The Other Other Woman (29 page)

Xavier ended up rubbing her stank feet all the way back to the condo, so she gave him a very generous tip, and off we went to bed since we had been up for nearly 22 hours straight. My mom called me three hours later at nine a.m., and I wasn’t able to fall back asleep. Such is life in Miami, I guess.

Matt texted me at a little more reasonable hour, sometime around noon. Brooke ended up being very hung-over, remaining in bed until after lunch.

How was last nite? You guys have fun?

What happens in Miami stays in Miami, Matt,
I responded back coyly.

Well, it sounds like it. I hope you were not too hung-over this a.m.

I’m okay, a little slow-moving because my mom woke me up. Brooke is not so lucky… Are you able to talk?

Not now, but a little later. What time are you going out tonight?

If we go anywhere, it will be pretty late. Seems things don’t get started in this town until after midnight. We just got back this morning around 5:30 or so.

HOLY CRAP! Can’t wait to hear some stories.

It was a productive evening for sure. In the meantime, here are a couple of pics; this one is from dinner. OMG, that place was so good.
I sent him a really cute shot of the four of us together outside the restaurant. I was hoping he would comment on my appearance because I thought I was looking pretty cute. But no.

Good times, Mal!

You could have been here, fool.

LOL me and 4 girls, hmmm, sounds like fun.

Very funny. Here’s a few more… drunk on the sand… then at the blue bar.
Both were really good pictures of both me and Brooke, I thought.

Sweet.
Was his only reply.

Whatever.

We decided to take it very easy that night. It was going to be our last official night in Miami, and we both felt like we could not possibly top our Friday night experience. As much as we would have loved to go back to LIV and do it all over again, we knew that we had to get up early Sunday. We had to clean up his condo, get all packed up, return the rental car, and get back to the airport by one o’clock for our afternoon flights. We decided to take the money we would have spent on expensive drinks, cabs, and cover charges and take ourselves out to a really nice dinner instead, maybe someplace right on the beach. Then we would come back to the condo and relax in the hot tub, which we had yet to experience.

We perused Matt’s list of the more hoity-toity restaurants, but I told Brooke I just wasn’t sure I wanted to go by his recommendations. I was more of a beef eater and he was into lighter dishes like salmon or chicken. We had had a steak (well, a small portion of one, since we had to share with Nicole and Liza) at Pubbelly that was just amazing. In fact, I couldn’t stop thinking about it–not to mention their Goat Butter toast, and their bread pudding, and even their Brussels sprouts. I suggested it to Brooke and she looked so excited.

“Oh my Gosh! I was just thinking the same thing! I would totally go back there! That steak!” she cried, practically wiping the drool off her chin.

“We can’t do that though, can we? That seems so lame to come to a brand new city and go to the same restaurant again?” I argued. “Matt would be ashamed of us for sure. We didn’t go to any of his favorite places, well, except that burger joint.”

“I know, but it was soooo good, and we could just get a couple of different things to make it seem like a different place!”

Back we went. We stuffed ourselves to the gills with much of the same food from the previous evening, but more importantly, each got our own bread pudding. It was absolutely perfect. We went back to the condo, made some more grape juice and Grey Goose deliciousness, got our bathing suits on, and headed down to the hot tub. There were a few people swimming in the pool for a short time, but they left after a few minutes and we had the entire place to ourselves.

We got on the topic of relationships, as we often did. I’m not sure what it was about that particular night. Maybe it was the alcohol or the fact that we were totally relaxed and just had the best time of our lives together. I decided to tell Brooke all about my Wonderbread Queen suspicions. I don’t think she had realized before Miami just how much I really cared about Matt and figured it was more of a casual “friends with benefits” type of relationship. She was definitely not aware of how many times I had caught him in lies or had doubts about his intentions for me. I wanted her to know what I had been going through, or maybe I was seeking some sort of validation from her. Since she worked in the same building, she could tell me if I was way off my rocker thinking that there was anything going on there.

I told her that I had no actual proof of anything but that a certain name popped up enough to make me worried that he had another relationship. And the fact that he was so hot and cold with me over the past few months didn’t help. I hinted around, hoping she would figure it out on her own, because in some weird way, I felt like I was betraying him. But Brooke did not have a single clue who I was talking about. “No really, help me out here,” she said. “I can’t think of anyone I have seen him with that would make me suspect. I mean, I guess he flirts with some of the younger account reps, but not enough to be obvious.”

“You can’t think of anyone, huh?” I asked. “Not even, say, a young
foreign
girl?”

Her eyes flew open, telling me everything I needed to know. “Oh my God! That Katya girl. Oh my God. You are right, that makes total sense now that I think about it!”

“Oh… wonderful,” I said, on the verge of tears.

“No, no, what I mean is, it wouldn’t shock me if they were an item before. But she hasn’t come around in a long time. I never, ever see them together. She used to come and visit him in the mornings, and she would use his office for stuff. You know I’ve never actually seen her face? She must be shy. She used to run by my office in a big gust of hair!”

“Her face is pointy,” I said. “She has very severe features. And she looks a lot older than she is, a total butterface.”

“What the hell is a butterface?”

“She has a great body… but her face…”

“BWAHAHAHA!”

“So, you haven’t seen her around at all?”

“No, not really. A few months back she was driving around in that snotmobile of a car she has; it’s a green Scion. She stopped and waved us down as we were going to lunch, but otherwise, no.”

I told her how I had tried to track him down at her townhouse that day back in August. “Damn girl, remind me not to mess with you!! Hahaha. I’ll definitely let you know if I notice anything amiss…”

“Yes, please do.”

I felt a lot better with her in my corner. Not that she wasn’t before, but I knew she had a lot of respect for Matt. So, while I didn’t want to make her choose between me and him, I was still glad that she would choose me if push came to shove.

