JIGOAhh. He’s starting to notice something in Sarah. He had started to suspect that not everything was as he thought it was with the woman he married. He was beginning to question, probably replaying everything that happened before the wedding.That might be one reason why, upon seeing Fae and me together, he suddenly ‘woke up.’ It was another revelation.“Sarah… she’s been around. She’s a predator, Carl. I didn’t think you’d be that naïve.”He looked up at me. “What are you talking about?” There wasn’t much anger stirred on that one, either.“I met her not through Fae but through Tom’s circle. But she got around us name-dropping Fae. I lost touch after I left, but apparently, it continued after college. See, how is she living in a condo on her salary? With a car, branded bags, and designer jewelry? You can start asking around and the guys won’t admit it to you at first, but they were all shocked when you suddenly married the bitch.”“Shut up, Jigo!” he croaked.“Oh no. You came here
JIGOI held her tighter as I breathe deeply, filling my lungs with her scent, no longer worried she would be taken from me. Thank god. I shuddered slightly.She immediately lifted her head. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”I whispered in her ear. “Not anymore. You’re hugging me now.” I hugged her tighter. Fae wasn’t even looking at Carl and Sarah anymore. She was just clinging to me, as if she felt something about the turmoil happening deep in me. All I wanted to do was hold her now and let her know how relieved I was that my remaining worries about him and Carl meeting again after the wedding was over. That we had truly began. That we were free of anything that could hold us further away from each other.But Jesus. We had an audience and it was starting to get awkward.I turned my head to look at Carl and his wife. “Dude, let’s talk another time. When you’re calm and not thinking and saying all sorts of things, we can have a proper conversation.”But he just looked dazed. “Wife. She cal
FAE“Did you ever think we’ve been… kind of… like we really didn’t do our everything to warn Carl about Sarah before he got married? It’s just I kept thinking…” I rushed, compensating for my hesitation in the beginning. I knew we’d gone through this but it continued to worry me. “I had a different experience with Sarah than you did. Your other friends knew Sarah differently than you and I did. She never really got to you while Carl… I kept thinking when she went after him, her goal was to secure a wealthy husband. That’s not the same with the other guys. The real Sarah would do anything for something like that. Carl never had a chance.”“If he’s got his eyes opened now he’s going to start thinking about all the things that’s happened before and he should be seeing red flags. I really think that’s already happening, baby. He’s a man first, yes. But Carl is not a fool. He hasn’t been before Sarah. I believe he will get over Sarah’s manipulations and see them as they are,” he said. But
SARAHI can’t believe this is happening.Carl wasn’t speaking to me. Not while we were in the jeep, and not when we got to the house. He was cold and detached, and he had never treated me like that. There was a part of me that simmered in anger at how fast Fae had turned my husband against me. I couldn’t believe it. Everything was perfect during the wedding because the stupid bitch was right there. She really attended and I was able to slap her with the truth that Carl didn’t really love her. I couldn’t understand how this happened.But I was afraid to talk to him. I knew my past would come up. I was afraid about what he would ask me to confess. There was something about the look on Jigo’s face before we left that told me my secret was out. And whether I liked it or not, shame was consuming my heart. I didn’t like that there were gullible men who would give me anything I want in exchange for sex. I didn’t like the concept in the beginning, but it was way easier than getting handouts,
SARAH “Filter?” I repeated, starting to feel colder and number. But I still kept the smile on my face as I watched him. He was standing before the long study table at the front of all those shelves of books, tall and imposing, his face a cold mask. “What do you mean, baby?”“I called people, and they confirmed what I just found out. They said you will do anything. That you don’t have a filter. And I want to find out if it’s true.”I find myself gulping as his words hurt me. In fact, as I stood there and started to tremble, I was shocked to find out I could still feel this kind of pain. But my killer instincts kicked in. I would never let them win. I got this far, and I would not be cowed. Inside my self where I had stopped letting anyone in, I solidified my willpower. I was going to lose. I had to brace myself.But I would not walk away from here a loser.I formed fists with my hands. I saw him glance at them, and his face held curiosity when his eyes came back to my face.“You want
JIGOThree days later.“Hmmm… you awake?” I asked as I slid in beside my wife on the bed. I was late coming home because I had to visit Invictus I to work with the books. It was about nine in the evening already. I knew she tried to wait for me because the lamp light was in reading mode and she had a book on one of her side, near the edge of the bed, where it seemed to have slid from her hand. Her eyes were closed.Upon closer inspection, it was actually one of those law school published papers bound into a hardcover and about some law or other. She had been reading nonstop these days in preparation of going back to work. She still was undecided about which firm, but she didn’t have to worry. I would support her and help her to wherever she wanted to go once she had made up her mind.On the other hand, I knew part of her efforts of getting busy when I was at work was to distract herself from worrying about our friend. We had no news except that he called some of the guys to confirm wh
