Fatal Temptation (10 page)

“Not a problem,” Valerie replies. “Take as long as you need. She is in good hands. We will see you then.”

“Thanks,” Sadie says into the phone and then hangs up.

Sadie breathes a sigh of relief and she leads the way to the parking lot. Unsure if Chris took the vehicle or not, she presses the remote car starter and hears the engine to the SUV start up. She leads the way for Ling to follow.

“So I did good tonight?” Ling asks again as they walk to the vehicle.

“Yes Ling, you were phenomenal,” Sadie replies as she opens the back door to the SUV. “Put away your things and hop in.”

Ling agrees and then hops into the passenger side door. Sadie walks around and opens up the driver’s side to get in. She starts up the engine right away and hooks her cell phone up to the Bluetooth system. “I’m going to drop you off at Auntie Valerie’s for a while okay? Mommy needs to go talk to daddy but then we will both come pick you up later. You won’t be there for long.”

“Is everything alright?” Ling asks.

“It’s fine.”

Ling sits quietly, to herself, staring out into the night sky.

Sadie looks over at her and its evident by her bouncing legs that she is nervous; it’s a habit Ling must have learned from her. She reaches over and places her hand on her daughter’s petite leg, forcing Ling to make eye contact with her. She does and the two share a moment.

“We are going to be fine,”
Sadie says the words sternly, trying to assure Ling.

Ling smiles and wraps her tiny hand in her mother’s. “It’s okay. I love you more anyways.”

Stunned, Sadie immediately begins questioning Ling, trying to get to the source of her answer. “Sweetie, what makes you say that?”

Ling takes a deep breath before speaking, as if trying to collect her emotions. “I don’t know. I just feel safer with you and not safe with dad. You are the nice one.”

“Has dad ever been mean to you?” Sadie does her best to focus on the road ahead but can’t help but want to catch every emotion flooding through Ling.

Ling shrugs her little shoulders. “I don’t know. He’s just mean to all of us.”

Sadie pulls the SUV to a stop on the driveway of Valerie’s home, where the front porch light is on and Valerie, wrapped in her housecoat, is standing in the doorway, ready to greet them.

Sadie is still speechless, unable to form any words and all she can do is
bring her daughter in close and hold her in this embrace. Ling breaks from it first and glances into her mother’s eyes with her big black almond shaped spheres. “I love you mommy.”

Sadie brushes some fallen hair away from her face, cradling her
like the cherub angel she is. “And I love you. I’ll pick you up soon, okay?”

Ling nods, unbuckles herself and is out the door in no time, running up to the safety of Valerie and the two of them bring each other in close. Valerie picks Ling up to bring her inside, nodding towards Sadie amidst the darkness and Sadie does the same, thanking her friend fr
om afar for always being there.

She watches as the two head inside and the moment the door closes, Sadie shifts the vehicle into reverse, flying down the driveway. When she shifts it into drive, she finds herself at a crossroads, as her home is in one direction and Asher’s performance is
in the other. She still can’t fathom how Chris acted at the theater this evening and how despicable his behavior was. In the same breath, she needs Asher’s comfort now more than ever and feels driven into his arms by her husband.

Ultimately she makes up her mind, stepping on the gas and flying down the road towards her house. She prompts the call function on the car’s navigation system, dialing home and hoping Chris will pick up.

No answer.

Moments later, she pulls
the SUV up the driveway and quickly exits the vehicle. Even though she is in heels and formal attire, she is able to run up to the front of the house. The door is locked so she opens it, hoping to find Chris inside.

“Hello?” she calls out and her voice echoes throughout the home. “Chris? Are you here?”

She enters the home but no one seems to be inside until she sees a light on in Chris’ office. She walks over there slowly. This is an area of the home that Sadie was never allowed to enter. Chris’ office has a lock on the door and the sole key belongs to him. Never before has it been suspicious to Sadie but now, with the house feeling empty and the only light illuminating from this forbidden room, she can feel her body hesitating with every step she takes.

“Chris, I’m
sorry. I can explain,” she says as she walks over and peeks through the door but no one is in there. The light is on but the room is empty. That is until Sadie spots the open laptop, as if Chris had just been here moments prior. She walks over and sits down to look at the screen. Her heart sinks in her chest, her palms become wet and her body goes numb.

