The Other Other Woman (45 page)

“Oh my God. Babe… I… I just…”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool, huh?” he chuckled.

“I’m sure it makes a lovely home for woodland creatures. However, you are covering up an erogenous zone right there above your ear. I can’t put my lips on that hot mess!”

“And it’s a real pain to wash and dry,” he added.

“Hmm. Okay, so it’s a pain to deal with AND I like it short so I can run my fingers through it while doing absolutely filthy things to your body. Yeah… you’d better keep it long.”

“Well, if you say so…”

“You suck.”

More laughter.

As promised, another gift card from Nordstrom arrived in the mail that afternoon, along with my beautiful plum silk dress from Ann Taylor. It fit perfectly and all I needed was a good strapless bra to hoist the girls up and give them a little oomph. I bet Nordstrom had those.

When I was doing my trade review the next day I asked him to explain his rationale for buying a certain junk bond, not realizing the account was actually run by a separate money management company and not him. He was quick to point out my error in an email. So I sent him a text.

Will you need a formal written apology on your desk or have you already called Ron Lassiter on me?

I have not decided the best route to punish you. #creativity

LOL, as long as it doesn’t involve seafood…

No, but there may be eating involved…

By the way, some nice fella sent me a Nordstrom gift card. I hope I get the chance to properly thank him.

Me too.

Oh my gosh… To have him flirting with me again! I was in heaven.

“Don’t go there again, Mal.” Everyone was saying it. My mother, Jules, Brooke. They were all warning me not to get sucked in by him again, but it wasn’t like I had ever stopped. He could still stop me dead in my tracks without even trying. Brooke told me she felt like he was just being sweet again so he could get me in the sack at the conference and then go back to the same shit/different day routine once he was back home. “I just feel like he’s playing cat and mouse,” she said. “I bet he probably has a woman in every state he travels to, to keep him company when he’s in town and that’s it.”

“But it’s not like he travels to North Carolina on business regularly.”

“No,” she pointed out, “but he does go at least twice a year… for the annual conference and to see what’s their face in Burlington.”

“So, you think he’s putting up with having to text me and talk to me all the time just so he can sleep with me twice a year?! He didn’t even do that last time he was here, Brooke. Believe me, I would have been all over it!”

“I don’t know, Mal, he’s just different now… or maybe I’m just seeing him for who he really is. I don’t trust him and I don’t believe he is ever leaving his wife. He’s like one of those guys… what do you call them? Those people who don’t think rules apply to them… social? No socio! That’s it. He’s like a sociopath!”

“Brooke, do you need to tell me something?” I asked nervously.

“No… I don’t know anything. I just don’t know about him anymore. I really thought I did. Every time he leaves the office now, I suspect he’s up to no good. Every woman we run into or that shows up at an event, I assume he’s fucking her. Or trying to.”

“But you would tell me if you did… need to tell me something… right?”

“Of course I would, dummy! Like I said, it’s no one in particular, just in general,” she said.

“Yeah, I know that feeling well,” I agreed.

“Although I did see him giving his number to the bartender at Strip.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, they were talking about wine so I don’t know if he was telling her he would get her a certain kind or what, but she’s always making eyes at him when we go there.”

“Oh, great. Well, you and I both know all it takes is a text.”

“Yeah, but this girl’s got this big round face. She can’t be more than 23. He probably just likes the attention.” adding sarcastically, “You know he loves putting on a show, making people think he’s Mr. Wonderful.”

It wasn’t like this was the first time I had heard about him flirting with women. Long before we got together I knew how incredibly charismatic he could be, but the way she hesitated and just how bitter she was toward him now had me very worried. She wasn’t even dating him, and she seemed more upset with him than I was. It made me wonder just what was she seeing in him every day that I wasn’t.

“Oh, and before I forget,” she said, “I know we talked about you coming down the last weekend in January, since you don’t have the kids. But I completely forgot that it’s our anniversary and Travis is PISSED that I didn’t remember.”

