A Chance at Destiny (11 page)

“I'll ask him,” she stood at the curb as Tyler pulled up. His eyes zeroing in on Darren's. “Bye Darren.” Destiny said as she entered the truck. Darren waved slightly with a smirk on his face.

Chapter Eight

Tyler lay with his head on Destiny's chest. His hair was still damp for the love they’d just made. He loved her body, and he wanted to be as close as he could to her. She stroked his hair as they talked about the day. She giggled at all Tyler’s crazy impressions of his professors. After midnight they dozed off snuggled next to one another.

Destiny knew she should ask about Cindi. Maybe this was when she needed to ask Annie for advice. Or maybe Maria. But Tyler hadn't done anything. Or not that she knew of anyway. She would wait it out. If it was as Darren suggested, she'd find out soon enough.

Over the next week, Destiny and Tyler were back into a routine. Even with the study groups, Tyler was always on time. On the week before finals, the house phone rang. Destiny answered it. No one. 
Strange.
It was the last couples gathering of the semester.  They were doing karaoke as a fun game to play and eating pizza. Destiny and Tyler loved karaoke. They'd played it a few times on the video games at Maria and Markos'. As usual, they argued about what song to sing.

Tyler wanted Evanescence’s
Bring Me to Life
. Destiny didn't mind singing the song -she loved that song. But she'd rather sing a song by Beyoncé.

Destiny thought back to the previous Saturday when he’d snatched her mp3 player and danced around like Destiny did when she cleaned the apartment. Tyler had done a hilarious rendition of
Bootylicious
. He was so funny. Tyler loved to see Destiny clean and swing her hips from side to side, round and round while she sang the songs.  But he enjoyed it when she rocked out with him too.  It was sexy to see her let loose and get lost in the rage of the music.

Over the semester they’d learned to enjoy all kinds of music. Tyler actually began to enjoy rap. He still didn't like pop. But Destiny was all girl. She loved any love song that came on the radio. So he would indulge her from time to time. He even liked a few of the love songs but would never tell her.

“I guess we'll have to do them both,” Destiny said.

“My wife is awesome.” Tyler looked at the other husbands. He pumped his fist. “Sweet.”

“I know you love me...” she teased. She was shaking her behind teasingly.

Tyler nodded as the music started. He and Destiny sang with a fierceness. Then everyone laughed with tears in their eyes while Tyler did the Bootylicious dance.

That night they victoriously defeated Bethany and Brody for the karaoke title.

When they got home they were laughing and dancing still. As they settled in for the night, Tyler's phone rang. It was late. He looked at it. Destiny could see him ponder over whether to answer the phone or not. He chose not to.

A few minutes later, his phone buzzed. Destiny new it was a text message. He waited. Then she felt him slowly shift in the bed and grab his phone. Destiny could feel the doubt seeping into her mind.

He didn't seem to reply to the text, but it buzzed again. Then again. Then on the final buzz, Destiny sat up in the bed. "Tyler?”

He didn’t- couldn’t- look at his wife. He knew she was going to ask who was texting him. Tyler debated on how to handle this. He'd been trying to get it worked out. “I know. I'm sorry. Go back to bed. I’ll turn it off.”

The couple had saved enough money to drive to see his dad for the Christmas break. David had been ill since Thanksgiving and James hinted that a visit from Tyler would do his dad some good.

They’d planned to leave mid-morning to make sure to get to the motel before it was too late. But if his phone kept buzzing, she knew he’d be too tired to get up in time for the drive.

“Turn it off. Really, Tyler?” She shifted hard in the bed pulling the covers over her head. “Who the hell would be texting you at one o’clock in the morning?” Tyler heard her muffle under the covers.

Tyler could see she was upset, but he wasn't prepared for a fight. Not now. He needed the rest. He had a long drive tomorrow. So he rolled over, turned the cell phone off, and went to sleep.

The next day, they’d driven about three hours. Tyler needed a break. He was cranky from the interrupted rest the night before. He was tired of the silent treatment Destiny was giving him. He was tired of the buzzing cell phone. He wished he could just go back and change things including teaching his wife to drive.

As if she read his mind, Destiny said, “If you would have taught me to drive -like you promised-you could rest.” She spoke angrily at him. Destiny was tired and frustrated. It really frustrated her that Tyler had his cell phone tucked away in his pocket. He usually left it lying on the seat.

If Destiny wasn't suspicious before she was now. She was going to have to confront her husband about this cell phone issue. It had been brewing since Thanksgiving.
That’s too long
.She heard Anne’s voice say in her head.

Tyler got out the truck to get more gas. “You thirsty?” He asked Destiny. Silence. “Fine!” he slammed the door enraged. He'd had enough of the silent treatment. They had two more hours of driving to reach the motel.

When he got out the truck, Destiny heard his cell phone ring. He’d left it in the side pocket of the truck. She was tempted to answer it. She was about to reach for it when the ringing stopped
Crap!
She thought to herself.

Sitting in the hotel room, Destiny waited on Tyler to get out the shower. Again, his phone buzzed. She'd heard it buzz several times though the day, but he hadn’t checked it.

