Chapter 7
My alarm woke me up the next morning, and I wanted to shut it off and roll back over. However, I couldn’t do that because I had work to do and wanted to check on Mr. Cooper.
Sure, you just want to see his grandson.
I rolled my eyes at my inner thoughts and swung my legs over the side of the bed.
I glanced over my shoulder at Roy sleeping peacefully, and I wanted to punch him in the back of the head.
He thought I was asleep when he got home, but I wasn’t.
I knew he came in at three in the morning, but I didn’t say a word to him.
He didn’t know about the tears I shed when I heard him take a shower and sneak into bed like he had been there the whole time.
He should have been getting ready for work, but maybe he had to sleep off whatever he had gotten into the night before.
I debated on waking him up, but I didn’t want to start an argument with the headache I’d woken up with.
I should have put the wine down after the second glass.
Coffee and Advil were on my list of things I needed to function throughout the day.
I couldn’t drink like I used to in my twenties and still function.
Usually, I needed a day to recoup, which was why I only drank on the weekends these days.
I looked over at Roy again then got up. I had a long day ahead of me. Besides Mr. Cooper, I had three other patients I had to check on. One of them was scheduled for transfer to a rehabilitation center, so I had to make sure her transfer went smoothly.
I used the bathroom while the water heated up in the shower. Afterward, I washed my hands and put on my shower cap over my scarf. I wanted to get new bathroom accessories, so I mentally added that to my list of things to do after work.
As far as I knew, Roy would pick the kids up from school, so I would have time for a little shopping trip. I would probably change the boys’ bathroom stuff, too.
While I showered, I tried to think of where Roy could have been that kept him away from his family until the middle of the night.
I’ve had my suspicions, but he had never been out that late.
It was a first, and I prayed it was the last time.
I wasn’t na?ve, though. Roy was doing some shit he shouldn’t have been.
I held my ring up and stared at it for a minute as the water cascaded down my body.
I thought about the happier times when Roy and I first got together.
I remembered the day he proposed to me like it was yesterday.
There was no hesitation when I said yes.
Things were great then. I wasn’t sure what happened that changed it, but there was still time to fix it if we both wanted to.
“Good morning, Sloan.”
I jumped when I heard Roy’s voice as he stood at the toilet.
“Good morning, Roy.”
I could see him through the shower door, and it used to turn me on whenever I saw his dick, but now I felt disgusted.
“Do you want some company?” he asked as he shook his dick then flushed the toilet.
“No. I’m about to get out.” I quickly rinsed off and shut the water off. If I didn’t, Roy would have still come into the shower, and I didn’t want him touching me.
Roy stood next to the shower and handed me my towel when I got out.
“Thank you.” I wrapped the towel around my body and walked over to the sink to do my skincare routine and brush my teeth.
I washed my face with the turmeric soap from Immortal Glo every morning and night then finished with some Glo oil. When I finished getting dressed, I would spray some of the rosewater I got from the website as well. I loved the way the products made my skin and smell.
Roy sucked his teeth and stood next to me. “What’s your problem?”
I put toothpaste on my toothbrush then looked at Roy in the mirror. “I don’t have a problem, Roy. I have a headache, and I’m trying to get ready for work like you should be doing.”
“I’m not going to work today. I’ll take the boys to school and pick them up, but I have some business to handle.”
That was news to me. Any other time Roy missed work, it was because of the boys or a doctor’s appointment. He also would tell me ahead of time, not the day of. He probably wouldn’t have said anything if I hadn’t mentioned him going to work.
“Oh, okay. I’m glad you can get the boys because I need to go to the store after work. I’m going to get some new accessories for the bathrooms. Do you need anything from Tommies?”
Tommies was a black-owned store that was like some of the big-name stores that sold everything from household products to groceries. It was a one-stop shop.
Roy looked at me like I was crazy. I was sure it was because he expected me to say something about him coming in so late, but I wasn’t.
He sure wasn’t because then it would bring light to the situation.
Maybe he thought I didn’t know. I innocently smiled at him then proceeded to brush my teeth.
He ran his hand over his hair. Roy always wore his hair low with waves.
He was dark chocolate with the whitest teeth I’d seen before.
“Um, yeah. I need some more toothpaste and boxers.”
I spit the toothpaste out and looked up at him in the mirror. He’d just gotten some new boxers a month prior, so I wasn’t sure why he needed some already.
“Oh, okay.” I went back to doing what I needed to do so that I could get out of the bathroom and away from him.
Roy gave me one last glance and left the bathroom. I wanted to laugh at the confusion on his face, but I didn’t.
Forty minutes later, I walked into work a few minutes before I needed to be there.
I made sure the boys had breakfast, and I stopped at a bagel place that was on the way to the hospital.
Roy tried his best to act like everything was normal, but he and I both knew it wasn’t.
I pushed Roy to the back of my mind and focused on my patients for the day.
After I checked on Mrs. Hamilton and made sure her discharge stuff was together, I went to check on Mr. Cooper.
I saved him for last, just in case he wanted to talk.
Or if Calil was there. My inner thoughts kept going to places they shouldn’t have been.
Calil should be the last person on my mind.
When I got to Mr. Cooper’s room, I knocked on the door and opened it when he permitted me to come in.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Cooper. How are you today?” Disappointment filled me a little when I noticed he was alone.
“Hey, Sloan. He’s not here.”
“Huh?” I walked further into the room and stood near the foot of the bed.
Mr. Cooper chuckled and looked at me like he knew I was full of shit. I heard what he said and knew exactly who he was talking about.
“It may have been years since I saw you, but you ain’t fooling anybody. Come have a seat if you have time.” He nodded to the chair next to his bed.
I had time since he was the last patient that I needed to check on. I would spend the rest of the day in my office, going over paperwork.
“Calil had practice, but he should be here sometime later. How have you been? Have you been here all this time?”
“Oh, okay. I wanted to check on you and see if you had any questions for me. But to answer your questions, I’ve been good. I’m married with two boys. I haven’t left Woodlake Valley since college, but I came right back after graduation.”
“That’s great. Congratulations on your marriage and children. How old are your sons?”
I told him all about my boys and the sports they were into.
We talked about my parents and basic stuff about the town.
He didn’t mention Calil again, and I wasn’t going to ask any questions, even though I was curious.
It wasn’t my business what Calil did. I stayed in his room for an hour before heading to my office.
Calil hadn’t come the whole time I was there, and that probably was a good thing. The less I saw Calil the better.
I was in my office going over some paperwork when my phone chimed, notifying me of a text message.
I frowned at the unknown number. It showed that there was an attachment, and that piqued my interest. Nobody called or messaged me from an unknown number, so I found it odd.
I picked up the phone and opened the message.
My heart slammed against my chest as tears hit the papers on my desk.
There was more than one picture of my husband with another woman.
The first picture was of them holding hands then another with them kissing.
What made me sick to my stomach was the last picture of them in what looked like a hotel room with another woman.
All three of them were naked. I leaned over and threw up my lunch into the garbage can beside my desk.
I had a feeling something was up, but I didn’t think it would be him with multiple women.
I wondered if it was more than those two.
I swallowed the bile that rose in the back of my throat.
I needed to get out of my office because it felt like the room was trying to swallow me whole.
I stood up so fast my chair almost fell over.
I wasn’t sure if I should delete the pictures or not, but I decided to save them.
I needed them for proof because I was sure Roy would try to deny it.
With tears falling down my face, I quickly left my office and ran into a hard body.