“Yep.” Angela stood proudly.
“Girl! I’m scared of you and Coffey should be, too.” They laughed.
“Okay, Doc Brown!” Nadalia said, referring to the inventor of the time machine from the movie Back to the Future. “Get your gadgets together and let’s do this already.” Nadalia picked up her purse from the bed and headed to the door.
Laughing, Angela said, “Funny, but I bet you’ll appreciate my inner Doc-ness.”
Outside, they hailed a cab a few blocks to the hotel where Coffey had registered. Angela walked in with Nadalia right behind her.
“Hi!” Angela said cheerfully. “I’m here to pick up the key to my room.” She started rummaging through her bag. “Oh goodness! I can’t seem to remember the room number.” She played with her cell phone as if she was looking for the information in her messages. “Jeez! My husband came in yesterday. His name is Coffey Davis and I’m Angela Davis.” The young looking black hotel attendant looked at her knowingly and smiled. “Yeah. I know. Angela Davis.” She held a fist in the air, acknowledging the coincidence of sharing a name with a famed activist, whom she looked nothing like. Angela was tall, a darker shade of brown with a weave that reached her lower back.
The attendant laughed. “Let me check on your room for you.”
“He probably has both keys and forgot to leave one down here for me. We have such a busy schedule today. He had a couple of meetings this morning, so I told him to leave a key for me at the front desk. He’s here on business. I’m here to shop!” Angela threw her head back and laughed heartily. “We’re gonna have dinner and catch a show on Broadway tonight. I’m so excited. I don’t get to New York much, but you can probably tell, right?”
Nadalia was impressed by Angela’s acting skills and figured the woman would give her a key just to shut her up.
“Oh! Silly me!” Angela tapped herself on the forehead. “You must need my ID, right?”
Nadalia was nervous and started checking messages on her cell phone to busy herself.
“Thanks!” The attendant took the ID, glanced at it and smiled politely. “Okay, ma’am. I have your reservation right here, just give me one moment.”
Angela smiled and Nadalia turned around letting her eyes wash over the people moving about in the lobby.
“All right! Would you like two keys or one?”
“Go ahead and give me two and thank you so much. I’m a mess when I get to New York. I get so excited. I know I’ll need a backup.”
“You’re welcome. Please enjoy your stay!”
Angela hurried to the elevator with Nadalia on her tail. When they entered, both of them exhaled.
“You are a mess! I was so nervous. I swear I really feel like I’m on some kind of covert operation,” Nadalia said.
Angela laughed. “That was fun.”
Nadalia turned to Angela. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”
Angela smirked. “For other wives.” Her smirk faded. “But never for me.”
The air in the elevator dissipated suddenly. Nadalia couldn’t wait to get off. A fragile silence dominated for a few moments until Nadalia broke it.
“Do you think they’re in the room?”
“I doubt it because I think he’s scheduled to meet someone for breakfast. I couldn’t get a read on his phone. I was hoping to find some undeniable proof before approaching him. You know, like some bimbo he left waiting for him, or the panties she may have left in his bed. I just want to check things out.”
“I’m following your lead.” Nadalia couldn’t think clearly enough to be strategic and she was sticking to her suspicion of Sage being Coffey’s cover up.
“We are going to be in and out, quick. Then maybe we can get something to eat before our next move. We can hang out in the lounge, then we’ll be able to see them when they come in.”
“Okay.”
The elevator doors opened and they looked at each other before stepping out. Looking for the direction of the room numbers, they headed right.
At the door, Angela tapped and said, “Room service,” in a bad Spanish accent. There was no answer, so she tapped once more time before sliding her key in the door. A small green light flashed and Angela turned the knob. Together they tipped inside the huge suite and paused when they heard a sound coming from the bedroom.
“Did you hear that?” Angela whispered.
“What was it?”
“I don’t know. Let’s go see.”
Nadalia’s heart dropped into her stomach and she wanted to bolt out of the door. She turned back and Angela grabbed her by her arm. “What are you doing?”
