Secret Indiscretions (12 page)

V
ivana was so mad she couldn't see straight. She fought to control her anger as she sat in her car, parked across the street from the condo building that Johnny managed for one of his clients. “I can't believe that son of a bitch is cheating on me!” she said through clenched teeth.

“I need to find out who that bitch is,” she said. Vivana had taken one look at the woman's clothes, accessories, and the sophisticated way she carried herself, and knew that she was someone of importance. Jealousy surged through her veins, enraging her even more.

Vivana wondered how long Johnny had been seeing the woman. She knew it couldn't have been too long because his behavior had changed only recently. It was clear that the woman was the corporate type, given the stylish business suit she wore and the expensive, high-end handbag that was draped on her arm. Vivana even wondered if the woman was from the area at all because she seemed much too cosmopolitan for Amber. As questions swirled in her head, Vivana knew one thing for sure: even though the woman looked good, she had some age on her.

Vivana glanced at her reflection in the rearview mirror, comparing her looks to the mysterious woman Johnny was with. “I look damn good,” she said, appraising her profile. She felt she was holding up well for a woman in her mid-thirties, and, in fact, she knew she looked younger than she was. Her eyes sparkled, her skin was smooth, and her lips were the perfect shape and size for creating what makeup artists called a luscious pout. “What the hell does he want with that old bag when he's got all this?” Vivana huffed.

The more she thought about Johnny cheating on her, the more upset she got. “That old bitch is the reason he's been avoiding me since last week,” Vivana fumed. “He's been plotting to see her this whole time!”

Vivana had been tracking Johnny's movements ever since last week when she'd asked him if she could come by his office and he'd said no. Her womanly instincts told her that he had something to hide. She was determined to find out what he was up to, and was prepared to do what was necessary to uncover the truth.

Each morning, rather than sleeping in late as she normally did, she rose early so she could park her car in the vicinity of his office building, well before he arrived, then she'd keep a close watch all day on his comings and goings.

But this morning she was running late, thanks to her annoying husband. He'd kept her up well past midnight because he'd wanted to talk about his plans for Sandhill. When she told him she didn't want to hear his long, boring, drawn-out ramblings about the school, Samuel became uncharacteristically argumentative and even aggressive. He told her that he wasn't happy, and that he refused to continue living that way.

“The love that used to be there is gone,” he'd said. “I've tried to make this marriage work, but I can't do it by myself. And honestly, at this point, nothing less than counseling is going to help us, or persuade me to stay.”

Vivana shook her head. “You want to waste good money to go and talk to someone about our problems, who probably has problems of their own? That's just foolish.”

“This is hopeless. We have a real disconnect going on here. If it wasn't for the fact that I've told people I'm married, no one would know. You're never by my side. We never go out together or spend time talking like a husband and wife should. We don't even sleep in the same bed anymore.”

Vivana rolled her eyes and huffed. “First you wanted to talk about the school, and now you want to talk about our marriage. I think you just want to argue, because that's what we do best. I'm tired, it's late, and I have a busy day tomorrow. I'm going to bed.”

Vivana knew that Samuel was right. Their marriage was on life support, but she needed to hold things together until she was able to get Johnny away from his wife, and whatever was currently distracting him so she could have him all to herself.

“I'm tired, too,” Samuel said, “and I'm not going to continue on like this. I can't do this anymore.”

Vivana knew she needed to keep her cool. “What are you saying?”

“Exactly what you think I'm saying.” He'd delivered his words and then marched upstairs to their master bedroom and slammed the door.

A small wave of panic rose up inside her. She didn't want their marriage to end until she was ready, but it looked as though Samuel had other plans in mind. She needed the financial stability he provided and the comfort of a nice home. Vivana knew she had to start treading lightly if she wanted to keep Samuel in place long enough to make sure she broke up Johnny's marriage. Once she accomplished that goal she didn't give a damn about what Samuel thought or wanted.