JIGO“He came in before dark with a few companions—all of them women. The others have left so he is alone inside. I’m not sure where to call. He’s been telling everyone he’s single and available when he got drunk so I didn’t think I should call the missus. I called you, sir.”“You did good, Riggs. Thank you. I’ll take care of this.” I patted the manager’s shoulder before sliding the key card on the slot to the door of the private room where Carl was in. It was one of the larger ones executives and CEOs usually booked to entertain team members or clients. We didn’t normally use this, though. Our friends were all single except for Carl just recently, and me, secretly. We preferred seeing the crowd and welcomed the noise of merriment and relaxation after work. Or we used to.I pushed the door open and there was my friend, sleeping like a log on one of the long couches, one arm had dropped on the floor. I took a deep breath. Even in sleep, his face looked troubled. He had never seen Carl
JIGOWhen I left, the way Fae was treating the situation eased my worries about leaving her with Carl. Therefore, as I drove back to the pent suite I wasn’t thinking much about worse scenarios.Then I opened the door to the house with my key card and their laughter and easy banter from the direction of the dining area assaulted me. I became as stiff as a rock in the doorway, my whole body racked with fear and jealousy.It took a moment for me to wrestle myself away from those almost debilitating emotions. I rubbed my face with my hand and felt the tiredness from the almost sleepless night and the long day before that. I tried to school my face into obedience. In the few weeks we had been together, Fae had quickly become acclimated to my every mood and this was something I really didn’t want her to see. I trusted her. I kinda trusted Carl, too. It was my own insecurity—I didn’t even know I had this until right now—to their friendship that was gripping me at the moment.I wanted all her
FAE“Jigo!”I turned to the voice. Actually, all of us did. We were still in the restaurant, going through the initial and most important detail of the incoming church wedding, trying to wriggle ourselves out of schedules (mostly of the two because I still was officially unemployed and though Lola Leah was long retired, her social calendar was so swamped she still used an assistant), when someone opened the closed double doors and made a noisy entrance.I recognized the voice. It was Gabrielle, one of the females who used to hang out with the guys in the campus. I didn’t know her anywhere but there and it had been a long time since I had seen her. There was little change to her physical looks, I observed as she walked in, her curvy hips swaying. Still tall, and willowy and pretty. She was a cheerleader, and she did ballet. And she was one of those who were nice to me.That was when I still liked Carl. I had always suspected Gabrielle secretly liked Jigo. I wondered if they had ever h
CARLI didn’t want to leave her there. I could feel now the whiplash of our new situation. I wasn’t the primary person behind her anymore. She now had a husband. It didn’t even occur to her to fight that I stayed in the room; she just assumed I was teasing Lola Leah like the others. She didn’t need me anymore. She wasn’t thinking of me at all.And I didn’t think it would hurt like this. I was standing on the beach, an expanse of sand and sea in front of me. And noise. Boisterous noise. But my thoughts were left inside the hotel where my Fae was… the only girl I ever let close to me like blood. But it wasn’t enough. I didn’t know how to be a real brother. And I lost her.Guilt and shame slammed into me when I remembered how I had used her image to get off. How I was with my wife, yet my revulsion of her wasn’t enough for me to push her body away. Instead I used her to relieve myself of the traitorous sexual haze that had gripped me since watching the girl I had cared for as a sister fo
FAELola Leah had plans to grill us after dinner—I just know it. Jigo and me. The others would be sent to wherever they planned to go for the day. There was no discussion that an Engagement Party would be held as soon as possible for the closest friends of the family to keep up with appearances—a small price to pay for making a much-awaited event secret. That meant guests of about five hundred people. At least.I sighed. It’s started.But I could see how excited Lola Leah was to finally be able to do something she had been dreaming of doing for a very long time. Her eyes were twinkling, her lips couldn’t stop smiling, and her whole being was vibrating with bliss. We all could see this as we wrapped up lunch, the boys itching to go somewhere else. This only made me feel guiltier. We should have told her, included her from the beginning.She suddenly looked at me and I didn’t have time to hide the expression on my face. My eyes even felt a little wetter from unshed tears. Her frown was
