Jeremy muttered something that sounded a little bit like "like father, like son," but then out loud he said, "I can see how that would be an appealing idea. You don"t have much time for this to blow over before you have to go back, though, Jacob, and this is probably something you want to talk about sober, and it"s not worth waiting until tomorrow when you will presumably be ma.s.sively hungover, if these evening goes according to your aforementioned plans."
Jacob sighed. He knew that Jeremy was right; he didn"t want to admit it, but he supposed he should deal with it sooner than later. "Okay," he said a little reluctantly. "But I"m getting a drink first."
Jeremy chuckled. "Fair enough."
So Jacob ordered a scotch on the rocks, and after a couple of sips, he took a deep breath and started to talk. He told Jeremy about how he had walked out and seen Almasi kissing Mr. Kofi k.u.mi, about the look of guilt on her face and the way she had tried to explain it away, even chasing after him when he had run off.
He didn"t need to tell Jeremy how much Almasi meant to him. Not only had they already had that conversation, but it was evident in Jacob"s face how much she meant to him as he talked about her. He continued telling Jeremy all about the situation, and about how he should have guessed it sooner. Mr. Kofi k.u.mi was so charming, and he was always talking to Almasi when Jacob was busy with his serious brother.
Mr. Kofi k.u.mi was taller than Jacob, and probably richer, too, and he had that easy laugh and that warm voice, and how could Jacob have been so stupid as to think that Almasi could ever fall in love with him as he had with her. Clearly, there was somebody better and funnier and more handsome and more attentive, someone who could win her away with more money and time than Jacob was willing or able to give her?
How could he think, that even after they had become so close, she would love him? To think that he had been planning to propose to her for real. That would have been so embarra.s.sing and he would have felt like such a fool. Perhaps he was better off this way, perhaps finding her cheating on him was the only way he could have saved himself some small dignity, but how could he go back now and face Mr. Arko k.u.mi and close the deal, when his horrible, slimy, wife-stealing brother was still there, living in Jacob"s own house, with Jacob"s own wife, and...
Jeremy interrupted him, looking a little bit alarmed. "You"re not telling me that you"re considering going back on the deal, are you?" he asked.
Jacob looked pained. "No... Well... No, I know I should go through with it. It"s better for the company, and the deal has been so important..." he trailed off, his expression so plaintive yet furious. "But that d.a.m.ned Kofi k.u.mi! It"s so... it"s just so unfair!" Jacob knew that he was sounding more and more juvenile now, but he couldn"t help it. That man had been conducting an affair with his wife, right in his house, right under his nose, and...
Jeremy put a hand on Jacob"s arm. "Look. As your business adviser, I insist that you go through with this deal," he said seriously. His tone softened a little, and he added, "Jacob, I know this hurts, but you have no idea about the other side of the story. You need to talk to her."
Jacob pulled his arm away. "No," he said firmly. He turned to make eye contact with Jeremy. "Look, Jer, I know that the deal is important for the company, so I"m willing to continue through it as if nothing is happening, but do not think for a moment that I will talk to that, that..." he was searching for a cruel word that did not sound too misogynistic. "That liar," he said finally. "She"s history to me." It was vindictive, maybe, but Jacob was too hurt and heartbroken to care.
"Listen, Jacob," said Jeremy. "You only have three days left until the k.u.mi brothers leave. You don"t have to forgive her-and I wouldn"t expect you to-but it"s absolutely imperative that you at least stay civil. Seriously," he added, making Jacob meet his gaze. "You have come too far and worked too hard to quit on this now."
Jeremy looked down. "I know," he said. "Okay. I"ll go home tomorrow morning. You can brief me on the excuse for my absence and everything." Jeremy smile wryly, taking that acknowledgment as all the thanks he knew he was going to get. "But in the meantime..." Jacob paused. "Is it okay if I get blind drunk?" he asked sarcastically as if Jeremy had any say in the matter at all.
Jeremy laughed and patted Jacob on the shoulder, playing along. "You have my blessing."
