The Other Woman

“That sounds boring”
“Right now it is, but when I actually get to her house and decorate, it’ll be fun”
“Yeah, yeah, still sounds boring” he responds just as I switch ears, fumbling to place my signature on a round of design papers.

“What’s your favorite planet?”
“My favorite planet?” I reiterate, not sure if I heard him right.
“Yeah, you know, space and the nine planets currently in orbit,” he replies cheekily.

I giggle, before finally stapling the small stack of completed templates.
“It’s Neptune, I could’ve sworn I told you that already, Tre”
“No. I remember you showed me some dorky nightlight of that planet, but you never said it was your FAVORITE planet”

The sound of heavy male laughter soon filters through the phone, followed by a loud belch.
“You guys partyin’ already?” I ask with a sigh, wishing that I could be there.
“Nah, just clownin around. Did I tell you that Vanessa taught me another magic trick the other day?”

“Not that—“
“It’s neat. I put my hand in a normal hat and pull out random shit,”
“That sounds thrilling,” I reply sarcastically, opening up another manila folder at my desk, and sifting through island designs for this Brittney gal.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you…” he suddenly trails, the room now getting quieter, as he presumably makes his way into an empty vicinity.
“yeeeesss…….?”
“Besides my fine ass of course, what do you want for your birthday?”

“I don’t know, anything’ll be fine baby,” I grin
“Aww, come on Seny. I suck at birthday gifts, just name something.”
“Nope.” Is my only response, and then a giggle or two when he grumbles in frustration.

The evening sun just begins to set, casting shades of orange into the Miami sky. With my purse slung over my shoulder, I fumble inside my pockets and simultaneously laugh when Tre tells me a joke on the phone. This was probably a new phone chatting record for him and I, we had been talking for at least three hours.

“Hold on a sec” I state, the task of opening the door while talking, a tad difficult. As I swing the door open, a panicking Jack swiftly stumbles out of the hallway closet, fright marring his every feature.

“Jesus, you scared the hell out of me!” he stammers
With quirked eyebrows I turn my back to the intruder and lock the door.
“Is Jen home?” I ask, still eyeing him curiously.
“Uh, no. She’s still at work,”
“So how did you get in here?”
“I, uh, she gave me a key a while back, but I don’t use it that often,” he mumbles, fingers uselessly fidgeting.

“Oh,” I respond quaintly. “So what were you doing in the closet?”
“Um, I had to, uh, take a shower, and needed, um, a towel and stuff”

“Well, you didn’t take any”
“As I said, you startled me.”

At that point, I remember I had Tre on the phone, and quickly sweep up the device and place it to my ear.
“You there?” I ask hopefully
“Yeah, I’m now waiting for my 60th birthday to pass” he mumbles irritably.

Walking into my bedroom, I slam the door shut, conveying the message that I did NOT want Jack here at all, much less him being here without Jennifer.
“Sorry, Jen’s boyfriend was being a dumbass”

It was a normal week, or at the very least, it started like a normal week would.

“Ok, the sink is going to have a metallic finish, and the knobs for the faucet are going to be silver with white marble” I state to the rest of the design crew. Nodding their heads in approval, I continue with my designs for Brittney’s kitchen.

“Um, Howard, the countertop is also going to be marble, and I believe she said that she wanted the cupboards embossed in a design, so I drew some flower designs.”

Howard, the designated team leader, nods his head while politely taking the batch of templates from my grasp, reviewing them to himself.

“These look great Serenity. Now lets get to work!”

After work, and upon nearing the door to Jen and I’s apartment, I can faintly hear the boisterous sound of yelling coming from inside. In a hurried flush, I use my key and unlock the door, surprised when I see a heated Jennifer and even angrier Jack, toe to toe at each other.

