“What does that mean!” Laura would say. We’d all laugh together about it but the boys never told us why we were laughing. Laura and I assumed it was a childhood joke between them, some crazy ass story that involved the color Red and their childhood days in Boston. So, imagine my alarm when Laura came to me four years ago in tears.
“I figured out red.” She said as she sat on the couch in Cadence and my London flat.
“What?” I was so eager to hear the story, I slid down beside her. Well it couldn’t be good, she usually peppy Laura looked shell-shocked. I mean, who would cheat on her? She smiles all the time, she’s all-American, she always says the right thing, she’s perfect.
“There’s a woman, in the States. Boston to be exact. Malcolm’s ordering flowers for her and her name is Red.” And then she let out the biggest wail I’d ever heard. Well, once my beloved sister told me that, I was pissed. How dare Malcolm cheat on her! But as I sat, holding my sister in my arms, I thought: has Malcolm been seeing this Red for years? Because as far back as I could remember, Cadence always played that red game with him. I was curious.
“Did you find the message on a receipt?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Go back to your flat and get it, give me the address.” And so my sister darted off, she knew that I was famous for running mistresses out of Cadence’s life and she was sure I could help her. She in no way wanted to end her relationship with Malcolm, I mean, who would? Well, Laura did as she was told and we did some investigating. It wasn’t hard. It only two twenty minutes to find out that the owner of ‘Red’s’ condo was named Danielle Rouge.
“Rouge…Rouge…” I said to Laura. “Of the Boston Rouge’s?”
“She has to be.” And she of course was. Her father was a highly celebrated lawyer in Boston who was exceptionally popular among minority communities. He was a good ole boy whose name had been tossed around a time or two at my father’s dinner parties. So the plan was then set, we would patiently wait to pounce and Laura wouldn’t mention to Malcolm that she knew about Danielle Rouge.
But Laura was impatient.
You see, my sister never did have the fortitude to keep Malcolm. I’m surprised anyone can really. Why? Well, he’s a thinker, a deep thinker. He always appears to be searching for answers, he’ll have moments of thought where he sips his scotch and stares off. Laura was never comfortable with his depth and could obviously never relate to it. She is what some would call a dumb ass. Full of pomp. She’s exceptionally dramatic and prone to spoiled girl fits.
So, Laura decided to take matters into her own hands and seek revenge. I wanted to be careful with Danielle; she was getting married, it was the talk of Boston’s elite, there were people from all over coming in for it and I didn’t want to cause a scene. I proposed we be patient and wait. Laura would hear none of it. It’s no surprise that I walked in on my sister and husband in bed together a week later. He has a weakness for women he can’t have and she’s a dumb ass. But I was willing to forgive them after I tried to strangle her naked body while she tried to run from the room. Cadence is an idiot but he’s a Blair and to be honest, he’s charismatic. I am in love with that man.
I made Laura promise to never to touch my husband again. I told her that I knew she was hurt, she said she was so torn up over Malcolm that she wasn’t thinking. She wanted revenge. I said I understood. Cadence apologized as well. I thought all was well. My only retribution was that I was not going to pursue this Red for her. I washed my hands of it after finding them in bed. She said she understood. Of course she doesn’t have the balls to do what I do so she never pursued Danielle herself, she just stared acting even brattier with Malcolm. I assumed all was well. That was until Malcolm caught Laura and Cadence in bed two years later. In other words, for two years, my sister had been fucking my husband right up under my nose. I had been a fool. That’s when revenge flooded me.
“Lola,” my father said the next day, “I’m calling because you and your sister need to figure this out now. This is stressing your mother and me out; we can’t have you two over there fighting in London. She may have been wrong, but she’s your blood. And, you know you can’t leave that boy. He may be a dumb fuck but he’s a Blair dumb fuck. Get it?” Got it.
“Daddy, Cadence and I will not be divorcing but we do need a change of scenery. I want him out of London and away from its whores. I need to just be alone with my husband.” I said to him, a glass of Bacardi rum in my shaking hands. I wiped the dried up mascara from my face and eyelids with the back of my hand.