As Jacob got to work on ruining his liver, Almasi sat in their shared bedroom, crying. She didn"t know if Jacob would be coming home tonight. On one hand, she hoped that he would so that she could try to talk things out as soon as possible. On the other hand, she dreaded the confrontation that would arise. Maybe it was better that they have a night apart.
Maybe Jacob would be less angry when he came back if he had taken some time to cool off. It was pretty childish of him to run away like that, she thought somewhat angrily, but her heart was too heavy with guilt and sadness to hold that anger for too long. She decided to go take a bath to relax herself a bit.
Even just being in the bathroom that she had been sharing with Jacob gave Almasi a bittersweet mix of emotions. On one hand, this had been her safe and beautiful haven in the past month, and the place where she had spent the most time being happy with Jacob, but on the other hand...
Well, any thought of her husband made Almasi feel a rush of guilt as she remembered the look on his face when he had walked out onto that patio and seen her in Mr. Kofi k.u.mi"s arms. The shock in his eyes, the horror, and then the intense, seething anger. Almasi had never seen Jacob look so angry, and it scared her. It also made her feel so very guilty.
Although everything had blown up in her face, Almasi knew now that she had been right not to tell him about the diary and the way in which Mr. Kofi k.u.mi had discovered her secrets. That anger would have been there if she had confessed her stupid mistake to him, she knew it, and now that he had seen what he must have thought to be a betrayal of her contract, of her promise to be faithful to him for the duration of their marriage... he must surely think of her as such a s.l.u.t.
He must have seen her and thought that she was a total, absolute wh.o.r.e, a woman who could never keep her legs closed when shown the slightest bit of affection. Almasi scrunched up her face in frustration. The worst part was that it wasn"t even close to the truth!
Almasi could deal with fair repercussions for her own actions, but she hadn"t even done anything wrong; she hadn"t cheated on him. She had, unfortunately, been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Mr. Kofi k.u.mi-that vile, evil, manipulative sc.u.mbag-he had taken advantage of her vulnerability.
He had seen her weakness and played with her, pulling her strings like a puppet in his game, and Mr. Kofi k.u.mi was a clever puppeteer, always keeping himself out of the line of sight. Hiding his role in the manipulation. No, Almasi thought to herself, it"s not my fault. She had been a little bit careless, but she didn"t deserve this. She took a deep breath. She would take a long, hot bath and let the water purge her of all this nonsense.
She mixed the almond scented soap with the peppermint, and it smelled like Christmas in August. This was her escape. Jacob may have been able to get away from the mansion, but Almasi was going to get away from her own mind. So she had a bath drawn as hot as she could stand it, and as she lowered herself into the steaming, soapy water, and as she did, she immediately felt cleaner.
Jacob was feeling the opposite of clean. After a few drinks, he had decided to leave the quiet bar where he had met with Jeremy in favor of going out to a club.
Jeremy had raised an eyebrow, but he made no comment other than to say, "Call me if you need me." Jacob had nodded, thumping Jeremy on the back with a jovial if somewhat aggressive hetero man-pat before making his way out and into the street.
As he made his way down the sidewalk, Jacob reflected that he had never really walked places much before. It was a hot summer night, and there were all sorts of people walking around and staggering about in varying degrees of inebriation. Jacob reflected that he had never had anything like... like this, the experience of life in the city. He was always going to his own bar, his own private booth in Adamson owned restaurants, his own company socials and after parties.
It was kind of refreshing to be so anonymous. He was wearing slacks and a plain b.u.t.ton-down with the sleeves rolled up, and he had small sweat stains under his arms. He looked like any other man in the city. For the first time, he realized that maybe freedom was worth more than privilege.
He quickly let the thought escape his head, though, as he saw a brightly lit neon sign indicating a dance club. He grinned. This looked exactly like the kind of place he wanted. He stepped inside, and there were strobe lights and clouds of smoke and so many people. This was the kind of place where Jacob could forget his problems, forget himself and most of all, forget Almasi.
He let the beat of the music carry him away as he danced with strangers, and he felt free, even if the heartache lingered. This was a c.r.a.ppy situation to be in, but he was making the best of it. He might as well enjoy himself.
