Bagels Or Croissants. . .
The next morning Victoria sat up in bed and looked down at her leg. Even though her skin was bruised and cut, the medicated cream that Ted had applied the day before had helped. She knew it wasn't a flattering sight, but she was grateful that it wasn't worse.
When her phone rang, she looked at the caller ID and smiled. “What's shakin' in the Big Apple?” she said.
Tyler was in New York, visiting Juliet. He'd talked to her every day last week, desperately trying to persuade her to agree to his visit. At first she was reluctant, telling him that she needed time to think it over. But he told her that now was as good a time as any because he wasn't giving up. By the end of their third conversation she said yes.
“Things are good,” Tyler said. “But I need to ask what's up with you. Are you okay? You know, you really need to get more coordinated.”
“News travels fast.”
“Yeah, Debbie hit me on my cell late last night after she and Rob landed in Miami. But I didn't call you because I thought you might be resting. Besides, I didn't know if Prince Charming decided to drop back by and give you a little more TLC.”
“Debbie has such a big mouth. Please don't start,” Victoria sighed.
“Just admit it, the man wants to get with you. He stayed at the hospital with you, put up with your overdosing drama, and nursed you by your bedside. When a man goes the extra mile like that, he's either in the panties or tryin' to get there.”
“Ted took care of me because he's a gentleman and a decent human being. Look, I've already told you, he's not interested in me . . . ”
Tyler cut her off in mid-sentence. “I hope you're not talkin' that gay nonsense. Trust me, Prince Charming likes pussy, and the way I see it he's after yours,” he laughed.
His joke hit a nerve. “Let's change the subject,” Victoria said, a little uneasy. “Give me all the dirty details about how things are going with you and Juliet?”
“My girl is still fly as hell, just like I remember,” Tyler said. Excitement sprinkled his words as he told Victoria about their reunion. He was happy to report that Juliet's relationship with the man she'd been seeing had ended almost as quickly as it had begun. And even though many years had passed, they were beginning to pick up the broken pieces, slowly making them fit together again. “As a matter of fact, I'm about to head back over to her place now.”
“You mean you're not staying with her? Where are you . . . at a hotel?” Victoria asked.
“Yeah, I'm takin' it slow. The main objective of this visit is to let her know that I still love her and that I've never stopped. I'm doing things the right way this time.”
“Tyler, that's so special,” Victoria smiled, “I'll let you go so you can do your thing. Give Juliet a hug and a kiss for me,” she said before hanging up the phone.
Although Tyler's comments about Ted had placed a frog in her throat, Victoria was still happy inside. She was glad that her friend was on the road to happiness again. And for the first time in over a year she felt hopeful about the possibility of the same. Getting over Steven was the beginning, and meeting Mr. Gorgeous had reignited her flame. He represented new hope, and had awakened desires she'd suppressed since that fateful night in the parking lot of Steven's condo. . . .
In the last year of her relationship with Steven, Victoria had started to suspect that he was cheating on her. During one of her weekend visits she found a pair of silk panties in his bedroom. When she confronted him with the evidence he denied any wrongdoing.
“Vic, those are yours,” he said casually. “You must've left them from your last trip.”
“Bullshit! I know my own underwear when I see them. You must think I'm some kind of fool!” Victoria yelled.
“Vic, baby, calm down. Don't you remember? I bought them for you,” Steven spoke in a low and seductive tone as he walked toward her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Remember when we went to LA a few months ago and I took you to that store, and bought you all that sexy lingerie?”
Victoria did remember that Steven had spent an obscene amount of money buying her lingerie at the Le Perla store during their weekend in LA. He loved it when she dressed in sexy undergarments and performed her own private striptease for him. But no matter how much he tried to convince her, Victoria knew those underwear belonged to someone else. When she was an undergrad, her friend Gigi, who was a serious man-eater, told her how she would strategically place a sexy piece of clothing under her man's bed, serving as a calling card to any other women who might come prowling around.
After her discovery, Victoria knew she had to reevaluate their relationship. A few weeks later she decided to break up with Steven. As much as it pained her to let him go, she knew she would end up being hurt even more if she stayed in the relationship.
She planned to do it when Steven came to town for Tyler and Allison's wedding. She knew that it wasn't the most appropriate occasion at which to execute a break-up, but Steven had already purchased his tickets months ago. She didn't want to do it over the phone or in a letter, so she decided to tell him face to face, as soon as he got off the plane. His bags would still be packed so he could turn around and catch the next thing smoking back to DC.
Victoria knew it was cold, ruthless even, but she had to do it this way. She was weak for him. She knew herself well enough to know that if they spent any amount of time together, he would persuade her to change her mind and she'd be back in his arms with her legs in the air before she even knew she was under the sheets!
She waited nervously for him at the baggage claim area. Steven walked toward her carrying a small suede duffel and a garment bag, no doubt containing a dashing designer suit. Victoria thought his gray wool trousers and black silk shirt made him look good enough to eat.
Be strong. Just tell him quickly and walk away. Don't linger, and don't let him talk softly into your ear,
she told herself.
Steven reached into his duffel and pulled out a neatly wrapped box of Godiva chocolates. “Hey, Vic. I brought your favorites,” he smiled. He reached for her, but she backed away. “What's wrong?”
“Steven, we need to break up.”
“What?”
“We need to end this relationship. It's over. Now please, make this easy on both of us. The next flight back to DC leaves in another hour and a half and . . .”
“You're jokin', right?”
