Love & Happiness (Sexy Secrets Book 3)

by Nycole S. Bailey

  After dressing, I find myself in the kitchen looking for a snack. Sex always rouses my appetite for food. As I am pulling out the ingredients for a ham and pastrami sub sandwich, my cell rings. I smile when I see that it is my mom.

  “Hey Ma,” I say as I put the phone on speaker mode and set it down on the counter while I make my sub.

  “Hey Charlie. How are you doing? I didn’t catch you at a bad time did I?”

  “Nah, I am just making a snack.”

  “Oh, good, I just wanted to see how you, Zoe and my future granddaughter are doing,” she says cheerily.

  I can’t help the big shit-eating grin that lights up my face. Zoe and I found out a few days ago at the last doctor’s appointment that we are having a girl. A little girl that I can’t wait to spoil rotten.

  “They are both good. Zoe is taking a nap right now,” I tell her, taking a seat at the kitchen bar before taking a huge bite out of my sandwich.

  We talk for a while - catching up with each other. When I feel the conversation winding down, I feel the unpleasant cramping sensation in my gut. Lately, this has been happening almost every time towards the end of our conversations. I know she is about to ask me the same question she has been asking me since the beginning of the year.

  “So have you given any more thought to talking with your father,” she asks tentatively.

  I sigh, knowing she can hear me.

  “Ma, I haven’t changed my mind since the last time you asked me. I have no desire to talk to him.”

  Maybe in the future, but not now.

  Ever since finding out I am going to be a daddy; I have been giving more thought to talking with my father. A part of me wants to know how any man could leave his child voluntarily, because the thought of leaving my little girl or me not being in her life - on any level - makes my chest tighten with discomfort.

  A semi-awkward silence follows before she speaks again.

  “Okay, Charlie. Tell Zoe that I will see her at lunch Monday and you take care of your girls.”

  “I will. Love you Ma.”

  “Love you too Baby.”

  After I finish my sandwich, I head back upstairs to our bedroom with Blu on my heels. When I enter the room, Blu jumps up on the bed. I shoo him off and he settles in for a nap on the floor under the window. I pull back the covers and climb into bed, pulling Zoe into my arms; my hand lightly caresses her baby bump. It takes me awhile to succumb to sleep as thoughts of my father are on my mind.

  ********

  Zoe

  I walk into the office after lunch with thoughts of Charlie and his father on my mind. I just had lunch with Charlie’s mom (Karen) and she wants me to talk to him about talking to his father. I already know how that conversation will go.

  Hell and no.

  The only conversation Charlie and I have had about his father was at the beginning of the year when him mom first told him that she and his father had been in contact for the past twenty-eight years.

  But today I have just learned that Karen has been mentioning it to Charlie almost every time they have talked and my husband has not been receptive. Yet, he hasn’t mentioned anything about his father to me. Not surprising since things that Charlie doesn’t give a damn about rarely get to me.

  I promised Karen that I would talk to Charlie about it. However, I didn’t tell her when I would talk to him.

  As I pass my dad’s office door, I lean in, letting him know that I am back from lunch. Mr. Harlan is in there too and I give him a quick wave. When I enter my office, I am surprised to see Vic in my office. She is standing at my bookcase, looking at the frame pictures that I have on the middle shelf.

  I clear my throat as I walk fully into the office.

  “Hi Zoe,” Vic says. “I’m waiting on James to finish up with your father and I saw your pictures, so I thought I would be nosey and take a peak.” When she gets a full look at me, her gaze lingering on my swollen belly a little longer, her face shows surprise for a few seconds before she schools her expression.

  “Wow - look at you! I didn’t know you were pregnant. Congratulations.”

  Even though she is smiling and oozing sincerity when she says this, something about her congratulations is just - off. I am also surprised that she didn’t know I was pregnant. I would have thought that Mr. Harlan would have told her.

  “Thank you,” I say putting my purse in my desk drawer before taking a seat behind my desk.

  “How far along are you?”