Jacob danced with plenty of people for short amounts of time, losing names and faces in the blur of bodies moving around him. Eventually, a young woman with sleek brown hair and pretty dimples was gyrating up against him, making eye contact. Jacob grinned lasciviously, and they danced together for a song or two before she took him by the arm and brought him toward the bar.
They chatted, and he bought her a drink, as well as one for himself. Flirtation was an alarmingly easy pattern to fall back into, and Jacob remembered what it was like to charm a stranger, to say meaningless things to a meaningless person who was just as bored and alone as he was.
Jacob did his best to let go of the guilt gnawing at his chest. It felt so wrong to be doing this now. He had changed in the past month, and talking to this woman felt like a direct betrayal to Almasi. She betrayed you first, he reminded himself, and no matter what his heart felt, his marriage had never been anything officially other than an easily annulled contract.
It was time to forget about that now. So Jacob leaned in and gave the young woman his best crooked grin and his most suave lines. She would be as good enough a diversion as any.
The woman"s name was Melanie, and she was a grad student studying linguistics at the local university. She spoke English, French, and German, she told him, and she was learning Russian. Jacob joked that he, too, was a cunning linguist.
Melanie smiled with her dimples showing, and said, "Oh really? I think we should put that to the test." Jacob had laughed, smiling, and before he knew it they were in his limo, and then his apartment, and then he was finding a dental dam in his bedside drawer, and well...
Jacob had never heard anyone express erotic pleasure in so many different languages at once, but Melanie was writhing beneath him and crying out ecstatically in English, French, German, and even Russian.
Jacob considered his efforts a success, and after fooling around for a little bit afterward, the multilingual brunette declared that she was tired and went to sleep. Jacob fell asleep soon thereafter, ignoring the throbbing of his head and the increasing heaviness in his chest.
He was tired, and still a little drunk. He would think about things in the morning. For now, it was time to let himself drift off to sleep, and if he tossed and turned a little that night, well, the woman in bed next to him did not matter enough to him in the long run for him to care.
Chapter8.
After her long, hot bath, Almasi had gone to bed and slept long and deeply. Her dreams made her fitful, but she didn"t wake up even when the maid came in to bring her breakfast to her. She dreamed that she was on an airplane, surrounded by strangers. As she looked around, she noticed that everybody was holding a baby.
The man sitting next to her had a sleeping baby on his lap, and so did the woman across the aisle. As a flight attendant walked by, Almasi noticed that she was holding a baby, too, and that there were babies crawling across the floor and sitting in the carry-on luggage compartments, and...
Suddenly, there was turbulence, and all of the babies woke up and began to cry. The sound was getting louder and louder, piercing Almasi"s ear drums, and she wanted to go find a place to hide, but the babies were crawling everywhere, and her own belly was swelling like a giant balloon, and the airplane was tossing and turning and tossing and turning and...
"Mrs. Adamson?" Almasi awoke in a cold sweat to see the maid Beatrice standing over her, holding a tray of food and peering at her in concern. "Mrs. Adamson, it"s all right. You were having a nightmare." Almasi"s whole body was shaking, and her breath was labored. She focused her mind on adjusting to her surroundings. What had that dream been about? She rubbed her eyes. All of those babies, crawling everywhere... Almasi shuddered. Was that what motherhood was going to be like?
She accepted the tray of bacon and eggs from Beatrice, even though she felt nauseous, and mused as she sat alone in bed and nibbled at a little bit of toast. That dream had left her anxious and disconcerted. Was it some sort of a sign? Almasi didn"t typically believe in supernatural things like that. She thought that all of that stuff was silly.
Ghosts, star signs, prophetic dreams... if it couldn"t be proven with the scientific method, Almasi didn"t see why she should waste her time on any of it, but right around now with all the turbulence in her life, she was willing to accept pretty much anything that could guide her to make a decision that might save her. So Almasi sat in silence and reflected.
