by M. Sembera
“Extra nice?” he asked.
Looking up at him I nodded, saying, “Yes,” before I added, “You look very handsome,” sliding my hand down his tie.
In one swift movement, Hert lifted me off the ground set me on the table and started kissing me.
For the first time in a long time he seemed more excited than I was. His kisses moved from my lips down my neck.
As I caught my breath he whispered, “I have something for you.”
Despite the fact that I was thrilled, I reminded, “They will be here any minute, Hert.”
Pulling back slightly, he gave me a blank stare before bursting into laughter. Shaking his head, Hert walked over to the china cabinet reaching on top of it and making his way back to me.
Taking my hand, he placed a box in my palm repeating, “I have something for you.”
Feeling my face turn red, I said, “Oh.”
“Renni, I love you!” he cheered as he continued to laugh.
I started to open the box as the doorbell rang.
Placing Hert’s something for me on the table, I patted his arm and walked to the living room. Hert followed close behind continuing to the front door as I picked Sophia up out of her playpen. He opened the front door and Angelina walked in.
“He’s waiting in the car for you, Scott,” she announced.
The expression on Hert’s face was serious as he nodded at her and walked out. I thought ‘well bye’ and walked closer to Angelina.
Offering, “Would you like something to drink?” I smiled at her.
Shaking her head at me she sat down on the couch. Angelina seemed content with me as long as I was not a distraction for Hert where The Office was concerned. Still this was her first time visiting me and I wanted to make a good impression.
Holding Sophia on my lap, I sat in the chair across from Angelina. Sophia seemed unsure of her. Usually she would smile and babble on but every time Angelina looked at her Sophia turned to look at me.
“So, how have you been?” she asked.
Smiling, I replied, “Good.”
Taking a breath, she questioned, “Do you know why I’m here?”
“Umm…I guess not,” I admitted.
Crossing her arms, she said, “Well I thought maybe you and I could talk about things.”
Nodding at her I appreciated her straightforward manner of speaking but to be honest she was making me a little nervous.
“See, when I said we all knew a bit about you I meant it. However, I am the first to admit when I’m wrong and I was wrong about you,” she informed.
Swallowing hard I asked, “How were you wrong about me?” hoping I wasn’t reduced to tears when she answered.
Smiling, she explained, “This doesn’t happen often, so I hope you appreciate what I’m fixing to say to you,” then taking a quick breath, she continued saying, “See I was unaware you were actually in love with Scott.” Thrown for a loop, I made a face at her as she continued, “Don’t take it personal. We just don’t see a lot of that. I’m fully aware that the circumstances concerning your daughter are…private. I am also aware that unless she was premature, Scott had been working round the clock with my husband making it impossible for him to technically be the father. So I hope you can see how I would think it was simply an arrangement.”
I had no idea what to say to her.
My chest felt tight and although I wasn’t going to cry, having a heart attack seemed like a strong possibility.
I assured, “That may be true but he is her Dad.”
With a slow blink Angelina nodded saying, “He is and that is why it is even more important that you be the wife he needs. I have seen Scott in many different situations and he is outstanding in all of them but I’ve never seen him the way he was with you at the dinner.”
Feeling the need to defend myself, I informed, “I do love him and although his job has hurt me many times, I understand that it’s important to him, so if you’re worried that…”
I didn’t get the chance to finish as she broke in saying, “You are misunderstanding me. This is not about The Office. It is important to my husband and I that Scott does well in his occupation but it is more important to us that he…Honey, sometimes being a good wife means helping your husband make good decisions,” then with a sigh she shared, “Take Erin for example. She would have done anything to keep Mason and she pretty much did. As long as he was hers, nothing else mattered. In my opinion that didn’t make her a good wife. It made her selfish.”
Thinking she was judging Erin a bit harshly, I questioned, “Do you and your husband discuss everything?”
With a soft expression Angelina replied, “No but I do pay attention so I always know what’s going on,” then she gave me the best piece of advice I have ever gotten, “Don’t question your husband but if there is something you want to know ask. The worst thing that can happen is you don’t get an answer.”
Nodding at her, I understood the difference and how I could balance the two.
The rest of her visit was less than eventful. We talked about many different things but nothing close to what we had first discussed. Sophia eventually warmed up to her as well and before Angelina left Sophia was smiling and playing with her. I did not get to meet Angelina’s husband. When they returned Hert came in and Angelina walked out. Thinking it was a little strange I felt it was just as well, I would meet him eventually. Hert took his suit jacket off and laid it across the back of the couch. Setting the bag he was carrying on the coffee table, Hert held his arms out for Sophia.
Smiling, I asked, “How was the meeting?” handing Sophia to him.
It appeared as though Hert had to find the words to explain it as he replied, “Difficult but it’s all taken care of now.”
Nodding, I asked, “Did you bring home dinner?” looking at the bag.
“Yea, we passed by this little place on the way home and I thought Chinese sounded good,” he said.
Smiling, I agreed, “That does sound good.”
