Derailed (30 page)

With a smile, she puts her arms around me and hugs me. “Better?”

I nod. “Heaps better, baby.” I hug her hard. This may very well be the last day I get to spend with her.

When I return the kids home, Bradley greets them with a hug. His happy demeanor tells me that Scarlett has not told him anything. Yet.

By the time I leave the house and return to Bun’s place, it’s appears that Scarlett may have thought about my words. She may not have told him our secret, may have decided not to tell him after my rant, but I doubt she will come outright and say to me, “I have decided not to tell Bradley.” She enjoys inflicting pain, on me especially, so right now, I’m the moth whose wings she’s pulling off.  

RITCHIE

Rival and I are sneaking in a shower when my bedroom door bursts open. Rival jumps, a look of fear in her eyes.

“Relax,” I whisper, pushing her behind me and bracing myself for Bradley’s appearance.

“Ritchie?” To my relief, it’s just Liefie. 

“Why doesn’t she ever knock?” Rival whispers.

“I’ll handle it,” I say and poke my head out of the bathroom. “What is it, Liefie?”

“Ritchie…is…is Rival in there?”

My eyes dart around.

Liefie cocks her head at me. “Tell me it isn’t Rival in there with you, Ritchie.”

“Did you want something, Liefie?” I ask.

“My God!” She covers her mouth with her hands.

With a sigh, I grab a towel from the rail, wrap it around my waist and walk out of the bathroom.

Liefie stands in the middle of the bedroom, shaking her head. “How could you do this, Ritchie? You know that Bradley will come after us.”

“He won’t know, Liefie.”

“He
will
know. He will find out, and then he’s gonna start all over again with Olga. You want that, Ritchie?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then why are you doing this to us?”

Slowly, I run my hands through my damp hair. “I love her, Liefie. I’m struggling without her, okay?”

“She’s trouble, Ritchie! You have to know that by now. Every time she’s around, something terrible happens.”

Rival joins us with a towel around her. With her lips pressed together, she begins to dress.

“It’s irresponsible,” Liefie says, her eyes darting angrily toward Rival. “You’re two grown adults, and look what you’re doing.”

Both Rival and I say nothing.

“It’s plain selfish,” Liefie continues. “Selfish and self-absorbed. That’s what it is.”

“We’re not selfish,” Rival says, as she draws up her jeans. “We just love each other, and we’re finding it hard to stay away from each other.”

“You stay out of this!” Liefie snaps. “I’m talking to Ritchie.”

“Well, he’s my man, so stop preaching and scolding him. Stop making him feel bad and for once think about him and his feelings, because…let’s not forget who caused all these problems in the first place.”

Surprised at Rival’s words, I spin around and look at her in surprise.

“What are you talking about?” Liefie demands. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, so shaddup!”

“I do know. I know just about everything, so don’t tell me to shaddup!”

Liefie swings to look at me.

“Hey, I didn’t tell her anything,” I say.

“Scarlett told me about your past, and who is responsible for Ritchie being in this position.
Predicament
.” Rival points at Liefie. “You.”

Liefie stiffens, her eyes darkening.

“The biggest issue we have here is this Olga person who can take away your kids. Ritchie didn’t cause that problem, he just fell into that snake pit and did the best he could to protect his daughters. You caused that problem,
Nadia
.”

Liefie darts at Rival and gets in her face. “Don’t you ever –”

“Hey, hey, hey!” I say, quickly planting myself between the two of them. “Drop it, will you, Rival?”

“No, I won’t
drop
it, Ritchie. You’ve done so much for her, she can do something for you. It’s about time she became selfless, because you are the only one around here who is.”

“You are talking rubbish!” Liefie says.

Rival folds her arms across her chest, looks Liefie in the eye and says, “Am I? What have you done that’s generous and giving toward Ritchie? You just take and take and take and give very little in return.”

“Rival, stop!” I urge.

“I think you’re so jealous that he could love another, that you make him –”

“Fuck you!” Liefie snarls, her eyes bulging.

I quickly grab Liefie by the arms and try to move her out of the room before they come to blows.

“– feel bad at every turn.”

“Rival, stop!” I say.

Rival ignores me. “You’re married to a wonderful man who loves you. One day you’re gonna lose him because he’s gonna have had –”

I shut the bedroom door on Rival’s rant and take Liefie downstairs.

