Heartbreaker Breaks (A Bittersweet Lottery Love Story) (Tangled Hearts & Broken Vows: Tales of Infidelity Book 1) (8 page)

  “Well, it’s something you’ll be doing today and you’ll like it. I promise.”

  “It’s your day Faye.” He squeezed her hand.

  “The full spa day at 1:30 P.M?” She turned to the disinterested and slightly mortified clerk and asked.

  She nodded her head in response, “Should I call for the bellman to take your bags upstairs?”

  “No bags, thanks,” He dismissively replied to the clerk, “Come on, Faye, shopping time.” He grabbed the credit card and gestured towards the boutique across the lobby.

…

  They spent a little over an hour in the store trying on everything, amassing a huge and expensive pile of suits and dresses. The sales assistant’s attitude was the polar opposite of the reservation woman. They were warm and welcoming, ordering Champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries for Nick and Faye.

  Their outfits grew more outlandish with every trip to their respective dressing rooms. By the time they were forced to leave so as not to miss their spa appointment, Nick was dressed in bright purple and green argyle golfing clothes better suited to the 1920’s than the present day. Faye wore a trailing silk organza plum colored dress and was covered in furs and jewels.

  In a rush they left all of selections, minus the fur coat, Faye had strong views on the ethics of fur, on the counter with instructions to have the items sent to their suite on the top floor. They ran out of the store together, hands brushing up against each other, all the while laughing, happy.

  Faye heard trails of the shop assistants speaking, “Love can be so unexpected…” and smiled to herself.

  “Hey, I got you something.” Nick dug into the pocket of his pants and took a thread-thin platinum chain dotted with heart shaped diamonds.

  “Nick…” She took it from his outstretched hand, admiring the delicacy of the metalwork, “You didn’t pay for this… I’m touched… I can’t express how touched but…”

  “You just spent like 15,000 dollars… The bracelet was like 300.00, they’re not going to come after me.”

  “Why are you always so sure of these things?” She looked him squarely in the eyes and asked, “You will get caught one day.”

  “You’re worth jail time,” He gestured his head towards the spa door, “Come on let’s get this over with… I know you’re trying to turn me into one of your girlfriends, but it’s not going to work. I’m all man Faye.”

  “A boyish man at best…” She felt tears well in her eyes and made a mental note to call the store when she got home and explain she accidentally picked up a piece of jewelry without paying. There was no way she would return the bracelet. A sweeter gift, or maybe words had never been spoken to her before, she thought to herself.

  A vision of Adam filled her mind’s eye, and she knew her thought wasn’t true. She waited for a feeling of guilt for her disloyalty of thought and action. The emotion didn’t come.

…

  Wrapped in robes, and blissfully relaxed, they went up to their suite. They floated past the bags from their shopping binge and sat upon the edge of the bed, unmoving and quiet as if hypnotized. Faye struggled to suggest that they get ready for dinner, thought better of it and lay back on the stiff ornately embossed coverlet.

  “Okay Faye… You did it, you turned me gay,” He lay down beside her and spoke in the cadence of someone barely awake. “Spa day, we’re doing it weekly ‘til all your money is gone.”

  She opened her mouth to make a light joke about how their day, expensive as it was, wasn’t as much as the interest on the money for a month’s time. Too lazy to speak, she nuzzled against his arm. He adjusted his position so that her head lay on his chest and stroked her still damp hair.

  “How are you doing on that anyway? We haven’t visited a charity… in like two weeks.”

  “Hmmm,” was the only response she could muster. The tingles from the one and half hour massage hadn’t yet subsided.

  “I don’t know what that means… but it’s sexy, like you.”

   She managed to lift her hand and playfully swat his arm.

  “Okay… I’ll leave it alone. But I’m going to point out again, that this kind of thing? You lying on me like this? This where I get the idea that you dig me.”

