The Perfect Marriage (4 page)

I
t was five thirty, and while Denise could have easily worked a while longer, ten hours had been enough for one day. The morning
had brought on one fire to put out after another, and the afternoon had only turned out worse. There had been phone call after
phone call, two new admits, and also an impromptu meeting with Mr. Hunter, the marketing director, the CFO, and a few other
managers. Normally, they met on Tuesdays, but since a couple of folks had booked outside appointments, Mr. Hunter had rescheduled
the meeting for that afternoon. It hadn’t taken long, but it had still added one more item to Denise’s far too jam-packed
list. She also wasn’t happy about not getting another real chance to review more résumés the way she’d wanted.

She strolled over to her black Mercedes S550 and smiled when she saw Pamela backing her SUV out of her parking spot.

As Pamela drove closer to where Denise was standing, she rolled down her window and lowered the volume of her CD player. “What
a busy, busy day.”

“You’re tellin’ me. And it seems to get busier all the time. We need more people and fast.”

“I agree, but maybe you’ll have more time to work on that next week. Maybe even get a few interviews scheduled.”

“I was hoping to do that today, but so much else was going on.”

“I can help you if you want.”

“If I don’t read through those résumés pretty soon, I might have to take you up on that. We might even have to do it after
hours or on a Saturday, if you’re willing.”

“Not a problem. Just let me know.”

Denise leaned against her car. “So what are you doing this weekend?”

“Not a whole lot. I may drive up to Wisconsin tomorrow to see my folks, but on Sunday, I’m doing nothing. Just need a day
to relax. What about you?”

“Pretty much the same. We’ll likely visit my parents tomorrow and since we haven’t been to church in a while, we’re planning
to do that on Sunday. After that, I’m hoping to rest.”

“I hear you. Oh and thanks again for coming up to Agatha’s room this morning. You never should have had to do that. She could
have easily told me about some dirty towel.”

“I know, but it was pretty clear that she wasn’t going to be satisfied until she saw Mr. Hunter.”

“Unreal. Okay, well, I guess I’d better get going. See ya on Monday.”

“Enjoy your weekend.”

Pamela drove away, and Denise sat inside her car. She pressed the Start button and considered whether she should call her
guy. Thankfully, the two Vicodin she’d taken earlier had worked wonderfully, and interestingly enough, she didn’t feel overly
relaxed like she’d been expecting. She still felt calm even now, but she wasn’t sure she had enough Vicodin or coke to get
her through the next few days. She decided it was better to be safe, though, and dialed Butch.

“What’s up?” he answered.

“Hey. Can you meet?”

“When?”

“In about thirty minutes?”

“I think I can do that. Same place?”

“Yes.”

“See you then.”

Denise pushed the XM radio button and chose the Heart and Soul Channel. A song by Ledisi was playing, so she left it there,
put on her sunglasses and drove out of the parking lot. It was a gorgeous, sunny autumn afternoon, and Denise loved the changing
of seasons. As she coasted down the rural road, she admired all the different leaf colors. Some were reddish, some orange,
some brown, some yellow. She also saw a few evergreens that never lost their color. She was so at peace and looked forward
to having a fabulous and very calm weekend.

She drove about ten minutes before stopping at a bank ATM drive-thru. She rarely kept a lot of cash on her, but of course,
cash was the only form of payment Butch accepted. She didn’t mind, though, because it wasn’t like she would ever write a check
to a drug dealer. As it was, she’d never even gone to his house because she didn’t want to take a chance on having anyone
connecting her with him.

When the machine dispensed twenty-five twenty-dollar bills, she stuck them in her purse and drove away. Her normal buy from
Butch would only cost three hundred, but since she was withdrawing money, she figured she might as well withdraw a little
more to keep in her wallet.

As she accelerated and changed lanes, Derrek called her.

She pushed the Talk button on the console of the car, so she could speak hands-free. “Hey, honey.”

“Hi, baby. You off?”

“Yep, and boy what a day it was.”

“That bad, huh?”

“And then some.”

“I hate how stressed you always are.”

“Me, too, but there’s not a lot I can do about it.”

“You could go back to bedside nursing any time you want.”

“I was thinking about that earlier, but in order to earn the same money, I’d have to work just as many hours plus every other
weekend.”