“What’s gotten into you two? I could hear you guys from outside”

“You should ask our friend Jack here! Your not going to believe what happened when I got—“
“Stop telling people my fucking business!” Jack counteracts
“It IS my fuckin business, scratch that, OUR business when your goons come over to my house and fuckin harass me!” she booms, pointing her finger menacingly in his face.

“What do you mean goons? What happened?” I ask, dropping my purse and keys atop the dining table, hands on my hips awaiting an explanation.

“I got home from work early, and was watching As The World Turns, and the next thing you know someone knocks on the door. I go to answer it and see this snarky lookin guy. I opened the door just a crack and asked what he needed an—“

“Jennifer shut the fuck up! I don’t know where the guy came from!”
“Get the FUCK out of my house!” she screams, causing everyone in the room to flinch.

Without another word, Jack trudges pass me, before throwing the door open and shutting it with a piercing slam.

“What the hell happened?” I ask sympathetically, especially when angry sodden tears begin dripping their way down my best friends’ cheeks. Pulling out a chair around the table, I notion for her to sit as I too pull up a chair next to her.

“He-he’s doing something wr-wrong” she chokes out as I pat her back affectionately. Sniffles begin emerging through her broken figure, making me have the primal urge to inflict a large amount of pain upon Jack.

“What happened at the door with the man?” I ask gently, her sniffling beginning to repress.
“He kept asking if J-Jack lived there,” she hiccups, “and that he needed to co-come inside an-an-and find something”

“What?!” I exclaim in confusion, hands still patting Jennifer, trying to calm her in the recent whirlwind of events. “I fucking knew that guy was a rotten piece of s—“

“Nooo!” she wails, hands still covering her tear stricken face. “I still l-love him, but, he wo-wont tell me what’s going on”

“Jennifer,” I sigh, “Jack’s clearly doing something behind your back, we just don’t know what yet.” The ringing of the house phone interrupts our moment. Upon answering, I sigh when the gregarious voice of Mark bellows through. After the putting the phone on speaker, laying out the entire story to Mark, and trying our darndest to cheer Jen up, we hang up, awaiting yet another tumultuous day.

The next day was least to say awkward.
“Um, is she in her bedroom?” he asks, a bouquet of flowers standing lamely in his ridiculous hands.
“Yeah, but I doubt she wants to see your sorry ass Jack” I bite, ready to slam the front door in his face.

“Look Seny, this has nothing to do with you, and I’d really like to see my—“
“Don’t you get slick with me!” I nearly yell, glaring madly at the intruder standing in front of me. “You’re sneaky ass is up to something, and now you have MY best friend being stirred into your shit! You’re lucky I don—“

“Jack?” says Jennifer from behind me, her voice as soft and small as a feather. She’s still in her pajamas, eyes squinting from the unrelenting morning sun.
“Jen?” he greets in a similar tone as he peeks behind my shoulder at his lady love. Jen slowly slides next to me, her figure seemingly broken yet wanting an explanation.

“I’ll make him leave if you want” I propose, rolling my eyes when she shakes her head ‘no’. Sidestepping the dueling pair, I enter the kitchen, unhappy of my friend’s decision and lack of attention.

It had been long time since we’d gotten together, Mary Jane and I. Placing a her crisp white shell to my lips, I deeply inhale her toxic contents. An immediate wave of relaxation filters through me, the faint sound of Mark chuckling vaguely in my ears.

“What’s so funny?” I ask, not bothered a bit by his laughter.
“It’s as if you were an addict and just got introduced again,” he grins, his mouth curving as he blows out a thick puff of smoke.

“Well I haven’t lit up in a long ass time. I’m an occasional smoker. Dumbass,” I add with a grin. We sit splayed out on my sofa, the room quickly filling with wonderful aroma of marijuana. The deck of cards that we had been previously toying with sat in a mess on the floor, a few bottles of beer lying on the adjacent coffee table.

“Your boyfriend hasn’t called me in a while, I hope he hasn’t gone to another dealer,” he states out of the blue, his head now flopped to the armrest of the couch.

