Forever An Ex

by Victoria Christopher Murray

  When I saw Angel’s number, I grabbed my phone so fast.

  “Hey, sweetheart,” I said, at the same moment that Bobby said the same thing.

  For a couple of seconds, I was confused. Had Angel done a three-way? And then it hit me—Caroline had called him at the same time.

  “Mom!” my daughter shouted as if she thought I couldn’t hear her.

  “How are you, baby? Are you still having a good time?”

  “Yes, yes, yes! It’s even more fabulous than when I talked to you the other day. We went sightseeing and I love the architecture. All of the buildings are old and there’s so much history.”

  “Are you taking a lot of pictures?”

  “Yes, and . . .”

  I loved hearing from my daughter, but I wanted to and listen to what Bobby was saying. But the way he was hunched over and whispering, I couldn’t hear a thing.

  “Mom . . . did you hear me?”

  I tuned back in to Angel. “I’m sorry, honey, the connection is bad. What did you say?”

  “I said that I really want you to come here with me. Remember you said you wanted to travel this summer?”

  “Yes, baby.” Right away I had new thoughts. Of me and Bobby and Angel together in Paris. That trip would be our honeymoon. “Maybe that’s what we’ll do.” And then I couldn’t help it when I asked, “Where’s Caroline?”

  “She’s right here; she just called Dad. She wanted to know how his big meeting went today.”

  I wondered what Bobby was going to tell his wife.

  “Well, it’s really late here,” Angel said. “We’re getting ready to go to bed.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you on Saturday.” And then I said, “I love you,” right when Bobby said the same thing to Caroline.

  Damn!

  I clicked off my cell, but didn’t turn around. I was afraid of what I might see in Bobby’s eyes. Right in the middle of our love nest, the call had come in. To remind me that there was another woman . . . his wife.

  When I finally twisted around in the bed, Bobby had already turned around and was looking at me.

  “Angel?” he said.

  I nodded.

  “Caroline?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  “They’re having a good time,” Bobby and I said together.

  Then we smiled, but I pulled my glance away from his. It wasn’t like I didn’t know that Caroline was there. Caroline would always be there . . . until she wasn’t. It was my job to get rid of her.

  But now that Caroline had come into our space, what would Bobby do? How was he going to play this? How did he feel speaking to his wife when he was butt-naked in my bed?

  “Asia.”

  He called my name softly and I forced myself to look at him. Moving on his hands and knees, he inched toward me. Like a tiger stalking his tigress, he crept toward me, placing one limb in front of the other.

  Slowly. Steadily. Seductively.

  Earlier, Bobby had called me sexy, but can I tell you that nothing was sexier than this man crawling to me. And when we lay down together, it was like my mind said, Caroline who? ’Cause I couldn’t think, I couldn’t speak.

  All I could do was surrender.

  Chapter

  Eleven

  Bobby squeezed my hand before he jumped out of his Escalade. As he jogged around the front of the car, I still wasn’t sure this was the brightest of ideas.

  Coming to the airport together? I mean, yeah, Caroline and Angel were arriving together, but on the ride home, who would sit in the passenger seat next to Bobby?

  When I told him this wasn’t a good idea, all he’d said was, “Why wouldn’t we hook up to pick up Caroline and Angel?”

  So, I’d just shrugged and figured that any risk he was willing to take, I was willing, too. Because I wanted Caroline to find out about us; I just wasn’t going to be the one to tell her. I learned last time that we were together, my telling her would never work.

  Bobby shocked me when he held my hand as we walked toward the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Once we entered the building, he freed me, but as we waited by the customs exit ramp, we stood so close, from far away we probably looked like we were on top of each other.

  When I turned my head just a bit to sneak a peek at him, he winked, and I melted.

  Then, the call of “Mom!” drew me away from my man to my daughter, and when I turned to her, my smile was as wide as hers.

  Angel couldn’t move very quickly; she was pushing a luggage cart with the bag that she’d taken with her plus two others.

  As she guided that cart toward me, I ran to her. I guess with all the time I’d spent with Bobby, I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed my child.

  “Mom!” She jumped into my arms like she was five and wrapped her long legs around my waist.

  I laughed, though I stumbled, but I held on to her as if she was just the forty pounds she used to be rather than the eighty pounds she was now.

  “I’m so glad to see you, Mom!”

  “Me, too,” I said as she finally slipped down and stood on her own. Then, when she turned to her father, I had my first glimpse of Caroline. She stood, with Bobby’s arms around her, but he broke their embrace to hug Angel.

  When Caroline said, “Hello, Asia,” I did my best to only smile and not blurt out that since she’d been gone, I’d had her husband every day, in every way.

  “Thank you for taking care of my daughter,” I said.

  The smile that filled her face was genuine. “We had a great time.”

  Caroline said to Bobby, “So, did you drive?”

  He nodded. “Asia and I came together.”

  “Together?” The frown was in her voice more than on her face.

  “Yeah,” Bobby said in the same tone that he’d used with me when I asked that question. “We were picking you up from the same place, so there was no need to double pay for parking.”