“But you seemed so much happier then. You worked a lot of hours, but you never had to bring work home. You also never had
to be on call. Plus, I make more than enough money to make up the difference if you wanted to work just forty hours.”

“You’re singing to the choir. But I just can’t imagine giving up a top position. It would almost be like saying I couldn’t
cut it, and I gave up.”

“Everyone knows you’re not a quitter, and you shouldn’t have to feel bad about doing what you love. There’s nothing wrong
with that.”

“Once I get my staff replenished, things will run a lot smoother, and I won’t have as much to worry about. It’ll get better.”

“I sure hope so, because you seem so tense lately.”

“I’ll be fine. So how was your day?”

“Good. It was busy, but nothing to complain about. I’m actually heading home pretty soon here.”

“I have to pick up Mac in an hour and a half, so I’m running a few errands before then. I need to get a few toiletry items.”

“What are we eating tonight?”

“Whatever you want is fine.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“I’ll see you later then. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Denise hated keeping secrets from her husband, but there was no way she could tell him the truth about where she was going.
He would never understand, and there was no reason in the world to upset him. Especially over nothing.

After another fifteen minutes, Denise curved her vehicle through the park until she saw Butch’s shiny, black, chrome-rimmed
Escalade. It was almost identical to Derrek’s. Denise pulled up beside him and Butch got out. Butch was Idris Elba handsome,
but he also looked hardcore. Like he knew the streets inside out and wasn’t someone to be played with. He also didn’t speak
like most thugs or dealers she’d seen on TV, and she liked that about him as well. He was a bad boy, no doubt about it, but
he was smart, ridiculously charming, and never cursed.

“Hey, beautiful.”

“Hey, how’s it goin’?”

He passed a brown bag through her window. “Couldn’t be better. You on the other hand, look a bit tired.”

“I am,” she said, thinking about how little sleep she was getting each night, which she knew was a result of her cocaine use.
“I had a really long day.”

“Well, that’s even more the reason you’ll be thanking me the next time I see you.”

“Meaning?”

“I packed your two grams of coke and a nice size bag of Vs, but I also gave you a little something else. Something that will
relax you even more than the Vicodin.”

Denise wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that. “I don’t know.”

“Just try it. Free of charge.”

“What is it?”

“Dilaudid. In the pill form.”

Denise knew full well what Dilaudid was because they’d used it quite often during her six-month stint in the ER. It had been
her first year working as a nurse, and while they’d only administered it to patients who were experiencing excruciating pain,
they’d always given it intravenously. Dilaudid was a powerful drug, a synthetic form of morphine, but she knew the pill version
wouldn’t work as quickly—not when it came to the way it made you feel emotionally, anyway. Still, while her gut told her she
shouldn’t accept anything other than what she’d come for, she didn’t pull out the Dilaudid and give it back to him. Instead,
she passed him fifteen twenties.

“See you, beautiful.”

“Thanks for coming.”

She pressed the button, putting up her window, and Butch strutted back to his vehicle. Denise watched him and for the first
time, she felt strange. For some odd reason, she also thought about her parents. What would they think if they knew she was
meeting a drug dealer in the middle of nowhere? For that matter, what would her best friend, Michelle, think or her boss and
co-workers? She knew she wasn’t like most of Butch’s customers, people who were struggling with addiction and those who didn’t
know how they were going to pay for their next fix, but she also didn’t like lying to Derrek the way she had earlier—not to
mention, she’d lied to her daughter last night about having to skip out on the movie to do some work when she hadn’t brought
any work files home to begin with. Thankfully, she’d purchased enough coke to last her a couple of weeks, and she wouldn’t
have to meet up with Butch any time before that. If she was lucky, she had enough to last even longer.

D
enise cruised back through the park and exited onto the main street, heading to Mackenzie’s junior high school. Minutes later,
her phone rang. She smiled when she saw it was Michelle. Beautiful, wise, and always kind to everyone, Michelle was by far
the best friend Denise had ever had.

“Hey girl, I was just thinking about you earlier,” Denise said.

“We haven’t chatted in a couple of days, and that’s definitely out of the ordinary.”

“I know. I thought about calling you from work, but I never got time.”

“We should try to go to lunch next week.”

“That would be great if I can break away. Normally, I’m so busy, I end up skipping it altogether.”

“Not good,” Michelle said.

“Tell me about it.”

“So where are you now?”