  “Five - almost in my sixth month,” I reply.

  She gives me another beautiful, sincere smile, but something is still off about it.

  “Well, let me get out of your hair. I am going to go see if I can hurry James up.”

  Before she leaves my office, she says, “We should do lunch and soon.”

  ********

  When Vic threw out ‘we should do lunch’ I really though it was just empty words, yet here it is three days later and I am at lunch with Vic and Mr. Harlan. When Mr. Harlan saw Vic coming to pick me up, he invited himself along by jumping into the backseat of Vic’s car, even after she told him that he couldn’t come.

  That should have been my first clue that something was off with them. And now as I sit across from Vic and Mr. Harlan in the restaurant, I can tell that there is some tension between these two and it is not the ‘good’ sexual kind of tension either.

  “Thanks for inviting me to lunch,” I say hoping to ease the tension some. “And it’s really okay that Mr. Harlan came along.” I even give him a smile letting him know that I don’t care that he rudely invited himself.

  She gives Mr. Harlan a scornful look and he just gives her a slick smile right back that indicates he doesn’t give a damn that she is mad.

  “I have been meaning to get together with you for a while, but I have been so busy lately,” she says as she turns her attention back to me.

  Before she can continue, our waiter fills our water glasses and asks if we would like anything else to drink besides water. I can’t say that I am surprised when Vic orders a vodka tonic and Mr. Harlan orders bourbon on the rocks. I tell the waiter that I am fine with water and then pick up my menu, giving me a plausible excuse for not having to talk to my two lunch companions just yet.

  The menu is big enough so I don’t have to look at them, but that doesn’t mean I can’t hear their frenetic and whispered conversation; I can’t understand what they are saying though. I stay behind my menu until the waiter comes back with their drinks and we all place our lunch orders. When the waiter leaves and I am no longer able to hide behind my menu, Vic turns her attention to me.

  “So, how have you been?” A beauty queen smile gracing her beautiful face. “I must say, pregnancy looks good on you - you are absolutely glowing.”

  “Thank you,” I say. Somewhat taken aback by her compliment. Before catching her in my office on Monday, I have only seen Vic a handful of times since Mr. Harlan introduced us a few months ago. While she is always pleasant when we see each other, there is always an aura of aloofness about her.

  “You know, when I was your age, I had all these dreams of having a houseful of kids, but sadly that didn’t happen.”

  She flinches but then composes herself. She then gives Mr. Harlan a hateful look. I frown, wondering what caused her reactions.

  “Anyway - as I was saying - I had dreams of babies and of course a husband to go along with the dream. But like I said, that didn’t happen because the man I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with was too busy fucking his business colleague’s twenty-one-year-old daughter.”

  What. The. Fuck.

  I let my gaze drift to Mr. Harlan and he is looking like he wants to strangle Vic.

  I look back at Vic and she smiles at me sweetly before she speaks again.

  “Oh - what? You didn’t think I knew about the year long affair between you and James?”

  Vic flinches again, but this time she speaks directly to Mr. Harlan.

  “Pinch me a
gain,” she says in a low voice, “and I will throat punch you.”

  They have a mini-stare down before Mr. Harlan looks away and takes a healthy swallow from his tumbler of bourbon. I try to catch his eye, but he is too busy draining his glass.

  I am stunned as I try to absorb what Vic has just said. She knows about Mr. Harlan and me. If she knows, who else knows? And apparently she is blaming me for her not having kids or having a husband?

  What kind of fucked up shit is that?

  The idea that Vic sees me as the cause of her never having children is just crazy and sounds like one of the plots of the reality shows my brothers’ production company films.

  I am still searching for something to say when the waiter returns with our food. I watch as both Vic and Mr. Harlan dig into their food with gusto. I look down at my own meal and feel nauseated at the messy situation I have found myself in.

  I don’t do messy.

  Well - I don’t do messy anymore.

  Well - more like I try not to get caught up in any messy situations; but every now and then a messy situation seems to find me.

