Your Bed or Mine?

by Candy Halliday

  He shrugged. “A few days.”

  “You’re kidding yourself, Rick,” Zada told him. “If you don’t have complete faith in me right now, a few more days isn’t going to change a thing.”

  Chapter 17

  When Alicia opened her front door, Zada didn’t wait to be invited in. She slapped the photo against Alicia’s thirty-eight-inch chest and pushed her backward into her own foyer. Unable to keep her balance, Alicia landed on her curvy thirty-six-inch butt in the middle of her expensive Italian marble floor.

  Zada threw the photo in her lap.

  She glared down at Alicia, hands on her hips.

  “I think that belongs to you.”

  Alicia picked the photo up and turned it over.

  All of the color drained from her face.

  “Get up!” Zada ordered. “I want you to be looking me straight in the eye when I say what I have to say to you.”

  Alicia pulled herself up.

  The photo, now shaking in her trembling hand.

  “Were you really that stupid, Alicia? Did you really think you wouldn’t be the first person I suspected when you made the hang-up phone calls?”

  Alicia kept silent, a stricken expression on her face.

  Zada laughed.

  A true she-devil laugh.

  “God, I bet you were livid when I changed my phone number.”

  Still, Alicia didn’t say a word.

  “And then you were stupid enough to think I wouldn’t make the connection with the photo. Who’s the guy, Alicia? It obviously isn’t your Latino ex-pool boy Javier. Is this guy one of your ex-lovers? Maybe an actor? Or is he just some guy you picked at random off the street and paid to do your dirty work?”

  “Zada,” Alicia began.

  “Shut up!” Zada yelled. “I’m not through yet.”

  She took a threatening step toward Alicia.

  Alicia backed up, still clutching the photo.

  “I want you to look me in the eye, Alicia. I want you to look me in the eye right now and tell me to my face you’re responsible for that photograph you’re holding in your hand.”

  Tears rolled down Alicia’s cheeks.

  “I am so, so, sorry, Zada,” she finally said. “Yes. I’m responsible for this photograph.”

  “Congratulations,” Zada said. “Your plan to break up my marriage worked.”

  Zada turned on her heel.

  But she turned back to face Alicia before she left.

  “And don’t worry,” Zada said. “I’ll give Rick the house. I couldn’t stand the thought of living across the street from you!”

  Seconds later Zada was standing on Tish’s porch.

  When Tish opened her front door, Zada fell against her shocked best friend, sobbing uncontrollably.

  When Alfie opened his front door, Alicia didn’t wait to be invited in. She slapped the photo against Alfie’s chest and pushed him backward into his apartment.

  “What in the hell were you thinking?” Alicia yelled.

  “Now, Alicia,” Alfie said, backing up as fast as Alicia was walking toward him. “Calm down and let me explain.”

  “Who the hell is Alicia?”

  Alicia glanced at the tall redhead who had jumped up from the sofa. Her brother’s current flavor of the week was standing with her hands on her hips, glaring at Alfie.

  Alicia looked back at Alfie with a glare of her own.

  “What did you and Eddie Salvo do, Alfie? Hide out in the bushes until Zada decided to walk her dog?”

  “Who the hell is Zada?” the redhead wanted to know.

  “I didn’t ask Eddie how he got the photo,” Alfie said. “Eddie’s a pro. I just paid him to get it.”

  “What photo?” the redhead yelled.

  “For God’s sake, Alfie,” Alicia said. “You’re playing with people’s lives here!”

  Alfie said, “Just like your neighbors were playing with your life, Alicia!”

  “They were not playing with my life!” Alicia screamed. “I didn’t have a life for them to play with. Don’t you understand that?”

  “Jesus,” the redhead said. “I’m outta here.”

  She stomped past them and slammed the door behind her.

  Alicia walked over and flopped down on the sofa.

  Alfie walked over and sat down beside her.

  That they were twins, was obvious. Same identical features. Same blond hair. Same blue eyes. If the redhead couldn’t see that for herself, Alicia decided, to hell with her.

