Chapter 10 - Ben
What the fuck was that?
I started packing a few days' worth of clothing into a suitcase and tried to make sense of what had just happened downstairs. Melanie wasn’t confrontational or cruel, and the version of her downstairs was outright hostile. It was going to be harder than I initially thought to get her to forgive me.
I looked at the still unmade bed and my clothing that I’d left on the floor. It didn’t look like she had even been in the room.
Where did she sleep last night?
It better have been here… alone!
I bristled at the thought that she could’ve slept anywhere else or with anyone else.
She wouldn’t… she’s too ‘good’ to break her vows.
I told myself and grabbed a couple more suits. I decided to pack for a week, with how angry she had been downstairs, I doubted I would be back in my own bed before that.
I glanced longingly at my expensive bedding and sighed.
Melanie always had the best taste in things.
She never bought things because of brand or flashiness; no, she would research based on quality.
The bedding was expensive, but it was higher quality than even the fanciest hotels offered.
I was going to miss sleeping in my own home.
My phone dinged from inside my pocket, and I pulled it out with a scowl.
Frank: Ms. Reed says she needs to speak to you before she will do anything.
Was anything going to go according to plan today?
Me: I’ll be there in 40.
I walked over to my bedside table and opened the drawer.
I shuffled the stuff out of the way and lifted the false bottom just enough to pull the USB I had hidden inside.
If Angela insisted on being difficult, I would use some of the information stored on this to force her cooperation.
She wasn’t aware that I had been doing more than working while my wife was gone; I had also been digging for skeletons in Angela’s closet.
I hadn’t expected my efforts to be so lucrative.
In the past, my extramarital activities were never longer than a night or two, and quite frequently they were with women from out of town.
This was the first time that I had made the mistake of dabbling with someone who could so easily impact my personal and professional life.
When she started being difficult, I knew I needed to protect myself.
Not to mention, I was still fucking pissed that I had missed the funeral of a woman who had treated me like her own, prenup aside, all because Angela threw a hissy fit.
I cringed when I thought about how upset Melanie's family must’ve been when I didn’t arrive with their daughter. It was going to be a long road to forgiveness with them, too. I was shocked that I hadn’t heard from Kyle yet.
That means Mel hasn’t told him.
The fact that she hadn’t told anyone gave me hope that she would get over this eventually. If she was really serious about kicking me out, she would’ve told her big brother what was going on.
Maybe I can use some of the profits from the new acquisition to buy them a beach property nearby… that would go a long way towards winning them over.
I made a mental note to put the realtor on it. A condo by the ocean would impress the hell out of Melanie's folks. Plus, it would give me a place nearby to go to when I needed to let loose.
Should probably cut back on the letting loose for a bit though…
Once I got back into Melanie’s good graces, I knew she’d be paranoid about my actions for a while. I would probably need to give monogamy a try for a bit.
Why does that feel like hardship?
Melanie was a solid 10 in bed; there had never been a kink or desire I had that she refused to try.
She was the type of woman who would get freaky in the coat closet and then walk into a business dinner with potential clients like nothing happened and help secure the deal.
On more than one occasion, I’d had multiple business associates warn me that if she ever found out what I was doing, they’d swoop in.
I frowned and slammed my suitcase shut.
There’d be no goddamn swooping.
· · ─ ·?· ─ · ·
I had been so distracted by my self-inflicted angst that I forgot that two hostile women were waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. I froze when I stomped into the kitchen and found Melanie aggressively butchering a cucumber with a butcher knife while Lily stood nearby and smirked.
“I guess I should get going…” I took a step back and tried not to wince each time the chop sound rang through the room.
“You sure?” Lily sneered, but Melanie shot her a dirty look. “What?! You should see how uncomfortable he is as you chop up that phallus-shaped veggie.”
“It’s a fruit. And he’s a cheating ass.” Melanie grumbled. Lily rolled her eyes and sighed.
I had heard the two of them argue over what constituted as a vegetable and what was a fruit more than once before.
“I just need to grab my things from the office.” I mumbled.
“Leave the laptop.” Melanie snapped, finally looking at me.
“I- I need it…” I stammered.
“Nope. It’s Friday, you don’t need it.” Her eyes dared me to argue, and I swallowed. Frank had explicitly told me to remove anything from the house that might have evidence of my affairs on it, and I was pretty sure that the laptop had some pretty incriminating videos stored on it.
