Chapter 20

Sunday, November 29th, I sat, relaxed with a glass of wine and a piece of chocolate cake in the living room of my beautiful home. Just as I went for a second bite, I heard this loud pounding on my door. I looked up, like what the hell?

Then it happened again accompanied by the incessant ringing of the doorbell. I put my plate down and headed to the door. When I looked out the peephole, my face scrunched, I opened the door and there she stood, hair pulled up in a messy bun, eyes red, “Elise, you’re finally back.”

“I am,” I replied, somewhat confused as to why she, Mallory was at my house. “How ... did you get my address?”

“It’s in your file. Preston has all of your information in a cabinet in his office.” She stepped inside without being invited. She looked around, “This is a nice place.”

I closed the door and turned to witness her about to burst into tears, “I know. I know Elise.”

“You know what?”

“About Preston and all the dirt that’s been happening. He’s cheating on me.”

I sighed, “Wait, where are you getting this?” I asked. I knew he was cheating, but I needed to know what she knew.

“On that stupid trip. All this time, I was worried about him sleeping with you and he’s out there in Atlanta with Casey and I thought she was my friend.”

I nodded, “And he told you this?”

“Of course not, Heather said she saw Casey go into his room late one night and didn’t come out until the next morning.”

Heather, that bitch, I thought. She must have been upset that Preston did give her that BBC and she wanted to throw Casey under the bus. Even though I knew it was likely that he had cheated with Casey, I had to calm her down.

“You don’t know that he slept with her. All you know is that she went to his room. Maybe she passed out. It could be innocent.”

“You think so?”

“It’s possible. So, don’t get worked up over it.”

“I just feel like this is my karma. I knew Preston liked you and I went after him and now another woman is doing to me what I did to you.”

Bingo. But I didn’t say that. “Let’s not worry about any of that. Go home, relax.”

After she finally left, I was in a slight rage. He had the audacity to sleep with another woman when I specifically warned him not to. And I had given him two appointments with Onyx in December. They would be canceled immediately.

Monday in the office, the energy was off. Heather was at her desk tight-lipped and focused on her work. That was so unlike her, she would normally spend at least thirty minutes minding other folks’ business.

I got up and walked to Preston’s office. I knocked on the door. He took a minute to say, “Come in.” When I walked in, I saw Casey, her nose red, eyes puffy, she gave me the head nod as she left. I closed the door and eyed him accusingly.

“Good morning, Elise, have a seat,” he said.

I opted to stand and replied, “This won’t take long actually.” I scowled at him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked innocently.

I was like, you must think I’m a fool. And I was about to assure him I wasn’t. I chuckled, “Guess who came to see me last night? Very distraught, I might add.”

He gulped, eyes nearly popped out of his head, “Your wife. Mallory. And she seems to think you slept with Casey and from the looks of it—”

“Elise, I don’t owe you any explanations.”

“You’re right. You don’t, but when your wife shows up at my doorstep out of sorts because you’re fucking one of your subordinates, which could cost you your job and I run interference on your behalf, you might not want to act so fucking smug.”

I turned to leave. He hurried behind me, “Elise wait, I swear to you. I don’t know what happened. It’s all a blur and I, I—”

“You fucked up.”

“Yeah. I did. I talked to her, Casey, and she understands it was a mistake.”

“And you think that’s going to fix this fiasco?”

“What do I do?”

“Focus on your wife. The mother of your children.”

“Does this mean ... that we ... I mean.”

I nodded, “Onyx is off-limits.”

“I don’t get you. You do what you want and I, I—”

“I’m not the one that’s married. And you, you, never mind.”

“What?”

“Nothing. I have work.” I turned and left. The truth was, I was a little hurt. We had shared a beautiful weekend. I thought I meant something to him, but he was still making dumb mistakes. And I wasn’t about to let him slide at all.