Page 10 of The Homewrecker's Fate

Mr. Higgins popped his head in the room. “I understand this is a difficult time, but I’m going to have to ask that all parties take this elsewhere. Richard, Aviva, take the rest of the day. You both will need to report to Human Resources in the morning.” When he watched my face fall, Mr. Higgins offered me a kind smile. “It will all be okay, Ms. Acker, I promise. No need to worry yourself further. Stress isn’t good in your condition.” He cringed a bit when he noticed that Mrs. Thomlinson was in a similar condition.

“Richard, why don’t you come with me to my office and give the ladies a chance to head out first?”

“I’m going home with Aviva. We have things to discuss.”

“No, we do not. You haven’t been welcome there since you cleared your belongings out back in March,” I informed him.

“Richard, I’m afraid I have to insist. This can’t continue here.”

“Fine,” he grumbled as he reluctantly followed Mr. Higgins to the elevator. The CEO had an office suite one floor above us.

I turned toward Mel then and patted her belly and mine. “What are we going to do?”

“We are going to go grab some lunch and have a nice little chat amongst friends.”

“I’d love that.” As we moved to leave the break room I stopped and grinned at her, face pulling tight where the tracks of my tears had dried. “This is weird though, right?”

“This is survival, Aviva.” She sighed deeply and it was the first time I realized her hands were shaking as well. “We have both been wronged by the same man. Let’s commiserate and plan together. No one else will ever understand what each of us is going through better than the two of us.”

“You are a beautiful soul, you know that?” I asked, and I truly meant it. This woman, for all intents and purposes, should hate me. She should at least want to hate me. Not only had I been in a relationship with her husband, but I was having his baby, too. The fact that she could even be respectful, let alone friendly toward me, was so very telling of the type of person she was. It made me hate Rich a little bit more that he could have ever betrayed her.

Chapter 6

Considering we both looked like we fought a raccoon and lost, Mel and I got takeout and then headed back to my condo to eat it. I hadn’t thought about the amount of awkwardness she and I would face upon bringing her to the place where her husband had been living part-time with me. Luckily, it didn’t last long.

“You have a beautiful home,” Mel expressed as she glanced around.

“Thank you. I got it thinking it would be easy enough to unload one day. My mother’s health is really poor and when she passes, my family’s home will go to me.”

“Is that where you plan to raise your daughter?”

“It is. My mother has been trying to get me to move in now, to save money, and so that we have more time together. I’m not sure my hormonal self agrees, though.” I chuckled and Mel joined me.

“Mothers – you love them, but space is a necessary requirement.”

“Exactly. I want to spend every moment I can with her and end up there most nights anyway, but there are times when I just need to quietly cry into my pillow without judgment or advice being given.”

“I understand completely.”

Once again, I felt compelled to offer to go elsewhere. “Are you sure you’re okay being here?”

Mel’s tight smile told the truth as her words lied. “This is your home, and I am comfortable here with you.”

“There’s no trace of him left here. Even the necklace he gave me for my birthday is at my mother’s house locked up in the safe.”

“That necklace was one of the reasons I knew he was carrying on an affair. I had my suspicions before, but that was a bit of tangible proof. He bought it after the New Year, but stupidly charged it to one of our joint cards. I didn't notice until I received the statement at the end of February. I never received the jewelry. Neither did our daughter or his mother. Knowing it was for another woman hurt because it was around that time that I found out I was pregnant again.”

“He told me his parents were dead and he inherited what must have been your family home that you shared together.” Mel scowled at that and shook her head.

“I never realized just how much that man lied. I swear, he didn’t used to do it, but then I wonder if I’ve just been oblivious for my entire marriage.”

I didn’t know what to say about that because I’d thought Rich was a completely different person than he turned out to be as well.

“I know I have zero right to ask this, but were you still intimate with him during those months that he and I were together?” I cringed while asking because if either of us had a right to that intimacy it was her.

“Listen,” her serious voice penetrated my own personal shame bubble. “You have every right to ask these questions. Like me, you were led to believe that you were the only one. For the sake of your health, as well as the daughter you carry, it’s important to know those things. Plus, if you’re anything like me, a little self-torture with the truth of the matter helps in your resolve against him.”

My nod of agreement seemed to give her permission to tell me the truth. “We were very rarely intimate. By then, I knew in my heart that he was cheating. He denied, denied, denied. The man made me feel as though I was the one with the problem, telling me it was all in my head and that I was crazy. For a while, I believed him. Then, I found his other phone and read some of the messages between the two of you. He had mentioned your name in conjunction with Cliff and Bridgette before, saying you were working on the account, too. When I read the messages, it was obvious that you were more than coworkers.”

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