  “Since you haven’t said anything,” Vic says after she takes her napkin and daintily wipes her mouth. “I’m betting that you thought no one knew about your little tryst with James.” She raises a perfectly sculptured eyebrow at me before taking a sip from her second vodka tonic. “Even though James and I were not together at the time you and he hooked up, I was aware of everything that you two did.” She gives Mr. Harlan another scathing look before directing her attention back to me. “That man is like a sieve when it comes to keeping secrets. Then again, your father doesn’t know about it, so maybe he can keep some secrets.”

  “I’m curious though about one thing though,” Vic says to my still silent self. “Why do you call James, ‘Mr. Harlan’? Is it some sort of kink that you two started way back when? You know, instead of calling him ‘Daddy’, you call him ‘Mr. Harlan.’”

  Once again…What. The. Fuck?

  I can’t find any words to say, so I just say the first words that come to mind.

  “Wow! Just Wow!” I look down at my uneaten plate of food. “You are not going to drag me into whatever it is going on between you and him.” I purposely avoid calling him ‘Mr. Harlan” because Vic is right. I called him Mr. Harlan back in the day because it was some sort of kink for us.

  “I am sorry to hear that you think that what went on between me and him almost fifteen years ago was the cause of you not getting your dream of a husband and kids, but you are sorely mistaken. When he and I were together, he was single.” I look at Mr. Harlan and he is looking upside Vic’s head like he still wants to strangle her.

  “Besides, we were only together for a year, so you had plenty of time after we ended things to get your man and have babies or whatever,” I declare, angered that they have brought me into their bullshit.

  I grab my purse and stand.

  “Enjoy your lunch,” I say as I leave the table. When I reach the sidewalk, I realize that I don’t have a ride, so I quickly climb into one the idling cabs in front of the restaurant.

  I give the cab driver my destination and stew all the way back to the office. When I see Charlie’s truck in the parking lot, I let out a huge sigh of relief. I am in need to unload the craziness that has just happened.

  When I enter the office, I seek out Charlie and find him in his office. He looks up as I cross the threshold and close the door behind me. He gives me a sexy smirk that quickly dims; no doubt because of the angry scowl on my face.

  “Zoe?” he asks as I go over to the small sofa against the far wall and plop down.

  “Zoe, what’s wrong?” Charlie asks as he sits down beside me.

  I shake my head minutely - trying to get my thoughts together. I take a deep breath and tell him about my lunch with Mr. Harlan and Vic.

  ********

  Charlie

  After Zoe told me what happened at her lunch with Mr. Harlan and his girlfriend, I was waiting for James to return to the office so I could have a word with him. Lucky for him, he didn’t return to the office that day nor in the coming days. So imagine my surprise when I see him walk into the break room six days later while I am rinsing out my coffee cup.

  He gives me a nod in greeting as he goes about pouring himself a cup of coffee. I turn and lean against the counter after putting my coffee cup in the dishwasher.

  “You know, I really don’t appreciate you and Vic dragging my wife into your relationship drama - especially when it stems from something that happened almost fifteen years ago,” I say to him.

  A brief look of surprise flashes across his face but he quickly masks it. Yeah, he is surprised that Zoe has told me.

  “Oh - I see you’re surprised that I know about you and Zoe?”

  “Not really,” he says, giving me a patronizing smile. “I figured she would tell you when we started working together. But then again, Zoe was always knew how to be a good little girl.”

  The way he says ‘good little girl’ raises my hackles.

  I quickly come from my resting place against the counter and get up in his face.

  “That’s going to be the last time you disrespect my wife.”

  For the past few months, James has been dropping hints, alluding that he knows my wife intimately. I let it slide because I didn’t want to get caught up in any drama and risk exposing their past relationship. But now that he and his woman are trying to drag my wife into their bullshit, I have reached my limit.

  “Hey,” he says holding up his hands in surrender as he backs away from me. “No need to get all hostile. I am just making an observation. I meant no disrespect.”