She’d had enough, “Who is texting you?” She busted in the bathroom. Tyler was rinsing his hair. He jumped when she pushed the door with so much force it banged the wall.

“What?” He spoke over the running water.

“Turn off the water....Now!” She belted out. Her body was trembling with anger.

Tyler did as she asked. Then he stepped out the shower. He was naked. Destiny gulped. She had seen him naked. But not
wet
and naked. His hair was glistening and heavy from the water. It was heavy in his face like a curtain enclosing those ice blue eyes.

She stepped back to let him grab a towel. “Tyler enough. Who is texting you?”

He took a deep breath. His shoulders sagged. He pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes. “Ugh!” he walked to the counter. Grabbing it until his knuckles were turning white from the grip he held.

Tyler stood straight drawing his full height. He walked to the bed.
No time like the present.
“Promise you won't get mad?”

“I'm already mad because you asked,” Destiny was pacing the floor. Her breath was in short pants. She could feel it and was bracing herself for the hurt. “Just tell me!” She tightened her lips. She stood on the opposite side of the room. To Tyler, she seemed so far away.

“I didn't mean for it to happen,” he closed his eyes. She could see him trying to steady his breathing.
This is bad.
Destiny thought. “Destiny.....” He swallowed hard. “I'm sorry.”

Her chin was quivering. She was bracing herself for the fall out.
This is it
. It’s just what Darren had told her. “What. Did. You. Do?"”Her anger was rising to the surface.

When he didn’t answer , she grabbed the phone. “Unlock it,” he sat still . His head was lowered in shame. “Now!” she screamed.

Tyler typed in the code. She scrolled to the text messages. She looked at the messages from Cindi. The ones from last night were gone. The ones from Thanksgiving were gone. The last few from while he was in the shower were still there.

She looked at the picture of Cindi in her pink lace panties and thigh high boots. The message read:
Remember these?

The next was a picture of her naked breasts. Her nipples were pierced. The message read:
u like?lol.

Then there was a video message. She was tempted to push play. Destiny couldn't bring herself to do it. She couldn't see anything but the tears filling her field of vision. “Why?”she whispered.

“I...Desti-“

“Explain it to me. Why?” She through her hands up  in defeat. “You promised!” She stood over him as he sat on the edge of the motel bed . “Get out! Get out now!”  She was livid. Her anger was fueling her. She wanted to rage against him.

“I'm not leaving you here by yourself. I'm not even dressed.” He stood now towering over her.

Destiny would not be intimidated. She stood on the bed to meet his height. Now they were eye to eye. “Get dressed and leave. I don't want to see you. You ....” Destiny jumped off the bed heaving air to her lungs “Leave ...you need to leave Tyler.”   Her tears were becoming a sob. She ran to the bathroom and locked the door.

Tyler stood at the door for over an hour begging. “Please Destiny. I'm sorry. Open the door.” After a while, he decided to slide on his jeans and a t-shirt. She hadn't eaten any food today. He could hear her sobs. “I'm sorry,” he whispered.

Tyler left the room. He locked the door. Then he sat outside the motel room for what felt like hours. He didn't know what to do. He’d hurt her. He’d broken his wife's heart. It wasn't intentional. He needed to explain. His future...her future... it all depended on their marriage lasting.  He’d promised her he'd get her out of that pitiful little town. She deserved better.

Chapter Nine

When Destiny finally woke she looked at Tyler. He was sitting in the chair next to the bed watching her. She uncurled from the ball her body had formed. She was still wrapped in a towel. She’d decided to take a hot shower the night before after she heard Tyler leave . Her hair was still damp at the root. She was cold and shivering.

“Hi,” he walked over to cover her up with the end of the blanket.

Silence.
I deserve that.
He thought.

“Destiny, “ she quickly started to move off the bed . He grabbed her by the waist. “No...no.. Listen. I want to explain.”

She froze.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you or for this to happen. We were just .....I don’t know. It was just texting. Then ....It was just one time. It didn't mean anything. She was all over me. I saw her after Darren dropped you off at home. He bought you those expensive burgers in his new car. When I saw Cindi at the gas station....” He ran his hand over his eyes and shook his head. “She just kept after me and then we kissed ....” He trailed off.

“So you had sex with her?”

“Not ..... exactly,” he hesitated.

“What exactly happened? I want every ugly nasty detail,” she jerked away from him.

“It was just a kiss and....she kept rubbing on me and then she tried to unzipped my pants.”

“Did you touch her?’ Her voice was flat.

“I didn't have sex with her. Promise.” He looked for a sign of something positive to happen. It didn't.

“Did you put your fingers
in
her?” There were large tears sliding down her cheeks. Tyler wanted to wipe them away.

He swallowed. He tried to control his own tears. He gritted his teeth. Breathed through his nose. He couldn't speak. He nodded his head up and down.

Destiny didn't realize it until she was standing before him looking at the red handprint on his face. “Those are my hands.” she seethed. “They touch me! And only me!”  She clasped  his face with her hand. “You touched her with the hands that I love?! How dare you?!” She was shanking with anger.