She'd stayed up a good part of the night worrying about how she was going to hold things together, and she'd been so tired she overslept. Little did she know that arguing with Samuel and staying up late turned out to be a blessing in disguise. She'd been so sleepy this morning that she needed coffee, so she drove straight to the Whole Bean Café instead of to Johnny's office. When she parked her car across the street from the coffee shop, she saw none other than the man of the hour strolling inside.

As soon as she saw Johnny enter the shop she got excited. She thought about how nice it was going to be to finally do something with him as simple as share a cup of morning coffee. But in that same instant, something inside her cautioned her not to make a move. For once, she listened to the little voice in her head and stayed in her car, securely fastened in her seatbelt.

She watched Johnny through the coffee shop's large glass window, noting how he kept looking at his watch, as if he was expecting someone. Her antennae went up when she saw an attractive, well-dressed woman approach him. Her eyes zeroed in on them as Johnny talked and laughed with the woman. At first glance one would have thought the two were old friends, given the way they interacted with each other. But Vivana knew better because she could read the expression written on both their faces.

She watched them the entire time they were inside, right up until they left the café, still smiling and laughing. Johnny walked the mysterious woman to her car, opened her door, and then pointed to where he was parked on the same side of the street. Once he got into his truck, the attractive woman pulled out right behind him, following every turn he made. Vivana was hot on their trail, driving at a safe distance so she wouldn't be detected. “That bastard is up to no good!” she screamed from behind the wheel.

Vivana was crushed when Johnny's truck reached the apartment building where she and he had met up for their first tryst five months ago. She wanted so badly to punch something, but that would serve no purpose. She knew she had to use her head, stay calm, and figure out her next move.

There had been many things in the history of Vivana's turbulent love life that had hurt, dismayed, angered, and disappointed her over the years. From falling in love with numerous men whom she eventually ended up despising, to marrying a good man whom she had no feelings for, Vivana had been through trying relationships. But the emotions she now felt were so heated and intense that she was having a hard time controlling her anger. “I knew his ass was up to something,” she said in a low, venomous roar. “I knew it!”

Ever since Johnny had blown her off last week, Vivana had been anxious, pissed off, and worried about what was going on with him. She'd initially thought he might be having second thoughts about his marriage, given that he'd remained silent when she hinted about his sleeping arrangements at home. That, coupled with the fact that he didn't want to upset his wife by staying out all night, had made Vivana start to wonder if Johnny was beginning to lose interest in her. That was something she couldn't bear.

Although Johnny had never told her that he planned to leave Geneva, Vivana hoped it was just a matter of time before he did. But now that he was acting so strangely, that meant one of two things: either he wanted to give his marriage another try, or he'd found another woman. She had decided that the only way to calm her fears was to start tracking his moves to see what he was doing, and with whom he was doing it.

No man had ever affected Vivana the way Johnny Mayfield did. Even though he had some annoying flaws, she still craved him like a drug. He was conceited, ego-driven, selfish, and not altogether honest, as was evident by the very existence of their relationship. But she couldn't hold him to task for those foibles because she shared some of the same traits, and that's why she knew they were meant to be together.

But sitting in her car—knowing that Johnny was across the street, in a vacant condo that only contained a bed and a table, screwing another woman whom he'd obviously arranged to meet—was making her more furious by the minute. “He won't even be seen with me during the day, let alone in public,” she shouted, “but he has the nerve to meet that old heifer in broad open daylight, at a coffee shop. This shit is wrong on so many levels!”

Vivana couldn't take it any longer and she refused to be wronged or cheated on ever again. She unbuckled her seatbelt, removed her chandelier earrings, which dangled at her lobes, and her bracelets from her wrist. She rummaged through her leather bag in search of a scrunchie, then gathered her long weave into a tight ponytail, making sure to tuck in any loose strands that might make it easy to latch on to.

