Trust (30 page)

"Are
you okay, you don't look so well?"

I
blink at the question, barely hearing it or registering the concern that is
creeping across her face.  Chase's wife has dark
eyes
that match her hair, and her voice is heavily accented.  Her English seems
pretty strong, but
it’s
obviously not her first language.  In terms of her looks,
her features are strong but not overly pretty.  S
he’s
not an ugly woman, but I'm surprised no
netheless.  For some reason I would have expected her to be
at least as beautiful as Denise.

"Are
you injured?"  The woman's eyes are scanning my body now as she examines
me, looking for the cause of my strange behavior.

"No. 
No, I'm fine.  I just... Y
ou're Mrs. Anderson?  Wife
of Chase Anderson?  The professional poker player?" 

"Mirana. 
Yes.  Hello.  Do you know my husband?  Is he okay?"

Her
husband.  Not her ex-husband.  The look on her face shows genuine concern as
well.  "Yes.  He's fine.  I ju
st...  I was
wondering if I could talk to you for a few minutes. 
It’ll
be quick."  I avoid the question
about whether I know him for now.  I don't know how to explain my relationship
with Chase, and although one of the main reasons I came here was to make
sure his wife knew what was going on, now that I'm faced
with it I don't know what to say. 

Mirana
looks confused now, but she nods and stands back, gesturing for me to come
inside.  She says something to the boy in Spanish and he nods, quickly running
off.  I hear a door close in his direction as she leads me
into her living room and offers me a seat on a high backed, cushioned chair. 
"Would you like something to drink, Miss?"

"My
name is Lila.  Lila Hunter," I quickly say, embarrassed that I hadn't e
ven introduced myself.  I'm about to say no to the drink,
but then I realize how dry my mouth is.  If anything, I could use the excuse to
put this whole thing off just a little bit longer.  "Sure, that would be
lovely, thank you.”

Mirana
smiles tightly, a
nd I wonder if she had been hoping I
would say no so that I would leave quicker.  "I was just about to make
some tea, is that okay?"

I
nod and she disappears into the next room which I can see is the kitchen.

It's
strange to be sitting in this room, with
Chase's wife
in the other room after I've been flying around the world and fucking him for
the last couple of weeks.  Despite the fact that I had no idea he was married,
I feel incredibly guilty.  More so because
there’s
a child involved.

It
takes Mirana
a few minutes to return with the tea and
by the time she gets back I still haven't figured out what to say.  She places
the cup next to me and then sits down.  The look of confusion that was on her
face earlier has shifted to one of suspicion now as she w
atches me, waiting to see what it is I want.  I should have
had more of a plan about what I was going to say, but part of me had been
hoping that I would get here and it would be immediately clear that the whole
thing was just a misunderstanding and I
woul
dn’t
have to say anything at all.  As it is,
things seem even worse than I had expected.

"How
can I help you Miss Hunter?" she finally asks when I continue to sit
silently fidgeting.

"Um,
right.  Well I just wanted to talk to you for a minute.  About you
r husband."

Chase's
wife just continues to stare at me with a questioning look on her face, so I
push ahead before I talk myself out of this whole thing, or she throws me out.

"How
long have you... have you and Chase... been married?"

A
quick look of al
arm passes across Mirana's face
before she quells it and takes a deep breath.  I feel a twinge of guilt.  Does
she suspect what is coming?  Has this happened before?

"About
two years," she answers.

If
this has happened before, if
he’s
cheated and I'm not
the first
girlfriend to show up at his wife's house, what does that mean?  Why does she
stay with him?

"Do
you love him?" I ask before I can stop myself. 

"Of
course," she snaps back.  If I were her, this is the point where I would
be throwing me out o
r demanding answers, but for some
reason she just sits there.  She doesn't look happy, but she isn't telling me
to leave, either. 

"He
must travel a lot.  It must be hard, with him gone so much."

Mirana
nods cautiously.  "We make do with the time we hav
e.  But yes, his job takes him around the world.  But because of Diego I
stay home.  Otherwise I would go with him."

Diego. 
Suddenly something strikes me.

"How
long have you known Chase?"

"We
met 4 years ago through mutual friends."

So
he was in his
early 20s when he met her.  A feeling
of relief passes over me.  At least the child isn't his.  I feel bad enough,
but if the kid was his it would make it all the worse. 

I
look at Mirana and she seems agitated, probably because of the questions about
he
r relationship coming from a complete stranger. 
I'm again struck by the fact that she hasn't told me to leave or asked more
about me, but I wonder if
it’s
some sort of cultural thing.  Like she
doesn't want to be rude.  The least I can do is explain mysel
f now.  It's obvious that Denise wasn't making things up in
this case.  Chase is married, and although he isn't the biological father of
her kid, he must be at least the step-father. 

They're
a family, and that makes me a home-wrecker.

"I
guess you're w
ondering why I'm here," I begin.

"I
know why you're here," Mirana says quickly.  I can hear anger in her
voice, but s
he’s
keeping it in check.  "You aren't
the first person to show up asking about my relationship with my husband.  I
keep hoping they will
stop, but they never do."

I
swallow hard and let out a slow breath.  How could I have been so wrong about
Chase.  He's a serial cheater, and for whatever reason his wife puts up with
it.  Each time she hopes it'll be the last, but it never is.  I'm not th
e first to warn her, and by this point I'm probably doing
more harm than good.  She clearly has her reasons for not leaving, and I'm
simply a reminder of his constant string of betrayals.