“How could you let her do this to me, Ritchie?” Liefie says, her bottom lip trembling.

“Liefie…” I pat my forehead with my palm. “You’ve gotta ease up and leave me alone.”

“I’m only trying to protect our kids, Ritchie.”

“So am I, and that’s how I lost Rival. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing right now – settling for scraps. I love her, and without her, I am not feeling…whole.”

I don’t think she’s happy with my answer, but…

She stares at the carpet, a sullen look on her face.

“Rival’s right about Vlad.”

She looks up at me.

“You’re gonna lose him if you don’t start making him your priority, Liefie.”

After another moment of silence she flounces off.

Jayzus! What the hell is wrong with the women around me?

RIVAL

“Rival!” I hear Bradley call from the main family bathroom. “Rival!”

Thinking something might be wrong, I run into it and gasp of the sight of Bradley naked in the shower.

“What the hell?” I whisper, turning away. 

“I need you to wash my back,” he says, a gleam in his eye. 

“No!” 

“Fine, get me a towel then,” he says in an amused voice.

After glaring at him for a moment, I walk to the linen cupboard, fetch a towel, and hand it to him. “Why are you using this bathroom?” I ask, dangling the towel at him. “What happened to the main en suite?”

“It’s Scarlett’s.”

“Take the towel, Bradley,” I hiss.

“Towel me down.”

“NO! What is wrong with you? Take the goddamn towel!”

As he takes the towel, he grabs my hand. “Look what you’re missing,” he whispers.

My eyes dart to his semi-tumescent penis, which, compared to Ritchie’s, falls…
short.
I look back to his dimming eyes. The word that comes to mind is pathetic. Does he really think by showing me his squash-toned body that he will lure me back into his bed? I feel…sad for him. To think I once wanted to feel his arms around me. To think I once craved his body. How things have changed.

“I want you,” he whispers, moving his body around to block my path.

“Bradley stop!” I hiss. “Scarlett’s here.”

“I’ll get a hotel room, then.”

“No!”

“I can’t stop thinking about you,” he says, moving my hand to touch his erect penis.

“Bradley!” I jerk my hand away.

“What the hell’s going on here?” Scarlett’s voice booms behind me.

Damn
!

Quickly, and horrified at the way things must look, I try to wrest my hand out of his grip, but he holds on.

“Get the fuck out of here!” he says to Scarlett, his eyes still on mine.

I actually cringe at the way he’s talking to her.

“Stop this fucking SHIT!” she snarls.

“Piss off!” Bradley says.

I try to jerk my hand out of his.

Scarlett pulls out her phone and starts to video us. “Let’s show this to the kids, shall we?”

“Stop filming us!” I cry.

Bradley laughs. “Think I’m worried about a video?” He turns his back on her.

Scarlett starts to bristle with anger. “Holly! Phoebe!” she calls over her shoulder. “Come see what your dad is doing!”

Bradley quickly drops my hand, takes the towel and wraps it around his waist.

I use this opportunity to dart out of the bathroom, colliding with my girls outside the bathroom. “Come with me,” I say, ushering them downstairs. 

How much more of Bradley can I take? His obsession with me is spiraling out of control, and I fear an explosion sometime soon.

About thirty minutes later, I’m doing homework with the kids at the dining table when Bradley walks over to me and the kids. He pauses, drops a kiss on my head and whispers, “Sorry.” Then he takes a seat at the table. “How was school today?”

“Boring,” Holly says.

“C’mon, Holly,” he says. “That can’t be true.”

“It is true, Daddy; I fell asleep in class.”

He laughs.

“Then I nearly toppled over! I was so embarrassed, Daddy.”

Bradley and I laugh as Holly goes on. Soon all four of us are laughing.

Then Bradley looks around at the four of us. “Just like old times, eh?”

I say nothing.

“God, how I miss those days,” he says in a melancholy voice. “If only I had a time machine.”

I say nothing, because I can’t think of anything to say. But I do feel sorry for him.