“Doubt it,” I mumble, “I’m happy. We haven’t hung out in a while either.”
“I know. It’s one fucking thing after the other,” he murmurs, tucking his joint back to his mouth for another exuberant puff. “I got a job too, an actual job.” He smiles proudly.

“Where?”
“At the mall. I’m gonna be a sales associate at Puma,”
“Ooooh, that means discounts,” I giggle unnecessarily.

“Dream on bitch” he chuckles in turn. “Just kiddin’, what are we doing for your birthday this weekend?”

I shrug, “Not sure. Maybe a karaoke bar or something. I don’t know…”
“Aww, your little boyfriend isn’t going to be here” Mark coos, plopping down his joint to pat my shoulders as a friendly gesture. I instead shove his apathetic hands away, giggling when his mouth twists into a pout.

“I’m sure I’ll survive without him being here,” I mumble dismissively.

“Leave me be…” I moan, throwing the covers back over my head for the sixth time this morning, my birthday morning.

“Wake up, we have a million things to do!” Jen squealed, re-tossing the duvet from up over my body. With another useless groan, I sit up against the headboard, rubbing the tired sleep from eyes.

“In case you don’t know…” I trail miserably, “Your supposed to let me sleep and get what I want, which just so happens to be sleep.”
“Yeah, well maybe next year,” she grins, her grin stretching even wider when I give her a look of death from deep within. “Seriously though, we all set up a whole bunch of happy shit for you to do today.”

“Like?” I ask glumly.
She smirks at my unamused tone and body language, pushing a lock of freshly dyed hair behind her ear.
“You’ll see in due time, but for now get breakfast because we’re going to a spa”

My eyebrows involuntarily raise in surprise and slight excitement.
“Maybe today might be good after all,” I murmur to myself after she exits the room.

The day had gone exceptionally (and surprisingly) well. After a soothing trip to Contour Day Spa with Jennifer, we had sped off to have lunch with Mark. There I received my gifts from my friends, even Rick, who had mailed out a present and card, and left a humorous voicemail on my phone. The sun was bright, the air was warm, and a light breeze blew across the peninsula, it was perfect weather. But something was missing, Tre. I had yet to receive a phone call, message, postcard, ANYTHING, and it made me a bit uncomfortable.

“You alright?” Mark asks, chugging down his glass of lemonade.
“Yeah, thanks for everything guys,” I smile, happy that my friends cared so much for me, as I did for them.

“Has Tre called?” Jen inquires
“Nope” I shrug, “Maybe he forgot..”
With that, I chew on my delicious lasagna, ignoring the gnawing the feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“I’m sure he didn’t forget, maybe he—“

“Can we not talk about that” I interrupt with a burst. “I don’t really care if he forgot or not. Now, what’s next on the agenda?”

The evening shadows had quickly sunk in, and the bright stars had glistened the dark blue sky. Neither of us noticed, nor cared, especially when Jennifer climbed the stage.

The helpless mic is in her hand, the blue screen up front flipping through several various songs. Her oval face lights up when a familiar tune pops up.
“This one’s for the birthday girl down there. Happy Birthday Serenity!” she gleams.

“She was a fast machine
She kept her motor clean
She was the best damn woman I had ever seen
She had the sightless eyes
Telling me no lies
Knockin' me out with those American thighs
Taking more than her share
Had me fighting for air
She told me to come but I was already there

'Cause the walls start shaking
The earth was quaking
My mind was aching
And we were making it and you -

Shook me all night long

yeah you,

Shook me all night long

Working double time
On the seduction line
She was one of a kind, she's just mine all mine
She wanted no applause
Just another course
Made a meal out of me and came back for more
Had to cool me down
To take another round
Now I'm back in the ring to take another swing

'Cause the walls were shaking
The earth was quaking
My mind was aching
And we were making it and you

The loud cheering from spectators in the crowd roars, mixed of course with my laughter. Mark by now is connecting his fists to the table, pure laughter jolting through his veins.
“Oh God Jennifer,” he breathes when she rejoins our table, “that was classic.”

