Almost five o'clock with one thing on her mind - Lance. Each time they'd secretly met he had swept her off her feet, as if every word that came out of his mouth were poetry. For the fifth time this week, Lance was coming to take her away on another romantic journey. She was nervous. Elizabeth had gotten away with murder, so far; one more night of sneaking out wouldn't hurt. But, she grabbed her cell phone and dialed Stephen's number.
"Hello, darling. I'm stuck working late at the office tonight, I am really sorry."
"Stephen! We had dinner plans tonight! I thought you told Jeffrey all about them a week ago?"
"Muffin, I'm sorry, something came up. I'll be there as soon as I can."
Bastard. Elizabeth flipped the phone shut. She had expected Stephen to stay late at work, and she knew exactly what he was going to be doing, too. It took her quite a while to figure out her husband's secrets, but eventually it was all clear. The constant phone calls, the business trips, the late nights at work, the scent of woman's perfume all over his body when he returned home, and the stinging smell of sex in the back seat of his jaguar; and he had plenty of good excuses.
"It's the new secretary, she doesn't know a thing about our company! If someone has to set her straight it has to be me."
"This trip to Hawaii will double our profits, and Veronica is in charge of the whole project!"
"I wish you could have come along, honey, but Florida was business. Men need to do their business away from women. Marsha had to go, she is my boss' wife!"
"Judd came into the office drunk, we had to get rid of that smell somehow!"
"I hit the neighbor's dog, what was I supposed to do? Leave it on the road? No. I gave it a ride back to its owners'. That mutt wasn't going to sit in the front seat."
Once she found out the truth, she went in search of her own to hide. Lance was a frequent jogger and had always run past her flower shop. Every day, he'd slow going past the bouquets of roses and lilies, just to get a glimpse of Elizabeth through the window. And she would wait for him to go past, so she could envy his body in motion. Eventually, he found the courage to go inside the florist shop and ask her out for lunch. Lance fell in love with her quickly, sending her chocolates, telegrams, and teddy bears. He wanted to know everything about her, and she told Lance exactly that. Elizabeth finally felt as if she could trust a man with every aspect of her life, but she still had love for her husband.
Now, as nightfall started to show, she realized her wedded love had long died. Stephen treated her like a maid he could sleep with, and nothing more. She was tired of him pushing her around and pretending. Elizabeth finally knew she was truly in love with Lance.
Tying up her hair in a mess bun and rosying her cheeks with blush, Elizabeth fingered his number into her cell. No answer. Where is he? She left a short message, stating she was excited about tonight and wished he'd arrive soon, then flipped the phone closed. Grabbing her pearls and matching earrings, she walked towards the bed and sat down. Her phone beeped. It was a text from Stephen, "Go out with your friends & have a good time." She texted back, "Already leaving the house with Rachel!"
Elizabeth latched the necklace around her neck and hung the earrings in her ears; she wondered where Lance was at that very moment. Tonight, she decided to prove how much she'd wanted to be with him. She was ready for the consequences. Elizabeth sat up and trudged to look outside the window. There he was, sitting across the street, in a '98 Buick. Her heart began to flutter and she rushed to her walk-in closet. Where could it be? Hangers clinked together as Elizabeth searched for her silky red dress. It was her most seducing gown, and she planned to put it to use tonight.
Ginger Simons gripped some files closely to her side while she gracefully walked towards Mr. Riley's office. She paused as she reached the office door, checking her fire-red hair and blossom lipstick in a close-by window. Once she was content with her appearance, she opened the door and went inside.
"Stephy! You are staying late to help me with the new product promotion, right?"
Stephen had been bored and goggling porn on his MacBook Air. Once Ginger had spoken, he'd quickly minimized the window, turned to face her in his swivel chair, and whispered, "Shut the door." She did as instructed, then headed in the direction of the desk to slide into the leather love seat beside it.
Stephen stared at the door for quite some time, then glanced at Ginger, "How many are there still working?" She didn't know. Stephen got up from his chair, "Is Brad still here?" She shook her head. He grinned, slyly, "Excellent." With that said, he walked towards Ginger. Standing in front of the love seat, he unbuttoned his pants.
Lance had decided to take Elizabeth to Le Cirque, one of the top restaurants in New York, and she was thrilled. Stephen hadn't taken her out to eat or anywhere for that matter, in such a long time. As they walked through the golden doors, Lance slipped his arm around her waist. It sent chills throughout her whole body, proving to herself, again, that she really did love him.
They were seated at a small round table with creme chairs and matching cloth. While each made their order, Lance reached out and held her hand, "Elizabeth, when will you leave that monster? He treats you worse than the earth he walks on."
She had wondered when she'd seize the courage to throw divorce papers into Stephen's face. But, she didn't have the heart to hurt him. They hadn't been married for more than six years and already it seemed their bond had fallen apart. Elizabeth wanted their marriage to work, but she had lost all hope. I've got to catch him in the act, but how? Confrontation was the only way she could think of ending it so sudden. Especially now, as she sat dinning with another man, before someone caught on to her own actions.
After dinner, Lance swayed her into a walk through the park. Holding hands, they walked past the lake, gleaming in the moonlight, while birds sang romance in the sky. Elizabeth looked up into his eyes and whispered, "It's getting cold. Shall we go to my place?" Lance agreed and offered his coat, then headed towards the parking lot.
Approaching the driveway of Elizabeth's estate, she realized how dark it had gotten since the evening had began, she could barely see the front steps. They crept inside the seven-bedroom home, heading straight for the master bedroom, where Lance made himself at home. He stripped down to his boxers, crawled under the satin covers, and declared, "We should watch an old black and white movie."