Nadalia sighed, but continued to follow Angela toward the sounds. The two of them stood still and tried to listen more keenly. Neither could make out what they heard, so they continued moving forward. Half empty bottles of liquor and clothes were tossed about in the living room. Music filtered through the suite. When they got to the door of one of the bedrooms, which was wide open they paused.
Nadalia peeked in and noticed the bed sheets were ruffled. The shower could be heard running from the other side of the room.
A deep groan bellowed out of the cracked bathroom door. The women froze and looked at each other again. Red undertones flushed underneath Angela’s brown skin. Nadalia could tell she was upset as her lips twisted into a tight circle. Another groan flowed through the space. Nadalia’s hand flew to her heart. She felt for Angela. It was obvious that Coffey wasn’t in that shower alone.
Another deep moan resonated from the bathroom. Angela’s chest heaved and she charged into the bathroom screaming Coffey’s name. Nadalia was stuck in her spot, unable to move. She didn’t follow Angela because she didn’t want to witness his infidelity and cause Angela any more embarrassment.
Nadalia watched Angela disappear into the bathroom and then for a quick moment everything was silent. Nadalia wondered what happened until she heard Angela’s deafening scream.
Nadalia wanted to cover her ears. It sounded like Angela had seen a dead person. Curiosity made her want to see what Angela had seen. Fear kept her feet glued to the floor.
“You bastard!” Angela screamed again and then yelled her name, “Nadalia!”
Nadalia ran into the bathroom. Coffey was wet and naked, pleading with Angela as he tried to pick her up off the floor. She was fighting him off.
Nadalia stepped in, but looked up and found herself unable to breathe or move at the sight of another wet masculine body stepping out of the shower.
Chapter 35
Nadalia
“Nadalia!” Sage’s voice sounded like it was coming through a tunnel.
But Sage was not alone. Yet another naked man emerged from the shower.
Natalia did the only thing she could do. She turned and ran.
“Nadalia wait!” he screamed as he ran after her.
Nadalia ran through the suite and tried to make it out the door, but Sage caught up with her. He pried her hands from the doorknob.
“Nadalia, wait!”
Finally, his voice started coming through clearly. She looked at him as if he was a stranger, refusing to process what he was saying. Nadalia started punching him on his bare chest.
“Get off of me! Don’t ever touch me again!”
“Dali, calm down. Let me explain.” Sage pleaded.
“Don’t call me Dali! Men, Sage? You disgust me!” Nadalia continued pounding her fists into his chest and landed a few lucky ones on his face. He tried to contain her wild arms.
She couldn’t believe she had just witnessed her husband with not one, but two men.
From the bedroom, Nadalia heard Angela cursing and crying while Coffey pleaded. Looking down at Sage’s exposed body, she felt repulsed, fighting the urge to vomit. The same body that had turned her on for years was being shared with men. Growing weary, Nadalia stopped punching him and tried for the door again.
But he blocked her way. “Please, Dali. I can’t let you go like this.”
She glared a
t him sideways. “Move out of my way.”
“We need to talk first.”
“I have nothing to say to you!”
“Baby!”
Nadalia slapped him. “I’m not your baby!” Emotions she couldn’t explain whirled inside. She didn’t know how to feel. Maybe if it had been women…she stopped and shook her head. It didn’t matter if it were men or women, this betrayal was more than she could handle. She pushed him hard. He tripped and his back slammed against the door.
And then she saw the other man, someone she didn’t know tiptoeing into the second bedroom. And Nadalia crumpled to the floor.
Sage lowered himself and tried to comfort her. She slapped his hand away. All the episodes of his recent inability to respond to her sexually and finally, she understood why.
Sage left her alone long enough to put on some pants and a shirt, and then came back to her.
Nadalia had wanted to, but, she hadn’t moved. She couldn’t.
He knelt beside her. “Nadalia,” he called her name. The pain in his voice made his words sound like whispers.
