Page 19 of The Cost of a Bride
I park quietly and basically sneak up to the front door like a secret agent. I try my key, but for some reason it’s unlocked, even though I told her to keep it locked while I was away. I’ll have to remind her about that later.
I let myself in just as quietly and leave it cracked behind me to keep the noise down, then start checking the rooms.
She’s not in the kitchen or the living room, and she’s not out back on the patio either, so I take the stairs one at a time and creep toward the bedroom. With any luck, she’ll have her back toward me, and I’ll be able to put my plan into action.
I see the door is cracked at the end of the hall, and I sneak quickly down to it and position myself for my next move. I hear the TV playing something, but I can’t quite tell what it is. My guess is Nikki is in bed, so I’ll just leap in and join her.
A smile spreads over my face as I picture myself stripping whatever clothes she has on from her body and having my way with her. What a perfect end to my day and start to our evening together.
I begin the countdown in my head.
3…2…1…
“Hey, gorgeous!” I cry out, leaping into action.
I leap onto the bed, and as I thought, there is someone lying there, but it’s not Nikki. And when I see who it is, my heart nearly explodes.
“Hey, baby,” Cheryl replies, gazing up from beneath me, wrapped in a set of sexy black lingerie, making lustful eyes at me. “Long time no see.”
I immediately leap off and away from her, stunned by what I’m seeing. Is this really happening? I look around, searching the room for Nikki.
“What the fuck?” I blurt out. “Cheryl? How did you? Where is Nikki? Nikki!?”
I race into the bathroom. I know there’s absolutely no chance she’s in there, but I check anyway and find the room empty.
“She’s not here, babe.” When I come back to the bedroom, I find Cheryl kneeling on the bed, both arms forward and together, accentuating her breasts. “It’s just you and me. Alone. Like it should be.”
“Like it should be?” I scoff. “Don’t be absurd. You left me! You ran off with my goddamn lawyer.”
“I made a mistake,” she replies in that soothing, motherly voice that I always hated that she would use when she was patronizing me and trying to win an argument at the same time. “You know I did, babe–”
“Don’t call me babe,” I say firmly. “I amnotyour babe anymore.”
“Why are you so mad?” she asks, slinking closer to me. “Aren’t you happy to see me? Don’t pretend you don’t still have feelings for me, Russ.”
“Oh, I havefeelingsall right,” I reply. “Just not the ones you’re thinking of.”
It’s then that I notice Cheryl’s left hand, and it’s like a volcano begins to churn its magma inside my chest. There, seated on her ring finger, is the engagement ring I gave her and have been asking her to return ever since she walked out on me.
“Russell, come on–”
“You’re still wearing it?” I point. “Seriously, Cheryl?Still?”
Cheryl glances down at the ring, smiles, then looks back up at me. “I just couldn’t bring myself to take it off, babe.”
“I told you not to call me babe…”
“You know how much I loved it when you gave it to me,” she continues as if she didn’t even hear me. “I just couldn’t…”
The anger inside me, the white-hot magma ready to erupt, begins to swell as images flicker through my mind of Cheryl wearing the ring thatIbought her while my old lawyer Barry fucks her in every position imaginable. The two of them probably laughed about it too.
I want to put my fist through the wall. I want to break something and watch it shatter, but what would be the point of that? All it would do is destroy something of mine and cost me money. No, that would be a waste. And Cheryl must know that her coming here today isn’t going to get me back, so what was the point anyway? All she wants is to get a reaction out of me. She’s spiteful that way; she always was.
Nikki.
“He left you, didn’t he?” I ask, feeling a smirk come over my face. “Barry?”
Cheryl was always good at keeping a straight face, but she wasn’t expecting this, and it shows. A slight twitch from the corners of her lips and something in her eyes gives it away.