TAMMY’S POV“Are you being serious right now, Tam?” Sean asks, visibly frustrated. “I buy you a brand new car and you’re jealous that my step mother gets to drive with me to work every day?”“I’m not jealous, Sean. I would just think that as your wife, you would want to be the first person to help me when I need you. Like today, I needed you. And you chose Sue.” I say, defeated.“Tam, you are being unreasonable here. Sue and I work in the same building, so of course we travel together most days. Yesterday was impossible. I had the most important meeting of my career so far. I couldn’t cancel that to drive you to work.”“I do understand your work is import…”“Obviously not, Tammy!” Sean interrupts. “What, is this not the right color car for you? Do you want something more expensive? Honestly, you’re just sounding spoiled.”My heart breaks into two pieces. Sean knows me. He knows that money and expensive things don’t matter to me. How could he insinuate something like that? A tear forms
TAMMY’S POVI don’t have concrete evidence that Sean’s cheating on me. But what else could explain his strange relationship with Sue? Him constantly rushing to her side at a moment’s notice. And now he’s avoiding me? I need answers! Before I completely break down. I settle myself on the sofa and open up my laptop. Immediately, I see the wallpaper I set on my home screen: Sean and I kissing at the altar on our wedding day. My stomach sinks. I really hope more than anything that I’m wrong about Sean and Sue. Because if I’m right, my whole world will come crashing down.I double click on my browser and start typing into the search bar:Signs he’s cheating on youI hit ‘Enter’. The answers all seem so generic. Nothing here is the concrete answer I need. I slam my laptop closed in frustration after only reading for two minutes.This is stupid, I’m wasting my time. I completely forget that I have to be at work soon. I rush off to get showered and ready for the day ahead. I have a feelin
TAMMY’S POVI quickly open the message from her.Got me anything cute from Greece? RDamn, I completely forgot about shopping during my honeymoon from hell. I sigh and start replying:Hey Rach, you wouldn’t believe how expensive things are over there. I’ll make it up to you. Dinner? On me.One minute later I get a response from Rachel.I’m in.We decided to meet at a new little Italian restaurant .***“I’m telling you, Tam, I think Carl could be the one. He really seems different. Not like the usual boys I date; so unemotional and immature. The sex is always fabulous but generally they’re misogynistic assholes.” Rachel says, taking a sip of her Pinot Grigio“So why exactly do you think he’s the one, Rach?” I ask, wanting more details.Rachel has always been a serial dater, way more liberal than my Catholic upbringing. Ever since college, she’s been playing the field and exploring her sexuality. I, on the other hand, was already dating Sean. My first boyfriend and my first and only lo
TAMMY’S POVI quickly catch up to Rachel on the sidewalk. She is bee-lining it for the lingerie store that Sean just took Sue into. This is bad. I don’t want this drama to unfold in front of my best friend. I already feel bad enough as it is that I haven’t been completely honest with her. I’m too ashamed to admit what I’m really suspecting is happening between my husband and his step mom. “Rachel, uhm, hold on. Just wait a second. We don’t want to go in there and cause a scene, right? There’s really no point. It’ll make everything so much worse!”“Tammy, don’t be ridiculous. He’s taken another woman into a fucking lingerie store! We’re going in there and strangling him with a set of suspenders. Maybe they’ve even got some of those leather whips in stock.” “Rachel, please! Let’s just forget this and go home!” I plead as she keeps walking.Suddenly, Rachel stops dead in her tracks and turns to look at me.“Tammy, what the hell is going on?”“What do you mean?” I ask, trying to act no
TAMMY’S POVMy mind is racing in the cab drive home. I hope I was right about not really seeing that it was Sean and Sue walking into Peachy Intimates, that it could have been a case of mistaken identity in the evening city lights. I get home to classic opera playing through the speakers and Sue sitting in the living room on the sofa, sipping a martini. She spots me walking towards the hallway that leads to my bedroom.“Oh hi, darling! You look lovely. Were you out somewhere nice?” She asks, taking an olive out of her glass and delicately placing it in her mouth.“Yeah, uhm, I had a nice dinner in town with one of my girlfriends, at that new Italian place in town. You know, right next to the theater…?” I realize I’m trying to get some kind of reaction from her, something that gives away where she was and what she was doing earlier. “Oh, and that cute little lingerie store is quite close to the restaurant; Peachy Intimates.”Sue swallowed her olive with a soft gulp. A smile returned t
TAMMY’S POVThe next morning, I threw all his shiny underwear into the trash can. Sean didn’t notice it.Finally, it's the weekend. I Didn’t expect Sue to speak to me after what happened last night. “Darling! Good morning.” She says taking a long gulp of coffee from her large mug. “ Ángel is grinding a new roast I found at the farmer’s market, this one’s an Arabica. Absolutely divine! Can I make you a cup?”Having her be so kind after the scene I caused last night has caught me off guard. If I really think about it, she’s always been really nice to me, especially in this last year of mine and Sean’s marriage. I decided the best way forward is to return the favor. Even if I feel conflicted about it. On one hand I feel like she cares and is trying her best to be supportive. On the other hand, I feel like if she cared, she would at least give Sean and I space right now, when things seem so strange. But she seems more involved than ever.“Yeah, that sounds lovely, thank you.” I say, ge