“Stop it!” she snapped and stood to her feet. She wanted to leave, but she needed to check on Angela.
Nadalia carried herself to the bedroom. Each step felt like her body weighed a ton. Not caring whether or not she was intruding on their private business, Nadalia went straight into the room without warning. Angela was seated on the side of the bed and Coffey was standing in front of her, pleading. Seeing his exposed body embarrassed Nadalia; she turned away when they looked up at her.
“I need to go, Angela.”
Angela stood up. “I’m going with you.” Coffey tried to block Angela’s path and she pushed him. His brawn body didn’t budge. “Get out of my way, Coffey.”
“Please, Angela. We have to finish this.”
“You’ve already done that. To think I told Nadalia I intended to fight for you when I suspected that you may have been cheating on me. But it’s obvious that I can’t compete with men.”
Coffey dropped his head and his hands. “Baby. It was just…I love you.”
Angela pushed at him again. “Stop saying that!” she screamed.
“Let’s go, Angela!”
Angela stepped around Coffey and took the hand Nadalia held out for her. Holding one another tight, they limped through the suite as if they were physically wounded. When they entered the living room, she looked up at Sage. His eyes were red and strained. Though she hadn’t seen any tears, Nadalia assumed he was crying. She sucked her teeth. He started to walk over to her, but she held her hand up. Angela squeezed the hand she was holding for support.
Coffey finally entered the room. Nadalia could tell when Sage shifted his eyes to focus behind them, and then shifted his hopeless expression back to Nadalia. Refusing to witness the desperation and pleading in his eyes, she turned away, lifting her chin she reached for the door.
Coffey ran over to them. “You can’t tell anyone about this!”
Nadalia’s jaw dropped and Angela glared at him with a look as if she smelled something putrid. Sage turned to face another direction.
“After what we just witnessed, all you care about is other people finding out? You’re pathetic. Just wait until I tell your son.”
Coffey lunged forward. Nadalia pushed Angela out of the way. Sage ran over to block them. But instead of hitting Angela, Coffey melted to his knees and cried out.
“You can’t do that!”
Disgusted, Nadalia grabbed Angela, who had been staring at Coffey in awe, and dragged her out of the room, slamming the door behind them.
Chapter 36
Ryan
Ryan was up having coffee with her mother when the call came in. She braced herself to answer, knowing Anderson would be upset. She got one last smile in before her stomach began to flutter in anticipation of the impending scolding.
“Where are you?”
“I stopped by my mother’s house. Why?” Even the little lie felt good to her. It was her way of getting vengeance—gaining some ground. “You made it home,” she said as if all was well.
“Get your ass here now!” Anderson hung up the phone.
“I’ll be there shortly,” Ryan said into the dead line as her mother watched her over the rim of her coffee cup. “Did you eat?” She paused a moment. “Okay. See you soon,” she added for good measure.
“The old bugger found his way back home, huh?” Frannie said, placing her cup down and getting up from the table. “I guess I’ll see you later. It was a nice surprise seeing you this morning.”
Frannie reached across the table to take Ryan’s cup, but Ryan stopped her. “I’m not done.”
“You’re not leaving?”
“I… I just want to finish my cup of coffee. Sit down and finish it with me.”
“Oh!” Frannie slowly sat down. “Okay. I figured you’d want to hurry home and see your man. It’s been weeks since you’ve laid eyes on him. I know if it was my man, I’d want to jump his bones!” Frannie hooted.
“Ma!”
“Ah, girl. I’m just kidding you. Go ahead and finish your fake coffee.”
“Why do you keep calling it fake?”
“I mean really. Why even bother drinking decaf. What’s the point?”
“I like the taste and I’m trying to pull back on the caffeine because of the baby.”
“Whateva!” Frannie waved away Ryan’s explanation. “Anyways, you thought of any names yet?”
“No. I have plenty of time for that. Right now I’m just trying to focus on taking care of myself. I want this pregnancy to go well.”