SCARLETT

Okay, the whore might have a point about me telling on her and Ritchie. A dozen or so valid points I never thought about. She can be quite smart at times. Who’d have thought? But after that bathroom incident where she didn’t entertain Bradley’s indecent proposal, I feel a little more confident that she isn’t double-dealing with both Bradley and Ritchie. But I have to admit, I am green with jealousy about her and Ritchie’s scorching sexual affair. Why must she have the best of both worlds? Bradley’s adoration on one side, earth-shattering sex on the other? I have to put a stop to that sexual affair. I just have to. If I’m not getting earth-shattering sex, then she’s isn’t either. Let me rephrase that – if Scarlett isn’t getting earth-shattering sex, nobody is! Over a couple of cocktails, I devise a plan.

The next day, I follow Ritchie from work to a local McDonalds. He orders a Big Mac meal and takes a seat. I watch him slip his fries into his burger like a kid, then wolf it down as he reads the paper. Yobbo.

Hoping nobody of worth sees me at McDonalds, I saunter up to Ritchie. “Well, hello there!”  

He looks up from the paper. “Hi,” he says, pausing with his eating and craning to look behind me.

“It’s just me,” I say.

“Oh, okay.” He sits up straight. 

“McDonalds for lunch?” I ask in a cloying voice as I take a seat opposite him. “You should watch your cholesterol, you know.”

He nods and takes a huge bite of his burger. “I’m undisciplined and irresponsible,” he says with his mouth full. “Can I get you a burger?”

“I’ve had lunch already, thanks.”

“A drink?”

“I’m good, thanks.”

He nods.

“Hope you don’t mind me joining you.”

He flicks his wrist in a dismissive manner. “Nope.”

I make some small talk about the weather before I get to the point. “You and me, we have a lot in common.”

He cocks his head at me.

“I want Bradley, you want Rival, and we both can’t get what we want.”

His eyes scud.

“She’s fucking him, you know. Fucking you both.”

“No!” he blurts, his brows knitting.

I think he regrets that outburst, but it’s too late – the word just flew out of his mouth like spittle.

“I wish it wasn’t true, Ritchie, but the other day, I got home around 2 p.m., and they were in the shower together.”

He shakes his head from side to side as if he doesn’t believe me.

“I went ballistic. But they both denied it. It was just a shower, they said. They asked me to get my mind out of the gutter.”

He continues shaking his head as he dabs his mouth with a paper towel.

“I have proof,” I say, taking out my phone and scrolling to the video of them in the bathroom. An edited video of course.

As Ritchie watches, his eyes hood, his nostrils flare, and his face turns puce. Slowly, he pushes away his half-eaten burger.

“Maybe Rival’s just trying to appease Bradley, keep him happy, but it kills me, Ritchie.” On cue, my eyes fill with tears. “I love Bradley so much, and there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him. I’m holding on so hard, hoping that Rival leaves so that we can get on with our lives, but…” I swallow hard. “You’re the only person I can talk to about it, Ritchie. I dare not talk to anyone else about it.”

Slowly, with a distracted look on his face, he nods.

“I know you aren’t seeing Rival anymore and that it’s no longer your business, but as I said, who else can I talk to about it? Please don’t mention this to anyone. If Bradley finds out, he will beat me. You know how he dragged me over broken glass the last time.”

He nods. “I won’t. I won’t for sure.” 

“Thank you,” I say in a voice filled with gratitude.

Satisfied with the damage I’ve inflicted, I get home and swing into part B of my plan – the part where I cement my accusations. I grab Bradley’s aftershave, and when Rival’s not looking, I spray the outside of her bag, as well as the inside.

Then I move to her car, which is always unlocked. I spray her steering while and her driver’s seat with aftershave. I go back inside the house and spray the bathroom hand towels as well.  She thinks she’s smart, she thinks she can outsmart me by stealing my book and planting incriminating photos for Bradley to see. Well, let’s see who’s the smartest of us all.

RITCHIE

I sit at my desk and stare into space. Scarlett’s lying. She’s just trying to cause trouble between Rival and me. What did that video show? It showed Rival fully clothed. Yeah. I shouldn’t let it bother me. But then I remember Bradley was naked. What the hell were they doing in the bathroom with Bradley naked? And why was Rival trying to stop Scarlett from shooting that video if it was that innocent? The most pressing question is: why tell me if she believes that Rival and I are no longer together? Does she know that we’re seeing each other on the sly?