“That would be best. You and Cadence can start over. How about Boston?”
“No, Malcolm is moving there next week and Laura is sure to follow.”
“New York?”
“No, too close to Boston.”
“Then where?”
“Texas.”
“Texas?”
“I hear Attorney Rouge just moved down there, I’m sure you can conjure up some favors he owes you.”
“But Cadence isn’t able to practice law there.”
“Daddy, figure it out.”
“Fine. I guess I can pull some strings, get Cadence on a project at Rouge and Associates and have them call him Counsel or something.”
Perfect plan. Cadence could feel important by being personally called by a law firm, something that would never really happen, and though he couldn’t practice in Texas, he’d be a counselor to a case.
Of course, daddy came through. Attorney Rouge conjured up a bullshit international issue he needed help on, called Blair and Associates London, asked for Cadence by name and Cadence damn near swam to Texas. He even started studying for the Texas State Bar; he was so excited to be needed. What an idiot.
“I would start sooner,” Cadence said to me in our London flat, his voice a little deeper and his chest more puffed out than usual, “but Attorney Rouge wants to head here for week, get a feel of what I know, what I specialize in.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask, reading a Hello! magazine.
“Yeah, so he’ll be here in a few days with his wife, Dr. Rouge and their grandson. Red, I mean, his daughter Danielle, is heading to Belgium. So you won’t get to meet her.”
“Belgium, huh? That sounds nice.” I said as I flipped through pages.
“Yeah, he says he’s a little concerned that she’s going alone but her husband just can’t get out of work. Says it’s some choir there she likes and she refuses to miss them.”
“Wow, Attorney Rouge told you all of that about his family.”
“Of course.” Cadence smile.
“Cadence,” I place the magazine on the kitchen table, “tell me about this Red.”
He did. He shouldn’t have but he did. He told me everything including the part of Malcolm being in love with her since he was a teenager. I heard of the flowers, the birthday cards, the notes, the conversations he had with the guys about her. Malcolm really liked her, I really liked Malcolm and I really hated my sister. I looked up that choir in Belgium, seen where they were performing and bought two tickets. I mailed them to Laura who had already moved to Boston. I don’t want to fight my sister. This is for you and Malcolm, just a little get away is all you need to patch things up, the note said.
“I am so sorry Lola…I’m sure he won’t go.” She emailed me as soon as she received the envelope.
“Laura, a lot of guilt goes a long way with Malcolm. In the end, he’s a softie. Make him feel guilty about Danielle, tell him that his heart was never into you, beg him for a real chance at love and then give him the tickets. He’ll go.”
And so he did…
Cadence and I moved to Houston and it only took me a few weeks to follow and corner Danielle into a conversation.
It was fun keeping Danielle away from Cadence. God, he was so frantic to see her; he was desperate for Malcolm’s forgiveness and knew that delivering Danielle to him would put them back on speaking terms. And, because I knew that Cadence was utterly depressed because of the rift between him and M
alcolm, I kept Danielle away from him. Suffer Cadence.
When Danielle and I went to the Diana Krall concert and took a picture together, I made sure to show it to Cadence to tease him. He immediately showed it to Malcolm. It was the beginning of the end, so to speak. Malcolm called me, begging to arrange a meeting at Piranha one weekend. Well Danielle didn’t show up so then he begged me to bring her to Hilton Head. And I got her to come. That was all I really needed to do at that point, well that and tell Laura that Red was in Hilton Head and so was Malcolm. The story pretty much unfolded on its own after that and Laura behaved just as I expected she would: bratty.
