I’ve never felt happier in my life. It’s like the entire world has gone and flipped upside down on me. I wake up in the morning in Russell’s bed, and while he may be at work, I feel blissful and free, knowing I don’t have to spend the rest of the day thinking about going to work at the mansion tonight and performing in front of a bunch of disgusting, horny old men.
I stretch lazily and take my time getting up, then go and take a nice long bath and think about our day yesterday.
The trip to the beach was nothing short of amazing. We let our Italian ices melt until there was nothing but slush and syrup at the bottom of the cups, and then finished them off while lying in the sun. Then we lay out until we just started to get pink, and then we came back to Russell’s.
We showered together and ended going at it again in the shower. And after that, we ordered Thai food and watched Spirited Away in bed. Russell had never seen it before, and I wasn’t sure how he’d feel about it, but he actually really liked it, which made me super happy.
I just can’t wait to get to explore my life more and more with him, share all of my interests with him, and fully grow to understand every single thing about him. Placing my trust in a man like this is new to me. It’s exciting, and I can feel myself falling for him every moment as the clock continues to tick by.
He just can’t get home soon enough.
I throw on my clothes and head downstairs to make myself some breakfast, but just as I’m stepping into the kitchen, I hear the front door open.
My heart leaps, and the rest of my body comes alive. Has he come back early for some reason?
“Russell!?” I cry out, spinning around with excitement. But it’s not Russell I see stepping into the house; it’s a woman I’ve never met before.
She’s pretty, clearly older than me by a few years, tall, slim, fake tan with bleached blond hair, wearing yoga pants and a vintage Metallica T-shirt. She also has a lot of makeup on, including very bright-red lipstick.
“Who the hell are you?” she asks, glaring at me in a way that makes me feel like this is her house.
“Nikki.” I immediately regret saying it. “Who are you?”
“Hi, Nikki, I’m Cheryl,” the woman replies. “Where the hell is Russell?”
“He…he’s at work right now,” I reply. There’s something about this woman that is making me extremely anxious. She gave me her name, but who is she? How did she get in here? How does she know Russell?
“I see,” Cheryl muses as she saunters forward, glancing at me as though I were a part of the furniture that doesn’t belong. “So he’s just cheating on me now…”
Something happens inside my chest. It’s like a dagger has been plunged into me, and every second that passes feels as though someone is twisting it, causing excruciating pain. I take a deep breath and try to get ahold of myself, but then comes the adrenaline dump – an ice-cold chill flooding through my veins, causing every one of my limbs to begin to tremble.
I know I shouldn’t feel this way immediately. That I should give Russell the benefit of the doubt. I don’t know this woman. She could just be some crazy bitch who wandered in off the street. But there’s something about the way she’s looking at me, the way she’s moving around his house like she’s been here a thousand times before that’s really causing a seed of doubt to form inside me. And that’s not good.
“Cheating…on you?” My voice, like the rest of me, is trembling.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Cheryl replies with a nod. “Russ didn’t tell you he was engaged?”
My heart sinks. “No, he didn’t.”
“Well, I’m his fiancée,” she replies, pointing at herself. “I told him I was going away on a conference for work because I suspected he was up to something, and it looks like I was right.”
My heart continues to sink. My stomach twists, and a sickly feeling begins to come over me. This can’t be happening just as I was beginning to place my trust in him.
“I…you can’t be…”
“I can’t be serious?” Cheryl asks. “Russ teaches at Pineside, right? He has a few friends named Jim, Nate, and Tyler. Maybe you’ve met them, maybe you haven’t. We met years ago when he approached me at a bar with a silly pickup line. We dated for a couple of years before he proposed.”
Cheryl extends her hand and shows me a beautiful engagement ring that causes my jaw to drop.
“Wow…” is all I can say.
“Yeah, that’s what all the other women would say to him,” Cheryl scoffs. “And he wasn’t strong enough to remember his commitment to me.”
The eyes she’s giving me now – I can see exactly that she’s including me in that group of other women, and I immediately feel defensive. “I – I’m so sorry!” I stammer. “I didn’t know! I never would have – I didn’t know!”
