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“So then what is this Levi?” she asks. I can sense hesitation in her voice even as she tries to be strong.
“I don’t know, Oakley…” I sigh. “I just know that this isn’t the fling I thought it would be. It’s turned into more…what exactly, I don’t know. But it’s much more than I bargained for.”
Oakley nods and reaches for my hand squeezing it. “Me too. I enjoyed waking up next you…” Her voice trails off, and I know she wonders when we’ll ever be able to wake up together again.
“What time is Vayda coming back?” she asks, swirling her spoon in the coffee she has yet to touch.
“In about an hour,” I say, feeling downcast as she looks.
Oakley nods and gets up moving around the table and climbing into my lap. “Can I just stay here for a moment before I go home?” she whispers in my neck.
The scent of wildflowers overpowers my senses, I finally figured out what it is. Her shampoo. I lean my head into her hair and take a deep breath, wanting to savor our last few moments together.
We sit like that for almost ten minutes in complete silence just holding onto each other until Oakley finally gets up and leaves without a word.
I understand completely, there are no words that could describe what happened between us this weekend. No words to explain the pain of her leaving after giving me so much of herself.
I hear the terrace doors close quietly behind her and heave a heavy sigh before I crash all the flatware on the table with the sweep of my hand.
I feel like a caged lion wanting to be set free, and yet the walls of my cage are closing in on me a little more, every second I know we have to see each other in secret.
For a moment, I consider Sarah, John and Vayda’s reactions if we told them that we were having an affair. The accusations, the hurt in their eyes and Vayda’s anger makes me realize there is no way we could ever tell them—not without the aftermath of destruction it’d cause.
I glance down at the shattered flatware on the floor and glance at the clock. I had about thirty minutes to remove any trace of Oakley before my daughter is home.
12
Oakley
“So Vayda, how was your girl’s weekend with Oakley?” My mother asks Vayda Tuesday afternoon. Vayda sits at our kitchen counter. She quickly popped in to say hi, since I haven’t seen her since before the weekend.
My heart jumps into my throat, and my eyes dart toward Vayda who is giving me a peculiar frown. Fuck! If Vayda outs me now, there will be hell to pay. How the hell did I explain to my mother I spent the weekend at Vayda's house without Vayda?
I widen my eyes and try my best to convey with a desperate look for Vayda to play along. Vayda gives me a curious look before she just shakes her head. Luckily my mother has her back turned toward us.
“Oh, it was so much fun. We huddled in front of the television watching girly movies and ate a lot of pizza.” Vayda says, embellishing slightly. This is why I love her. I can always count on her in a sticky situation. Now I feel even worse for sneaking around behind her back with her dad.
“Way too much pizza,” I add, giving Vayda a grateful look.
"I was almost certain you two would pop in over the weekend for some nail polish or magazines like you always do, it was strange not seeing you for the whole weekend." My mother chatters on while she stirs something on the stove. Could she just drop it already, one wrong word and I'll be exposed. I consider sending Levi a text asking him to urgently call Vayda back home, but decide against. I have to just ride this out and hope it works out for the best, and besides, I know Levi is working on the bathroom from hell today.
"You know us…" Vayda gives a nervous laugh, and I hold my thumbs up, hoping my mom doesn't catch on. "Give us a few romantic comedies, throw in some Gerard Butler, and we're glued to the screen."
My mother laughs and shakes her head before she turns around and smiles at Vayda.
"Vayda, your father actually reminds me of Gerard Butler. Maybe it's his doppelganger. Do you believe in those? I think there is someone out there that looks exactly like us. Maybe the hair and the coloring is different, but I've heard too many times about how someone met theirs."
Oh my God, I cringe inwardly. My mother is spot on. Levi does look a lot like Gerard Butler. I stand up and head toward the fridge. Pulling it open, I let the cold air blow over my face hoping it'll chase the heated blush from my cheeks.
“You think so, Oakley?” Vayda asks thoughtfully.
"Yeah, sure." I remember how he touched me. How he had groaned out my name and knew I couldn't face Vayda or my mother. He was my own personal Gerard Butler fantasy come to life. "You want something to drink, Vayda? Here's… soda… juice… some gooey green stuff my mom insists is good for us and…water?" I drag out the space between words deliberately hoping my cheeks return to their normal color by the time I turn around.
Vayda laughs. “Let’s try the gooey green stuff.”
“You should!” My mother beams. “It’s Swiss chard, spinach, broccoli, avocado and cucumber juice. My dietician swears by it.”
I cringe at the thought of drinking liquid spinach but pour us each a glass anyway. The gooey liquid trudges down my throat, making my gag reflex act up. I finally manage to get one sip down and watch to see if Vayda is doing any better.
