by Weeks, Abby
“It’s not really for me, it’s for a friend.”
“Who is she?”
“My neighbor. Her name is Zola. She’s having trouble with her husband.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Gabe said. “So what can I do?”
“Okay, first of all,” Ariel said, “to put this all in perspective. She’s having more than just trouble with this husband. He’s making her life goddamn unbearable. I mean, he’s a serious pervert. He’s got this forum on the internet where he and some other guys all swap pictures of their wives.”
“Okay.”
“But that’s not all. They go farther. They actually allow each other to screw each other’s wives.”
“Swinging?” Gabe said.
“Yeah, basically. Except that Zola, she’s totally not into it. Jake basically bullies her into allowing the other guys to fuck her.”
“Jesus,” Gabe said. “What about calling the police or something?”
“You know how useless the police are when it comes to anything domestic.”
“So you want me to talk to him? I’m not sure how effective that’s going to be.”
“Well,” Ariel said. “It’s going to be a little more complicated than that. I don’t just want Jake to stop screwing Zola. I want him to let her go. And when she leaves, I want her to leave with a whole lot of his money.”
“I see,” Gabe said. “So how are you going to do all that? Have you got anything on him.”
“Not yet,” Ariel said. “That’s where you come in.”
Gabe was nodding. “Oh, do I?” he said.
Ariel could tell that he was becoming wary. This didn’t sound like it was going to be a small favor. It was sounding bigger and bigger by the minute.
“What did you have in mind?” he said.
“We’ll need to use the painting. The forgery.”
Gabe was already shaking his head. “No way,” he said. “Forget it right now, Ariel. It’s not going to happen.”
“We just need to borrow it.”
“Do you know how much money I’ve spent setting up this forgery? I’m not going to risk it all to help out your friend. She can get a divorce the same way everyone else does it. She doesn’t need me to get involved.”
“She does,” Ariel said. She looked meaningfully at Gabe. “She needs you, and I need you.”
“This is going to screw up our plan, isn’t it?”
“It will delay it, Gabe. It will affect our plan, but it will be worth it.”
“Forget it,” Gabe said. He looked at his watch. “I just remembered, I’ve got to be somewhere.” He got up from the table and grabbed his phone and sunglasses.
“Wait,” Ariel said. She had to stop him from leaving. She had to keep him at the table. “Sit down, there’s more.”
“What?”
“Sit,” she said.
He sighed and took his seat reluctantly. “It’s not just Zola that Jake’s taken advantage of.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s gotten the better of me too,” Ariel said.
Gabe had been taking a sip of his coffee and he put his cup down very deliberately. He held Ariel’s eye. “What do you mean,” he said in as stern a voice as she’d ever heard him use.
“He fucked me, Gabe.”
“When?”
“Recently. I ran into him in a bar close to here. Very close. It was after working on the painting. I ran into him and he showed me a video clip of his wife fucking another guy.”
“What?”
“Yes, he had a video on his cell, it was Zola with one of his friends from the internet forum.”
“Why did he show you that?”
“He was flirting with me. Trying to get me to spend the night with him.”
“And he showed you that? Why would that make you want to sleep with him? It’s disgusting.”
“Well,” Ariel said. She knew she was using Gabe’s feelings for her to manipulate him. She was trying to make him get involved in her plan by using his jealousy. “It worked. What can I say? I’m not as innocent as I once was.”
“He told you they were swingers?”
“Yes.”
“And that convinced you to just jump into bed with him?”
“I was drunk. I was stupid. I can’t really excuse what I did. But it happened, Gabe.”
Gabe didn’t say anything. He was thinking. Ariel didn’t know what was going through his mind. She’d taken a big risk telling him what she’d done. There was a good chance he’d tell her to go to hell. Why should he give up his forgery for some half-baked plan she and her friend were dreaming up? But she also knew that if she hadn’t told him this, there was no way he’d have been involved enough in Zola’s situation to risk the forgery.
“How was it?”
“What do you mean?” she said.
“Did you like fucking him?”
“Gabe!” she said. “Look, it was just a drunken fling. To be honest I don’t even remember the sex.”
“What night was it?”
“What does that matter?”
“Just tell me.”
“I don’t remember, Gabe.”
“It was the night I asked you out, wasn’t it?”
Ariel said nothing. It had been that night. That was going to hurt Gabe’s feelings.
“It was, wasn’t it?”
She nodded her head.
Gabe looked at her. Then he grabbed his sunglasses and phone and got up and walked out of the cafe.
VIII
“YOU’VE GOT TO TELL ME everything,” Ariel said. She was sitting with Veronica at her kitchen table, two cups of coffee steaming in front of them.
“I can’t,” Veronica said. “I don’t even know what I think of it myself yet.”
“I told you I slept with Jake,” Ariel said.
“That’s different.”
“Why is that different?”
Veronica covered her face in her hands. “I don’t know,” she said. “It just is.”
“Well,” Ariel said, “I’ve got more information to share.”
“What is it?”
