Simply Complicated (6 page)

He had never seen this side of her before and wasn’t sure how to handle it. He thought he had her wrapped around his little finger and therefore any act of kindness would make her forgive him. He decided to send her some flowers at work.

The next morning he ordered a spectacular arrangement of flowers and had them sent to her. When she received the flowers she immediately smiled. Inside was a card that read:
I’m sorry I disappointed you last night. It will never happen again. Hugs and Kisses! K.

She had never had flowers sent to her at work before. She watched as some of her coworkers received flowers on special holidays and on their birthdays. She was so excited. She called Ken at work to thank him. To her surprise, he was not at work; his secretary explained he had gone on a two-week vacation.

There must be some mistake. Would he go on vacation without telling me?
she thought. She decided to call his cellular phone. When he answered she was relieved.

“Hey baby, thanks for the beautiful flowers. I appreciate it. Are you coming over later so I can really show you my appreciation?” she asked.

“As much as I would love to come over tonight and crawl in between those legs, it will be impossible for me to make it. I’m available for a few hours now but I know you’re at work,” he said.

“Well you’re in luck because I have a half day of school today. School dismisses at 11:15 a.m. so I can meet you,” she replied happily.

He was supposed to be meeting Monica for lunch but he knew if he cancelled with Susan again it would upset her and perhaps cause her to do something foolish.

“Okay baby, sounds like a plan. Give me a call when you get off work and I’ll meet you at your apartment,” he said.

After talking with her, Ken called his wife to cancel their lunch plans. He lied and told her that he had to go into the office to finish some paperwork before his vacation started.

He met Susan at her apartment as promised. She had hoped he wouldn’t mention her calling his house the previous night. She wasn’t sure if he remembered her promise to delete his home number from her cell phone.

They had passionate sex for nearly an hour. She was relieved that he never mentioned her calling his house.

Ken started rubbing her gently across her back.

“Susan, why did you call my house last night? I asked you when we first got together to delete my home number and you told me you would. You lied to me,” said Ken.

She did not know what to say. So she lied.

“I really meant to delete it but I never got around to it. I only called because I was worried about you when you never answered my calls,” she said.

She could tell he did not believe her so she finally told him the truth.

“Okay. I really called because I was angry that you cancelled our plans to be with your wife. I felt as if you betrayed me. You never cancelled before and I was jealous,” she admitted.

“I had no choice but to cancel. Monica was starting to complain that I never take her out. She was questioning my whereabouts. I think she’s starting to get suspicious and I knew I had to take her somewhere special,” he said.

“I don’t get it, Ken. You promised that if I waited patiently we would be together. I’m wondering if you lied to me in order to keep me quiet. Is that what’s really happening, Ken? Tell me!” Susan insisted.

This time he didn’t know what to say so he kissed her passionately. “I don’t want to waste our time together arguing, baby. Come here and give me a kiss,” he said in an effort to change the subject.

He didn’t tell her that he was going out of town for two weeks and she would be unable to contact him.

After leaving her apartment, he headed home. When he arrived Monica had just finished packing. She was so excited that they were finally going on a family vacation.

For the first week of their break, he, Monica, and Marci would all be together. During the second week, he and Monica were going somewhere alone.

Susan tried getting in touch with him during the first few days of his vacation, but his cell phone was turned off. She remembered his secretary mentioning that he would be out of the office for two weeks but since they saw each other later that same day she expected to have heard from him. She decided to call his office again hoping to find out if he was in town. When his secretary told her that he was on vacation, she became angry.

Why didn’t he tell me?
she angrily asked herself.

Has he been lying to me all of this time?

She didn’t know how to handle her feelings. If only she could speak with him. She was sure there was a perfectly good explanation for everything.

By the fourth day, she was becoming irrational. She spent most of her day trying to figure out what she was going to do. She couldn’t concentrate on her students at work. All she could think about was him and the time he was spending with his family. She grew more envious of Monica.

When she returned home after work, she checked her messages. Ken had not called her. She felt helpless and found herself losing control. She decided she was going to drive by his house to see if his car was in the driveway. She knew that this was not a good idea but she felt she had no other choice. When she arrived, his car was gone.

If only I can find out where he went it would help me to feel better. But how can I find out? Jake! He would know where Ken is. Of course, Jake doesn’t know about us. Maybe I can tell him. Surely he would understand
, she thought.

She knew of Jake’s unfaithfulness to his fiancée since they had slept together. Of course, Ken never knew of their affair.

Susan called Jake at the office to see if they could meet. Jake thought she wanted to discuss her investments so he agreed to meet with her the next day.

During their meeting, she told Jake everything about her relationship with Ken. Jake was stunned; he had no idea that Ken was cheating on Monica. When he and Ken would meet for lunch, Jake would be the one discussing his affairs while Ken told him he was wrong for behaving so horribly.

“I don’t believe you, Susan. Ken would never cheat on his wife,” he said.

“I am not making it up. Why would I? See, here are his home and cellular numbers,” she said as she handed him her phone.

“That doesn’t mean anything. Just because the two of you may talk on the phone doesn’t mean you’re sleeping together,” he said.

“That’s true but I’ve been to his house before,” Susan said, describing his den in great detail.

“Okay, I believe you, but let me ask you this. How can you sleep with me while having an affair with my friend?” he asked in disgust.