“I thought he was going out of town for the Reserves?”

“He was, but I guess he changed it once he realized what weekend it was.”

“Oh, well, it’s no biggie. I can come down another time. Matt is supposed to be in Florida anyway so it’s not like I would have been able to see him either. The conference is the next week. So we’ll all see each other there.”

“Oh yeah, that’s true.”

I had been trying to get down to visit her since Christmas. Since this would be the first entire weekend my kids were spending at their dad’s apartment, I wanted to stay busy and to take advantage of the free time. So I was happy when she texted me later that week to tell me that Travis changed his mind and actually wanted me to come down and stay at their house. I called her right away. “Say what, now?”

“Yeah, that’s what he said.” She sounded as surprised as me.

“Who is this man and what did he do with Travis?”

Travis still didn’t know me at all, but he was not a fan. He liked to joke with her that she and I were lesbian lovers the way we were up each other’s butts on the phone all the time. I preferred to think of her as more like the sister I never had. Either way, he didn’t like it.

“I don’t know, girl. We’ve been fighting over what to do about my job and moving lately and he’s trying to get back in my good graces,” she explained. “He’s got all this stuff planned for us–massages, horseback riding, and going to see some comedy show–and he wants you to come with us.”

I was nearly speechless. “Now I know you’re lying.”

“I couldn’t believe it myself, so you better get down here before he changes his mind! He’s even getting his sister to come down and watch the kids.”

“That’s silly. I can watch them while you guys go out.”

“Nope, it’s a done deal. He wants you to go with us. He probably figures I’ll have more fun with you, and that will make me nicer to him,” she laughed.

“Well, I can’t argue with him there.”

The next week, there were still no changes in Matt’s life. My frustration with him, admittedly, was growing once again. I had to press him to tell me about this so-called “interesting” conversation he had had with his wife. It sounded like it was a whole lot of nothing. They had talked about whether or not they were going to stay together in the new year and whether or not she was going to “spend more time” in Miami with him. He still had yet to acknowledge that he was even moving there full- time. So what the hell did I care what she did? I knew that we were going to be due for another Come to Jesus meeting soon, but under the circumstances, I wasn’t about to do anything that might jeopardize our time together at the conference.

There were some flirty exchanges via text, initiated by me, of course. Just trying to make sure we were still on the same page now that I had a spectacular outfit picked out and had made hotel arrangements. I would be sharing a room with Brooke, but I did not plan on actually staying in there with her, obviously.

Gm how’s life? Churning through emails?
he asked.

Nah, just trade review, drinking coffee and thinking.

Am I supposed to ask what you are thinking about?

Only if you want to know I suppose,
I replied.

Well if it’s good, I do. If not, I don’t know, especially if it’s about me.

Well, I have definite concerns about seeing you at the conference.

Okay, well I’m pretty busy till 3:30, you want to talk afterwards?

Primarily, thin hotel walls. This is very concerning.
I added,
also, will you be able to handle the hotness? So very concerning.

LOL, oh okay, I understand.

But yes, we can talk about it later if you like. Did you think I was going to get all heavy on you?

Ahh, well maybe.

Nope, today is your lucky day. But I would like a picture please. I need to make sure you are still good lookin’ enough for me.

My request was ignored. As was the afternoon phone call that I had been receiving once again. But he did get back to me later that evening.
Sorry we were so busy this afternoon, catch up tomorrow, okay?

No problem, you heading to MIA for the rest of the week?

Yep, leave early in a.m. but back on Friday
.

Well, damn. I didn’t think I would see him until the conference. I knew he couldn’t get away for very long on weekends, and I was staying at Brooke’s house anyway. But now I was excited at the possibility of getting a couple of smooches in.

Oh I figured you were staying. I’m most likely coming down to ATL for the weekend, so maybe you should stay in MIA! LOL

He called me within seconds. “Hey, babe, you’re coming down here? When are you coming?”

“Hey, Friday night and I took off Monday too. So I’m probably leaving sometime Monday morning I would guess.”