  Now, if there was one thing Bobby Johnson had no problem with in life, it was money. And paying the parking fees at LAX? Please! He could do that with the spare change he found hidden in the SUV’s seat cushions.

  I wanted to tell Caroline my truth—that it made sense for me and Bobby to ride together since we’d been in bed making love until the very last moment.

  “So . . . are we riding home . . . together?” Caroline asked, showing major chinks in her confidence.

  “Yeah,” he said with the type of sideward glance that a person gave when they’d heard a dumb question.

  Then, just because, I added, “You know, Angel and I can grab a cab.” I already knew what Bobby’s response would be, but I wanted Caroline to hear his concern—even if she thought it was all for Angel.

  “No.” He shook his head. “Y’all are coming with me.”

  While Bobby rolled Caroline’s cart out onto the street, I walked beside Angel as she chatted away. She spoke about seeing the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, and even though I truly wanted to hear about her adventures, at this moment I was way more interested in Caroline . . . and Bobby, together.

  They walked side by side, but they didn’t speak. I didn’t know if this was because Angel and I were there or if it was how they always were. But I watched, and studied, and hoped to learn something that I could use for me.

  At the car, Bobby piled the bags into the trunk as Angel and I slipped into the backseat. I held my smile as Caroline took her place in the front. She sat with her head high, her shoulders back as if she were a queen sitting next to her king. She just didn’t have any idea that she was about to be dethroned.

  Only Angel chatted as Bobby maneuvered through LAX. In the past, sitting in a car with Bobby and his wife would’ve had me shuddering and stuttering. But now I just sat back, kept my eyes on the back of Caroline’s head, and hoped that she could feel my stare.

  By
the time we got to my condo, I’d figured there wasn’t much to Bobby and Caroline’s relationship. The two hardly spoke, though they may have just been listening to Angel. But they could’ve done something, held hands . . . something. No wonder Bobby had come to me.

  When he stopped the SUV, Bobby said to Caroline, “Wait here,” and then he jumped out.

  By the time Angel and I slid out and went to the back of the car, Bobby already had Angel’s suitcases out. He was just waiting for me. “I’ll take the bags up for you.”

  There was such lust in his eyes that I couldn’t help but smile back. And I was filled with lust, too, when I told him, “No.” I pointed to one of the concierges, who was pushing a luggage cart out of the building. “We’ll be okay.”

  “Oh.” His disappointment was so apparent . . . exactly the way I wanted him to be.

  Of course, I wanted him to help Angel and me up to the condo. I wanted to steal every moment I could with Bobby now that his wife was back. But it was because his wife was back that I wouldn’t let him. Because now my strategy was to keep Bobby wanting and waiting. I wanted to send him home with his wife, with images of me on his mind.

  “Are you sure?” he asked, as if I needed a second chance to give him the right answer.

  “Definitely.”

  “Bye, Daddy.” Angel hugged her father, then she ran to the front of the car. “Bye, Mom Caroline!”

  Caroline opened her door to give Angel a hug. “I’m going to miss you,” she said, wrapping my daughter in her arms as if Angel belonged to her.

  “I’m going to miss you, too,” Angel said. “But I’ll be with you next weekend.”

  “No, remember, we switched weekends; I won’t see you for two weeks.”

  “Oh, that’s right!” Angel exclaimed. “My birthday party.”

  “Yes, and it’s gonna be absolutely fabulous. I’m planning the biggest birthday ever because you know, you’re gonna be twelve.”

  As Angel giggled, Caroline kissed her cheek over and over.

  I frowned. Was this public display for my benefit?

  That was when I wrapped my arms around Bobby and held him as if he was mine. “Thank you for taking us to the airport.” Then I stepped back; my hand was still on his arm when I said, “I hope I get the chance to see you soon.”

  “You can count on it.”

  When I pivoted toward Caroline, now she was the one frowning. She needed to learn not to play games with me. I said, “Bye,” to her with so much sweetness, she was sure to get a sugar high.

  When Angel and I strolled into my building, I knew that both Johnsons had their eyes on us. I laughed. I was so in control.

  “What’re you laughing at, Mom?” Angel asked.

  “I’m just glad to have you home.” That was the truth, though it was just half of it. But I couldn’t tell Angel that I was giddy with the thrill of victory.

  I had a good portion of the win already, but complete victory was coming very, very soon.

  • • •

  Not even thirty minutes had passed. That was hardly enough time for Bobby and Caroline to get home and get settled.

  And already I had a text.

  Was he texting me in front of Caroline? Thinking that made me smile, but Bobby’s text made me dance.

  I can’t wait to see you . . .

  Sitting down on the bed, I texted back: ditto!!!

  Then I jumped up and pumped my fists in the air. Bobby wasn’t in my bed right now, but I felt more confident at this moment than I’d felt all of this past week.

  Falling back, I kicked my feet in the air. Twenty-fourteen was going to be the year. My new forever was starting now.

  “Mom!”

  I rolled back upright and looked at my grinning daughter.

  “Why’re you so happy?” she asked me.

  “Because you’re home.”

  For the first time in her life, my daughter gave me the side-eye. But then she sprinted over to me, jumped onto the bed, and was all over me, making us both fall back. We laughed together.

