“Elana, hi!” I gave her my brightest smile. “Claudette looked so beautiful.”
Elana was dressed in simple black dress, and the only jewelry she wore was that of her wedding band. Her makeup was simple, and her hair was down her back. She looked a little lost.
“Something the matter?” I asked.
She began to fidget and twist her wedding band. I wondered had she confronted Nathan about the test reports she’d shown me weeks ago. Peering around her I noticed it was just the two of us so she could speak freely.
“I didn’t want to believe,” she finally spoke.
“Believe what?”
Elana seemed to struggle with words. She was biting her lips. I went to her and tried to comfort her. “Get your fucking hands off me.”
Oh fuck,I thought.
“Elana,” I gave a nervous laugh. “What is wrong? Please tell me so that I can help you.”
The way she shook her head, her darks strands flouncing around. The hurt rolled over her face, and she finally turned on her heels. Part of me cheered. Elana didn’t have the guts to say anything if she knew it. I was just about to regain my composure when she turned back around. Agitation played across her light skinned features.
“For nearly twenty years…I thought if I gave that motherfucker what he needed, he’d give me what I needed. Cooked, cleaned and made sure I didn’t nag too much. Being a cop’s wife….it’s not glamorous sitting up wondering if he’s dead at night.”
People were milling around; a few occasional glances came our way. I couldn’t look these people in the eyes just yet.
Fuck,I thought.
She’s going to out me and Nathan right here. Holding up a hand, to hold her words, I tried to stall.
“Elana, whatever it is your about to say. Look around…this is not the time or the place. Think of Claudette.”
A laugh pierced the air. It was filled with rage, a quiet type. Elana had probably been that shy girl in school who had gotten picked on. The type that could have snapped but never did. Her head did a slight tilt to the left.
“Think of Claudette?” She started stalking towards me. “Were you thinking of Claudette when you fucked her father you filthy bitch. Were you thinking of Claudette when your first cousin was fucking you over and over again.”
My stomach lurched. She for sure knew and now so did every society page in a four mile radius because I had spotted a blogger greedily taking it all in. Tonight, was headed straight for hell in a hand basket.
“I….”
“There were tapes,” Claudette nodded swallowing back tales. “Sent to me. How they got them I don’t know. But they showed up yesterday. In a pretty package and I thought wow, Nathan’s gotten me something. I’m so fucking stupid.”
“You’re not,” a whisper escaped my lips. “It’s me. It’s Nathan. We did this. We made a fucking mess of something that should have never happened.”
“How did happen the first time?”
Oh God,I thought.
“I …”
“Oh no, Mrs. Ivy Knowles-Scarpetta….don’t stumble now. Handed everything in life….tell me how a princess like you could fall so low. It wasn’t enough to have literally everything, you had to have my husband. So spill it….how did it happen?”
Taking a deep breath, I tried to hustle her away. The mayor’s wife came out of the bathroom and gave a knowing smile. Had she sent the tapes? My mind was racing now. I felt hot and ready to vomit. There felt like a red haze had gone over everything in sight. I felt caged.
“I ran into him,” I started. “Grocery store. Randomly. And we got closer over time we would hang out and before we knew it, one night we had a few drinks to many. It never meant anything.”
Elana smirked. “He never wanted me around you. It meant something.”
“Not to me,” I replied. “I….Thierry is the only man I love. And the only man I want. I ended things with Nathan a year ago. Before I even married Thierry.”
The smirk never left Elana’s mouth. By then, both Nathan and Thierry were approaching. Elana turned at the sound of her name to face her smiling husband.