“Oh my god,” her gasp is nearly a whisper as her eyes dart along the bright screen.

On the screen are photos of Sadie kissing Asher in the alley the other night, taken at a distance but close enough to see everything. There are multiple pictures opened on the screen, all at the same angle but all capturing different moments, as if the person photographing them had been there for the entire time.

She doesn’t dare to touch the track pad mouse but her curi
osity gets the better of her, as there is a right arrow on the picture that indicates there are more in this series. She hesitates at first, not knowing if she should click forward as what she reveals might be even more upsetting to her but she is this far in, how much more worse could it get?

She hovers the mouse over the right arrow and clicks, immediately gasping and covering her mouth with her right hand in disgust.

She feels sick.

She feels violated.

Her greatest fear has come true.

Sadie opens up Pandora’s box; Chris’ laptop is filled with candid pictures of Sadie, all taken from a distance. There are ones of her out with her friends at the café, a shot of
her walking towards the sex shop, some of her and Ling when they went to the mall and a wide array of shots of her and Asher, at the show, at the café and in the alley.

“Oh my god!” she panics, backing away from the laptop and standing up in the room, feeling as though she might faint.

All of a sudden, a figure starts walking towards her; their footsteps heard creaking along the hardwood floor.

“Who’s there
!?” Sadie screams at the top of her lungs, feeling the tears flooding her eyes and running down her cheeks like hurried rivers. “Get away from me!”

“I bet that’s what you want,” the voice begins and it’s one that is very familiar to her; one that she has spent the greater part of ten years of her life with.

The figure continues walking forward until the sole light in the office lights his face, revealing that it is him.

It’s Chris.

“Chris, what the hell is this?” she points at the laptop, while crossing her arms, backing away from him further in the room.

Chris enters the office fully, rubbing at his chin, maliciously. “Oh Sadie, it’s just my little way of keeping tabs on you.”

“Keeping tabs on me? So you don’t trust me so much to the point where you need to spy on me? What kind of a marriage is this?”

“Well, why don’t I ask you the same thing?” Chris shrugs his shoulders, opening the floor to her.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because I feel like I’m losing you,” Chris begins, feeling the severity of the truth being revealed getting the better of him. He starts to carry himself with less sureness, acting more like a troubled teenager caught in a flurry of e
motions, than a full grown dependable man.

Sadie ste
ps forward to try to comfort him, but he stops her motion with a simple gesture from his hand, putting it up as a metaphoric way to keep her in her place.

“It’s over, isn’t it? And it’s been over for a long time?”

Sadie dreads answering the question but at the same time, knows the true answer deep in her heart. She says nothing as Chris looks to her direction; he is able to get all of the answers he needs in her non-reply.

His gaze falls to the floor and he takes in a deep breath, rubbing at the temples on his head and trying to get rid of the surging, stressful pain.
Sadie walks forward, tentatively, as to not upset him further, even though she is the one that has ever right to be livid and to lash out. However, she refuses, seeing Chris as a broken man with no glimmering hope and more as a victim, than the bad guy. It breaks her heart to see him like this but only reaffirms her recent gut feeling that it is over.

The closer she gets, the more
Chris breaks down until he is nearly sobbing as she places her hands on his shoulders. “Come here,” she pulls him in for a hug, holding him as he whimpers and convulses in her arms. “We had a good run, didn’t we?”

Chris nods next to her and she can feel his motion as he rubs against her cheek, a layer of wet tears separating their skin. “And we did love each other,” Chris’ words are barely audible through his sobs.

“We did,” Sadie agrees with him, holding her in closer. “And deep down, I know you will always have a place in my heart.”

“And you in mine.”

The two hold each other for a moment, until Chris is the first to break from the embrace. “You better go.”

“No,” she says to him, standing her ground. “I can stay here with you.”

“Why would you want to stay with a cheating, spying monster?”

“You’re not a monster,” she comforts him again. “You’re not.”

“It sure feels like I am. I think I was just losing control of everything, losing control of our intimacy, of your happiness, of my anger. So I didn’t know what to do. I was certain you were cheating on me all along, but turns out, you weren’t. When you went out, you were almost always with your friends, or alone, trying to get away from me.”