  I wrapped her in a bear hug. “I really missed you.”

  “I missed you, too, Mom, but it was so amazing. Mom Caroline took me all over Paris, and to every museum, and we went to all of the shops. And she even took me to a jazz club.”

  “A jazz club?”

  “Uh-huh. Don’t worry, Mom. It wasn’t at night and it wasn’t any place that served wine or anything. It was a club for kids ’cause jazz is big in France, you know,” she said in a tone that made me think she’d spent too much time with Caroline.

  “Oh,” I said, using the same tone that Angel had just used. “I didn’t know that.”

  “Because of Mom Caroline, I got the chance to do everything that I wanted to do.”

  I was thinking that I could say the same thing.

  “She even let me have ice cream for breakfast one morning ’cause the French are known for their ice cream.”

  “Ice cream for breakfast,” I said pulling her even closer. “Well, the Americans are known for cereal. That’s what we’re having for breakfast tomorrow.”

  She giggled. “Okay, Mom. It was only because we were on vacation. When I’m over at Dad’s, I hardly eat any sweets. But the ice cream was so good in Cannes. That’s where we went on Thursday and spent the night.”

  “That’s where they have the film festival.”

  “Yeah,” Angel said, as if she was surprised that I knew. “And one day, one of the films that I’m in will be in that film festival.”

  I laughed. “I have no doubt about it.”

  “That’s exactly what Mom Caroline said. She said she had no doubts about me either; she said she had no doubts about the future.”

  “I have no doubts about the future either.”

  And then I held Angel even tighter, if that was possible. The future was bright for both of us.

  Chapter

  Twelve

  I was feening.

  Really feening. Like back in the day when the crack addicts stood on the corner of the street where I grew up, sniffing, scratching, and shaking, I was feening like that. The only difference between those addicts and me was that my drug was Bobby Johnson.

  But today, after four days, I was finally gonna get my fix.

  With Caroline back, Bobby and I hadn’t been able to get together, but thank God for technology, because Bobby and I had used our tablets and smartphones in ways that I’d never imagined. Tech sex was a beautiful thang, but now I was ready for the real deal.

  I peeked my head into Angel’s room, and like always, she was on her bed with her headphones. She was pecking away on her tablet keyboard as her head bobbed.

  “Hey.” I raised my voice just a little. “I thought you were doing homework.”

  She looked up, grinned, and hooked the headphones around her neck. “I am.”

  “We agreed . . . no music while you’re studying.”

  “Oh . . . kay.” She sighed. Then she looked me up and down. “You look great. You got a hot date?”

  If you only knew, was what I wanted to tell her. I was so ready to tell Angel everything about her father and me. But though I knew she’d be thrilled, I knew it would be best to wait for Bobby and Caroline to separate.

  So, all I said was, “Yup.”

  She tilted her head. “You really like this guy, huh?”

  “Yup,” I said again, because if I said anything else, I was gonna blurt it all out. So, I brought the subject back. “Finish up your homework, and then go downstairs and eat with Ms. Martinez in the kitchen. I don’t want you always eating in your room.”

  “Okay. See ya later, alligator!” she said like a kid. Then she added, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”—sounding much older. But when she giggled, she was back to being a kid.

  Playfully, I sl
apped her upside her head. In a way, though, I meant it. What did she know about what I was getting ready to do?

  But the moment I stepped from her bedroom, my thoughts about Angel took flight. I thanked Ms. Martinez for staying over, and then I headed down to the lobby.

  I was shivering with anticipation and it had started this morning when Bobby sent a simple text: Tonight.

  Through the rest of the day, he’d sent messages: dress casually. meet me downstairs at 7. follow all directions.

  Well, I had dressed casually, though if I added up the cost of my jeans, boots, and leather jacket, I could probably feed a small nation. That thought made me close my eyes for a sec and give God a quick prayer of thanks, ’cause I sure remembered where I’d come from.

  The elevator doors parted and I quickened my steps, strutting pass the concierge desk. But one of the gentlemen stopped me. “Ms. Ingrum?”

  “Yes,” I said, hardly pausing.

  Without another word, he handed me an envelope, and right away I recognized Bobby’s handwriting.

  Inside the envelope, a note: Follow Tim. No questions.

  I half frowned and all the way smiled, and when I looked at the concierge, he nodded. But then, when he led me outside of the building, around to the side, and then to the back freight elevator, I was filled with all kinds of confusion.

  But Bobby’s note had said no questions, so I just went along, the whole time wondering what-the-what? Finally the heavy freight elevator screeched to a stop on the roof, and when the concierge opened the door, there was Bobby. With the rolling hills of Hollywood behind him.

  “Oh, goodness,” I said, taking in my man. He stood there, dressed as casually as I was, and looking as if he’d been waiting for me all night. My eyes wandered to the candlelit, white-tablecloth-draped table next to him and the dozens of red roses that stood as the centerpiece. “Oh, my God,” I whispered. This might have been the roof, but tonight it was laid out like paradise. From the plush carpet below my feet to the oversize sofa that was pushed up against the wall. “Bobby, what is this?”

  “This is dinner.” He pulled me into his arms.