“Well, I think you should name her after her grandma. Ha!”
“I bet you would, Ma.” Ryan finished off the last bit of coffee and stood. “Thanks. I’ll call you later.”
Ryan wasn’t ready to go home, but with all the nervous energy spinning around inside of her, she found it hard to continue to sit still. She got in the car and pulled away from her mother’s house, but a few blocks down, she pulled over to get her nerves together. She was in no rush to face Anderson, but knew that if she took too long, it would only make things worse.
Flutters took flight in her stomach as she pulled into their driveway. Anderson’s Maserati was sitting in front of the garage, which meant he had been out since he came home—probably looking for her.
Slowly, Ryan got out of the car and took her time getting to the door. It swung open just as she reached it and Anderson stood there with fire in his eyes. He snatched her inside with one strong pull.
“What took you so long?”
“I…I was just finishing up with Mom.”
“I told you I’d be home today. You should have been here when I arrived.”
“You say a lot of things, but don’t always do them.”
Anderson scowled at her. Ryan didn’t back down, but inside those flutters sloshed around in her stomach and chest.
Anderson stormed off to the back of the house. Ryan followed him because she knew she was expected to. He snatched the remote from the side table, plopped down and turned on the TV.
Without looking her way, he continued talking, “What were you doing in the city?”
“I…” Ryan was at a loss for words at first. She almost forgot about telling him she was the one who saw him with her own eyes. She could have kicked herself. She would have never said that to him if they were face to face. “I wanted to see a show.”
“I told you how I feel about you going out there without me.”
“I was bored,” Ryan whined. She was still standing. “You leave me here for weeks at a time. You won’t let me work. You won’t let me go anywhere. Besides my mother, I have nobody to talk to.”
“You don’t need to work. You’re my wife. And you have Nadalia, Pearson and Vonnie to talk to.”
“They all have jobs. They’re business owners who lead busy lives. They’re not available all of the time. Besides,” Ryan dropped her head, “I’m not even sure if they like me that m
uch. So, I get lonely.”
Anderson looked over at her for the first time, but just for a moment. She thought she saw him soften a little.
“And what’s this crap about some tabloid?”
Ryan went into the kitchen and pulled out the magazine. She took it back to the room, dropped it on the couch next to where Anderson sat and stepped back. “That’s the same woman I saw you with at the restaurant.”
Anderson picked up the paper, scanned it and tossed it aside, laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Ryan was getting frustrated.
“I told you not to believe that silly tabloid stuff.”
“I saw you with her.” Ryan raised her voice. Anderson’s neck snapped in her direction. She adjusted her tone. “Tabloid or not, what am I supposed to think?” Anderson’s eyes were still locked on her, but she pressed forward, determined to stand her ground. “I’m tired of this, Anderson.” She waited for his response.
Anderson drew in a deep breath. She was expecting the thunder of his harsh words, but instead he began explaining.
“I’m not messing around with her. Those pictures are from the set. Somebody on the crew must have taken them and sold them for a nice price. You’ll see when the movie comes out. The only reason we were in New York that day was to do a photo shoot for the promo materials. We had just enough time to do the shoot, have lunch and get back on the plane to head to the next location. That’s why I didn’t bother telling you because I wouldn’t have had the time to see you anyway.”
Anderson got up, went to the kitchen, got a beer and sat back down.
Ryan wanted to believe him and since this was the first time he ever offered any kind of explanation, she decided that it would be sufficient. She thought it was ironic that she had given the same story to the girls when Nadalia told her about seeing the tabloid at dinner.
“Well you could have at least let me know.”
“Next time I will.”
Anderson took sips of his beer in silence as he watched the screen, flipping channels.
She loved Anderson and despite the fact that he wasn’t perfect, she still felt lucky to be with him. This baby would help change things. She just knew it. Ryan was also relying on showing a little more firmness. He hadn’t flipped out on her as she expected him to. Maybe if she did it a little more often, things would get a little better and she’d have more say.
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