“Um…on my way to pick up Mac from debate practice. I just got off work.”

“Oh, okay. I just got off myself.”

“So how are you enjoying your new job?” Michelle worked for an auto manufacturing supplier and had recently been promoted
to marketing manager.

“I absolutely love it. It’s everything I dreamed it would be.”

“You’ve deserved that job for a long time, and I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks. It took me a while, but I think getting my master’s last year really paid off.”

“I’m sure it did.”

“One of the other candidates still isn’t happy about me being chosen, though.”

“The woman you told me about a few months ago?”

“Yeah. She was already upset about not getting the promotion, but yesterday, my boss placed her on my team.”

“So she reports to you now?”

“Yep.”

“Oh no.”

“‘Oh no’ is right. I just hope she eventually accepts the idea or decides to go work for another company. It’s hard having
someone work for you, when they resent you so much.”

“Been there and done that, so I know how you feel. But hey, isn’t your date with Eric tomorrow?”

“It is.”

“Are you excited?”

“I am, and I’m so glad he decided to come introduce himself to me after church last Sunday.”

“And he did it while you were talking to Derrek and me and a couple of other members, so he definitely wanted to get your
number. He wasn’t afraid to pull you away at all.”

“He seems very nice, and he works as a business consultant for a major insurance company downtown.”

“Has he ever been married?”

“Yes, but his divorce was finalized a year ago. He also doesn’t have any children.”

“I hope your date goes well. If it does, the four of us will have to go out sometime.”

“For sure.”

Denise and Michelle chatted for another five minutes. But as she accelerated, barely beating a stop signal, a state policeman
tailed her and flashed his red lights. Denise knew he wanted her to pull over, and her heart practically thumped out of her
chest.

“Hey girl, I need to run inside the store,” she lied, “so let me call you back, okay?”

“Sounds good. Talk to you later.”

Denise ended the call.
Oh my God, what if he searches my car?

She was terrified, but she kept her cool, pulled over to the side of the road and watched the officer through her rearview
mirror. He didn’t get out of his vehicle right way, so she knew he was probably running her plates. While he did, she carefully
removed the bag of goodies from her purse without any full-body movement and slipped them under her seat. Thank goodness for
long arms.

She sat and waited, but the more time the officer took, the more she panicked. Her heart raced faster and a chill whipped
through her insides. Had she maybe ran the red light after all? Had she possibly been speeding? Or what if he’d seen her meeting
with Butch in the park, exchanging money for drugs with him? What if he’d witnessed the entire transaction?

Finally, after another minute or so, the tall, muscular, officer stepped out, slid on his hat, and started toward her. When
he arrived at the side of her car, she let her window down.

“Good evening. I’ll need to see your license, registration, and proof of insurance, please.”

Denise reached inside her purse and removed her license. Then, she opened the glove box and pulled out the other two items.

The officer looked everything over. “Were you aware that one of your taillights is out? I noticed it when you stopped at the
intersection a couple of blocks ago.”

Denise exhaled cautiously and prayed this was all he wanted with her. “No, I wasn’t. I had no idea.”

“You should try to get that taken care of as soon as possible.”

“I will, and thank you for letting me know.”

The officer passed her information back to her, smiled and tipped his hat. “Have a nice day.”

“You, too, Officer, and thank you again.”

As he walked away, Denise breathed a huge sigh of relief. What a close call that had been, and she couldn’t remember ever
feeling more afraid of anything. Maybe it was best she not meet Butch again or buy drugs period. It wasn’t like she desperately
needed any of what she’d purchased from him, and she couldn’t imagine what would happen to her, Derrek, and God help her,
Mackenzie, if she was ever arrested and charged with possession. What a horrifying thought. She decided right then and there
that, after finishing the stash she had now, she would be done with cocaine and Vicodin for good. She enjoyed the way both
drugs made her feel, but they just weren’t worth ruining her life or her family’s. She would never knowingly cause pain and
humiliation for her husband, daughter, or parents, so this was one wake-up call she couldn’t and wouldn’t ignore.

Denise was proud of her decision and glad she’d had such an amazing revelation before it was too late. She’d always known
she could stop taking pills or snorting cocaine any time she wanted. She’d known this to be true all along, but it felt good
finally being able to prove it.

All was good now, so Denise pulled herself together and went to pick up Mackenzie.