Abigail is one of the only people on this earth who knows that my marriage is one of convenience. I haven’t really gone into the details but she knows enough. She and I met in freshman year of college and have been friends ever since. I know that I can trust her with anything. She’s that girlfriend that you tell absolutely everything to because you know that she won’t judge you regardless of what it is. I call her the vault because once she knows your secrets, she locks them up tight, never letting anyone come close to them.
“I’m good. Everything is still the same with him.” She squeezes my hand. I can see the flash of sadness that runs through her eyes at my situation. Abigail and her husband are madly in love. They have the kind of marriage everyone wants. They were even together before I knew her. High school sweethearts. They make me long for things I don’t think I’ll ever have.
“Is he still talking about babies?” A lump forms in my throat. Every time he brings up a baby it feels like someone sucker punched me. As much as I’ve wanted to make my way in life I’ve longed more for a family of my own than anything else. One so unlike the one I grew up in.
“He can’t really think that I’d sleep with him? God only knows who he is already sleeping with.” I hiss, my emotions getting the best of me. Even though I’ve vowed to never give myself to him, the thought of him with another woman makes me sick to my stomach.
“I’ve never heard of him cheating on you.”
I fight not to roll my eyes. “I don’t think you can call it cheating.” Not really at least.
“I’m just saying I’ve asked Con before. They all run in the same circles. He said he’d never heard that before.”
“I think Heath would handle that with discretion. This whole marriage thing is for appearances. He wouldn’t want everyone running around saying what a horrible husband he is.”
“I don’t know.” Abigail shrugs. She still thinks Heath and I might fall in love someday. For her love was easy. “How did you get out of your normal dinner tonight?”
“I just didn’t go.” What is he going to do about me not showing up? I couldn’t bear to see him tonight. Not after yesterday. I still feel raw and angry. Abigail starts laughing. “Where is our food?” I look over my shoulder but our food is nowhere in sight. We’ve been sitting here for an hour. I am so used to eating at seven sharp that my stomach is protesting now that it’s half past the hour.
“You’re not going to get in trouble?”
“What is he going to do, spank me?” My stomach clenches, a weird sensation settling deep inside of me at the thought. I push it away like I do everything else when it comes to Heath.
“I’d be careful. I know how my husband can be when I bite off more than I can chew.”
“I bet he doesn’t even notice. I was late the other day and he didn’t notice.” I look again for our food. “We ordered like an hour ago, right?” Abigail looks at her watch and nods. We got to talking and had lost track of time.
“Are you sure he didn’t notice you were late to dinner the other night?”
“Yeah.” I turn my head to look back at Abigail. Her eyes are wide. I follow her line of sight to see Heath making his way toward our table. I sit here shocked for a moment. I had no doubt he knew where I was. If he wants to know he only has to ask the security he keeps on me. What I didn’t think was he’d care enough to show up here. He pulls out the chair next to mine, taking a seat.
“Abigail.” He nods at her.
“Hey, Heath,” she greets him back. I can tell she is fighting a smile.
“What are you doing here?” I grab the folder off the table, putting it back into my bag.
“It’s dinner time.” The server is back putting a plate in front of me and Abigail. Another lands in front of Heath. “I had them hold the meal until I got here.” Abigail starts to giggle but quickly tries to hide it with her napkin. I don’t know if I should be annoyed or flustered. So I do the one thing I can do. I pick up my cheeseburger, taking a giant bite.
7
Heath
The pink dot stops in front of the townhouse. Within a few seconds, David appears by my side. “She’s on her way in, sir.”
“Send her up.”
When he doesn’t move right away, I look over my shoulder to see what the holdup is. A grimace colors his face.