Twisted (10 page)

The feel of his lips against her skin sent a thrill through her body. “Thanks,” she said. “That’s good to know. And since I don’t have any other men beating my door down either, we can just be miserable together.”

Kevin chuckled. “Mr. Right is out there for you, Tina, but I think we better get in. It’s getting late and we have an early morning meeting with the distributors.”

Tina rose and extended a hand to help him off the bench. “I had a wonderful time this evening, and thanks for the conversation.”

“Any time,” Kevin said, leading her toward the front door of the hotel. Moments later, they were on the elevator heading up to their floor. A few minutes after that, she was alone in her room figuring out that maybe she might be mistaken that Kevin was interested in Alexis.

Chapter Five

“Oh my God, that was fun,” Tina said as she pulled her luggage through the airport lobby.

“Yes, we’ll have to do that again in the near future,” Kevin agreed. He led her out the terminal to the area where he’d left his car when they went out of town. After paying the guy, Kevin walked back over to his car and opened the trunk. He put their luggage inside and then opened the side passenger door and helped Tina in. They continued to talk about the wonderful time they had in San Francisco from the power meetings to their adventures in China Town.

A couple of rain drops hit the windshield and Kevin turned on the wipers. “What a perfect way to end a trip,” he replied. They hadn’t had rain in New York in a while.

“I love the rain,” Tina told him. “I like to hear it pinging against my bedroom window at night. It makes me sleepy.”

“I will remember that,” Kevin replied. “Call me if you ever suffer from insomnia. I’ll come over and do a rain dance for you.”

“You’re so crazy,” Tina said.

Kevin popped a CD into the player as he waited for a red light to turn green.

“Ooh, I like this song,” Tina said. “She sang a few chords and then began snapping her fingers to the beat.

“You have a nice voice,” Kevin told her as he drove down the street.

“I used to practice with Alexis and Clarice when we were kids. We were going to form this singing group.”

“What happened?”

“They discovered boys,” Tina replied. She laughed. “Alexis was awful. She couldn’t carry a tune.”

Kevin laughed. “That’s another thing I will remember. Never let Alexis get drunk and sing around me.”

The traffic was horrific the closer they got to town, but Kevin had been living in New York long enough to know how to navigate. They left the freeway and headed toward the suburbs where she lived. Moments later, he drove up to her house and turned off the engine. He got out and walked to the trunk to retrieve her luggage while she got out.

Tina looked up at her bedroom window. She spotted a light on in her room and then Erik walked past it.

“I’d invite you in for a celebratory drink, but Erik’s home.”

“How do you know that?” he asked.

“His car is in the driveway and I just saw him walked past the bedroom window.”

Kevin looked up and saw the light. “He doesn’t park in the garage?” he asked.

“Sometimes, but most of the time he parks in the driveway so he can make a quick escape when I’m asleep.”

“He sneaks out of the house?”

“Every chance he can get.”

Kevin closed the trunk. “Are you going to confront him tonight about what you saw at the restaurant?”

“That depends,” Tina said.

“On what?”

“What he has to say to me when I get inside.”

“Well, let me know how that turns out,” Kevin said.

She cringed at the sarcasm in his voice.

“Call me if you need a shoulder to cry on.”

“Thanks,” she said. She grabbed her luggage and rolled it up the walkway. Kevin stayed until she entered the front door and then he drove away.

Tina closed the door quietly, leaving her luggage near the door. She’d unpack it tomorrow, but now all she wanted to do was shower and get into her bed.

She walked up the stairs, noticing Erik’s discarded clothes on the stairwell. Trifling man, she thought. There was a hamper in the bathroom. The door to her bedroom was open. Tina approached. Her eyes widened. Erik was in bed, and he wasn’t alone. She stood there for a minute, stunned. Some woman had her legs wrapped around his back and they were screwing like bunnies. The woman giggled. Tina cleared her throat. Erik stopped in mid-hump and turned around.

“Oh my God,” he said.

Tina backed out of the room and hurried down the stairs. Tears blinded her vision as she made her way toward the living room. She grabbed her purse and her keys and ran out of the front door. Once outside, she lifted the garage door.

