“I’d love to introduce you and Ty at the same time.” I craned my neck, pretending to look over Bernard to the left of me. “Where is she? I know you two are glued at the hip.”
Mrs. King pulled in a sharp intake of air while looking beyond Alton.
That wiped the self-righteous grin right off Alton’s face.
“I’ll tell her you asked about her,” Alton spoke wryly.
“I bet you will!” I smiled brightly and watched him take off.
“You know Alton Alston and Stenton Rogers?”
Apparently your submissive wife is familiar with them, too. That brought her to life.
“How do you know them, if you don’t mind me asking?” Mrs. King asked.
I didn’t want to answer that. It wasn’t because I was ashamed of my affiliation at all. It was just that it wasn’t up for dissection or, quite frankly, discussion period. How I would convey this without being rude to Bernard’s friends, I didn’t know.
“My sweets here is not only a woman of gawd”—Bernard chimed in in his preacher’s twang, saving me from dropping my face,—“but she’s also a Princeton and Wharton alum. Achieving milestones like those puts you in heavenly realms and worldly ones, too!” He ended with some Holy Ghost scream that I was, for once, grateful for the diversion of.
“Oh, nice.” I saw the imperceptible twinkle in Mrs. King’s eye at that.
When it was time to call it a night, I cringed. It was time to see if Bernard was going to embarrass me. The waiter brought a small tray of fancy mints instead of the black portfolio for the bill. He informed the table that the bill had been arranged by “a Mr. Rogers.”
Mr. Rogers?
In a flash, I was seething. How dare he impede? I needed this. This outing with friends not associated with “a Mr. Rogers” was exactly what I needed. It was bad enough that I could so easily run into his associates as I did tonight with Alton. I needed to develop a personal life on my own. I thought I’d made that clear to him. If it had not been for the Kings I would have refused the notion. I didn’t need him paying for my social life, too. Bernard didn’t react to the awkward gesture. Didn’t even wince. So, I decided to mask my displeasures about it and left quietly.
~~~~~~~~~~
February 2013
~Stenton~
No!
Not now.
Not fucking today!
I damn near broke the remote, shutting the television off. Then as I was calling Chesney from my home phone, my cell went off.
Sarah.
“Yes,” I answered, a little gruff. Her calling alerted me of a problem.
“Is everything alright dear?” She asked in that usual faux soprano tone, only tonight it had a slight edge to it.
“Why would you think otherwise?” I was panicking like a motherfucker.
“Well, I was on my way to pick up JR…only twenty minutes away from Zoey’s and she called to say never mind and I could go back home. I thought you two were going out tonight to talk.”
Fuck! She got to Sarah that damn quick. She’d seen it.
“You haven’t turned around yet, have you?”
“No. I’m on the bridge.” I heard the alarm in her voice.
“Good. You can still pick him up. I’ll meet you there.”
“Stenton are you sure everything’s okay?”
“No, Sarah. It isn’t, but I’m going to try like hell to make it better.” A call beeped in. “I have to go. I’ll see you in a few.”
“O-okay,” she answered, so unsure.
Fuck!
I didn’t even look, I tapped to answer.
“Hello!” I shouted into the phone.
“Two months? Two months you’ve been broken up with Jenna and you didn’t tell me? Two months and you’re just now asking for my time?”
“Zo, I’ve been asking for your time for three months. You’ve been so fucking angry, you didn’t answer my calls, texts or emails—”
“You could have told me!” she screamed into the phone. “I’m sick of these games with you, Stenton! Just stay away from me. Don’t call me. Don’t text me. Don’t email me. Even if your dog dies, call anyone but me! Start with Erika Erceg, and if she’s not available, move on to Jenna. Clearly, she’s better from your break up TWO-FREAKING-MONTHS AGO!”
The line disconnected.