Diluted Desire (11 page)

“I told you, I thought you were cheating—”

“Yeah, but why all the craziness, all you had to do was ask.”

“I realize that now, but in the heat of the moment…”

“There was no heat, you had a while to cool off.  It took some time to write that posting.”

“She showed you the posting?” Violet asked with a gasp.

“She told me about it.”

Violet clutched her husband’s arm.  “Let’s start counseling next week instead of January.”

“Get away from me,” Clint said with a sneer.  “I won’t be going anywhere with you crazy lady, other than to divorce court.”

Violet clenched her hands into fists.  “Don’t you act like you’re the innocent in all this.  You made me do this!” she cried.

Clint barked out something that sounded like a laugh.  “I made you do all this? How? Please enlighten me.”

“Because of your history of cheating.  You cheated on me once and my instincts were telling me that you were cheating again.”

“Fuck my history.  We can go around and around on this, but we’ll end up at the same place, you screwed me.  And for the record Violet if you wave a steak in front of a hungry dog don’t you think he’s gonna take it?”

“You’re right,” Violet conceded.  “I was wrong, give me another chance.  Can you give
us
another try?” she asked contritely.

Clint shook his head.  “I can’t.  This marriage is dead, our short trip temporarily resuscitated it, but it’s dead.  And to tell the truth, I don’t like you anymore.”

“Come on Clint, please reconsider,” Violet begged.

Clint brushed past her and stalked up the stairs to their bedroom.  He went into the closet and pulled out a suitcase, then went to his dresser and began filling it with several undergarments, he selected his favorite colognes and dropped those into the suitcase. 

Violet ran into the room, sobbing.  “Don’t do this Clint.  We can work this out.  I thought you wanted a baby.”

“I did but that was before I found out what you really are and we will not be procreating.”  He went to the closet and flung three different outfits over his arm, he didn’t want to fuss with a garment bag. 

He picked up his things and walked down the stairs, Violet was right on his heels.  As soon as she hit the last step, she swerved around him and raced to the front door where she blocked it with her body.

“I’m not letting you leave,” she said, black streaks of mascara streamed down her face, her red lipstick was smeared and her usually coiffed hair was standing on ends, she looked like a horrible caricature of her usual self. 

Clint sighed.  “Come on Violet.  You’re better than this.”

“Clint?” she croaked.

Clint shook his head.  “It’s over,” he said quietly and Violet dropped to her knees.

“I do love you, but I don’t
like
you.  Good-bye Violet,” Clint said before stepping over his wife and walking out the door.

Violet drew herself into a ball and howled.

Chapter 18

Summer strolled into Sugah Cakes and found Clint working on a wedding cake.  “Oh, that’s pretty,” she gushed.  And it was.  The cake was antique white, with a quilted pattern, delicate piping and vibrant colored sugar paste flowers. 

“Yeah, I’m almost done.  They’re a nice couple, I hope they make it,” Clint said wistfully and Summer remained silent.

It was February and Clint had served Violet with divorce papers in January but she wasn’t leaving without a fight.  Fortunately, for him, she had insisted that they sign a pre-nup before they got married.  He had happily signed it because he had naively thought there wasn’t going to be any need for it.  Unfortunately, there was. 

She alleged that she and her lawyer were going over everything with a fine tooth comb, but Clint knew that it was just a stalling tactic, Violet was hoping that he’d change his mind and reconcile with her.  That wasn’t going to happen.

Recently he had made an appointment to see a therapist to figure out why he cheated on Violet and how to prevent it from happening again if and when he remarried.

“Is there anything you want me to do for the Valentine’s Day party?” Summer asked breaking the silence.

“I don’t know, you tell me
manager
.”

Summer grinned.  She finally accepted the title and the bump in salary was pretty good too.  “I think we have everything under control,” she answered confidently.

Violet strolled into her psychologist’s office and sat on the couch, she had been seeing her for the last month, with her help, Violet was beginning to see how she was sabotaging herself. 

“How are you today Violet?” Dr. Larkowski asked.

“A lot better than last week,” Violet responded.

“That’s good, any progress is a positive step, no matter how insignificant you think it might be.  So let’s revisit your childhood, let’s talk about your emotionally absent father.”

“Okay.”  Violet settled into the soft leather and started unburdening herself.

Larkin wove her way through the crowd.  Big Thug, a multi-platinum selling rapper, had just opened a new restaurant in Atlanta and invited Atlanta’s local and international celebrities.  Larkin scoped out the crowd, there were many rich men in attendance.  She saw the one that she wanted; she snaked her way through the people and stopped in front of him.  “Hi, I’m Larkin,” she said, beaming at him.

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Sawyer Longley, soon-to-be Sawyer Spector, looked up at her older sister Campbell.  “I can’t believe that Walt and I are finally getting married,” she said softly. 

“Yep, and I can’t wait until it’s all over with, you’re driving me crazy,” Campbell lovingly scolded, while she inspected her sister.  With her hair pulled back into a sleek chignon, her makeup impeccably applied, and her ivory, curve hugging, wedding dress, she was beautiful.  She reminded Campbell of the exquisite Barbie dolls that her sister enjoyed playing with when they were little.  Sawyer loved Barbie so much that she had started a collection, so far over two hundred dolls filled her house.  “You weren’t quite a Bridezilla, but you did work my nerves.  And lucky you, today is going to be a perfect day for a wedding.  There’s nothing more beautiful than a May day in Savannah.”

They were in the corner of what Sawyer had nicknamed the
Holding Pen
, the room that the church had set aside for bridal parties to use before they took that long life-altering walk down the aisle.  Sawyer savored this alone time with her sister, she knew once she got married, their chances of continuing to spend a lot of time together would become as rare as a forty-five year-old woman winning
American Idol
. 