The light popped on in the garage. Tina looked up. Erik appeared with a towel wrapped around his waist. “Baby, let me explain.”

“What can you possible say to make this right?” Tina asked angrily. She opened the car door, tossed her purse inside, and climbed in.

Erik tried to talk to her through the closed window.

Tina ignored him, started the car, put it in reverse, and backed out of the garage. She took one last look through her rear view mirror and saw Erik standing there in the rain watching her leave.

The tears kept threatening to fall, but she knew she had to keep it together so she wouldn’t lose control of the car. She didn’t know where she was going, but she knew she had to put some distance between them.

Her cell phone ring, but Tina refused to answer it. Erik could explain until he was blue in the face, but the truth spoke for itself. All these years she hadn’t caused a scene, even when everyone around her told her that he was cheating on her. She rationalized it all by saying that it wasn’t true as long as she didn’t see it. Well, she couldn’t do that anymore. She could have forgiven him anything, but not for fucking some bitch in her bed.

Tina continued to drive until she reached the ferry. She drove her car aboard and just sat there thinking as the boat moved across the river to Manhattan. Once it landed, she drove off and headed for her office building. She drove into the near empty parking garage and drove up to her parking spot. She used her after-hours access card and let herself into the building, then she walked to her office and locked herself in. Tina turned on the light, walked over to her desk, and sat down. The phone started ringing off the hook. She looked down at the Caller ID. Erik, Erik, Erik. This went on for a couple of hours and then Alexis called. Tina turned up the volume so she could hear the message.

“Tina, honey, where are you? Erik called here looking for you. He didn’t tell me what happened, but I know it has to be bad because that rat bastard knows better than to dial my house. Please, honey, if you’re there, pick up the phone.”

No, she couldn’t even talk to Alexis or Clarice at the moment. She just wanted time to think and she couldn’t do that if everyone called badgering her with questions. Alexis also gave up after a couple of attempts.

“Good,” Tina said. She left her desk and walked over to her sofa and laid down on it. She listened to the rain as it pelted softly against the window. Tina yawned, still groggy from the long flight, and angry. She closed her eyes. Maybe she needed to rest to make sense out of everything. The rain continued to lull her to sleep. Tina finally succumbed to it.

****

Her cell phone vibrated and woke Tina up. She sat up, blinked, and glanced down at her watch. It was three a.m. She slipped the phone out of her pocket and looked down at the caller ID.
Kevin? Why is he calling? Is he sick
? Tina quickly answered the phone. “Hello?”

“Thank God,” he said.

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? We’ve been trying to find you for hours,” Kevin said. “Alexis is hysterical. She’s says it’s not like you to ignore your calls and just disappear.”

“I didn’t disappear,” Tina replied, waking up fully. “I just went somewhere so I could think.”

“What happened after I dropped you off? Did you confront him about his infidelity? Did he hit you?”

Tina tried not to cry, but Kevin sounded so concerned.

“I will kill him if he touched you,” Kevin replied.

“No, he didn’t touch me,” Tina said. “He was just screwing some woman in my bed.”

“What?”

“I walked in and caught him on the down stroke,” she said, trying to laugh through her sorrow. “No wonder we haven’t had sex in months.”

Kevin cleared his throat. “Well, he’s a fool,” he replied. “Where are you?”

“At the office,” Tina said. “I had nowhere else to go. It was still raining when I arrived and I guess it just lulled me off to sleep.”

“How do you feel?”

“I’m crushed,” Tina replied.

“But you knew he was cheating on you.”

“Yes, but I guess it finally hit home when I saw him doing her in my bed. I can put up with a lot of shit, but that just took the cake. I saw them and something inside me snapped.” She sniffed back the tears.

“Don’t cry, darling,” he said. “I don’t like it when you’re sad.”

“I don’t want to cry, but the tears won’t stop,” she told him. “It hurts so badly.”

“Do you want me to come to the office? You shouldn’t be alone at a time like this.”

“No,” Tina said. “I’m okay.”

“No, you’re not. Can you drive?” Kevin asked. “You can come over to my place and I’ll put you in the spare room. Erik is going to come to that office sooner or later looking for you.”

“But I don’t have any clothes. I left everything and just drove away.”