Well, what were her options now? Staying with Jacob was most likely off the table at this point. She had seen the anger in his eyes, and even if he did come back and put in the effort to listen to her, he would probably not be willing to forgive her, let alone stay married to her.
Then there was the thought of leaving after her contract was done and just going back to live with her parents. That would cost Jacob the diamond deal, and it would also cost her the money she was going to be paid, the main reason she had been reeled in to this madcap scheme in the first place. Pregnant and without a husband or financial support...
She couldn"t do that. Of course, her parents would do their level best to help her out, but they both worked full time jobs, and neither of them were young enough to have the energy to raise a child. So she would be on her own. Unless...
Well, that brought her to her third option, which had, up until this point, seemed like the least savory option of them all. She could go back to Ghana with Mr. Kofi k.u.mi. It would break her heart, but either way, she had to be without Jacob, so she might as well keep this situation the least messy that she could.
In spite of his conniving ways, Mr. Kofi k.u.mi had enough money and status that she could raise her child in wealth, and give the kid a good upbringing. It would be a far more privileged one than Almasi would be able to provide on her own.
He was a handsome and charming man, sure, but the idea of being Mr. Kofi k.u.mi"s wife terrified her. He made it abundantly clear the previous evening that it was not in his nature to take "no" for an answer. But she would endure it if it meant giving her child-and Jacob"s child, she thought sadly-a chance at a good life.
She couldn"t allow her son or daughter to grow up like she had, never knowing whether or not the next day would be a morning without enough food in the cupboard for breakfast, or whether the next night she would be shivering under extra blankets because the landlord had turned the heat off.
That was no way for a child to grow up, and at this point, Almasi would not be able to provide anything better on her own. So maybe... The idea horrified her, but maybe Mr. Kofi k.u.mi"s proposal was the best option.
Almasi suddenly felt the waves of nausea rise up to her throat, and she made it to the toilet of the master bathroom just in time. For once, she couldn"t tell whether or not her sickness was from the baby growing inside her, or from the thought of living with Mr. Kofi k.u.mi for the rest of her life.
Jacob woke up at eight in the morning to the sound of an unfamiliar alarm. It took him a moment to remember where he was, and for a blissful second or two, he mistook the warm body next to his for Almasi, but then there was a rustling in the sheets, and Melanie the linguistics student was getting up and digging through her purse, which had been discarded on the floor.
"Sorry," she said, grinning apologetically. "I have a nine o"clock tutorial seminar to lead. The LING 100 students are not going to teach themselves." She got up and slid back into her tight leather pants and crop top from the night before. "This is going to be a h.e.l.l of a walk of shame. Do you think your chauffeur could give me a ride? My apartment is right by the campus."
"Yeah," said Jacob blearily. "Hold on, I can ride with you. I should be leaving soon, too."
She looked at him curiously as she fixed her hair into something presentable. "Where are you off to? Let me guess... an off job of some sort? Maybe something high up in the ranks?"
Jacob laughed. "You could say that. I probably shouldn"t be talking about this stuff, though," he added. He suddenly felt awkward, not knowing what to say. In the past, he"d often left women hanging and not called them back, but Jacob knew better now. He didn"t want to be that guy anymore. However, there was a very real reason why he couldn"t call this woman back, and that reason was probably waiting to have a serious conversation with him when he got back to the mansion.
Melanie fixed her gaze on him for a second, and then her eyes fell to his left hand, where he hadn"t even bothered to take off his wedding ring. "Ah, I get it," she said. "Your wife... she went out of town?" She didn"t seem perturbed by the knowledge that she had just spent the night with a married man, but Jacob was in no position to judge. He had certainly turned a blind eye on the relationship statuses of some of the women he had been with in the past.
"Yeah," Jacob lied. "She went to visit her sister in Canada." He figured that would sound better than the real explanation. A fight was messy. Even someone only looking for a casual hook-up didn"t want to get into something like that. "I got lonely. You know how it is." He shrugged, hoping it would come off as frank and relaxed, instead of uncomfortable and guilty.