TAMMY’S POV“Get on me.” Sean breathed into my mouth as we kissed, deep and hot, on the back seat of the parked limousine. I moved from my seat next to him and straddled his lap, facing his gorgeous face. His eyes smoldered with lust for me in this tight mini dress he bought me.As I seat myself in his lap, my legs parted over him, I can feel his stiffness against my entrance. I softly start riding his bulge, weaving my fingers through his hair, tilting his head back so that I can suck on his bottom lip.“Fuck, Tam. I haven’t felt you like this in a while. I forgot how damn good it feels.”“Mmm-mm, tell me about it.”, I agree, moving to his top lip to take a nibble. I feel the moist heat on my panties as Sean says “Do you want me inside of you?” I giggle in response, “It was hard enough getting this dress on, I don’t know how I’m supposed to take it off.”“No need.” he grins, lifting me by my hips ever so slightly, enough for him to unbuckle his belt and unzip his pants. “But befor
TAMMY’S POVI slowly sit up in the bed, rubbing my tired eyes open. It must be close to 2AM in the morning. It can only be Sue and Sean up at this time, unless it’s Ángel and Valentina but there is no way in hell they’re still in the apartment, they’re not live-in staff. Sue told me she couldn’t possibly share the same floor of an apartment with her service staff.I hear a loud laugh followed by a shhh sound. It seems like they don’t want to be heard. Why are they sneaking around?I quietly get out of bed and tiptoe to the bedroom door. I still can’t hear the chatter properly. I need to get closer.I stalk past the guest rooms and stop before the living room archway. It’s definitely Sean and Sue. I start feeling nervous. What do I think I’m going to hear? Didn’t I just accept the fact that I was being insecure and jealous when it comes to their relationship? For them to be up chatting at this hour doesn’t help my neurotic brain. Maybe if I can make out what they’re saying it’ll put m
SEAN’S POVTammy is making life really fucking difficult. She hasn’t come home yet after the conversation at the breakfast table about Sue not moving out. What does she expect? This is Sue’s home. We’re just guests.It’s been almost twenty-four hours and I haven’t heard anything from her. Where the hell is she? I tried calling late last night thinking she might be working over time. But nothing. My calls went straight to voicemail. So, this is what our relationship has become. She threatens to file for divorce and flees? Really mature, Tammy. To be fair, I haven’t been the most mature in this situation either. Last night when I couldn’t get hold of Tammy, I made a turn at Gideon’s house, thinking Tammy might be there again with that brute. I made sure to leave behind another smashed window before Gideon pulled up into his driveway, insisting Tammy had been in his house all day. My last resort was to call Tammy’s mother. Again, I came up short.I’m running out of ideas here. Tammy i
TAMMY’S POVAfter a long day and very little sleep the night before, I pull up to The Monarch Hotel, a mid-rise building in the city. Sean brought me here for dinner just after we got married. I thank my cab driver as I step out and into the lobby of the hotel made of modern steel and glass architecture. I decided not to drive my car around for the next few days, I’ve learnt my lesson. Sean will inevitably track my location and try to force me to come home, causing another embarrassing scene. I check into my suite on the 10th floor and unpack my suitcase. I find myself gazing out of the floor to ceiling glass windows overlooking the city. The panoramic view reminds me of the apartment as the soft orange light fills the serene hotel room.I think of Sean as I get comfy on the emerald green sofa. He hasn’t called me yet. By now he must have realized I’m not home and that my suitcase is missing. Finally, after my second glass of wine, the calls start coming in from Sean. I decide to
TAMMY’S POVI wake up the next morning feeling sore and strange. How could Sean and I be in such a rocky place yet get deeply intimate with each other? Share our bodies even though our minds are at war.I think I need some space to really think this through.But first, I need breakfast. I’m exhausted after last night. I’m pretty sure we could not have gotten any more than a few hours sleep. Sean is already up since I’m the only one stretching awake in our bed. He must be having breakfast with Sue.I rinse my face, brush my unkempt hair and make my way to the kitchen where Sean and Sue are already seated at the dining room table, enjoying a freshly brewed cup of coffee and some hand-squeezed orange juice. “Morning.” I say, going over to the kitchen island to pour myself something to drink. I look over to Sean, already scrolling through his phone, checking his emails. Sue looks perturbed. She’s always been friendly with me but not today. Something is off. She takes a look at me and