“The opportunity presented itself so I took advantage of it. It was nothing personal, but you’re an attractive man and you wanted it as much as I did,” she said sarcastically.

“So I guess you’re an opportunist. Well, I don’t know where Ken took his family on vacation and if I did I wouldn’t feel comfortable telling you,” Jake retorted.

“Jake, if you don’t tell me I’ll call your fiancée and let her know about us,” she said, trying to blackmail him into telling.

“Really! So this is how you want to play. I’m not worried about you telling my fiancée because I’m damn sure you don’t want me telling Ken about us. Who do you think would be hurt the most? So think about that the next time you try to blackmail someone,” he shouted angrily.

“Okay, okay, Jake, you’re right. I just need to know where Ken is—that’s all. I’m not trying to get you into trouble. He is supposed to be with me, not her,” she said calmly.

Jake could tell Susan was getting desperate. She did not look her normal self. Her hair was not neatly styled and she was dressed sloppily.

“The only reason he took his family out of town is to visit his wife’s grandmother. She is ill,” he lied, trying to help his friend.

“Oh. I didn’t know that,” she said.

“He’s scheduled to be home by the weekend. I’m sure he’ll call you,” he said.

“Okay. Thanks for listening to me and please don’t tell Ken about this meeting or our affair,” she begged

“You take care of yourself, Susan,” he said as he stood to leave the restaurant.

She felt a little better after meeting with Jake.

As soon as she left, he called Ken on his cellular phone and left a message,
“Ken, as soon as you get back we need to talk right away.”

When Ken and his family returned home he was a little nervous. He suspected that Susan had called him several times. He knew she would be upset. As he listened to her messages, he could hear in her voice that she was angry.

When he came across Jake’s message, he stopped listening to his voicemail and immediately returned Jake’s call. They spoke briefly and agreed to have drinks later. After calling Jake he called Susan and was relieved to reach her voicemail.

He left her a message,
“Hey baby, I apologize for not telling you I was going out of town. It won’t happen again. I miss you and I’ll call you later.”

He and Jake met at their favorite bar. He expected Jake to start his conversation as he usually did but Jake surprised him. Instead he asked Ken how long had he been cheating on Monica.

Ken sat in stunned silence. He didn’t know what to say.
How does Jake know? Did Monica say something to him? Does Jake’s fiancée, Camille, know?
His head was spinning.

To play it safe, he denied it.

“What are you talking about? I’m not cheating on Monica,” said Ken.

“Come on man, I’m your best friend. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. All this time you were condemning me and you were cheating on your wife,” Jake chastised.

“Stop playing, man. Just tell me what you’re talking about,” said Ken, still not admitting to anything.

“Susan called and asked if we could meet for lunch. Naturally I met with her, thinking she wanted to go over her investments. Imagine my surprise when she started telling me that you’ve been seeing each other since my party nearly two years ago,” said Jake.

Ken was stunned again; he couldn’t believe Susan told Jake about them after he made it perfectly clear that no one could know. He initially kept trying to deny it but soon realized he had no choice but to come clean.

“Okay, okay, okay. It’s true. Susan and I have been seeing each other. I’m actually relieved that I can finally talk to someone about it. I wanted to tell you but you seemed so preoccupied with Camille and Cindy that I didn’t think you were interested in listening,” Ken confessed.

“Are you kidding me? You know I would have been there for you. We’re like brothers. You can talk to me about anything. I thought you knew that,” said Jake.

“Thanks man. I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone else, especially Camille.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t. But I need to warn you about Susan. She was looking and acting very strangely that day. You need to be careful. She may do something crazy,” warned Jake.

“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind,” said Ken, not really taking Jake seriously.

“So, do you plan on leaving Monica for her?” asked Jake.

“No,” laughed Ken.

“So the two of you have been sleeping together since my party? I did notice you spending a great deal of time talking that evening but I didn’t think anything of it,” said Jake.

“We started off as platonic friends for about five months and then one night things became hot and heavy and we ended up sleeping together. We’ve been intimate for about a year,” Ken explained, relieved to talk about it.

“Well, I don’t know how to tell you this so I’ll just come out and say it. Several months ago Susan and I had sex. Had I known about the two of you I would have never done it,” said Jake.

Ken could not believe it.

“Several months ago? What? How did that happen?” questioned Ken, trying to hold back his anger.

“It happened one evening at the office when she and I were working on her portfolio. Out of nowhere she sits in my chair and spreads her legs. She wasn’t wearing any panties. I must admit at first I didn’t know what to do. She had never seduced me before.

“Naturally being the man that I am, I accepted her invitation and we had sex right there in my chair. I feel bad about it now knowing that the two of you were seeing each other,” said Jake.

Ken was angry. Oddly enough, he felt as if Susan had betrayed him. He wasn’t mad at Jake. He was furious with Susan because she was aware of his friendship with Jake.

“Wow! I don’t know what to say. Thanks for telling me everything. I think maybe I need to end things with her sooner than expected. I need to get back home. Thanks again,” said Ken, quickly throwing bills on the table.

As he drove home Ken was fixated on what Susan had done. He pounded the steering wheel while recounting his lunch with Jake.
How could she tell Jake about us? And to sleep with him while sleeping with me. If she told Jake, who else would she tell?
Ken thought.

He was starting to get nervous. He felt as if his perceived hold over Susan was disappearing. He didn’t want to take the chance of Monica finding out. Things were starting to get out of control.