At first, Elizabeth was startled, if it would have been Stephen; he would have wanted to have passionate sex and then trail off to sleep. Startled so much, she almost second-guessed his sexuality. He couldn't be gay, could he? She quickly got that thought out of her head, why would Lance tell her that he loved her so if he was gay? No. That wasn't it at all, maybe he was just nervous. Elizabeth changed into her nighties and crawled into bed with Lance.
He flipped through the channels until he found It Happened One Night and placed the remote on the bedside table. Elizabeth moved closer to him, and he wrapped his arm around her. Just relaxing and watching the movie with Lance was peaceful. All the worries in her head seemed to disappear.
"What the hell?" Stephen screamed, then attacked Lance. He had clenched his fists and began punching Lance rapidly. Lance threw up his arms to try and block Stephen's blows, but it was no use.
"Stephen, stop, STOP! You'll kill him!" Elizabeth jumped from the bed, trying to pull Stephen off, "That's enough! You don't even know who he is!"
Suddenly, Stephen ceased his violence.
"You're right, I don't know who the fuck he is! So why is he in my fucking house?" He slapped Elizabeth across the face.
She fell to the floor, unconscious.
"Oh Muffin, wake up!" Stephen shoved at his wife. She jumped, finally awakening, with a disgusted look upon her face. "What a tumble you took, sweetie. Here, put some ice on your head."
He patted a cold, blue icepack on the left side of her head and contently sat on the side of the bed where Elizabeth lay. Is he serious? If he thinks I don't remember what happened, he's an idiot. She sat up, pushing the covers away and throwing the icepack upon the floor. Slipping on her Uggs slippers and tried to rush out of the master bedroom, but Stephen caught her by the arm. He pulled her back down to the bed and whispered, "That man was never in our home. You are never going to see him again, understand? If I find out you're sneaking around ever again, I'll kill you." He released his grip, stomped out of the room, and slammed the door behind him.
"Bastard." She whispered, out of breath. Elizabeth lay on the bed for awhile, until her lungs were full of air, then she sat up and looked around for her cell phone. Rummaging throughout her many things, her cell phone was not found anywhere. She sat on the carpet floor, after looking under the bed just incase it was flung around during the tussle between Lance and Stephen. Where is Lance? If only she could relocate her phone to call him.
The house phone began to ring, and Elizabeth wasn't in the mood to talk to whoever it was. She knew it wasn't Lance, he didn't have her home number. Most likely, it was Stephen; she wanted nothing to do with him. Her first thought was to spit in his face when she first woke up, but Elizabeth knew she'd be out like a light again. Finally, she got off the floor and reached for the phone on the bedside table. "Hello."
"Elizabeth, is that you? Your neighbors just called me, saying something about a mad man attacking you and Stephen, but a group of gangmembers appeared before either of you got hurt. I didn't believe a word of it, but I wanted to make sure you were okay either way. I can fly over, if you'd like. I know a man who can fly around the world in an hour if there's an emergency. Elizabeth, are you listening to me?" It was her mother, of course Elizabeth was listening, but with the speed her mother could talk she could barely comprehend a word that was said.
"Excuse me? Mom, no, listen. No mad man attacked us, unless you mean Stephen. And there's nothing you can do right now. I have to go though, it's past 11." She checked the alarm clock to assure her of the time. "And why would the neighbors call you?"
"I'm good friends with the Lymbardos, it's a long story. Stephen is the mad man? What is going on? I am all ears, child, tell me."
"I'm sorry, mom. I love you, goodnight." Elizabeth hung up the phone. With quick thinking, she hit the 'talk' button, so no one else could call, and crawled into bed.
Sunlight shined though the bay windows, and the birds' calls could be heard clearly inside the master bedroom, where Elizabeth remained sleeping. She still wore her slippers with her nighties, and the satin covers were all the way up to her nose. There was a sudden plop on the end of the bed, and it moved up towards her head. "Meow! Meow! Meow meow!" cried Elizabeth's Calico cat, Sugar. Elizabeth rolled over and pushed the covers down a bit to face her beloved cat. Sugar purred at the sight of her face and lay down beside Elizabeth.
Petting Sugar, Elizabeth sat up. She had noticed no one else has slept in the bed with her that night, which she wasn't going to complain about, but it did make her wonder. Her first thought was that maybe Stephen was leaving her, but she disagreed with the thought right away. If he had wanted to leave, he would have done it long ago. When he was finding pleasure from everyone but me. No, he was probably off at a friend's or a bar somewhere downtown. He could be at a hotel, receiving room service or whatever he wanted. But, where was Lance?
Sugar now sat upon Elizabeth's lap, very content and ready to fall asleep. Elizabeth pushed her aside, back onto the bed, and reached for the home phone. She dialed her cell number. There was no "Glamorous by Fergie" ring tone playing anywhere. She then dialed for the operator.
"Yes, I'm trying to reach Lance Murphy."
"What? You mean this romantic man you've been seeing doesn't even live around here? How the hell is he always seeing you then?" Gabrielle, Elizabeth's most trusted friend, was astonished. "You've got to be kidding me."
"That's what she said, which is all the more confusing. Why would such a sweet, sensitive guy spend how many weeks here just to be with me? It just doesn't fit." Elizabeth shook her head and shoved it into her arms, upon the cafe table.
"Well, I'm kind of stumped too. Maybe he's here for business. Oh! You know what would be really sexy? What if he was undercover for the FBI and he just happened to fall for you. Sure, his case ended weeks ago, but he's never experienced love the way he has now, with you." Gabrielle gleamed, and so did Elizabeth. The thought of Lance being such a character was almost comical.
A waitress finally approached them to take their order. They both turned down the offer, explaining that they were leaving anyway. Each grabbing their purse, Gabrielle whispered, "I've been dying to ask you this but, what's it like not having your cell phone?"
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