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“Oh, my God.”
“And their wedding night, he called me because he was having problems getting aroused…I helped him do what he needed to do.”
“Oh, my God.” DeeDee felt like her ears were bleeding.
“Now you see why I couldn’t see her. I felt I was responsible for the sham of a marriage she’s in. And now I find out, he played me.”
“Would it have made a difference if you’d known about Olivia sooner?” DeeDee asked.
Kyla shrugged her shoulders.
Chapter 54
IT HAD BEEN OVER SIX months since Kyla was last at the apartment she frequented with Eric. In the past, she looked forward to her visits here. Today, however, it felt more like the after effects of a bad hangover. She walked in and waved at the doorman, continued down the hall to the bank of elevators, and rode up to the tenth floor.
She walked inside, closed the door behind her and looked around. She stood still, allowing all the memories to settle down. She put her bag on the chair next to the door and laid her keys in the bowl next to the picture of her and Eric in Maui. Happy times, or were they? It was a wild week. They had spent their days at the pool and their evenings clubbing, followed by wild sex well into the early morning hours.
She walked into the kitchen and checked the refrigerator, hoping for a bottle of champagne, but there wasn’t any. She closed the door and walked around the apartment. Every room was filled with memories. Although she took advantage of the cleaning service, she could still smell her parfum and Eric’s cologne. Every surface was soaked with their scents.
She walked into the bedroom and stood next to the queen- sized bed, remembering all the things she and Eric had done. Some things she liked, and some she was ashamed of. Looking back now, the thought of Eric on top of her sickened her. Sean was right, her new self wasn’t comfortable in this place and what it represented. She wanted to get this meeting over and done with so she could get back to her new life…her boyfriend. That term sounded so juvenile. How could such a simple term make a grown woman blush and act like a school girl? Simple, she’d never had someone like Sean in her life.
Sean was more than a boyfriend. He was her best friend. When he told her he wanted to come with her today, she had mixed emotions but quickly said no. Kyla had been working hard to change her life. Although Sean knew about Eric, she didn’t want him here picturing her with Eric. It was bad enough she couldn’t look at herself. She couldn’t bear having Sean look at her, picturing her in some lewd act with her ex-boyfriend. No, it was best Sean never come to this place.
She had contacted a client she did apartment staging for and asked her to give her information on renting the place. She told her that without looking at it, but based on the building, units like hers were renting for about $5,000 a month. Kyla was shocked. She had bought the apartment at a steal…it was part of a bitter divorce settlement, and the couple was eager to get rid of it. She only paid $550,000 for it. Even with the market taking a dip, she was still, if she wanted to sell, looking at around a million dollars. Not too bad, but her client said that’s if it’s in good shape. She looked around and thought, a million dollars to rid herself of the last brick to her past…maybe.
She walked back into the living room. She didn’t want to sit down because every piece of furniture reminded her of an encounter with Eric. She looked over at the green club chair and the memory of being bent over the chair with Eric behind her pressing himself into her, made her sick to her stomach. She ran down the hall to the bathroom to hug the white porcelain toilet. She reached for a towel on the counter, soaked it with cold water, and placed it on the back of her neck. The dampness of the towel cooled her body but did nothing for her nerves. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and instantly, the memory of being in the shower with Eric making love, made her queasy again.
“I can do this.” She took a deep breath and began praying. “Dear God, help, I know I can do all things with Your help, and right now, I’m begging for Your help. Give me the right words to say to Olivia, and please help me to keep my tongue and not slip back into my old self. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
She looked inside the medicine cabinet for her toothbrush and brushed her teeth. When she finished, she dropped the toothbrush into the wastebasket along with the tube of toothpaste and a bottle of Opium parfum. “I’ll have the cleaning service come and clean up.” She walked back into the bedroom and pulled open the drawers of the chest, touching the thousands of dollars of beautiful lingerie she kept here. She only wore these things here with Eric. The bottom drawers were filled with the various toys and accessories Eric liked using. The top drawer of both bedside chests were filled with the same thing…condoms. She never trusted Eric when it came to that area in their relationship. If he was lying to his wife, how could she trust him to make sure he had condoms.
She put all the lingerie into a couple of Bergdorf bags. “I wonder if it would be considered tacky to give these to Goodwill?” She looked at the things that still had the tags attached. “At least I can return these. After almost six years, and this is what I have to
show for it…a beautiful apartment, which I can’t stand to be in, a couple bags of lingerie, some pictures and a small portion of my dignity.”
She walked into the living room and her phone rang. She quickly walked over and picked it up. The barking dog ringtone tipped her off to who was calling. “Hi.” She looked at her reflection in the mirror as she was talking on the phone. The sound of Sean’s voice made her feel better about this meeting.
“How’s it going?” Sean asked.
“They aren’t here yet.”
“Are you okay?”
She could sense the concern in his voice. She knew he wanted to be here, and part of her wanted him to be here. Having Sean here would ease the tension and pain this meeting was sure to bring. It would also mean sharing a part of her life even she was having a challenge with and she couldn’t do that. She didn’t want the good things in her life contaminated with the bad, sinful things of her past. Sean had never looked at her with judgment or shame, only love and compassion, and that’s how she wanted it to remain.
“I’m fine.” She was speaking in faith. She was a nervous wreck.
“Sure you don’t want me to come over?”
“Sean, I’m a big girl. I don’t…,” She took a deep breath. “Baby, would you please do me a favor?”
“You name it.”
“Pick Winnie up at the groomers at four-thirty and bring her home?”
“You got it. Is there anything else?”
“No, that’s it. Thanks.”