FAEI couldn’t move. I was trying to breathe. I didn’t even know I had smiled automatically because Lola Leah was smiling. And it was such a sweet smile and I was thinking I was such an evil person for not telling her myself that I had married her favorite grandson.“Baby, relax,” Jigo whispered. “It’s going to be okay.” His hand left mine so he could grip my shoulder and pull me closer to him almost protectively. And I almost winced. We didn’t need protection from her lola. Really.“Oh my kids!” Lola Leah moved to get up, and two of the boys were quickly there, helping her up while the other was pulling her chair out of her way. Her hands were outstretched as those restless feet maneuvered and were approaching us. The Hug. I almost stepped back. But Jigo steadied me. And then she was there, and the air was filled with the sweet smell of expensive talcum powder and I was kissing both her cheeks as she did mine and Jigo’s and we were both getting blessings as she placed her right hand
SARAHThe phone was ringing but I couldn’t be bothered to answer. It was only when I heard the banging on the door that I realized who had been calling. Tom was the only person who knew I was back in the condo unit where I lived before, and that I had left Carl’s house three days ago. There was no one to call to help me move. I had no one. I even refused Carl’s offer to help by making his driver go with me. Not only did it feel like an insult, I also didn’t want him to know where I would go while I thought of what next to do. Up to the last minute, I had hoped he would change his mind. That the three days we spent together would make him reconsider what I could do for him as his wife, not just in the bedroom but as a partner. I could learn. I got this far because I worked and studied hard. I could go anywhere.But the third day, I woke up to find him dressed and ready to leave, taking my copy of the keys to the house, handing an ATM where I could take my initial expenses as I settl
JIGO“Do you ever wish for a honeymoon, baby?” I asked.Fae moved slightly from her lazy recline against me. We both faced the windows in the bedroom as we idled on the bed, spooning, after that first hot and fast fuck. I still couldn’t remove the smile on my lips. I had been a little rough, but I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t control my response to my wife’s arousing groans and her body’s response to me.“Isn’t it like we’ve been on a honeymoon since that night you took my virginity from me? It felt like we’ve been at it like rabbits, honestly. We've been making love all day, sometimes twice, since you started sleeping in my bed.”I pulled her closer to me as we snickered. Then she turned her body towards me and her lips clamped to mine, her arms wounding their way around my neck, and there came back my boner.“Hmm… when are the guys expecting you?” she asked in a sultry voice as her body rubbed against mine.But I wasn’t ready to get that easily distracted. “Baby… the honeymoon.
FAE“I can’t believe the first time we’re back here again… it’ll be with him, of all people,” was what I whispered to Jigo as we got off the tarmac towards our waiting car. We flew via heli during the weekend as soon as he was free from work. The others had been here since Thursday with Carl. I wasn’t even still sure why I was here with him. It was Carl’s week with his other friends.I felt like I shouldn’t be here but Jigo insisted I came with him. I avoided the guys two days ago when they rushed to Jigo’s—our—pent suite when they found out what happened at the club and that Carl was there and the wife wasn’t going to be around. I slipped out before they could arrive because I didn’t want my presence and questions about me and Jigo to overshadow whatever male support the others were ready to shower Carl. At that point, on a group call, they already found out Carl and Sarah were separating three days since arriving from their honeymoon. They were probably going to talk about details a
JIGOWhen I left, the way Fae was treating the situation eased my worries about leaving her with Carl. Therefore, as I drove back to the pent suite I wasn’t thinking much about worse scenarios.Then I opened the door to the house with my key card and their laughter and easy banter from the direction of the dining area assaulted me. I became as stiff as a rock in the doorway, my whole body racked with fear and jealousy.It took a moment for me to wrestle myself away from those almost debilitating emotions. I rubbed my face with my hand and felt the tiredness from the almost sleepless night and the long day before that. I tried to school my face into obedience. In the few weeks we had been together, Fae had quickly become acclimated to my every mood and this was something I really didn’t want her to see. I trusted her. I kinda trusted Carl, too. It was my own insecurity—I didn’t even know I had this until right now—to their friendship that was gripping me at the moment.I wanted all her
JIGO“He came in before dark with a few companions—all of them women. The others have left so he is alone inside. I’m not sure where to call. He’s been telling everyone he’s single and available when he got drunk so I didn’t think I should call the missus. I called you, sir.”“You did good, Riggs. Thank you. I’ll take care of this.” I patted the manager’s shoulder before sliding the key card on the slot to the door of the private room where Carl was in. It was one of the larger ones executives and CEOs usually booked to entertain team members or clients. We didn’t normally use this, though. Our friends were all single except for Carl just recently, and me, secretly. We preferred seeing the crowd and welcomed the noise of merriment and relaxation after work. Or we used to.I pushed the door open and there was my friend, sleeping like a log on one of the long couches, one arm had dropped on the floor. I took a deep breath. Even in sleep, his face looked troubled. He had never seen Carl