The rest of the evening seemed to fly by. After Sophia was asleep Hert and I sat downstairs on the couch. Both of us were seemingly distracted. I was thinking about Angelina’s advice and her comments concerning Erin. Hert appeared to be mulling over his meeting. Every once in a while I would glance over at him and notice him scowling. Feeling as if this was going to be a dull evening, I remembered I had a little present in the dining room. I leaned over giving Hert a quick kiss on the cheek then hopped up off the couch.
“Where are you going?” Hert asked as I walked past him.
Smiling, I replied, “To get my present.”
Hert questioned, “What present?” with a smirk.
Rolling my eyes, I shook my head saying, “Remember this morning, you had something for me.”
Hert nodded with a sly smile. Quick on his feet, Hert flung me over his shoulder. As I started to laugh, he carried me upstairs.
Chapter 9
Feeling something brushing against my face, I woke to find Hert dangling a necklace over me. Smiling as I looked over at him, I assumed it was my present I left in the dining room. Continuing to gaze at him, I wondered if Angelina was the only one surprised that he loved me. After all, I was.
“Do you want to put it on?” Hert asked, still swinging the necklace above me.
Nodding at him, I sat up. As he fastened the long chain around my neck, I noticed hanging from it was a gold disk. Taking it in my hand, I saw ‘I Love You’ was etched onto the face of the disk over and over. I leaned my head against his chest.
I Whispered, “Thank you,” as he kissed the top of my head.
Slowly pulling away, I got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. Hoping for a great, ‘good morning’, I quickly brushed my hair and teeth. I stepped out of the bathroom and saw Hert stretched across the bed with his arms folded behind his head.
I stood there staring at Hert for a minute before continuing to the bed. Climbing onto our bed, I scooted close, noticing his agitated expression. Layi
ng my arm across his chest, I waited for him to look over at me. When he didn’t I ran my hand down the side of his face.
As Hert glanced at me I smiled, saying, “I love you.”
He smiled back.
“Do you wanna talk about it?” I asked, knowing there was something bothering him.
Hert shook his head and replied, “No, do you want to go somewhere today?”
Surprised, I blurted, “Yeah!”
A smile spread across Hert’s face as he questioned, “Well, where would you like to go?”
“I don’t really know,” I admitted, thinking we never just go anywhere.
Hert suggested, “How about the three of us go into town. We can have lunch and you can shop or whatever you want to do.”
Excited that we were going out as a family, I kissed his cheek before darting off to get ready.
Getting Sophia and I dressed in record time, I sat downstairs at the kitchen table with her. While feeding her breakfast, I thought, no wonder people like Angelina would think Hert and I were simply an arrangement. We rarely went anywhere together and the few times we did, it was Office related. Maybe Hert realized that too. I looked over and saw Hert walk into the kitchen to join us. Unsure of what I expected, I was stunned to see the way he was dressed. It wasn’t as if he looked bad, it was quite the opposite.
Feeling he was overdressed for our little outing, I asked, “Are we going somewhere fancy?”
“We can if you want to,” he stated.
Shaking my head, I said, “Sit with Sophia so I can go change.”
Hert sat at the table with Sophia and I headed back upstairs.
It occurred to me as I pulled a dress out of my closet; I could not remember a time when Erin and Mr. Roberts wore less than formal attire. Wondering if our conduct in public would have to be reserved, I felt a little sad. I had always imagined Hert and I walking through town with Sophia holding hands. We would stop to look at something and he would smile and kiss my cheek. The more I thought about it the more upset I got, until finally, I decided to just get over it and be happy we were at least leaving the house as a family. I changed my clothes and headed back downstairs.
Downstairs I joined Hert and Sophia in the living room. When Hert notified me the driver was on his way to pick us up, I had to protest.
“I would prefer if you drove,” I informed.
Hert looked confused as he stated, “If we are going into town we should have the driver take us.”
Trying to be as polite as possible while arguing, I disagreed, “I don’t want to be taken from place to place. I want to go into town and be able to walk with Sophia in her stroller.”
Obviously frustrated now he said, “That’s not how things are done.”
Still remaining pleasant, I proposed, “Well then, let’s change how things are done.”
“No,” Hert stated in a stern tone.
Unwilling to let my own personal preferences for the day interfere with our outing, I withdrew my argument.
Forcing a smile, I conceded, saying, “Okay.”
Although I was willing to drop my point of view on the situation, I could not help wondering, if the rules and standards by which things were done were set in place by those who used to be in charge, now that Hert was in charge, why couldn’t we change things? Why were we stuck living by someone else's guidelines? It wasn’t like I wanted to stroll through town in my pajamas. All I wanted was a normal outing. One similar to the one we had when I left. Plenty of people walked around town. Hert and I used to all the time as teenagers. Reviving my previous decision to be happy, I accepted this defeat as another result of my choice to be the wife Hert needed.
After the driver picked us up and we headed into town I realized, there was nothing in particular I wanted to do. We stopped at The Store and then for lunch. When lunch was over we stopped at another gift shop. Inside, we ran into Jackson’s parents. Smiling, I waved, making my way over to them.
“Hi!” Mrs. Thomas cheered when she saw us.
Sophia squealed and bounced in my arms when she saw Mrs. Thomas.