“No, we need to end things now.”
Steven stood directly in front of her, letting the chocolates drop to the ground. “Vic, I've come here to be with you for your best friend's wedding, and to enjoy a weekend with the woman I love. And you meet me here to break up with me? Out of the blue! At the fuckin' airport!”
“Steven, it's not out of the blue. You and I both know that things haven't been right between us for a while. We've been going in different directions for months.” Victoria stopped, then looked into his eyes. “And I don't trust you. You say there isn't another woman, but too many things don't add up; mysterious phone calls in the middle of the night, days that go by when I don't hear from you, strange panties under your bed. I can't continue like this.”
“Baby, I've never loved another woman the way I love you.” Steven reached for her hand and held it in his.
Victoria wanted to believe him, but she knew she had to stand her ground. She tried to pull her hand away, but he held on. “
Steven, do not
create a scene in this airport because I promise you, I will show my ass if I have to,” she said in a firm voice, this time successfully freeing herself from his grip.
“Vic, I know the last few months have been rough, but you're the only woman for me. You're the only woman I want to share my heart, my bed, and my life with.” Steven knelt down on one knee and pulled a small black velvet box from his duffel bag.
Victoria's eyes grew large. She started to tremble when he opened the box to reveal a large, flawless, brilliant cut diamond ring. The stone's fire and ice reflected off the overhead fluorescent lighting, creating a small rainbow of colors.
“I was gonna wait for a more appropriate time to do this. But I think if ever there was a time, it's now. Victoria Monique Small, I love you. And if you do me the honor of becoming my wife, I promise I'll spend every day from this moment forward, loving you, and only you. Will you marry me?”
Victoria was overcome with emotion. The silence around them was cut when a woman from the small crowd that had gathered yelled out, “Say yes!”
Victoria teared up, looking into Steven's eyes. “Yes, I'll marry you.” They embraced as the crowd cheered. It was a priceless moment.
How could I have been so wrong? He wants to spend the rest of his life with me,
Victoria thought a week later as she boarded her flight to DC. She'd decided to surprise Steven with a weekend visit. He'd promised to be more understanding and attentive to her needs, vowing to work hard to regain her trust.
Three hours and a rental car ride later, she arrived at Steven's condo and rang the bell. When the door opened, a cute woman wearing one of Steven's t-shirts and nothing else answered. “You're not the Papa John's guy?” the half-dressed woman said.
“Who the hell are you?” Victoria asked in astonishment.
“I'm Steven's girlfriend. Who the hell are you?” The woman glared, hands on her hips.
“I'm his fiancée!” Victoria shot back. She looked past the partially clothed woman and saw Steven standing in the background, a towel wrapped around his waist.
“Vic, this isn't what it looks like,” Steven said, walking toward the door, pushing the woman to the side.
“You lying bastard! You just proposed to me last week. Now seven days later some half naked bitch is answering your door!”
Steven had to hold the woman back as she lunged toward Victoria. “Yeah, well this bitch must be doin' something right because I'm the one sleeping in his bed,” the woman shouted.
“How could you?” Victoria screamed at Steven, tears springing from her eyes. She turned and ran away, leaving him standing in the doorway.
Victoria drove around the city in a daze for an hour before she ended up in Arlington, a small Virginia suburb a few miles outside the District line. Before she had time to talk herself out of what she was about to do, she pulled her rental car into the parking lot of Home Depot. Inside, she purchased a carpet-cutting knife and a can of spray paint, then headed back to the District and into the parking lot of Steven's building. She lowered herself to the ground next to his tan Lexus and started slashing tires one by one. She picked up the can of spray paint and wrote “Cheating Bastard” across the doors and hood. After she finished, she stood up to inspect her handiwork. One of Steven's neighbors whom she'd shared friendly chats with during her many visits, walked by and saw her. But the woman didn't say a word. She simply gave Victoria a look of pity before heading up to her unit.
Victoria stood in the middle of the parking lot with tears streaming down her face, the carpet knife in one hand, the can of spray paint in the other. She turned and looked at her reflection in the window of the car beside her, but hardly recognized the sad-looking woman staring back. She was away from work for the next two weeks while her friends shared turns nursing her back from a broken heart.
Victoria switched her thoughts back to the present, swinging her body around the side of her bed. She was about to limp over to the bathroom to take a shower when the phone rang again. She picked it up when she saw that it was Ted. “Good morning, Ted,” she smiled into the phone.
“Ahh, caller ID, don't you love it?”
“I don't know how we lived without it. Kind of like air conditioning.”
“Yeah, but it kills the surprise.”
“Hearing from you is a good surprise.”
Her words made him smile. “I'm glad you think so. How're you feeling this morning?”
“Better . . . thanks to you. What are you doing up so bright and early? Don't you ever sleep in on the weekends?”
“Actually, no.” Ted hadn't slept in on a weekend since his freshman year of college. “I'm about to step into La Madeleine. Do you prefer bagels or croissants?”
“What?”
“I'm guessing that you haven't eaten this morning, right?”
“No, I haven't.”
“So, do you prefer bagels or croissants? I'm bringing you breakfast. You've got to eat, don't you?”
“If I tell you not to go through the trouble, you're not going to listen to me, are you?”
“You're a smart woman. And believe me, it's no trouble.”
“Okay, I should be presentable by the time you get here.”
Ted pictured what she must look like first thing in the morning. He wanted to rush over that very moment. “I'm about to order, so which do you prefer, bagels or croissants?”