Sadie nods, the feelings of violation starting to come over her again. It saddens her to know Chris had been doing this all along and for how ever many years. It pains her inside.

“So, I cheated on you out retaliation. I was so mad you weren’t doing anything, that I had to be the one to ruin it,” Chris takes in a deep breath, pulling his glasses off of his face and wiping more tears away with the cuff of his shirt. “Then, when I saw you with him, the way you smiled at him, the way he was able to dominate you… I knew it was over.”

Sadie stands before him, unsure what to say, unsure what to do next. Part of her wants to make it better, unable to give up on her marriage, but her heart warns her of the dangers of that. She can feel the tears form in her eyes at the thought of never seeing Chris again, at losing her first love, but in the same breath, she knows it’s the right thing to do.

“I just want you to be happy and you’re not happy with me, so go. Be happy,” Chris backs away from her. “I’ll take care of everything. I promise.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Sadie is rendered speechless, caught between mixed emotions of joy and pure desolation.

“Sometimes, it’s best to say nothing at all,” Chris pats her on the shoulder and sends her out of the office, shutting the door behind him and locking it so she cannot regain entry.

Sadie pulls on the handle, trying her best to open it but it doesn’t budge and Chris doesn’t
allow her to see him again. She presses her ear against the door, hoping to hear a peep from him, any form of life left, but she hears nothing but unmitigated silence. She steps back, staring at the door, realizing it has been a symbol for a break in their marriage all along. Chris never fully trusted her, needing a space for his own tricks and tools to try to break her down. Looking at this locked door every single day brought Sadie feelings of discomfort, never really knowing the true source for them.

Now, it’s all clear and now, she knows where she needs to be.
She takes off the wedding band on her finger, sliding it under the door to his office before heading out of the front door to the house, feeling a lot of emotions but mostly, feeling free.

Not knowing what time the show was supposed to start tonight, Sadie can feel her leg bouncing up and down on the brake pedal, as she is stuck at a red light on the abandoned street only a few blocks away from the venue. With no sign of life around her though, she is certain she missed it and maybe, she missed her chance with him for good.

As soon as the traffic light f
lashes green, Sadie shifts to the gas, forcing the pedal down and driving through the rain soaked streets. It’s only fitting that it is raining again, as the rain is what reminds her of him the most.

Finally, she pulls up in front of The Buckingham, and just as expected, from her initial glance at it, it’s dull and barren. “Shit!”

She unbuckles as fast as she can, hopping out of the interior mere seconds later and once her heels hit the pavement, she runs as fast as she can towards the entrance, grabbing both handles with tight grips and forcing them open as fast as she can.

The moment the doors fly open, Sadie’s jaw drops and her heart skips a beat. Every table, every chair and every surface in the venue is covered in white candles that are burning bright, creating a sense of warmth the second the air hits her. She stands in the doorway for a moment; trying to focus her vision on what she sees and unsure if she can digest it properly.

Then, she notices a string of rose pedals leading the way up the stage where a single chair is reserved for her, facing the darkened stage. Sadie walks towards it, shutting the oversized wooden doors behind her, her heels clicking on the old hardwood floor beneath her.

She approaches the
slowly, her heart caught in her throat and sits down quietly, not saying a peep and instead, brushing away some of the joyous tears escaping her eyes. She lets out a gasp as she clenches her heart, surrounded by all of the beautiful candles and then, her attention is shifted to the stage as a single piano note plays, followed by a voice sent from the heavens.

Up on the stage, is Asher, a smile illuminating his face surrounded by a pianist, and a single cellist. He
smiles at her, before he takes in a deep breath, preparing himself to perform for her, but is too taken by her in her formal attire.

“You,” he chokes on his words. “You are breathtaking.”

Sadie can’t smile nor can she even speak, leaving Asher to rely on the sole reason he brought her here to seal the deal for him. He looks at his fellow musicians, counting down with them and counting on them, taking one final breath. “One… two… three… four…”

“Yes I do, I believe

That one day I will be, where I was

Right there, right next to you

And it's hard;
the days just seem so dark

The
moon, the stars, are nothing without you

Your touch, your skin, where do I begin?

No words can explain, the way I’m missing you

The night, this emptiness, this hole that I’m inside

These tears, they tell their own story

You told me not to cry when you were gone

But the feeling’s overwhelming, it's much too strong

Can I lay by your side, next to you?