TAMMY’S POV“I want a divorce," I said calmly.He immediately catapulted out of bed and stormed around to me, blocking my way forward.“I understand tantrums. Might not like them, but I understand them.” he says with intensity, inches from my face, “but you’ve gone too far now, Tammy.”“This isn’t a tantru…” I say but Sean instantly cuts me off.“You are acting out, Tammy. I don’t know what the fuck has gotten into you, but this isn’t what I signed up for when we got married. The woman I proposed to would never storm out in the middle of the night demanding a divorce.”Sean is enraged but composed. He’s breathing so heavily that his muscular pecs rise and fall with every breath he takes. He’s standing so close to me that I can feel the heat radiating off of his body.I reply quietly and calmly, “The girl you married didn’t think she’d have to share you with another woman.”Sean scoffs and looks at the ground, looking incredulous. A small smile peeks out from the side of his mouth, “You
TAMMY’S POVThere’s a light tap-tap on our closed bedroom door. Sean and I both look to the door and then at each other, neither of us willing to break the silence yet. He’s still livid. “Darlings?” Sue genty calls out. She doesn’t open the door but adds, “Ángel has put together a lovely spatchcock chicken for dinner. Please join me at the dining table when you’re ready.”I hear her footsteps as she makes her way back to the kitchen. Why does she always interrupt my and Sean’s conversations? Maybe I should even start expecting it every time Sean and I talk privately.“I’m not hungry.” I say to Sean. It’s the truth. I can’t stomach anything right now, especially the thought of Sean’s dick inside of his step-mother. “If you care about us at all, Tammy, you’ll join us at the dinner table tonight.” Sean says finally and stalks out of the bedroom to join Sue for dinner. I have no response to what he just said. I still do care. Even though my gut says I shouldn’t. I join Sue and Sean at
TAMMY’S POVThe rest of the day went by in a blur. I try to keep myself busy by responding to any personal emails, cleaning out my too-full closet and even organizing my sock drawer. I do so many mindless tasks that don’t even realize that night has fallen. I then decided to sit in the living room reading The Chicken Health Handbook by Gail Damerow when I hear laughter coming from the entrance foyer. It seems Sean and Sue are home from another long day at the office.Sue makes her way to the kitchen bar to start pouring her usual drink; an extra dirty martini with three olives. Afterwards, she pours Sean a tumbler of whiskey and hands it to him with a wink.Do they not notice me sitting here, reading?They toast their full glasses at each other and look deeply into one another’s eyes as they smile and sip.“Hi.” I say loudly from the living room sofa. Sean and Sue turn towards me, surprise all over their faces at me sitting there. “Darling!” Sue exclaims, and makes her way towards
TAMMY’S POVI act quickly before Tito catches me looking through Sean’s reports.I take my phone out of my pants pocket and snap a picture of the document. I’m so frantic in trying to restock the files exactly how they were before I touched them that I almost end up knocking the pile of documents off the kitchen counter and onto the floor. I compose myself as Tito walks back into the kitchen and I’m waiting with my hand on my hip, acting as nonchalant as possible. “You okay?” Tito asks me as he reemerges into the kitchen to find me standing there awkwardly. “Oh, yeah. I’m fine. I uh, haven’t been sleeping well recently, things have been a bit crazy…” I quickly change the subject so Tito doesn’t catch on that I’m acting very suspiciously, “Did you enjoy the coffee? You know, Sue is crazy for these hand-roasted coffee beans that come from all different parts of the world. It’s amazing, really.”“Ah, yeah, thanks, it was great. Thanks. I’m not much of a coffee snob so I wouldn’t know
TAMMY’S POVI woke up on Gideon’s couch, still in his oversized t-shirt. I couldn’t bring myself to put Sean’s shirt on, his behavior last night made me beyond upset.I get up to find that Rain isn’t lying on the sofa next to me in a half-dazed state, but that he’s sitting on the floor in the living room, looking at me with his tail wagging. It seems he finally has his energy back. Thank goodness!I call Rain over and give him cuddles as he licks my face and I laugh.I remember that today I have the day off. I need it after last night’s insanity between myself and Sean here at Gideon’s house. It was mortifying, especially for Gideon to witness the whole fight. Rain sniffs around for his bowl of food and digs in. Mmm, breakfast sounds good. I’m starving. I could probably ask Ángel to whip me up a little egg and bacon when I get back to the apartment. I grab my phone to check if I have any missed calls or messages from Sean. Nothing. I don’t know why I feel…disappointed. I know I shou
SEAN’S POVI pull away from Gideon’s house so fast that the wheels spin, leaving smoke in my car’s wake. I’ll have Tito buy me a fresh set of tires tomorrow.I should have pulled Tammy home, kicking and screaming, rather than leave her there with that idiotic brute, Gideon. Who the hell is he anyway? But when Sue called saying she urgently needs meds after getting some vaccine at the hospital because of Tammy’s mutt biting her, I knew I had to just leave that escalating situation at Gideon’s house and help Sue. Before stopping at the twenty-four-hour pharmacy, I grab a spare shirt out of my trunk (seeing as though I just left mine with Tammy). I grab painkillers, anti-nausea and some sleeping pills from the tired looking pharmacist before I finally head home. I make sure to give her the right doses and help Sue to bed. I make my way to my bedroom, slowly unbuttoning my shirt as I pass the empty King-sized bed on my way to the closet. Tammy’s not here and it makes my blood boil. Wh