"I'm
sorry," I say softly. 

Mirana
shrugs.  "It's not your fault.
  I understand why
you're here.  Lots of people cheat."

I
don't even know how to respond to that.  I'm not sure if s
he’s
referring to me or Chase.  I don't
think of myself as the cheater here.  I didn't know he was married.  But from
her perspective I'm s
ure I'm just as much to blame
even if she does say
it’s
not my fault.  How can she help but not blame me on some
level.  But I don't think
there’s
any use in explaining myself and making her feel worse
with the details.

"I
should go," I say.  My tea still
sits next to me
untouched as I stand. 

"Yes,"
Mirana says.  "Just please remember that I love my husband, and my
marriage is very important to me."

The
words are like a punch in the gut, but all I can do is nod.  I should never
have come.

Mirana
leads me to the door just as Diego comes out of his room. 
He runs to his mother and grabs her by the waist as he twirls behind her and
then peeks out at me.  I smile at him.  He looks so much like his mother, but
just as familiar as she did.  It suddenly
strikes me
and I turn back to her.

"You're
Cuban, aren't you?"

She
raises her eyebrow, confused.  "Yes.  Of course."

The
little side trip that Chase took me on while we were in Cuba.  The family we
had lunch with.  I shake my head with the realization.
 
How could Chase be so cold hearted?

"Your
parents... Elena and Victor?"

"Abuela
and Abuelo?" Diego says, his face lighting up as I say their names.

"Yes. 
What about them?"

It
all makes sense now.  He used that trip to look in on his in-laws.  I can
only imagine the things he was saying to them in Spanish as
we ate lunch together.  How did he explain my presence?  I can't remember how
physical we were in their presence.  I don't think we kissed or anything.  Did
he tell them I was his assistant?  It's
hard to
believe how brazen he was, bringing me with him to meet them.  Maybe if I had
understood Spanish I could have busted him right then and there.  It's
humiliating to imagine what he must have been saying, the lies about me he was
telling as I sat ri
ght next to him.  And then he took
me back to the room and continued to fuck me like he wasn't even married, right
after visiting his in-laws.  How much of an asshole is he?  How was I so
completely wrong about him?  I've never felt like such a fool in my
life.

"Nothing. 
I... nothing."  Mirana is looking at me curiously, but I shake my head. 
I visited your parents on a trip to Cuba
with your husband.  After your mom made us lunch, we went back to the hotel and
fucked like rabbits.
 

Mirana
just stares a
t me, her face a mixture of emotions
that I can't decipher.  Anger?  There is definitely some of that, and
justifiably so.  But
there’s
more as well.  Fear?  What is she afraid of?  Maybe that
I'll steal him away.  I could reassure her that I'm going to st
ay as far away from Chase as possible now that I know
he’s
married, but she probably
wouldn’t
believe me anyway.  And I have no idea
how much Diego knows.  I don't want to drag him into the world of his
step-father's lies.  She finally just nods and reache
s
for the door, pulling it open. 

"Good
day, then."

"Thank
you... for... your time."  I'm still surprised at how accommodating s
he’s
been to someone she knows is sleeping
with her husband.  How often has this happened?  Has she just basically given
up o
n trying to change him?  Do they have some sort
of open marriage?  I feel terrible for coming.  I feel like all I've done is
drive a knife that was already in her gut a little bit deeper.  Twisted it a
little bit more.

I
turn away with nothing left to say
.  Diego begins
speaking in Spanish and Mirana bends down to talk to him.  S
he’s
already dismissed me, her earlier
hospitality seems to have evaporated as she realized who I was and why I was
there.  I step into the sunlight and look around.  Chase's car i
s still out front, Mark has turned it around and parked it
a couple of doors down.  Since he hasn't left, I hope that means
he’s
still willing to take me to the
airport.

As I
take a step out of the house, a cab pulls around the corner and I watch as it
dr
ives right in front of the house and stops.  A
moment later the door opens and Chase gets out.  My heart begins to pound in my
chest as anger and shame fill me in equal amounts.  I want to lash out and
scream at him, but not in front of his wife and her so
n. 

I
take another step and exit the house.  Behind me I hear another burst of
Spanish from Diego, but within I clearly hear the word "Chase".

Mirana
says something quickly back to him, and he takes off again, back in the
direction he disappeared to bef
ore.

Chase
is wearing a frown as he looks at me, and I hear his wife step out right behind
me as well.  I'm sure Chase wasn't expecting to see his wife and girlfriend
standing side by side when he got up this morning.  Especially since this
morning he and
I woke up on the other side of the
world. 

"Chase!" 
Mirana pushes past me and runs towards her husband.  Chase looks at her and
then back at me. 
There’s
confusion on his face.  He's probably wondering how much
I've told her and what he was in for.  Th
e truth is I
have no idea what she plans to do or say to him.  I barely told her anything. 
She seemed to know it all already and be completely unfazed. 

As
soon as Mirana reaches him she throws her arms around him, pulling him into a
hug and then presse
s her lips against his in a
passionate kiss that makes me feel dizzy just to watch.

What
makes it worse is that the entire time his wife is kissing him, with her arms
wrapped around his body, Chase's eyes are on me.