  “Sure you didn’t.” I step closer to him again, daring him to back away like some pussy.

  He stays put.

  “You think I don’t notice you flirting with my wife - trying to get next to her?” My voice rising in ager. “Get over yourself. She doesn’t want you. And whatever bullshit going on with you and your woman has nothing to do with Zoe, so once again, I would appreciate it if you keep her out of y’all’s bullshit.”

  I need to get away from him before I really lose my temper, but that doesn’t prevent me from shoulder checking him as I walk pass him and exit the break room.

  As I walk down the hall to a conference room for a meeting with Wood and Pop, I can feel James behind me.

  “You know, instead of being all hostile and combative - you should be thanking me,” he says.

  I know I should keep walking and ignore him, but I stop and turn to look at him.

  “Thanking you for what?”

  “For teaching your wife that there are not just two, but three holes for sex.”

  Before I know it, I have popped him in the mouth. Before I can pop him another one, I feel strong arms wrapped around me from the back, pulling me back.

  I think someone is calling my name, but I can’t be sure, I just know I need to get to this motherfucker so he knows not to disrespect my wife again. I am shoved face first into a wall with my arm twisted and pinned behind my back.

  “Calm the fuck down Charlie,” someone with a slight British accents says to me.

  Wood.

  I turn my head against the wall look to my right and I see James dabbing at his bloody mouth with a handkerchief as Pop talks to him.

  Wood more or less shoves me down the hall and out the front door of the office. Once we are outside, he asks me what my problem is and without thinking, I tell him everything.

  Zoe is going to kill me.

  “Mate - you and Zoe need to tell Matt what is going on. You need to get in front of this train wreck before that tosser James or Vic spills the beans.”

  I know he is right. It would be very bad if Pop finds out about Zoe and James - from anyone but Zoe.

  ********

  Zoe - Later that Evening

  I have a death grip on Charlie’s hand as I tell my parents about my past relationship with James Harlan. I keep it brief an
d concise; giving enough information, but not too many details. I also brief them on what happened when I had lunch with Mr. Harlan and Vic today. I am braced for an angry tirade but instead I am greeted with silence.

  No words are spoken as they look at each other and then leave the room. All I can think is déjà fucking vu as this is almost exactly how it went when Charlie and I told them we were married.

  Back then, when we told them we were married, my mom was the one visibly upset. Now, my dad is the who looks like he wants to kill someone. I lay my head on Charlie’s shoulder and he pulls me close, resting his hand on my belly.

  “Do you think we did the right thing?” I ask him softly.

  He looks down at me and kissing my forehead before he speaks.

  “If you had asked me this a few months ago, I would have said no. But now - with Vic knowing and seeming to blame you for shit that you had no control over - yeah - we did the right thing. I don’t want to even imagine the outcome if your dad had found out from someone other than you.”

  I nod against his shoulder and lean more against him as he leans back and settles us both into the corner of the sofa. We stay this way for the next ten minutes or so and I find myself getting sleepy.

  I only realize that I have fallen asleep when Charlie gently shakes me awake when my mom comes back into the room. She instructs us to wash up for dinner. Thankfully, my mom knows my eating schedule since I have been pregnant and knows that I need to eat.

  When Charlie and I enter the dining room, my dad is setting down a platter of what looks like jerk chicken and Mom is bringing in side dishes of rice and peas and fried plantains. My stomach rumbles loudly as the smell of the food hits me.

  Once we are all seated, my dad says grace before we start to fill our plates.

  “Before we start to eat,” my dad says. “I want to say something.” He is looking at me when he says this and my appetite quickly goes south.

  “First of all Zoe, I am not mad at you and as much as I want to yell and cuss right now,” he continues, “That won’t do any good. As your mom reminded me, this happened in the past - a past where you were an adult and were free to date whoever you wanted.” A pained expression crosses his face for a brief second. “Although I really wish it wasn’t someone who was significantly older than you and a business colleague of mine. I’ll have a talk with James and make sure that none of his bullshit with Vic comes up again.”