Her ten bridesmaids were clustered together on the other side of the room, chattering and laughing while putting on their finishing touches.  Sawyer chuckled at the image, she was finally having her fairytale wedding, the one she had been dreaming about ever since her mother had given her a wedding Barbie. 

Sawyer agreed with her sister.  Then, “I can’t wait until tonight,” she shyly admitted to her sister. 

“So you guys are finally going to do the do,” Campbell said.  “I don’t know how you held out so long, I would’ve gone crazy.”

“Trust me, I almost did, but fortunately I had Steele, if I hadn’t, I would’ve dumped Walt a long time ago,” she revealed and Campbell snickered.  As soon as she and Walt decided that they wanted to abstain from sex until they were married, Sawyer had immediately gone out and bought a ten-inch dildo that she had named Steele and had used on a frequent basis. 

While neither one was a virgin, Walt had a five-year-old daughter, Shelby.  And Sawyer had slept with more men than she could count, with most of those short-term relationships ending horribly.  She had found that as soon as they hit the sheets they either decided that things were moving too fast and they needed to slow things down, which really meant that they got what they wanted and was itching to leave or they just went MIA.  She was tired of both scenarios.  So she was more than willing to comply with his request.  Walt wasn’t like any man she had dated before, he treated her like a lady.

“I spent a ton of money at Victoria’s Secret.  I got so much lingerie that it’ll fill up a suitcase.  And I ordered some stuff off the Internet…some freaky stuff,” she whispered, not that she needed to since the chattering from the bridesmaids provided enough noise that hearing anybody that wasn’t within arm’s length was impossible.

Campbell chuckled.  “That’s a good idea, but I don’t think Walt will need all that.  All you have to do is show up and it’ll be a wrap.  Trust me I know.  I barely got dressed on my honeymoon, all I wore was a bathing suit and when it was time for dinner, I mean when we actually left the room, I threw on a sarong.” She smiled at the memory.

Just then their cousin Moesha chose to stroll over and Sawyer tensed, bracing herself for Moesha’s onslaught, she didn’t know what it would be, but she knew it would be something, and she was right.  “So you’re finally gonna get fucked tonight, huh girl?”

Sawyer gritted her teeth.  She had only asked Moesha to be in her wedding because their moms were each other’s favorite sister.  And she promised her mother that she’d include Moesha, no matter how uncouth she was.  “Yes, Walt and I are going to consummate our marriage, if that’s what you mean,” Sawyer answered.  She knew that her friends and relatives talked about her behind her back and she regretted the moment she had let them in on such an intimate matter of her relationship, but at the time it seemed like a good idea.

“Damn girl.  You don’t have to talk like you’re at work surrounded by a bunch of White people.” She gestured to the other people in the room.  “It’s just family.  You can say it, you’re gonna get fucked tonight, that is if you’re doing it right,” she said with a snicker. 

“Moesha Tamika Barnett watch your mouth!” Priscilla, Sawyer’s mother demanded and she shot her a grateful smile.  “This is a church and I will not have you disrespecting it with your potty mouth.”

“Aw Auntie I was just telling it like it is, we all know what she and Walt are going to be doing.”

Priscilla pressed her lips together and shook her head at her niece.  Moesha was twenty-five-years-old, had a five-year-old daughter, named Destiny, and still lived with her parents.  Moesha rarely stayed at a job long enough to accumulate vacation days, so far this year, she had four different jobs. 

Sawyer saw Marsha her wedding coordinator jogging towards her and she braced herself a second time.  In the eight months she had known her, Sawyer had never seen Marsha stroll or just putter along, she was always sprinting, and Sawyer never figured out if Marsha was running away or towards something.  None-the-less she had served as an awesome wedding coordinator.  And the feedback from the wedding party was that she was running the ceremony with an iron fist.

She came to a stop in front of Sawyer.  “You’re the prettiest bride I’ve ever seen,” she uttered reverently and Sawyer beamed.

Sawyer was sure that Marsha said the same thing to all her brides, but seeing the expression on Marsha’s face made her believe that she really was the prettiest bride in the world and that the compliment was genuine.  “Thank you.”

“Are you ready?  I think it’s about time we get started.”  Sawyer nodded and Marsha jetted over to the bridesmaids and began barking orders. 

“Ready girl?” Campbell grabbed her sister’s hand and pulled her up, the dress clung to her curves so tightly that it felt like she had been wrapped in it, she was surprised that she was able to sit down in it. 

“Thanks!  This dress is so tight and must weigh at least twenty pounds,” Sawyer nervously fretted.

Campbell nodded towards a garment bag hanging on the wall across from them.  “You don’t have to wear it long.  You got your second dress,” she reminded her.

“Yeah, and I thought you were crazy when you said I should buy two dresses.  But you were right.  After sitting in this for an hour, I know now that I wouldn’t have been able to wear this all night long.  I’d be so aggravated that I’d probably rip it off halfway through the wedding.”

“That’s one way to get your honeymoon started early,” Campbell joked. 

Sawyer smiled weakly, she suddenly wished that she had eaten some of the cheese and crackers Marsha had ordered for her and the wedding party, but she had been too nervous to eat, now she was feeling lightheaded and all the food had been eaten.  She swayed lightly. 

Campbell wrapped her arm around her sister’s shoulders and let her lean on her for support.  “Hey you okay?” she whispered as the wedding party hurried past them.

“I’m fine, just hungry,” she answered and smiled ruefully.  “I should’ve eaten something.”