Lies in Love

Lies in Love

Ava Wood

Copyright © 2014 by Ava Wood

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved
above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced
into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the
prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher
of this book. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands,
media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are
used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and
trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which
have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is
not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

The following story contains mature themes, strong language, and sexual
situations. It is intended for adult readers.

Cover Art:
Designed by: Woodward Photography

To my mother. Without you I’d be lost.

“What
is he doing here?” Talia eyed Mason’s white Lexus RX450H
in the driveway. He must’ve been setting up some surprise for
her for after their rehearsal dinner this evening. She quietly opened
the front door and tiptoed through her quaint living room, squeezing
between her sofa and recliner on the way to her bedroom. She was
giddy knowing she would be spoiling his surprise, but her heart
plummeted when she heard labored breathing echoing down the hall. The
surrounding walls were painted in a tranquil soft blue, but it did
nothing to calm her nerves as she crept to the narrow hallway. At the
end, she saw her bedroom door cracked open and two naked bodies
moving rapidly on
her
bed. She stomped down the hall and kicked the door open to see
Mason’s sweaty frame jerk to face her.

“Oh
shit.” Mason’s body was blocking Talia’s view of
the woman he’d just been screwing. His wavy chestnut hair was
plastered to his forehead. He ripped the rumpled satin sheet from the
bed and wrapped it around his waist, moving just enough for Talia to
see blonde curls spilling over her pillow.

“Really,
Mason? Like I haven’t seen your pencil dick before? Please.”
Talia, with arms crossed, stared Mason down, still waiting to see who
the long-legged tramp was in
her
bed. Mason hastily moved toward her and Brandy’s angular face
appeared mortified, just as flush as the rest of her naked body, now
fully exposed. Talia turned her attention to her fiancé and
screamed, “What the fuck? We’re supposed to be getting
married
tomorrow
,
and with my friend, no less.” Her stare turned to Brandy, who
was now sobbing on the bed.

“I’m
so sorry, Talia. I never meant for this to happen. Mason just said he
had to get this out of his system before the wedding. Please don’t
be mad at me.” Brandy inched across the bed, her mascara
streaking down her bony cheeks.

“Holy
shit, Brandy. How stupid do you think I am?” Talia grabbed
Brandy’s mini dress from the floor and contemplated ripping it,
but instead threw it in Brandy’s face. “Get dressed and
get the fuck out.”

“Talia,
please forgive me. You’re one of my dearest friends. You and
the girls are all I have.”

Talia
chuckled. “Not anymore. Go to the shop, tell the girls you quit
and you’re leaving town. I don’t care where to, just get
the fuck out. I don’t want to see your white trash whore face
again.”

“Talia,
please.”

“Get
out.” Talia raised her arm to backhand Brandy, but the other
woman was out the door with her dress clutched in her hand before
Talia had the chance.

“Baby,
I’m sorry. Please let me explain.” Mason fumbled with the
sheet like there was actually something to hide.

“How
could you? With Brandy? Why?” Talia’s thoughts were
disjointed as she fought tears she refused to shed in front of him.
He didn’t deserve them. He betrayed her and, as awful as she
felt, she had to know more. “How many others?”

“What?”
Mason’s gray eyes enlarged at her question.

“How
many other women have there been? Was Brandy the first or should I
get tested for some tramp’s STD?” Talia moved around the
room, snatching up random items belonging to Mason.

“Baby.”
Mason was coddling her. Talia hated being coddled.

“Mason!”
she yelled, stopping in her tracks. “How many?”

“There
was one other, but just once, and I was careful, okay.” Mason
stepped closer to Talia. “I just wanted to get it out of my
system before we got married. I swear it will never happen again. I
did this for us.” Mason’s arms extended to rub Talia’s
shoulders.

“Don’t
you dare touch me. You don’t get to touch me ever again.”
Talia took the clothes in her hands and launched them at his feet. “I
want you to leave.” She took a deep breath and began again. “I
want you to leave this house and never come back. I don’t want
to see your face ever again. Don’t call me, don’t write
me, and don’t bother showing up at the church tomorrow because
I won’t be there. The wedding is off.”

“What
about all the guests? My entire family flew in this morning. This is
going to catch them off-guard. They’re not going to
understand.”

Talia
rolled her eyes at the sniveling man in front of her. “I don’t
care what you tell them. You figure it out. Make them understand. All
I care about is you leaving this house
now
.
I’m done.”

“What
about my‒‒”

Talia’s
voice shrieked, “Get out.”

She
watched as Mason grabbed the clothes at her feet. His exposed
sculpted body no longer had the power over her that it once did.
Attempting a juggling act with his clothes, Mason ran out the door.
Seconds later, Talia heard the front door slam. She fell to the floor
and the tears she’d been struggling to hold in came flooding
out. She didn’t know what to do with herself. What would her
friends say when they found out how he humiliated her? And her father
would be furious when he realized how much money was flushed down the
drain on their farce of a wedding. Why didn’t she see the signs
of his infidelity? Surely there were signs pointing to his betrayal.

She
picked herself up off of the floor and put a plan in motion. She
would have Mason out of her life sooner than he would ever expect.
She grabbed her last trash bag from the kitchen and began gathering
up all of Mason’s things: his clothes, his shoes, his
toiletries. God knows he didn’t add anything else to the house
that she had purchased for them as an engagement present. He couldn’t
even handle buying replacement trash bags. The man was a lawyer and
had contributed nothing to their relationship, including himself.
She’d be damned if she wasted her last trash bag on him now.

