over her mouth in complete awe. I walked over to her and began kissing and undressing her. I stopped kissing her and told her to go ahead and undress and put on the lingerie and the heels. Then I walked over to the stereo, and there was a note attached to it that read, “Play disc one,” so I did.
The first song was Love by Musiq, one of the songs played at our wedding. I assumed then that Persia must have made a CD of all the songs played on our special day.
Tammie had the songs on our home computer. She listened to them all the time, so I guess Persia figured it would be perfect for our night together. I thought that was all, but I was wrong. On the nightstand near the bed was a tray filled with the chocolate covered strawberries that I sent Tammie earlier and other types of exotic fruits. There were strawberries, mangos, papayas, pineapples, pomegranates and grapes. Next to the fruit tray was a bottle of wine in a small bucket of ice and the wineglasses from our wedding that we used for the first toast, along with a can of whipped cream and a bottle of massage oil.
Everything was just spectacular. I never really engaged in foreplay for longer than thirty minutes but for some reason, sex was not really on my mind at the moment. All I wanted to do tonight was please my wife and make her happy. I just wanted to cater to my wife and make her feel as wonderful as our room looked.
I opened the wine and poured me and Tammie a glass. By this time, Tammie had on the lingerie.
“Model for me.” I sat on the edge of the bed sipping my wine as Tammie took slow but powerful feminine steps towards me. Don’t Change by Musiq was blaring from the speakers as Tammie came over to me and kissed me. I sat her on my lap and began feeding her some of the chocolate covered strawberries and gave her some wine. Two or three songs later, I was still feeding Tammie exotic fruits with a few kisses here and there and we were still drinking wine.
I Believe in You & Me by Whitney Houston came blaring through the speakers. That was the song Tammie came down the aisle too. We kissed again. Tammie put down her wine glass. Then she took mine and put it on the nightstand. Before I knew it, she straddled me and pushed me down on the bed, kissing me ever so softly from my neck to my stomach.
A
lthough it felt wonderful, I wanted to cater to her, so I made us switch positions and started kissing her all over. I gently removed her red baby doll teddy and drizzled massage oil all over her chest. As I rubbed the oil all across her chest, I slowly kissed her on her neck. I kissed her from her neck to her navel, and then made circles around her navel while my hand found her wetness.
I put my hands behind her knees as if she was in stirrups and pulled her body down to meet my lips. My lips met her wetness. I kissed her for what seemed like forever, with each kiss going deeper and deeper and each moan getting louder and louder. I grabbed the whipped cream off the nightstand, and I put some on top of my feast. Then I took some small pieces of fruit and put them inside my mouth as I begin to savor the whipped cream.
Tammie was on fire.
She was calling out for God as I made figure eights in her wetness and removed all the whipped cream. Tammie continued to scream my name and call out to God until she couldn’t anymore. She started shaking and convulsing like she was having a seizure or something.
Tammie came until she couldn’t come anymore. Then she pulled me up to her and started kissing me from my neck down. Before long, she had straddled me and was giving me the best ride of my life. She was gyrating her hips so well that you would have thought she was a Jamaican girl at a reggae party. Just as I was about to cum, she got off of me, grabbed a piece of ice out of the wine bucket, put it in her mouth and then she took me in her mouth.
My body shivered at the ice on my erection. I don’t know what she did, but she somehow managed to prolong my orgasm until she was ready for me.
I came. I released it all, the love and passion I had for my wife, along with the built up shame, anger, and guilt I felt about Rachel. I released it all. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t even notice that Tammie had taken it all in her mouth!
In all our fourteen years together, she had never - and I mean NEVER - done that before. I grabbed her and tried to kiss her, but she was running to the bathroom to spit. She stayed in the bathroom for a while, spitting and rinsing her mouth. I got myself together and went in the bathroom behind her. I kissed her on the back of her neck and whispered “I love you” in her ear.