“Oh, wow, that’s a long time!” he said. “I fly back early Friday night. I have a bunch of stuff to take care of over the weekend, but maybe we could get some lunch like before?”

“Sure, yeah. That would be great.”

“I thought Brooke was doing anniversary stuff this weekend?”

“Yes, it’s our anniversary apparently, the three of us. Don’t ask. I have no idea. But I’m not arguing.”

“Hmmm sounds interesting,” he laughed. “Good luck with that!”

I didn’t hear much from him for the next few days. I wondered why he wasn’t staying for the weekend in Miami. He usually did. It was getting close to the end of football season. I was thinking maybe he was coming back home early to watch the games with his son, but it seemed like he just would have said so if that was the case.

Stage 2 came out of nowhere and kicked me in the teeth that Thursday.

Chapter Seventeen

__________________________

From: Katya Batsevich

Sent: Thursday, January 24th. 2:10 p.m.

To: Wynne, Matt

Subject:

Can u send me the number of ur recruiter friend in FL again? Thx!

It took me precisely 0.2 seconds to completely lose my ever-loving mind and call Jules, screaming a string of obscenities that would make the devil himself cower under the bed. She was going to Florida. She had to be. Why else would she need to talk to a recruiter if she wasn’t, in fact, planning to work there? I knew it. I just knew it.

“Well, it certainly does seem a little suspicious,” Jules commented, waiting for me to regain sanity.

“What else could it be?”

“I don’t know, but Mallory, I don’t believe for one second that that crusty sonofabitch is ever going to leave his wife, so how do you figure he’s moving her to Florida? In their spare bedroom?”

“What if he plans to put her in a condo there? A mile away from work?”

“You really think Wonderbread Queen is going to settle for that?”

“Seems to have worked so far,” I said sadly. “What the fuck is wrong with him, Jules? Why does he keep me hanging on if he wants her?” Tears began dripping down my face. It happened so often now, I barely noticed them anymore. “And more importantly, what the fuck is wrong with ME?”

“There is nothing wrong with you, Mal, other than you care way too much about that stupid assweasel.”

This new information obviously put a huge damper on my trip. I was still going to go. I didn’t want to sit around all weekend thinking about all the possible scenarios behind this one stupid email. I could not, for the life of me, figure out why he was still playing these games with me. If Brooke was right about him just wanting a girl in every state, then why did he refuse to sleep with me several times when I was more than willing? That didn’t sound like someone who was only interested in sex. I felt like I was always asking questions that had no answers. But I was determined that I was going to figure it out that weekend. I was going to be prepared this time. I had already loaded Katya’s current address into my phone.

He was still in Miami when I arrived for Brooke’s anniversary weekend extravaganza. We kicked it off Friday night by taking her kids roller-skating. I had actually just rediscovered how much I loved it myself. I skated for years as a kid and it turns out, it’s sort of like riding a bike; you never really forget. I’ve taken my oldest quite a few times but was more than happy to go with Brooke when I could just enjoy it and not have to worry about helping anyone else keep their balance. It was a lot of fun, and for a while I forgot about my Matt angst.

Brooke’s son had an early morning basketball game so she forced me out of bed at an ungodly hour and we watched him play. After we got back to the house and showered up, I realized I hadn’t heard from Matt. It was his idea to grab lunch in the first place, so I was surprised he hadn’t already texted me that morning. I told Brooke I just wanted to talk to him. I needed a chance to clear the air once and for all.

“Remember we have the conference in a few days. Are you sure you want to make any sudden moves?” she asked.

“I know, Brooke, but what else I can do? I don’t want to go into this conference not knowing exactly where we stand. How am I supposed to sleep with him and pretend everything is okay if he’s moving his little girlfriend down to Florida?”

“I’m telling you, girl, I know you haven’t been wrong yet, so I’m probably barking up the wrong tree. But I’m just not seeing anything with those two at all. I really don’t think that’s happening.”