  “I’ll move if you like,” She did not move, and couldn’t have if her life depended on it. Her body free of tension from the spa day and close to his was something close to paradise for her.

  “I didn’t say that,” He pulled her closer, “You know what I’m curious about though?”

  “You talk too much…” She mumbled into his chest, closing her eyes.

  “Your whole money plan? Why are you so cheap with it? You’re leaving you and your family so little, not even a third of the money. Why not give your daughters a larger cut?”

  The mention of Anja and Ines, woke her up with a sharp slap of reality. She rolled off of Nick’s chest and lay on her back, and stared up at the ceiling, “I don’t want to take away their drive. They’re young, what kind of life would they lead, what kind of people would they become, if everything were handed to them so easily?”

  He took her hand in his. She flinched but didn’t shake it away, “40,000 annually is a lot of money, more than enough to give them a comfortable financial base should they want to pursue something… not certain.  Even in New York City, they could live well with only the bare minimum of a job, if that’s what they want.”

  “That makes sense but why not give them the lump sum before they’re forty? Why not thirty? That’s usually when people settle down.”

  “That’s a fair point. I’ll consider it… Do you think you’ll be settled by thirty?”

  “I don’t know, I could be dead by then.”

  “You’re so morbid,” She shook his hand off hers. He held firm.

  “You could set me up, like your kids.”

  “Is that really what you want?”

  “Nah, I wouldn’t take it even if you pushed it on me in that pushy way you have.”

  “I don’t know what you mean by pushy. But you know, one day I’ll tell someone, someone I probably don’t even right now, the story of our time together. They’ll never believe you didn’t have nefarious financial intentions, that you weren’t trying to con me out of the money. We should get up and get ready for dinner.”

  “That person, the one you don’t know yet? They’re an idiot, you should stay away from them.” He said and turned to look at her. She was asleep. He closed his eyes and joined her in slumber.

…

  It was dark when they woke, face to face, noses touching. Faye opened her eyes wide to make him laugh but his expression was serious. His eyes, a rich emerald, the glint dulled. They lay still, pushed up against one another for a very long time.

  The silence was broken by Nick, “It’s like I don’t even know my name when I look at you…” His lips were on hers, gentle touches at first, slowly moving across her mouth. She knew she should shoo him away, but she didn’t move.

  Her heart pounded in her chest as Nick’s mouth opened onto hers. The truth became clear to her, how she had lied to herself. Her feelings for him were well beyond the feelings of connection, of friendship. She tried to think of Adam, to stop what she was giving into. But he was a world away.

  Nick lifted up for a moment, opening the front of her robe, gently running his fingers up and down her chest, carefully avoiding her breasts, “Are we going to do this? You’re so beautiful.”

  The answer was in her eyes. He nodded his head and opened her robe completely. She lay naked in ecstasy as he continued with the featherlike touches up and down her body. A moan escaped her and he tore off his robe, his strong body above her and the scent of him, overwhelming her.

  “Faye, Faye…” He whispered over and over again between the kisses spread across her neck, her mouth. His body pressed against hers, a hardness against her thigh. She sighed heavily as she clutched his back tightly, becoming one with him.

…

  The sun creeping through the thin space between the heavy linen curtains woke Faye. Her legs were entangled with Nick’s, who slept peacefully beside her. She hugged him closer, kissing the tip of his nose. Her heart soared.

  The blink of the clock on the bedside table caught her attention. The time read 5:30. She sat up with a jolt. Adam would be sick with worry. The thought of calling him made her feel ill.

  She leaned across Nick and picked up her cellphone. No messages, she felt relief. She quickly texted Adam, explaining that she had fallen asleep at Cassandra’s house. A call to Cassandra was in order to provide back up for her deception. She dreaded it.

  “Cassandra,” she whispered into the phone, “I’m in Palm Springs… Ummm, I told Adam I was with you. I’ll explain later.”