“Hey, Mal?”

“Yeah?”

“You… you don’t think we could have caught any critters from dancing with those boys, do you?”

I immediately spewed my drink everywhere. “What!? Like STDs?!”

“Yeah, I’m just asking, you know. They had their hands all up on our butts. I just want to be sure you can’t transmit anything that way.”

I was crying laughing. “Brooke, I’m pretty sure you cannot get critters from hand-to-butt contact. Now, hand-to-ice-cube-to-nipples, there may be an issue. So I’m screwed. But I’m pretty sure you are still critter free.”

We stayed in the hot tub well into the wee hours of the morning again. I would have to catch up on sleep once I was back at work. The next day we cleaned every speck of sand or dust we brought into the condo with us and had that place looking spic and span, even better than when we arrived. We also went to Target and bought him a few things, some nicer potholders (his sucked), a knife, and some Lucky Charms. I knew he and I shared an “instant affinity” for them so I wanted him to have a fresh box the next time he was down. I also left him some butter in the freezer because he was always watching his weight and I wanted to fatten him up. Food is love!

We said goodbye to Miami and made our way back home. We had to split off to different gates at the airport. I texted Matt while waiting to board my plane.

No fair making me go home.

Hey, sorry, reality sucks, babe, but I hope you had a good time.

Best time ever, thanks again for everything!

My pleasure, sweetie. Let me know when you land, ok?

Will do. Brooke and I are going to need to come back every few weeks, hope that’s okay…

Of course you may. Anytime.

I texted him once I landed in Raleigh.
Back in RAL. BOOOO!

Welcome back, sweetie!!

With a dead battery at the airport! *cry*

Oh, I am sooo sorry
.
Bad finish!

I was in my car in the short term parking deck, and it wouldn’t start. One of my kids had left the little light on above their seat, and I didn’t notice it in the daylight. Luckily, the airport has a car service that drives around for those types of emergencies.

Chapter Eleven

Leaving Miami behind was rough, but I was so excited that I would be seeing Matt that next Friday. I assumed anyway. I mean, it was his idea. He was pretty good about staying in touch while we were away. And even though I didn’t get a ton of warm fuzzies from him while we were in Miami, he was very friendly once we were back. He texted me before nine a.m. that morning, which he hadn’t done in months, to tell me he wanted to hear all about our trip.

His new branch manager, Wiley, had started just after I came down in April. So I had not been able to meet him just yet. Wiley and I spoke on the phone, however, and had a decent working relationship. We were discussing me taking over a couple more of his branches one afternoon when he asked me when I was going to come down for a visit. I texted Matt, who just happened to be number one on the Top Broker list that morning.

Just saw the hit parade… I was thinking I need to get with that sexy mofo who was number one today, but then I remembered I already did!

LMAO. And you will again, on Friday…

Wiley just asked me when I was going to come down there to meet him/do a branch visit. Why on earth would I want to do something like that?!

Surely you would not do that!!!

Terrible idea.
I replied.
*thinks she hears Marvin Gaye music*

Schedule it!!

I can maybe schedule it for when you are in TN or FL since I’ve already met you once or twice, right?

LOL. Nope, I’m an integral member of the ATL party team.

Oh, well, since you put it that way…

In order to score babysitting services for Friday night and into Saturday morning, I told my mom that one of my few single friends wanted to go out dancing for her birthday. I figured my mom would be so happy to hear that I was actually going to a straight bar for once that she wouldn’t possibly refuse to watch them again. She was already trying to fix me up with every single co-worker of hers that she could think of. I felt bad about deserting my kids for another night so soon after getting back from my trip, but after about 36 hours of them whining and screaming at each other nonstop, I quickly got over it. I began focusing instead on the possibility of wrapping my body around my hot man all night long.

He was going to have to make a quick visit to his friend in Durham that Saturday afternoon, so we determined it was a more practical idea for me to meet him in Greensboro and spend the night in a hotel there instead of Raleigh. It was closer for him, for one thing. Also venturing out in public as an actual couple would be much less risky there, since the probability of running into anyone we knew was small. I’d been in Raleigh for almost 30 years, so the last thing I needed to do was to run into someone from work, my kid’s school, or worse, my soon-to-be-ex in-laws.

Due to the nature of our relationship, (and no, I hadn’t forgotten that he was married) our time together had always been relegated to hotel rooms. Not that I minded that. But as my feelings for him deepened, little luxuries like being able to hold his hand outside or riding in his car meant so much to me because we had never been able to do them. The idea of being able to have a casual meal together or even a small public display of affection became incredibly appealing to me.

Both Jules and Brooke were well aware that he was planning to come see me, even though he had yet to mention it to Brooke. He hadn’t even told her that he was taking Friday off, which made me a little nervous. But then when she asked him about his plans for the weekend, all he gave her was a devilish smirk and said, “I don’t know, might see if I can get in a little trouble,” which of course, made me grin from ear to ear when she told me. I guess I didn’t have to worry about him not showing this time. I still did… just little. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief when she ended up getting a voicemail from him later Thursday evening saying that he wouldn’t be in the next day because he “had an appointment with a mutual friend of ours.”

Jules and Brooke had never met and didn’t know each other well, but they knew “of” each other through me. The three of us had shared some group texts, usually for the sole purpose of making fun of me. The night before I was supposed to meet Matt in Greensboro, we were having some fun with a little bet. I asked them how many times they thought I would be able to hit it within an almost 24 hour period. I was confident it would be at least four, but Jules wasn’t convinced.

No way, that geriatric fucker? Four times might kill him! I say no more than three.

Yeah,
Brooke agreed,
I’m going with three, too.

Oh please, every time I’ve seen him it’s been twice and we are usually together for no more than four hours.