Fucking idiot.
“I really do need to catch up on some work, Mel…” I argued weakly.
“I really do not care.” She retorted and resumed destroying the cucumber.
I stood there for a few seconds and tried to think of how I could get the computer out. She had her own laptop; it didn’t make any sense for her to need mine…
She knows you’re lying.
FUCK.
It had to be that she wanted to snoop. It was probably better to just take the damn computer and deal with that anger than to leave it and let her look through it.
Or you could change the password while you grab some client files…
I decided that was probably the fastest and safest route and mumbled an agreement before I hurried into the office.
It only took me two minutes to change the computer password and set up an authorization code that would go to my phone.
The next four minutes were spent hurriedly gathering my banking details that I had disguised as client documents from the room.
Lily wandered into the room approximately five minutes after I did, and I glared at her.
“I don’t need a babysitter in my fucking house.” I snapped.
“Testy… I’m not here to babysit you… I’m here to warn you that I’ll castrate you if you hurt my friend again.” She pasted a sickly sweet smile on her face.
No wonder she’s single. She must be why Melanie acted out today.
“My marriage is none of your business!” I growled and stormed out of the room back to the kitchen.
“Still here?” Melanie groaned and threw her hands up. “What now!”
“I will give you a few days but then I’m coming home. We need to talk.” I declared. I knew my tone was too forceful, but I was too frustrated to hide my emotions. Nothing was going according to plan, and now I needed to go threaten Angela and get her the fuck out of the area.
“Fuck. You.” Melanie snarled. Her beautiful face was twisted into a mask of rage.
I didn’t say another word but turned on my heel and stormed past an amused Lily.
Fuck her.
She wouldn’t always be around to give my wife a backbone.
· · ─ ·?· ─ · ·
When I arrived at Angela’s, Frank was still sitting on her couch with a bored expression on his face while she sat across from him with an openly hostile one on hers.
“Frank said you needed to see me. I’m here…”
Angela winced at the brutish tone I was using, and I tried to smooth my face out into a softer expression.
“Sorry, Mel just kicked me out of the house and let her little side kick be a complete bitch to me. I’m on edge.” I placated and reached for her hand. I gave it a little squeeze before I released her again.
"Why is your lawyer trying to make me move away?” Angela’s lip quivered. “How can we be together if I move away?”
“Until I’m divorce we can’t be together and it’s better if you aren’t around to get caught up in the drama.”
“So, it’s temporary?” she asked with a worried furrow in her brows.
“Until I’m ready to start a new life together.” I assured her.
Which will be one eternity- after hell freezes over.
Angela smiled brightly at that.
“Where do you want me to go?” She asked, “If it’s out of sight but nearby you can still come see me!”
“No, it needs to be far enough away where a judge will believe you’ve moved on.” I hurried to explain. Nearby would be disastrous. She chewed her lip and looked around the apartment.
“I have always wanted to see the east coast.” She shrugged. “But I want you to promise you will find a way to come see me in a week or two.” Angela plastered an ugly pout on her plastic face, and I asked myself for the hundredth time… what the hell I had been thinking.
“Of course.” I lied.
“Do I really need to sign that dumb NDA… your stupid boss already made me sign one.”
“This is at my insistence… I can’t provide him with the highest quality legal advice if we’re blindsided by a forced testimony.” Frank interjected with a snake-like smile.
He really is a creepy motherfucker…
“Oh…” Angela went quiet as she considered what he said.
Frank appeared impatient and huffed.
“Ms. Reed, my time is extremely valuable and every minute I’m sitting here Benjamin is being charged.”
She looked flustered at the news and shot me panicked eyes. Her question was clear.
“It’s true.” I shrugged, “A small price to ensure our futures are set.”
“Okay…” she walked closer. “I’ll sign whatever you want but… I want you to spend one more night here with me.” She pressed her body against mine and wrapped her arms around my neck. “If I have to go away for the next couple of months, I need you to rock my world first.”
I shot Frank a look over her shoulder, and he shrugged as if he couldn’t care less what I chose to do.
“Paperwork first, and then I’m out of here.” He smiled at Angela, who responded with a dirty look.
“Fine!” she whined and stomped her ridiculous heel on the ground. “Show me where and then get the fuck out so I can get fucked.” She giggled at her own lame joke, but neither of us even cracked a smile.
One more night with her was totally worth making sure she couldn’t ruin anymore of my days.