  Alicia said, “Do you know what’s so tragic about what you’ve done?”

  Alfie winced. “Everything?”

  “My neighbors ignoring me has turned out to be the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It made me realize that the reason no one likes me is because I’ve never liked myself.”

  “Sis,” Alfie said. “Don’t say that.”

  “I’m serious, Alfie,” Alicia said. “I didn’t like myself when we were children, because I was embarrassed that we had so much more than everyone else. I didn’t like myself before I married, because I was afraid every man I dated only wanted me for my looks or my money. And I really didn’t like myself after I married Edward, because he played me for such a fool.”

  “And you’ve been so depressed since the divorce, you’ve really had me worried,” Alfie said. “Until the week you spent getting ready for the meeting at your house. That was the first time in ages you sounded happy.”

  “And then stupid me burst into tears when you called me that Sunday morning to find out how the meeting at my house went.”

  “Not stupid you,” Alfie said. “Depressed you. And then, you wouldn’t take my calls. And I panicked, okay? I didn’t care what I had to do, as long as I could make you happy again. The revenge fantasy you told me about gave me the idea. That’s when I called Eddie.”

  “God, this is such a mess,” Alicia said. “The reason I’ve barely talked to you is because I finally realized my happiness is my own responsibility. Not yours. Not my neighbors’. Not anyone else’s responsibility but my own. And that realization finally jerked me out of my blue funk. I realized unless I wanted to be miserable the rest of my life, I was going to have to take control of my own life.”

  Alfie leaned over and hugged her.

  Alicia sighed and said, “I was going to wait and tell you after all of the papers were signed, but now is as good a time as any.”

  Alfie sat up and looked at her. “Tell me what?”

  Alicia smiled and said, “I’m going to put my broker’s license to good use again and start my own real estate company. That’s what I’ve been so secretive about. I’ve been busy making all of the arrangements.”

  Alfie’s mouth dropped open.

  “Don’t worry,” Alicia said, “I’m not interested in commercial property. I won’t be in competition with you and Dad. I always hated commercial sales. Every deal was so cold and impersonal. That’s why I want to sell residential property. Feel-good property. How can I not feel good about myself, knowing I’ve made some family happy by helping them find the home of their dreams?”

  Alfie groaned. “Did you have to bring up the ‘happy family’ part? I knew trying to make Zada’s husband think she was cheating on him was a despicable thing to do. I kept soothing my own conscience, rationalizing that Zada didn’t need Rick if he didn’t trust her. And that if Rick did trust her, I really hadn’t done any damage.”

  Alfie let out a long sigh.

  Alicia reached over and patted his hand.

  “Of course,” Alfie said. “You being here obviously means the damage has already been done.”

  “Not if I can help it,” Alicia said.

  She leaned over and kissed her twin on the cheek.

  She got up from the sofa.

  And she headed for the door.

  Someone else’s life was in need of some damage control.

  Alicia was the only person who could provide it.

  “And then …”

  Zada blew her
nose and looked at Jen, who was hearing the story for the first time.

  “And then, I told Rick if he didn’t trust me now, a few more days weren’t going to change a thing.”

  Tish looked over at Jen. “He told Zada he’d be back on Sunday. He’s staying at the center.”

  “And like the dumb ass that I am,” Zada said, “I said, ‘Duh. Okay. It doesn’t matter that you can’t decide if I’m a liar and a cheat. I’ll be sitting right here waiting for you to come home on Sunday and tell me if we’re staying together, or if you’ve decided to kick my lying, cheating ass to the curb.’”

  Tish looked over at Jen. “She really didn’t say that.”

  Jen looked over at Tish. “Duh. I realized that, Tish.”

  Jen looked back at Zada. “But whether you realize it or not, Zada, you weren’t being dumb. And neither was Rick. He asked for the time he needed to sort things out. You gave it to him. In the past, he would have walked out again, and you would have been dialing up the locksmith. You’ve both come a long way.”