She’s been harassing Malcolm for months after that and he did his best to pacify her so that she wouldn’t bother Danielle. That included buying Laura a home in Boston. He was originally buying it for them after they married and she was obsessed with it. She bought curtains, replaced granite, had an interior designer in. So, when the marriage plans fizzled, so did the house. Well to keep her happy and to shut her up, he let her have part of her dream. He bought her that home and she lives there now. But that wasn’t enough for Laura, she wants Malcolm. I hear Cadence on the phone talking to his father, I hear that Laura comes to the law office daily, calls repeatedly, camps outside of Cadence’s condo. But, though she may be obsessed with him, she isn’t as obsessed with Danielle. She would never harass Danielle. She doesn’t have the heart to do that. That would be me. The trips back and forth from Houston to Boston were expensive and emotional. I had to relive the Cadence and Laura Affair all over again. Sometimes I’d break down and cry, unable to believe my husband would sleep with my sister. Breaking into Danielle’s condo, planting wires (that weren’t activated by the way, just there for show), taking her car, freezing her accounts…all done after months of preparation, months of asking Cadence how he investigated cases, months of learning the tricks of his trade.
But Malcolm is a brilliant man, he figured it all out.
I walk into my suite and immediately see him leaning against the back of a couch. He isn’t mad; he isn’t ready to kill me. His look is more admonishing, like I’m his younger sister and I’ve just been caught sneaking into my bedroom window after curfew. I smile. He doesn’t return it.
“You’re brilliant.” I slide my gloves off and throw them on the table near the door. “And I’ll be calling the manager tomorrow about those people at the front desk. They really shouldn’t have given me your room number.” He puts his hands in his pockets. “Well, say something.”
“Are you finished?” He nearly whispers, his eyes locked on mine.
“Now I am.”
“Leave Danielle alone.” He’s speaking to me slow, his face is now more serious than I’ve ever seen it.
“This is not about Danielle. I would have never hurt her.”
“Enough.”
“I’m done.” I throw my hands up.
“Why are you here?”
“I heard Jon was coming. Nat told Cadence and I think I hate Jon more than you so I had to see you beat his ass. I knew you would. After all, Nat told Cadence that he bugged Danielle’s phone. What an asshole.” He stares at me. “I’m not to blame here Malcolm. Cadence and Laura drove me to this.”
“I don’t care what you do to them but Danielle is off limits. Do you understand me?”
“I do.” He pushes off the couch and grabs Danielle’s bag that’s sitting on the side of it. “I don’t like when you’re mad at me.” He stops only a breath away from me and leans down to whisper in my ear.
“Don’t. Fuck. With Red.” I nod quickly, a chill rippling through me. And then he leaves. I stand in silence for a few moments, the sound of Holly Jolly Christmas being played somewhere on the streets outside. My mind is blank. I’ve done my job, I’ve done all I can and so I wait.
My cell phone rings. Danielle.
“Hey.” I say to her, trying to make my voice sound normal and less shaky.
“I can’t talk long but I want to let you know that I plan on destroying your sister. I can only hope that this won’t ruin our friendship.” She sounds calm, controlled.
“Whatever happens to Laura, at this point, she deserves it.”
“I really hope you mean that. I’d hate to lose you as a friend and I pray that you can separate our friendship from the problems your sister and I have with each other.”
“Danielle, she will never get into the way of our relationship. I’ll have nothing to do with the rift between you and Laura.”
“Thank you. I’ll call you tomorrow when I get back to Boston.”
“Alright, chica. Have fun at the concert!”
“I will, thanks.” She’s not in the mood for smiles. She hangs up.
And then I wait.
Room 1614
“I’ve got to be quick, Rena. Any progress on Laura?”
“I was just about to call you. Frozen assets, audited, stolen car, house fire.”
“House fire?”
“Yep.”
“Was she inside?”
“Of course.”
“Did she make it out?”
“Not yet.”
“Hmm…”
“You okay?”
“Perfect … I wish her luck…oh well…I have a concert to get ready for, call you tomorrow.”
“Meet up for drinks?”
“At a shitty dive?”
“Of course.”
“Ugh, I guess. Call Jazzy.”
“Will do.”
The End
Shh...Mine (This. Is. Not. Over.) Page 19