Trent
I sort through the mail on my desk. Mostly junk. Then I come upon a large envelope. No return address, only a big red confidential stamp across the front. Upon further inspection, I notice the lack of mail handling. Nothing to suggest it’s gone through the post office. I open it, wondering what client might have brought this to the office and why the staff didn’t notify me of their arrival.
Inside is a burner phone and a letter:
Your phone has been compromised. Parker knows about it. Make sure she doesn't find this one.
There’s no signature stating who it’s from, but I already know it’s my dad.
What the hell is going on?
I thought Parker’s behavior was strange last night. Why was she so insistent about going on a vacation? What is she running from? I don’t think I buy it that she wants to rekindle the marriage. There’s something else to it. And what was she doing in my office? She knows it’s off limits to everyone. There is a lot of confidential information in there. I’m going to have to connect the security footage in there. I want to know exactly what is going on.
I put the burner phone in my pocket and head to the reception area with the envelope. Chelsea is sitting at the desk typing away on the keyboard. She barely notices me when I walk up. “Chels, who brought in this envelope?”
She glances at the package. “No one. It was with the rest of the mail.” She goes back to typing.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, no one has been in here all day except for the mailman and you.”
I don’t know what’s more odd, how this letter got in the mail without a postage mark or the fact that we are the only two people in this office when we have about a dozen employees.
I head back to my office, close the door, and pull the phone out. I stare at it, searching for some kind of answer or maybe just waiting for it to ring. Nothing. It’s completely silent. My mind wanders, trying to connect puzzle pieces together. My dad saying not to trust Parker. Then I find out she’s been snooping in my office and has located the phone. What else don’t I know? What is she trying to pull and what does my dad have to do with all of this?
I go out and get some fresh air. Surely that should clear my mind. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I announce to Chelsea on my way out the door. I wander aimlessly down the street without any purpose or anywhere to go. I think about Beth and smile. Despite the age difference between us, she is relatively uncomplicated. It seems lately that Parker is becoming more and more strange. One minute she hates me, and the next she wants to go away together and leave behind our families. What am I supposed to make of it?
The buzzing of the phone pulls me out of my thoughts. “Dad?”
“Go down to the coffee shop on the next corner. Sit in the back booth. Make sure no one is following you.”
The line goes dead. What the fuck?
I do exactly as told. I sit in the booth for what seems like an eternity before a homeless man slides in across from me. “I’m sorry, sir,” I say. “This seat is taken. I’m waiting for someone.”
“No shit. I’m the one you’re waiting for.”
It’s my dad’s voice, but I can’t tell it’s him through the beard and low lying hat. I’ve never seen my dad with a mustache. Now he has a long beard. I look him over. His clothes are tattered and dirty. He honestly looks like a hobo.
“Dad?”
“Listen very carefully. We don’t have a lot of time. There are things going on. I’m worried Parker and Porter are in on it. I don’t have proof but believe me, that family is out for revenge.”
“Revenge for what? What did you do?”
“That’s not important right now. You need to keep this phone away from anyone else. No one can know about it. This is how I’ll be contacting you. Don’t believe everything you hear, and trust no one. Do you understand?”
“No! I don’t understand! Will someone please just tell me what’s going on? My wife is acting strange, you’re dressed as a bum, and Mom is on some trip around the world. I don’t understand any of this.”
He sighs. “I’ll tell you more later. Right now, just watch your back. And remember, don’t believe everything you hear. Trust your gut. I’ll be in touch.” He slides out of the booth and is out the door.
I’m left with no clarification and even more questions than when I got here. Maybe Parker is right. Perhaps we do need to get away. If we’re remote, I’d know if she were plotting something with her family.
I return to my office and look up Mustique and find the number for a representative. They have two weeks available in June and are booked up the rest of the summer. I consider not using my name, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t want to be gone longer than that anyway. I secure the dates at a nice fifty-thousand dollar ding to my credit card. Unfortunately, I’ll be reaching into my trust fund for this one. It’s something I’m not happy about but may be necessary under the circumstances.
My phone vibrates. Beth has sent a text.
Crap.
How am I going to tell her I’m taking my family on a vacation? This will virtually destroy her. I’ve led her on too long. I need to cut her loose. By booking this trip, I think I’ve almost made up my mind. However, how can I have a life with someone I don’t know if I can trust?
Just make a damn decision and go with it. Quit waffling.
I check my calendar and caseload for the next couple of months. There’s nothing that I can’t either move up or delay until after we get back. Everything is in place. I’m just not ready to tell Parker yet. I need to make some decisions.
I open the text.
Beth: I miss you. I can’t wait to feel the heat of your flesh against mine.
I think about that night in my office and I’m instantly hard. It’s amazing what Beth does to me. I want her so badly. I wish it was just the two of us going to Mustique. Part of me wants so badly to start my life over, go in a completely different direction. Maybe I could be that guy who lives off his trust fund and spends his days traveling around the world. It sounds perfect except I wouldn’t have my boys, and that is certainly not the way I want to raise them.
Trent: I want to taste you and feel your wetness around my cock.
I’ve never sent a dirty text before, but there’s something stimulating and erotic about it.
Beth: You say when and where and I’ll be there.
I lean back in my chair and close my eyes. It would be so easy to give in to this. So easy to claim her as mine and forget the rest of the world exists. It would be so easy…except for the fact that I have a ring on my finger and have pledged my life to another.