  “And isn’t that special?” Zada mocked. “To come such a long way and still end up getting a divorce.”

  Zada pulled out more tissues when Tish pushed the tissue box across the table in her direction. She blew her nose again.

  “After Rick packed a bag and left, I couldn’t stop thinking about Alicia.”

  Tish said, “And the longer Zada thought about Alicia, the madder she got.”

  Zada said, “That’s when I took the photo and went to Alicia’s house.”

  “She knocked Alicia flat on her ass,” Tish said, looking over at Jen and grinning.

  Zada said, “I told you it was an accident.”

  Tish said, “Accident or not, she deserved it.”

  “And talk about twisted. How twisted is this?” Zada said. “I actually felt sorry for Alicia. I swear, she almost passed out when she looked at the photo. She kept standing there, staring at me as if she had no idea what I was talking about. And then she was so ashamed of herself, she actually started crying.”

  “Ha!” Tish said. “Crying because she got caught, maybe. But crying because she was ashamed of what she did? I doubt it.”

  Jen said, “What did Alicia say?”

  “Oh, she admitted she was responsible for the photo,” Tish said, looking over at Jen again. “She told Zada that with her own twisted lips.”

  Jen shook her head. “Poor Alicia. I can’t imagine anyone being so desperate, they would do something like that.”

  “Well, she did,” Tish said frowning. “And don’t you start feeling sorry for her, too. There’s a special place in hell for people like her.”

  Zada blew her nose again.

  “That stupid comment I made in court that day about some imaginary guy is the biggest mistake of my life,” Zada said. “Rick had already decided I was guilty before he ever came home. I could see it on his face the second I walked through the kitchen door.”

  Jen said, “It’s hard to argue with a photograph, Zada. Try looking at this from Rick’s point of view.”

  “I have tried looking at this from Rick’s point of view, Jen,” Zada wailed. “I just can’t get my head that far up my ass!”

  “Well,” Jen said. “At least you have proof now that Alicia was responsible. You need to call him, Zada, and tell Rick what you found out.”

  “No!” Zada said. “If Rick can’t come to his own conclusion that I would never cheat on him without me having to prove it, I don’t want him back!”

  Jen looked at Tish.

  Tish looked at Jen.

  “I want you to stay here tonight,” Tish said. “You don’t need to be alone.”

  Zada said, “No. I don’t want to leave Simon alone. All I want to do right now is go home, take a hot bath, and hopefully go to sleep the second my head hits the pillow.”

  Tish looked over at Jen. “I gave her two of my sleeping pills. If she takes those after her bath, she’ll get a good night’s sleep.”

  Zada got up from the table and started out of the room.

  She turned back around when she reached the door.

  “I’m serious,” Zada said. “Stay out of this. Both of you. If anyone is going to tell Rick that Alicia was behind the phone calls and the photo, I deserve that privilege.”

  Jen said, “Which is another way of saying Rick will never know, because you’ll never tell him.”

  Zada said, “I want both of you to swear to me right now that you will not tell Rick about Alicia.”

  “I swear,” Tish said.

  Jen said, “So do I.”

  “Thank you,” Zada said, and headed for home.

  Rick didn’t go to the center after he packed a bag and left the house. In the frame of mind he was in, bunking with Scrappy wasn’t an option—for Scrappy’s sake, not his. He’d burdened Scrappy with his personal problems too much already.

  First, he stopped by the liquor store and bought two fifths of tequila—just in case one bottle wasn’t enough to dull the pain. Since he rarely drank, Rick had no way to judge how much tequila it would take to make the photo that kept flashing though his mind go away.

  One bottle, or two.

  It didn’t matter.

  Rick knew he was going to drink whatever it took.

  Next, he checked into a Days Inn on the outskirts of New Hope. Rick tossed his duffel bag on the bed, and took one of the tequila bottles out of the sack. He flopped down on the chair at the motel room table, unscrewed the top off the bottle, and took a long swig.