  “What time is It Faye?” Cassandra’s sleepy and slightly irritated voice asked, “What are you doing in Palm Springs? Oh, Faye, you’re with that boy, aren’t you?”

  “I’ll call you when I get home.”

  “No, I’ve been calling you for weeks. You’ve done a disappearing act… I knew it was because of him. He’s only going to hurt you. This is a mistake.”

  “He means so much to me, please don’t speak about him that way.”

  “What are you going to tell Adam?”

  “That I fell asleep at your house.”

  “That’s not what I meant. I mean what are you going to tell Adam about all of this? This so unlike you.”

  “Can we talk about this when I get home? Will you cover for me?”

  “Yes, I’ll cover for you but I need you to know this a world apart from covering for each other like we did in high school. This has real world consequences.”

  “You’ve always encouraged me to do this,” She glanced down at Nick, hoping she hadn’t woken him up with the unplanned argument with Cassandra.

  “With an adult, a responsible one, not some criminal boy you met in the Valley.” She sighed into the phone, “You’re going through a lot right now, and you’re not making good decisions.”

  “I’ll talk to you when I get home, okay? Bye.” She hung up the phone and tried to lay back into her previous position against Nick. No such luck, her body was tense and her mind raced with so many thoughts that none could take hold.

  “Do I really mean a lot to you?” He whispered into her ear and ran his nose along her cheek.

  “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

  “Yeah and you didn’t answer my question. Do I mean a lot to you?”

  “What do you think, Nick?” She wrapped her arms around him, rubbing against him.

  “I think that you’re married,” He kissed her deeply and hard before she could ask for clarification of what he meant.

…

  With a buzzing happiness, she ordered breakfast while Nick was in the shower. The suite was a mess, bags and discarded robes all over the floor. Faye found she didn’t care, only wanting to stay in the room until the end of time. She sensed the world outside would crash upon them once they left, destroying their paradise.

  The waiter knocked on the door as Nick exited the bathroom, the towel loosely tied low around his waist. The sight of his golden chest with a scattering of hair across caused Faye to fall back into the pillows, a giggle escaped her mouth. He glanced her way, a mischievous smile on his face, “I’ll bring you breakfast in bed,”

  “You’ll be happy to know I tipped equal to the bill,” He laughed as he wheeled the silver domed cart towards the bed.

  “Uggh, the money. Let’s not talk about it on this most perfect morning.” She laughed to him as he plated the dishes onto a tray and put it on her lap.

  “Perfect morning?” He sat on the edge of the bed, next to her, a far off look in his eyes, “Yeah…. It’s great here. Reminds me of Las Vegas.”

  “I didn’t know that you’ve been to Las Vegas. I suppose the climate is the same, a dry heat.”

  “No, I’ve never been there… I meant, what’s that saying? What happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas? Is that it?”

  She put down the coffee cup she had been about to take a sip from and stared at Nick. All emotion drained from her. She felt empty with a strain in her chest, “Nick, what are you trying to say to me?”

  “You know the drill, Faye,” He leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips, “I’m going to go downstairs, okay? You’ll be ready soon? I’ll have the bellman come up to get the bags. See you in an hour?”

   She lay back in the bed stunned as he dressed in khakis and green linen shirt they had bought the day before. Her stomach ached, and her heart pounded in her chest as he walked out the doors without a glance back to her. No, she must have misunderstood his intention, a human could never be so callous, she thought to herself.

  The tray filled with her favorite foods, expertly prepared by Cordon Bleu trained chefs, looked like slop upon the fine china. She moved it off her lap and strained to get up. Her body lacked the will, and she fell backwards, crying into her hands.

…

  She met him in the lobby a little over an hour later. Her face was tear-streaked and there was no way to hide it. Make-up was not something she wore regularly and all her handbag contained was lipstick and a tube of mascara, dried out from lack of use. She did have sunglasses, but couldn’t bring herself to wear them inside, no matter how much she needed to mask her face.