When
the bag was overflowing she walked outside and emptied all of the
contents onto the hearty green front lawn and returned inside to
gather more of his things and repeat the process. Mason would be
sorry he ever met her when everything was said and done.

When
the last of Mason’s clothes had been deposited on the front
lawn, Talia stepped back inside with the empty trash bag in hand and
slid to the floor. The glass of the front door burned her back as
tears continued to trickle down her cheeks. She was determined to
make a plan to save herself from the embarrassment of Mason’s
unfaithfulness.

She
decided she would keep his affair with Brandy a secret. She didn’t
want anyone’s pity for the sack of shit excuse of a man that
Mason was. She didn’t want to feel less than adequate for his
indiscretions. She refused to divulge anything that played out today,
rumors be damned. She didn’t care what people thought as long
as she was rid of him and her dignity stayed intact. No one needed to
know the why, just that she was done. She would be the strong one,
the woman who left a man that she had no future with. She would be
the woman who others envied, because she put herself first and didn’t
stay in a relationship out of propriety. And she would never let a
man betray her the way Mason did. Not for looks, or money, or power.

As
she wiped away the last of her tears, an unseasonal downpour began,
drenching the clothes strewn across her yard. Talia thought of all of
Mason’s dress shirts being destroyed by the mud and muck,
evoking laughter from her lips. She wasn’t sure how, but she’d
find a way to get through this. No man would ever hurt her like this
again.

Talia
hung up the phone and blew a sigh of relief. She was finally rid of
the last reminder of Mason left in her life. The house they shared
was sold and no longer a constant reminder of the betrayal she felt.
She’d suffered for months dwelling on her mother’s
reminder that she just wasn’t good enough.

“
Maybe
if you’d been a little more supportive of Mason, he wouldn’t
have turned to other women.”

She’d
never be able to forget the disdain in her mother’s voice when
she’d called to tell her the wedding had been cancelled. Her
mother, the woman who couldn’t tear herself away from her
lavish life with her new, loaded husband in California, was the sole
person she had confided in and this was the sympathy, or lack
thereof, she got. Talia was just thankful that she’d demanded a
small wedding and had a limited amount of people to notify about her
failed marriage attempt. The embarrassment of telling everyone she
cared about was enough to drive her into seclusion for months if it
weren’t for the fact that she had a flower shop to run.

Sick
of dwelling on what happened more than six months prior, she spun to
return to work and found her younger sister, Sara, staring at her.

“Everything
okay?”

Talia
hated the way Sara hovered since her breakup with Mason. She wondered
if Sara would ever come to terms with how abruptly their relationship
ended. Talia knew for certain that Sara didn’t buy the sole
excuse that she and Mason would never work. Talia wouldn’t tell
anyone else how inadequate she felt after his indiscretion,
especially after her mother’s accusation. Sara had been there
for so much of the relationship that Talia just couldn’t tell
her the truth. Not after Sara felt she knew Mason as well as her. But
neither of them knew the real Mason. Deep down, she wondered if
anyone ever did. Talia nodded in answer and began to walk away when
Sara stopped her.

“Was
that about the house?” Sara had been moping about the sale of
Talia’s home for weeks.

“Yes,
Sara, it’s gone. And it’s for the best.” Talia
turned back.

Sara’s
gray eyes stared at Talia, making her uneasy. Why did it feel like
Sara was trying to read her mind or make her change it? She refused
to accept that Talia was moving on. Living in the quaint apartment
above the flower shop was the best fit for her. She didn’t need
the reminder of Mason’s infidelity. She was happier within the
outdated walls of her second-floor apartment. It was charming, homey,
and extremely convenient being just above her flower shop. And there
were so many memories with her father there. It was a storage attic
turned bachelor pad that her father, she, and Sara occupied after her
parents’ divorce. Her mother had moved across the country and
left them behind, only taking their baby sister to North California.
It was just another reminder that Talia would never be enough for
their mother.

Sara
was more like their mother than she was willing to admit. She was
judgmental of everything Talia did and hasty and most of the time
extremely oblivious. She may have gotten their father’s looks,
but she didn’t have his blasé, non-intrusive demeanor.
Where Sara had their father’s gray eyes, Talia’s were
green with a touch of amber hugging her iris. Sara’s hair was
blonde and wavy, just like their dad’s while Talia’s was
auburn and board straight. And Talia’s nose turned up while
Sara’s was perfectly straight and balanced. Talia hated that
she resembled their mother so much, knowing she was nothing like her.
When those gray eyes brimmed with tears, Talia finally spoke. “Sara,
it’s just a house. I’m sure one day I’ll have
another. There’s no need for the waterworks.”

With
an indignant stare, Sara returned, “I loved that house. Why did
you have to go and end things with Mason?”

Talia’s
jaw dropped. Was her sister really taking his side? Even if Sara
didn’t have all the facts, was it necessary to continually
bring this up? “Did you really…?” Talia turned to
her, tight-lipped. “Get back to work and stop nosing in my
personal life.”

Footsteps
padded from the front of the shop to the workroom and Reina came in
with her chocolate eyes twinkling. “Dios mío, Talia,
these flowers are beautiful.” Reina clutched the bouquet of red
and pink roses with green dianthus and baby’s breath added in
for contrast.