“Not as classic as Seny,” she sneers, throwing a trivial glance in my direction.
“I already went once, I’m not going again…” I trail, but no I am going, it was far too obvious.

And so, six minutes later I’m on stage. This time is song has already been picked for me, and of all artists it just had to be Christina Augierla, a woman with an extraordinary voice.

“Are you serious guys?” I murmur into the mic, rolling my eyes when two hyenas begin laughing tumultuously against each other.

The car bubbles with silence as we edge our way home. With a slight whiff of tiredness plaguing my limbs, I sit slouching across the backseat of Jennifer’s car, yawning as the two unsuspecting lovebirds in front make conversation. The light murmuring of the radio filters throughout the vehicle, my birthday coming to a great end.

But the silence is quickly shattered as Mark makes a sharp left, leading towards the South Beach strip, heading home. The intruding sound comes from none other than my cell, the small device gyrating in the pockets of my jeans. The two heads up front mechanically turn their heads in my direction.

“It’s Tre” I grumble, rolling my eyes as I read the lighted screen.
“Told ya he wouldn’t forget” Jen grins, eagerly waiting for me to answer.

“Well the day’s almost over,” I argue, “I’m not answering.”

“Just answer, maybe he’s been really busy today…” Mark offers, quickly turning his head back towards the hectic traffic.

With a sigh and grudged demeanor I press the ‘yes’ button.
“Hello?” I greet none politely
“What’s up birthday girl?” his cheery voice bellows
“Nothing”
“You haven’t done anything all day?”
I sigh, already bothered by his jovial attitude. “Yes actually. We went out to lunch and went to karaoke bar,”

“That’s cool” he mumbles. And when I don’t answer a looming and most uncomfortable silence finds its way into our conversation.

“Uh,” he clears his throat, “I miss you, and sorry I couldn’t be there.”
“I miss you too,” I admit, my lips nearly breaking into a smile. “And it’s ok, I know how busy you are. But uh, I have to go, bye”
“Love you, bye” he replies

After reaching home and taking a warm shower, I eat the remainder of my birthday cake from the karaoke bar and drink a glass of wine with my two best friends, laughing at complete nonsense. It’s almost 1.a.m, and all three of us quickly go to bed, renewing ourselves for a new day.

After changing into a fuzzy pair of pajamas, and flipping off the light switch, I’m climbing into bed. Surrounding myself with the warm blanket whilst trying to fall asleep. An hour later, with my mind on the brink of unconsciousness, I hear the door to my bedroom creak open. One quick glimpse at the digital clock on the wooden end table tells me its 2a.m.
“What do you want?” I protest in a scratchy and poignantly sleepy voice, knowing that I’m either speaking to Mark or Jen.

“You.”

That voice, his voice, floats perfectly through my ears. For a moment, it’s hard to distinguish whether I’m dreaming or actually awake. And before I can register anything else occurring in this one moment, he makes a dive and flops onto my bed, giving the bed a quick jolt in the process. His head quickly buries into the crook of my neck and I can feel the satisfying pressure of his lips pressing firmly upon my collarbone as his arms take hold of my body.

“Tre?!” I nearly squeal in disbelief
“Happy birthday baby,” he whispers, warm breath breezing over the shell of my ear.

I can barely make out his charming features in the brisk darkness, only the sensation of his traveling lips and rough fingertips touching and prodding. Letting out a breathy sigh, I relax against his body, not forgetting to run my fingers through his soft hair as he lies between my legs.
“Surprised?” he whispers with a grin, finally lifting his head from off my shoulder.
“Mhmm,” I nod, “but I hate you. I thought you had forgotten my birthday”

He chuckles, “Nope, I just wanted to tease you for a while, which reminds me…” he trails. After a sly smirk, he removes himself off my body and bed (to my dismay). I can hear him yawn followed by his fingernails scratching his bare stomach.