And make sure you’re alright

I’ll take care of you,

And I don’t want to be here if I can’t be with you tonight

I’m reaching out to you

Can you hear my call?

This hurt that I’ve been through

I’m missing you, missing you like crazy

You told me not to cry when you were gone

But the feeling’s
overwhelming, it’s much too strong

Can I lay by your side, next to you, you

And make sure you’re alright

I’ll take care of you

And I don’t
wanna be here if I can’t be with you tonight

Lay me down tonight, lay me by your side

Lay me down
tonight, lay me by your side

Can I lay by your side, next to you
?”

The song ends and Sadie doesn’t know how to react; it all feels so soon and it all feels far too good to be true. Asher waits for a response from her, every second that ticks away eats away apart of him, forcing him to feet his. He turns to his fellow musicians, thanking them individually with handshakes and hugs. They leave, silently, not even looking in Sadie’s direction, feeling embarrassed for Asher and hoping it all works out in his favor in the end.

Now, they are alone – Asher standing on the stage, too afraid to walk down to her and Sadie sits in her position, too afraid to move a muscle. They lock eyes, after what feels like eternity, both of them breathing so hard, they are sure they are about to collapse under the sheer force of the moment.

The anticipation is killing Asher. He put everything on the line for her, saying everything and more through the medium he knows best and here she is before him, reticent. He nervously stashes his hands into the back pockets of his jeans, while looking down at the ground before bringing his gaze up to hers again.

“So, did you like it?”

Tears flood Sadie’s eyes even more and when she blinks, they fall to her cheeks. She clutches her chest, unable to form words and all she can do is look at him, nodding her head, slightly.

Relief in the greatest form comes over Asher, who smiles brilliantly on the stage, all of him illuminating with joy in this moment. “Is it okay if I come down there?”

Sadie nods again, standing to greet him and he jumps down from the stage, unable to stand another moment apart from her. His feet connect with the ground and he lands cleanly, mere meters away from her. After he collects himself, he is tentative to do anything else, taking small steps towards her. He scans her entire body the whole way, taking in every motion of her chest and every fidget of her fingers.

“Your ring. You aren’t wearing your ring?”

Sadie looks down, constantly astonished by his attention to detail. “It’s over. I ended it.”

Asher swallows hard, nervous. “Because of me? Did I ruin it?”

Sadie smiles and laughs, shaking her head. “No, you didn’t. You made it perfect.”

They are the only words Asher needs to hear. He leaps towards her, picking her up by the waist and twirling her around, like the princess that she is to him. Sadie laughs as he spins her around in the air, holding her up like the trophy that she is. As h
er hair spins around in the air, she can’t help but laugh in complete and utter joy. In this moment, she is the happiest she has been since Ling found her way into her life. In this moment, she finally feels complete.

Asher gently sets her feet down on the ground again, holding her in close and steadying her on her heels. He holds her gaze, never looking anywhere else but her eyes, as they speak to his soul and give him all of the words he needs.
“I loved you from the moment I saw you and I can’t imagine another second without you.”

Sadie lets the tears flow without any reservation. It might be the first time in her life that she has ever let her vulnerability shine through without worry or without concern. It’s incredibly liberating and she breathes a huge sigh of relief, still rendered speechless.

Asher smiles at her, knowing that the moment is so overwhelming for her and sensitive to that fact. He wraps his arms around her, pulling her in even closer to him, his lips hovering over hers. “Is it okay if I kiss you now?”

This time, it’s Sadie who refuses to hesitate for another moment, bringing her lips to co
llide with his, for the kiss of a lifetime. With the candles around them burning bright and the burn back into their hearts, they kiss, passionately, effortlessly and as if their lips were made for the others, fitting perfectly, like the pieces of a puzzle finally being complete.

In the breakaway, they both breathe heavily, their foreheads resting on the others, both trying to come back down to earth after being taken away to a new universe with that one kiss.

“Make love to me,” Sadie requests of him, finally able to form words and to feel more stable in his presence. “I want you to make love to me.”

“With pleasure,” Asher confesses, sweeping her off of her feet, literally and out the door, both of their bodies instantly doused from the rain, as if the heavens are crying tears of joy for them
, while Asher carries her back to his flat.