“Don’t worry about that now. I won’t ask any questions. I’ll just be here if you need to talk.”

It was the best offer she’d heard all day. “Yes, I think I better come there. I don’t think I can see him just yet.”

“Take your time. I’ll be waiting for you to arrive.”

“Okay,” Tina said. “Do you have tea?”

Kevin chuckled. “Yes, any kind you desire.”

“Oolong,” Tina replied. “I think I need something to relax me.”

“Come to me. I will help you relax.”

“I’m on my way,” Tina said. She disconnected the call, grabbed her purse, and left the office.

****

Tina sat inside her car outside Kevin’s apartment, watching the rain beating against the windshield.
What am I doing here
? It was four in the morning and most sane people were asleep. She reached for her cell phone and dialed Kevin.

“Hello,” he said.

“I’m here.”

Kevin told her the code to punch into the pad to open the gate.

“Thanks, I’ll be up in a minute.” She hung up and drove the car closer to the gate. Tina got wet as she rolled down the window to enter the code, but she didn’t care. The gate opened slowly and then she drove through. Kevin lived on the sixth floor of the building. Tina parked in a visitor’s spot and climbed out of the car. She was soaking wet by the time she reached the building. The access door unlocked and Tina entered, dripping water as she walked. She trembled as the air hit her wet skin. With her luck, she’d probably get pneumonia. Tina walked to the elevator and pushed the button. The elevator arrived quickly and she stepped inside and pressed the button for the sixth floor. Tina stepped out and found Kevin waiting for her.

“You’re soaked,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“You’re getting wet,” Tina said, snuggling against him. She didn’t know why, but it felt like a big weight was lifted from her shoulders.

“That’s okay,” Kevin said, releasing her. “Come on in. I’ll find you something dry to put on.”

A few minutes later, Tina stood inside of Kevin’s apartment. “Thanks,” she said. “Wow, this place is great.”

The apartment was far better than she imagined with vaulted cathedral ceilings and bright white walls. It had one of those open-floor plans where she could see into each of the bottom rooms no matter where she stood. “Is that food I smell?” She hadn’t eaten anything since she left California.

“Yes,” Kevin said. “I thought you might be hungry.”

“Starving,” she admitted.

“Come with me so I can show you where to change.”

Tina followed Kevin up a carpeted, winding staircase to the second level of the apartment. There were two bedrooms up there and two baths. He took her inside one of the bedrooms. The first thing that she noticed was that the headboard of the bed took up an entire wall. No way he had purchased that from a furniture store showroom, which meant he probably had it custom made.

Kevin opened a closet and dug around. He handed her a white t-shirt with a picture of a gerbil on it. “This should fit,” he said.

“Thanks,” Tina said, accepting the shirt.

Kevin produced some towels and pointed to the bathroom. “There’s plenty of hot water,” he said. “Take your time and come down when you are ready.”

Tina nodded and Kevin left her.

Tina walked into the large bathroom, looking around at the deep tub with the gold fixtures. The vanity counter was stocked with toiletries like shampoo, deodorant, soap, and a liquid milk bath. The idea of a long soak sounded tempting, but she opted for a quick shower instead. Ten minutes later, she immerged from the shower feeling clean and revived.

Tina slipped into the t-shirt, noting that it only came down to mid-thigh. She towel dried her hair and piled it to the top of her head in ponytail. She walked back into the bedroom and deposited her dirty clothes into a hamper. She joined Kevin downstairs a few minutes later. He’d lit a fire in the hearth, making it feel toasty in the condo.

Kevin had changed out of his wet clothes and now wore a pair of navy drawstring athletic pants and a white short-sleeved t-shirt that showed off his spectacular physique. Tina took her eyes off him long enough to look down at the food. He’d outdone himself preparing eggs, Canadian bacon, and grits. Tina’s eyes opened at the warm cereal. She hadn’t eaten grits in years. She also spied the fresh fruit and the wheat toast. Her stomach growled.

“Come and sit down, Tina,” Kevin said.

Tina smiled and walked toward him. His eyes were on her, apparently enjoying the view of her body through the t-shirt. Kevin helped her into a seat. “Would you like your tea right now or coffee?”