Before she knew it, Vivana was standing inside the nicely decorated entrance of the building. She was prepared to start walking down the small hallway and knock on every door she saw, in her search for Johnny and his new side piece. But she didn't have to take another step. She watched as the two came walking out of a door to her right. They were no longer talking and laughing as they'd done earlier at the café, but what they were doing now was much worse. Their bodies were in sync as they stood beside each other. They both sported the satisfied look of lovers who'd just experienced ecstasy.

By the time Vivana walked up to them in the middle of the hall, it was too late.

“Vivana?” Johnny said with surprise. “What the—”

He wasn't able to get out the rest because her right hook knocked his head to the side and left his jaw slack. The attractive woman knew what was coming next so she instinctively turned and started to run. But she wasn't quick enough to match Vivana's speed. Vivana snatched the woman by her arm and wrestled her down to the hard cement floor.

“Urrggghhh,” the woman screamed as her body made contact with the hard floor beneath her. Vivana drew back her fist and was ready to give her a helping of what she'd just served Johnny, but the force of her would-be blow was stunted by Johnny's large hand. He grabbed her by her wrist so hard that his grip caused a mark on her skin.

“Stop it right now!” he shouted as he restrained Vivana. “What the hell's wrong with you!”

The woman scrambled to her feet, struggling to pull her tailored skirt down her legs. Her eyes widened with astonishment and she trembled with fear. “If you put your hands on me again I'm going to call the police!”

“Not if I kill your old ass first!” Vivana shot back as she lunged forward. She tried her best to hit the woman, but Johnny's hold was too strong.

“This is insane. What the hell are you trying to get me involved in!” the woman yelled, glaring at Johnny as if she, too, wanted to assault him.

Vivana could see Johnny's eyes widen at the site of his new lover's face covered in confusion. The woman had the bad luck of not only choosing to fuck the wrong man, she'd fucked with the wrong woman's man.

Vivana ignored the woman's obvious distress because right now her attention was focused on Johnny. “You low-down, dirty, sneaky, deceitful, lying, no-good, son of a mutha fuckin' bitch!” she rattled off, so mad she wanted to hit him again. “You've been blowing me off so you could hook up with some other bitch, and an old one at that!”

Johnny glared at her. “You better calm your ass down right now.”

“Or what?” she said boldly. “What're you gonna do, call the police like that old bitch just threatened to do?” Vivana's hands were on her hips, a direct indication that she was about to show out. “You know as well as I do that you don't want them out here because a police report will only mean more trouble for you if your little wifey gets wind of it.”

“She's not your wife?!” the attractive woman said, looking startled as her eyes shifted from Johnny to Vivana.

Vivana smirked. “No, I'm not his wife, bitch. I'm his woman!”

“
Nooo,
you're crazy!” the woman said, adjusting her skirt again. She reached down, grabbed her expensive handbag, which had been thrown to the floor, and gave Johnny an angry stare that could have sliced him in half. “I feel sorry for your wife,” she said with venom, before glancing over at Vivana with a look of pity on her face, “and I feel sorry for you, too, you poor, stupid woman.” She turned and hurried as fast as her legs would carry her out the front door of the building.

Vivana and Johnny looked on as the woman disappeared from sight. Vivana was madder than ever, and she wasn't going to hold back. “That bitch did have a point,” she growled. “You screwed Geneva over, and now you're screwing me over.”

“Leave my wife out of this!” Johnny spat out, looking as though he could hurt her.

Vivana walked up to his face. “You better not even think about hitting me. Don't you know I could have you up on charges?! You should be very afraid.”

“Me?” Johnny balked. “I'm not afraid of shit. I haven't put my hands on anybody. But you have, and you better be glad that this is a quiet neighborhood, and that it's during business hours and people are at work, otherwise one of these tenants would've called the cops already.” Johnny shook his head as he delivered his next words in a slow hiss. “You'd be the one they'd lock up for assault!”