  Zada and the guy.

  Swig.

  Him caressing her face.

  Swig.

  No fucking caterpillar in sight.

  Swig.

  Swig.

  Swig.

  He kept trying to fit all of the pieces of the puzzle together in his mind, but they just didn’t fit.

  Zada saying she was dating someone just to make him jealous. Zada suspecting Alicia made the phone calls, but never telling him. Simon almost biting some guy—again, Zada not telling him.

  Like fitting square pegs into round holes.

  Swig.

  Swig.

  Swig.

  Am I drunk yet?

  Rick got up from the table to test himself. He closed his eyes and held his arms out straight. Right finger to the nose.

  No problem.

  Left finger to the nose.

  No problem.

  Rick sat back down and picked up the bottle again.

  Alicia making the phone calls?

  No motive.

  Swig.

  Alicia crouched in the bushes with a camera?

  Highly doubtful.

  Swig.

  Swig.

  Swig.

  He finally felt a slow tingle spread through his body.

  Then, his vision got a little blurry. He tried focusing on the clothes rack across the room.

  Are the coat hangers moving back and forth?

  Or am I?

  Rick put the bottle down and stood up to find out. He held his arms out straight. He put one foot in front of the other.

  Step.

  Step.

  Step.

  Turn around.

  No problem.

  Step.

  Step.

  Step.

  Back to the table.

  No problem.

  The photo popped into his mind again.

  It made him worry he hadn’t bought enough tequila.

  Rick picked up the bottle and walked over to the credenza housing the television. He picked up the remote and walked back over to the bed. Turning the pillow around for a back cushion, Rick stretched out on the bed with a tortured sigh, remote in one hand, tequila bottle in the other.

  He hit the “power” button.

  Commercial.

  Switch.

  Commercial.

  Swig. Swig. Swig.

  Switch. Switch. Switch.

  Catherine Zeta-Jones.

  Pause.

&
nbsp; Long, dark hair, just like Zada.

  Swig.

  Piercing dark eyes, just like Zada.

  Swig.

  Voluptuous curves, just like Zada.

  Swig.

  Swig.

  Swig.

  The pretty Catherine turned around. The sound of a male voice had her attention. The camera zoomed in for a close up.

  She smiled.

  Seductively.

  Just like Zada.

  Great big swig!

  The camera panned to the opposite side of the room.

  Hiccup.

  Sit up!

  Rick couldn’t believe his eyes.

  Holy shit, Batman.

  It’s Zorro!

  Chapter 18

  It was after 10:00 PM on Friday night when Alicia pulled her Mercedes into Tish’s driveway. She sat behind the wheel for a second, knowing what she had to do, and dreading every minute of it.

  Tish was not going to be happy to see her.

  Not after Tish had slammed the phone in her ear when she’d tried calling earlier.

  The fact that Tish had hung up on her had kept her from calling Jen and getting the same treatment. And facing Zada again wasn’t even an option as far as Alicia was concerned.

  Zada was too upset to be rational about anything—and not without good reason. But the next time she faced Zada, Alicia wanted it to be after she took full responsibility for the phone calls and the photo.

  She intended to tell Rick what her brother had done. And why Alfie had done such a horrible thing. Forcing Tish to listen to her was her only hope if she was going to find Rick.

  She’d tried calling Rick at his business. But the answering machine informed her that SDS was closed in observance of the long Fourth of July holiday, and wouldn’t resume normal business hours until Tuesday morning.

  Tuesday morning wasn’t soon enough.

  She’d gone to the center anyway hoping to find Rick, but the security gate had been closed. She’d even blown her horn several times, but the building sat a good distance back from the gate.

  Either Rick didn’t hear her, or he wasn’t there. There was no way to tell. The large garage doors on the front of the building were closed.

  Alicia could have easily bent over and made it under the crossing bar of the security gate blocking the drive. She would have done that, and walked up to the building. But the large round sign fastened in the middle of the security gate kept her from it.