“No way,” Ariel said with a smile on her face. “You have to go first.”
Veronica hid her face in her hands again. She was clearly very shy about her news. That only made Ariel want to hear it even more.
“Okay, so you know Matt came over to help me with the restaurant, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, we were taking a break, and he took off his shirt.”
“Oh my god, Veronica, there better be more to this story than just that.”
“Well, one thing led to another, and he took me back to a motel room.”
“No way!”
“Yes way,” Veronica said.
Ariel got up and hugged Veronica.
“I don’t know if I should be celebrating this,” Veronica said. “I mean, I just cheated on my perfectly loving husband.”
“But you’ve been pining for Matt for years. You’re in love with him.”
“I am in love with him,” Veronica said.
“I can’t believe it. I’m so happy for you.”
“It’s going to mean a lot of changes in my life,” Veronica said. “I can feel it already. It’s not just going to be an affair. I’m going to have to tell Hank that I’m in love with Matt. It’s going to mean the end of my marriage. The end of my life here on Beverly Row.”
“You’ll start a new life with Matt.”
“Oh, Ariel. I really hope so.”
Ariel poured some milk into her coffee and stirred it.
Veronica looked up at her. “And what’s your news?” she said.
“Well, you know I’ve been trying to form this plan for Zola to get her out of the horrible situation Jake’s put her in?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Well, I tried convincing Gabe to help with it.”
“And what did he say?”
“Well, I was asking for quite a lot. I basically want him
to sacrifice a big business project he’s working on so that we can tempt Jake to break the law.”
“So that we can blackmail Jake?”
“Exactly.”
“And what did he say to that? He doesn’t even know Zola and Jake. It’s a lot to ask.”
“Well, he said no. But then I told him that Jake had fucked me.”
Veronica raised her eyebrows at that news. “How did he take that?”
“Not too good.”
“I wouldn’t have imagined so,” Veronica said.
“But I’ve got him thinking now. I know I do. The hook’s in his mouth.”
Veronica gave Ariel a big grin. “Now all you’ve got to do is reel him in!”
“Correct!”
“So tell me, what’s the plan?”
“It’s still a little complicated.”
“Okay?” Veronica said, waiting for more information.
“You know Gabe has an art gallery?”
“Sure I do.”
“Well, basically I want him to talk Jake into trying to sell a painting.”
“What’s so bad about that.”
“Well, the thing is, the painting is a forgery.”
“Oh,” Veronica said. “I see.”
But Ariel could tell that Veronica didn’t quite see yet. “If Jake sells a forged painting, he’ll have broken the law. He could go to jail for a very long time for doing it.”
“If he got caught.”
“Exactly,” Ariel said. “And the only way he won’t get caught is if we don’t tell the authorities.”
“And the only way we won’t tell the authorities is if he let’s Zola go.”
“And gives her a nice divorce settlement too,” Ariel said.
“It’s a long shot,” Veronica said. “A lot of planning.”
“I’ve got it covered,” Ariel said. “I know I can pull it off. I just need Gabe to go for it.”
IX
“MOM, BECKY SAID, COMING INTO Ariel’s bedroom with the phone, “it’s dad.”
“For me?”
Becky shrugged and handed Ariel the phone.
“Thanks honey.” Ariel lifted the phone to her ear. “Gabe? What is it?”
“Listen,” Gabe said, “I just made plans with Becky to go to a concert in San Francisco next month.”
“Will she miss any school?”
“No, it’s over the long weekend.”
“Alright,” Ariel said. “I’m sure that will be fine. It will be fun for her.”
“Yeah, it will give me a chance to spend some time with her. I feel like she’s growing up so fast.”
“She is,” Ariel said. “And yes, it’s great getting her in the car. You get her full attention for a few hours.”
There was a brief pause on the other end of the line. Ariel really wanted to know what Gabe was thinking but she didn’t ask. She knew she had to be careful if she was going to get him to do what she wanted.
“Listen,” Gabe said, “I’ve been thinking a lot.”
“What about?” Ariel said, sounding casual.
“Well, you know I really regret some of the things that happened between us when we were married.”
“I know that, Gabe. Don’t beat yourself up about it. What happened in the past is over. We have to look forward, give our daughter the best future that we can.”
“You’re right,” Gabe said. “And thank you for being so forgiving.”
“There’s no point holding on to that stuff.”
“Well, I know I let you down, Ariel. I let both of you down. And if it’s not too late, I’d like to try to do something to help make up for that.”
“You mean the concert with Becky?” Ariel prayed it wasn’t the concert. She needed his help with Zola.
“No, no,” Gabe said. “I mean helping your friend out.”
“You’ll do it?”
“Whatever you want,” Gabe said. “I’m in. I know you wouldn’t ask if it didn’t mean a lot to you.”
“It does mean a lot to me,” Ariel said.
“Alright then.”
“Gabe,” Ariel said, the tone in her voice changing slightly.
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
“It’s the least I can do,” Gabe said.