“Put some clothes on, we’re headin’ out”
“What?” I ask skeptically, “Where are we going at two in the morning?”
He snorts, “As if I’m gonna tell you.”

“You can’t be serious…” I mumble, and when he continues staring at me in a no nonsense glare, I almost giggle. “Ok, then what type of clothes should I put on?”

“Anything Seny, just put some damned clothes on,” he mutters irritably, stalking out of my bedroom and into the living quarters.

After five minutes I’m strapped in a warm velour suit, hair a scraggly mess, under eye bags, yet inexplicably happy. I switch off the light to my bedroom and grin at the two figures watching television as I pass into the living room.

“You’re awfully surprised that Tre’s here” I mumble sarcastically to Mark, elbowing him in the stomach.
“Yep, when I opened the door for him I almost fainted,” he grins in return.
“And where’s Jennifer? Plotting more?” I quip
“Nah, she drank too much at the bar, but she was supposed to stay awake,”

The feeling of Tre’s hand slithering on my clothed thigh forces me to turn my attention towards him.
“You ready?” he asks softly, already standing from his seat. I nod, waving Mark goodbye as we exit the apartment. Hand in hand we walk downstairs and my eyebrows quickly quirk when I notice a foreign, black, sleek Mercedes parked in an unoccupied parking space.

“Nice wheels huh?” he boasts as we approach the vehicle, his fingers already digging into his pockets for the keys.
“I guess,” I grin, “but I think my Camry is much better.”
His reply is a simple kiss to my right cheek as he opens the passenger door for me.

“Thanks” I smile for the millionth time tonight, laughing when he fiercely slams my door shut. Hopping into the driver’s seat he heaves the key into the ignition, and then leaves the car turned on.

“I’m gonna have to blindfold you Seny…” he trails, not waiting for my response as he travels to his pant pocket, retrieving a bright red bandana.

“Why are you blindfolding me?” I whine, pouting as he ties the cloth around my eyes.
“Just a precaution.”

The smooth sounds of the radio channel through the vehicle as we drive endlessly through the night. Not a word is said between us, even though our hands are folded together in my lap, well one of his hands anyway. When a recent tune fades away and a commercial takes hold, I decide to ask about something that had been bothering me recently.

“Tre?”
“Hmm?”
“You never told me why you broke up with Claudia and Lisea…” I trail cautiously.

He quickly clears his throat, clearly uncomfortably about this topic of conversation.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,”

“No, its not that big a deal,” he reasons, the car taking a sharp left. “Lets see,” he sighs. “Me and Claudia were fine, until we started touring. I was barely home which is reasonable, and she didn’t like that. And she had trust issues with me, which was my problem with her. On tour, I felt as if she was always checking up on me, like a fuckin’ mom. So basically, it was a mutual split”

“What a moron,” I remark, referring to his ex-wife.
He grins and leans over to plop one on my cheek once more.
“I keep telling her that, but she doesn’t agree.”

“And Lisea?”
“Uh, that was a bit more complicated,” he sputters. “We were high school sweethearts and whatnot, and we got married yada yada. But uh, I was still young I guess, and not used to the fame…” he trails

“Ok…” I notion for him to continue.
“I, um, kinda cheated on her,” he finally stutters.

Wow…

“Oh.” Is my only response, the only word that can form in my throat, and I’m now happy that I’m blindfolded, happy that he couldn’t see the surprised expression mixed with faint disappointment in my eyes.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve told you this earlier, but I’d never cheat on you,” he clarifies.
“I know,” I reply, smiling as I let my finger roam over his cheek, inwardly sighing as his lips drop a smooth kiss to that finger.

“Guess what?” Tre adds
“What?”
The car is suddenly turned off, the radio stopped, and all motion ceased. “We’re here!”