Mrs. Thomas smiled, saying, “I’m happy to see you too, sweetie,” as she took Sophia from me.
Mr. Thomas shook Hert’s hand then smiled at me asking, “How ya’ been girl?”
Smiling back, I replied, “Good.”
Turning to Hert, Mr. Thomas asked, “How is Jackson working out for you?”
“Very well, the accounting department could not run without him,” Hert declared.
The look on Mr. Thomas’s face was both proud and slightly disappointed. Before Mr. Thomas could ask Hert another question, Mrs. Thomas smiled and motioned for me to walk with her.
I followed her to the far corner of the shop. When she stopped, Mrs. Thomas turned to me with a smile.
“I thought it might be good for them to talk alone. JP’s still having a hard time with Jacks leaving the firm,” she shared.
Giving her an understanding smile, I asked, “Are you upset about it too?”
Shaking her head, Mrs. Thomas explained, “I’m happy as long as Jacks is happy. I just wish they would sit down and talk it out. They’re both being stubborn right now and I don’t like it.”
Wondering how she would handle my situation, I questioned, “Do you help Mr. Thomas make good decisions?”
Appearing confused she replied, “I don’t help him make decisions at all.”
“Oh,” I muttered before she imparted, “Here’s the thing Ren. If JP came in and tried to tell me how to fry chicken, he might end up with the skillet as a hat and I know nothing about accounting. As far as everything else goes we make decisions together.”
Mrs. Thomas’s answer reminded me how wonderful she and Mr. Thomas were and how far Hert and I were from the relationship I wanted with him.
She had a thoughtful look about her as she asked, “Is everything okay with you and Scott?”
Nodding, I said, “Yea, I’m just...” Mrs. Thomas interrupted me saying, “If you ever need to talk honey, you can always call me,” right before I felt Hert’s hand on my shoulder.
Looking up at him, I smiled. Mrs. Thomas handed Sophia back to me. Hert and I told them goodbye as we left the shop.
On the ride home, I reached over to hold Hert’s hand. He glanced over at me with a slight smile.
Hert asked, “Did you have a nice day?”
Nodding, I replied, “Yea, I’m happy we ran into Jackson’s parents.”
An unpleasant expression was quickly masked by a nod and a smile as Hert glanced down at our hands. The rest of our ride home was spent in silence. When we arrived back home Sophia had fallen asleep. Knowing she would only be down for an hour, I laid her in her playpen. I sat down on the couch waiting for Hert to join me.
“I did have a nice time with you today,” I informed Hert as he walked into the living room.
Sitting down on the couch with me, he said, “I know you don’t really like this.”
I quickly corrected, “I might not like the way things are done but I love any time I get to spend with you,” then taking a breath, I continued saying, “I’ll get used to it. Things are just different than I thought they would be.”
He seemed satisfied with my explanation then quickly changed the subject.
“Speaking of Jackson, did ya’ll get into an argument or something?” Hert questioned.
Unaware that we were speaking of Jackson, I answered, “Umm, No,” then taking a moment before asking, “Why?” I started to wonder if Jacks had told Hert about our last conversation.
He replied, “I asked him the other day if he wanted stop by the house and he said he had a lot of work to do.”
Shrugging, I said, “Why would you think we were arguing then? Obviously he was busy.”
With an uncertain glare, Hert shared, “Well this would be a first.”
“A first for what?” I asked.
Almost as if he was trying to catch me in a lie he answered, “For Jackson to be too busy to com
e see you.”
Quickly turning the tables on him, I said, “Oh, I see. Not as much fun being with me when there’s no competition.”
Hert wrapped his arms around me questioning, “He was my competition?” with a laugh.
Shaking my head, I confirmed, “No one can compete with you.”
Hert smiled wide then kissed me.
When Sophia woke from her nap, we ate dinner. The evening was spent playing with her until she was back asleep for the night. Hert and I got into bed and I quickly realized it would only be to sleep. Although I was tired, I had a difficult time drifting off. The thought of Jackson declining Hert’s invitation was really bothering me. I didn’t like him being upset with me especially since it turned out he was right.
Chapter 10
The morning was a mad rush for me to get ready for lunch with Amila. After oversleeping and Sophia crying all morning, I barely made it to the restaurant in time to meet her. When I arrived, Amila was already seated. It took me a few minutes of getting Sophia settled to notice Amila had been crying.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She shook her head.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” I questioned in a whisper.
Visibly holding back tears, she said, “Romero is never going to forgive me.”
Confused, I asked, “Forgive you?”
She stared at the table with her arms crossed in front of her.
“Amila what happened?” I inquired.
Looking ashamed, she answered, “I slept with someone. Not just someone, oh my gosh Ren, I don’t know why.”
I was shocked. Amila and Telli seemed to have the perfect marriage. Not once had she complained about him or used a less than adoring tone towards him.
Baffled, I wondered what could have happened for this to happen. Keeping my voice low, I sought more information.
“When did this happen?” I asked.
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she stated, “Day before yesterday. You hate me too now, don’t you?”
Trying to console her, I assured, “No. You made a mistake. I don’t agree with what you did but I don’t hate you. What happened?”