Ariel put down the phone. She couldn’t believe it. Gabe was in. Now all she needed to do was iron out the details of her plan. She knew she’d be able to lure Jake into anything. All she had to do was have sex with him and he’d trust her about anything. He didn’t know Zola had a problem with the way things were. He didn’t even know Zola had told her friends how desperate she was.
“Becky,” she called down the stairs.
Becky came up immediately. “So?” she said. “Can I go?”
“Your dad said you wouldn’t be missing any school.”
“Yeah, I won’t. I promise. We have a day off that Monday.”
“And you’ll get all your homework done?”
“Every single bit of it,” Becky said.
Becky was clearly getting more excited by the second. Now that she knew she was allowed to go to the concert she was thrilled.
“Well then, I don’t see any problem with a girl spending a few days with her father.”
Becky ran over to the bed and gave her mother a huge hug. “Thanks, mom.”
Ariel hugged her back. She loved making her daughter happy. It felt so good. If only everything in life was as simple and pure as the love she felt for her daughter.
“Becky,” she said.
“Yes, mom.”
“Can I ask you something personal?”
Becky looked at her a little skeptically. “Depends,” she said.
“Are things over between you and Kyle?”
Becky looked at the glass door leading to the balcony. She’d have been able to see Kyle’s house from the balcony if she went outside. “I think so, mom.”
“How come?”
“Things were moving a little too fast. We decided it would be better if we were just friends.”
Ariel gave Becky another big hug. “I’m so glad to hear that,” she said. “I wanted you to be my baby for a little bit longer.”
X
THE NEXT DAY WHEN ARIEL got out of the shower she was as determined as she’d ever been about anything in her life. She shaved her legs and armpits and took extra care shaving her vagina. She was leaving nothing to chance. She put expensive lotion on every part of her body, her best perfume, she even colored her hair. She spent over half an hour on her makeup. She put on the sexiest underwear she owned, a pure black silk bra with matching panties. Then she picked up her phone and sent a message to Jake.
—Busy?
She pressed send and waited for the reply. It didn’t take long, just a few minutes.
—Not too busy to see you.
She replied immediately.
—Want to buy me a cup of coffee?
Thirty minutes later she was entering the coffee shop Jake had suggested. It was on the UCLA campus. Jake was already there and when she walked in he stood up to greet her. He kissed her on the cheek and helped her into her seat.
“You look ravishing,” he said.
“You’re such a flirt,” she said, blatantly being a flirt herself.
“I’m just being honest.”
She looked up at the chalkboard containing the menu.
“What can I get you?” Jake said.
“How about an Americano?”
Jake got up and came back a minute later with two Americanos. Ariel watched him. She didn’t like his demeanor. He was cocky, self-assured, arrogant. Apart from that though, she did have to admit that he was a very good-looking man. She could see why Zola would have fallen for him. He was rich, confident, attractive. That combination could have a powerful effect on a girl like Zola, someone who was seeking to make a better life for herself.
“So,” Jake said as he took his seat, “to what do I owe the pleasure of this little date?”
�
�Is this a date?” Ariel said, playfully. She looked around the cafe. Students were busily typing on laptops.
Jake shrugged.
Ariel let her foot brush against his leg under the table. He instantly looked up at her, a fierce desire in his eyes that surprised her. He definitely was a man of strong sexual appetites. Ariel wasn’t used to men looking at her with such strong desire. It was almost as if he was hungry for her. She knew if she suggested it that he’d take her somewhere right then and there and fuck her.
She felt a throb of desire between her legs at the thought of it. Without really meaning to, she realized her foot was climbing higher up his leg, rubbing against his pants, slowly climbing up past his knee. She glanced around at the kids on their laptops. She was sure a kid who’d been watching averted his eyes.
“You seem like you’d like to have some fun today,” Jake said.
“Maybe I would.”
She wasn’t a hundred percent sure what her plan was. She knew she wanted to talk him into selling the forged painting. She knew he was a smart business man. He would want in on a good business deal if he thought it would be worth his while. The thing was, how was she going to temp him into it without raising his suspicions?
“I know a nice place close to here,” he said.
“Jake,” Ariel said, “I shouldn’t say this, but I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind since the other night.”
Jake looked pleased at the comment. Ariel could tell he had a thing for her. She wanted to use that to her advantage.
“I’ve even spoken to Zola about it,” she said. She waited for his reaction.
“Oh yeah?” Jake said.
“And, well, it’s always been a fantasy of mine to have a foursome.”
“A foursome?”
“Yes, with my ex-husband. We were married for a very long time, and during that time he cheated on me a lot.”
“I see,” Jake said.
“Yes,” Ariel went on. She still wasn’t completely certain of her plan, she was winging it, going on instinct. “And I never actually saw him doing it with another woman.”
“So you want to see that?”
“I sort of want to see that, I want to see him with Zola. I know he’d go for her. But more importantly, I want him to see me with you!”
“Oh,” Jake said, his eyebrows rising.
“Yes. Definitely.”
“Why?”