“Oh, sweetie, it’s not your fault!” Cheryl says, her voice sweet like a mother as she takes my hands in hers. “Russell is the lying, cheating, son of a bitch. He did both of us wrong here!”
“Yeah…” I mutter as I look down at my feet, feeling more despondent than ever. “So you’ve come home? You live here?”
“Yeah,” Cheryl replies. “I wasn’t due back for another week. I don’t know what he was planning to do with you then.”
Well, that does it. I can’t stay here for the rest of the day – not with her here. There’s just no way. She may be a nice woman for all I know, but just knowing who she is and what she’s been through with Russell would make that absolute torture for me. And I can’t even imagine how things would be when he gets back and we’re both here.
No, I’m leaving.
I turn around and start back upstairs. “Where are you going?” Cheryl calls after me.
“To get my things,” I call back. “I’m going to text my friend to come get me.”
“Oh, don’t bother, sweetie,” Cheryl replies, following after me. “I can take you. My car’s outside.”
“No, really,” I say. “She’ll be happy to come and get me.”
I pull out my phone to text Alyssa, but Cheryl gently pushes it back down and takes my hand into hers. “Honestly, sweetie, it’s no problem.” There’s something about her smile that’s comforting, even in this terrible situation.
I gather up my things and follow her downstairs, out the front door and to her car, which is waiting in the driveway. Not wanting to be alone right now, I give her Alyssa’s address and send her a text letting her know I’m on my way over. Immediately after, I get a response reading:
I was just about to text you back. We have a little…situation.
Oh God. Just what I need.
Situation?
Again, the response is instantaneous.
It’s your dad…
“Oh, fuck…” I groan.
“Problem, sweetie?” Cheryl asks.
“I…it’s nothing,” I lie. The last thing I want to do right now is get into my family issues with this woman. But how could this be? Is the universe just paying me back after having such a perfect day yesterday?
I keep my mouth shut for the ride over to Alyssa’s, and Cheryl, sensing I must want to be left alone, keeps hers closed as well. But when we pull up out front and park, she gives me a very friendly smile and a pat on the knee.
“I’m really sorry about all this,” she says. “We women just have to stick together, you know? That’s why I’m not taking any of this out on you. I mean – you didn’t know he was cheating on me. It’s not your fault.”
“Yeah, I understand…” I reply. It’s all I can do to just form a sentence with the tornado of emotions raging within me.
“If I were you, I would just cut him off,” she says. “Don’t waste any time trying to get an apology out of him. Men are no better than dogs, and if you invest any more emotional energy into him, you’re just going to get hurt more.”
I nod. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
“I’m gonna go now,” I tell her, opening the car door. “Thanks for the ride.”
The last thing I hear as I’m stepping out is her voice calling out, “Take care!”
I swing my bag over my shoulder and march up the lawn to Alyssa’s apartment as quickly as I can, still feeling sick, my legs trembling and wondering what in the world her text about my dad could have meant. It’s always something with him, and while I’m not worried about his health, I am worried.
She greets me at the door, looking worn out and annoyed. Before I can even say anything, she sighs and aims a thumb behind her. I glance over her shoulder and see my dad, slumped over on her couch, clearly drunk and either passed out or on the verge of being so.
“Oh, Christ,” I grumble. “What the hell happened?”
“Apparently he went to your apartment looking for you,” Alyssa replies. “Got an Uber or something. And when you weren’t there…”
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry, Alyssa.”
“Yeah, well at least he’s not dead,” she shrugs with a laugh.
“At this point, I honestly might take that,” I reply, forcing a laugh. “With the day I’ve already had.”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to mention it,” Alyssa replies. “But you do kinda look…like shit. What happened?”
This time, I actually do laugh. Not because something is funny, but because of the complete opposite. Because nothing is funny at all. Because the day has been such a complete catastrophe that all I can do is laugh.
“Well, let me come in and deal with him,” I say, pointing at my complete and utter mess of a father. “And I’ll tell you the whole story.”