I don’t respond. I pack up my things to head home. I can’t concentrate on anything and my court case got postponed. What I need to do now is have a stiff drink and connect the camera in my office.
On the drive home, I think about how I’d love to have sent the boys away for some time until all of this blows over. Perhaps a long holiday with my mom. Unfortunately, now that Trent is older, it’s hard to take him out of school for long periods of time.
When I pull up to the house, Parker’s car is there. She’s home for a change. Butterflies and a heavy heart explain my excitement and being bummed at the same time. I can’t let her know that I’m installing a camera, yet I’m happy it seems as though she’s trying to be a better wife.
When I enter the door, I call her name. There's no answer. I set my keys down and hang up my jacket.
“Parker?”
I walk around the downstairs until I find Parker passed out on the couch in the living room with a bottle of wine on the table next to her. She drank herself into a stupor.
What the fuck?
She’s never been one to drink before noon, let alone pass out.
I don’t wake her. I don’t want to hear any excuses. I head to my office and check the video footage from the day. I want to know exactly what’s been going on. I rewind to the morning and find that Porter arrived at eight this morning. It looks as though they had a heated exchange before heading to my office. I look around at my desk and search for anything misplaced. What the hell were they doing in here?
Porter leaves at nine-thirty. He was here for an hour and a half. Once he leaves, Parker goes into the kitchen and pulls out a bottle of champagne and pours herself a glass while making breakfast. She finishes the bottle while she eats. She goes upstairs to shower and then comes down and opens a bottle of chardonnay. The same one I found on the table.
Jesus. She drank two bottles. I can’t believe she’s even breathing.
I call Beth, hoping to God she has my kids.
“Hello?”
I can hear Tanner screaming in the background. “I guess that answers my question. You have the boys?”
“Yes, Parker called this morning to see if I could pick them up from school. I took them for ice cream and the park. I was just getting ready to bring them home. TJ has a bunch of homework to do.”
“Give me about thirty minutes. I have a little situation here I need to take care of.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just need to clean something up.”
“Okay, I’ll see you in a few.”
I carry Parker’s lifeless body upstairs without her so much as batting an eye. I turn on the shower and place her under the cold water, clothes and all. Her eyes fly open and she lets out a yelp.
“What’s going on? What are you doing?”
“You’re stupid drunk. You need to sober up. Our kids need their mother. What the hell is going on with you?”
“You wouldn’t understand. You would only hate me.” Parker closes her eyes and falls back asleep.
I can tell the shower is going to do no good for her so I turn it off, grab a towel, and dry her off before stripping off her clothes. I pull back the blankets on the bed and put her underneath, get a couple of aspirin and some water, and place them next to the bed. She’s going to have one hell of a hangover in the morning.
Back downstairs I clean up the wine and glass. As I head into the kitchen, I’m taken aback by the mess she’s left. Pots and pans scattered about, food sitting out and spoiling. I don’t know what she was trying to make, but whatever it was left the kitchen looking like one from a busy restaurant after a meal rush.
I sigh heavily. This is certainly not what I wanted to do today, but I get to work. All I can think is thank God the kids aren’t home to see this.
I place my phone in the docking station and turn on some tunes before rolling up my sleeves and getting to work.
The music distracts me and I get the kitchen in working order in no time. I start making dinner. Nothing special, just some tacos, Tyler’s favorite. This should put a smile on his face. Lord knows I’d love to see someone in the family happy.
I’m singing away to “Happy” by Pharrell when I hear the boys calling me.
“I’m in the kitchen!”
The boys and Beth walk in.
“Oh, tacos. Those are my favorite!” As predicted Tyler is happy as a clam.
“That’s right, big guy. Made your favorite. How about you boys get washed up and set the table for dinner?”
“Dad, do you mind if I don’t help with the table? I’ve got a lot of homework to get started on.”
“Sure. It’ll be about thirty minutes until dinner. Go ahead and chip away at it. I’ll call you down when we’re ready.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“He’s a good kid,” Beth says after TJ leaves the room. “I can’t believe how responsible he is.”
“I think he takes after his dad there. I was totally obsessed with my homework in school. I got straight As all the way through.”
“I guess that’s going to tell us a lot about his future. I’m sure he’ll be just as handsome and successful as his father.” Beth winks at me.
I grab a beer out of the refrigerator and pop the top, take a slow sip, and the cool liquid refreshes my palate. “You’re welcome to stay for dinner.”
“I’d love to, but tonight is the only night my mom is home this week and she wants to have dinner together.”
I stir the ground beef and add some taco seasoning. “Sounds like you should probably do that then. Thanks again for watching the boys this afternoon. I think we’re going to have to increase your pay. I don’t know how we’d survive without you.”
“What happened to Parker today?” Beth asks. “Where is she?”
“Passed out upstairs. From the looks of things, she’s been drinking all day.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, but I have a strange feeling she’s hiding something. I plan to get to the bottom of it.”
“Let me know if you need anything. I’d be happy to help out in any way.” Beth leans in and kisses my cheek. “I’ll see you later. And hey, don’t be a stranger.”
My gaze follows her tight ass as she walks out the kitchen. She’s so easy to be around. No pressure, no expectations. Every moment I spend with her, the more deeply I fall in love. Maybe that’s why I’ve been trying like hell to stay away.