Whether Melanie could tell something was up or not, she appeared to take his answer at face value, and she turned back to the mirror without asking any more questions. After having pulled her hair up into a messy bun, she said, "I do indeed know how it is. Okay, Mr. Seven-Year Itch. Lead the way." Jacob smiled, relieved, and walked downstairs, texting the limo driver to be there as soon as possible. After a few more minutes of easy small talk, the limo pulled up. When Jacob opened the door to let Melanie in, he didn"t expect to see that there was already somebody inside.
"Good morning," said Jeremy, crisply. He looked up and raised his eyebrows, but quickly feigned nonchalance. "Ah. I don"t think we have met," he said to Melanie.
"Melanie Buchmayer," she said, shaking his hand. "JJack, was it? Your buddy here offered me a ride back to my place."
Jacob could see that Jeremy was straining not to laugh. How the tables had turned, now a one night stand was foggy on Jacob"s name and ident.i.ty, instead of the other way around! Jeremy liked this woman, and since her presence would prevent them from discussing more serious matters, he spent the ten minutes it took to get to her apartment making small talk.
The two seemed to get along, Jacob observed. Jeremy seemed genuinely interested in her strange anecdotes and play on words. Huh, Jacob thought. Maybe I should have gotten her number anyway just so I can give it to Jer later. He"s taken more of a liking to this lady than I have seen him with anyone since I first met him. When the limousine finally stopped at her apartment building, Jacob couldn"t help but feel a little glad, because he had been beginning to feel like a third wheel in his own vehicle.
"Bye, Jack," said Melanie, smiling and showing those dimples again. "And later, Jeremy," she said with a wink, shaking his hand. She stepped out of the limo with her purse, and didn"t turn back as she walked off in her club outfit to go get ready for her morning cla.s.s.
Once she was out of earshot, Jeremy laughed. "She got my name right and not yours!" he said with a chuckle. He opened a crumpled piece of paper that she had sneaked into his hand. It was her cell phone number.
"Ooh, good trick," said Jacob. "I, myself, have used that one a few times, and yeah, shut up about the name thing," he added. He paused for thought. "So... you aren"t judging me for having s.e.x with a stranger when I am technically married?"
Jeremy shook his head. "I figured that that was the way the night was going," he said frankly. "You"re getting it annulled this weekend anyway, so why not blow off some steam? You"ll be back to your fancy-free, hook-up lifestyle soon enough as it is."
That last comment made Jacob"s stomach drop. Sure, he had enjoyed himself with that woman, but... it just wasn"t the same. n.o.body could be the same as Almasi. Having s.e.x was one thing, but making love was another act entirely. Jacob had taken so long to learn that, to value commitment and love. The idea of going back to being a casual mess... He frowned.
He didn"t want s.e.x to be a cure for boredom; a one-stop shop for a temporary fix of companionship. He didn"t want to do it because he was lonely anymore. He wanted it to be about intimacy, closeness, not about curbing loneliness. He wanted to be in love when he did it, but he remembered clearly that Almasi didn"t feel the same way.
So now he"d finally gotten a taste of the experience of enjoying love-or what he thought was two-way love-only to have it taken away by his wife"s cheating heart. All of the fuzzy filler feelings he had experienced the previous night left Jacob, and he slouched, frowning more deeply.
Jeremy studied his face. He frowned, too. "Wait. Are you still... Are you in love with Almasi?"
Jacob looked at Jeremy incredulously. "You just don"t get it, do you?" he said. "There"s no way for me to switch off my love for her. It"s impossible for me to simply abandon my feelings. I didn"t mean for them to develop, but they did, and regardless of the way Almasi behaves... I"m still going to have those feelings."
Jeremy shook his head. "But if she doesn"t reciprocate it, doesn"t it just make more sense to let her go and move on? There"s no point in dwelling on something that"s not going to work." Jeremy was so smart and so practical, and normally Jacob appreciated him for it, but right now... Right now, Jacob wanted to punch his a.s.sistant in the face.
He knew that Jeremy"s intention wasn"t to be obtuse. He knew that he was just trying to be helpful, in his own, irritatingly Jeremy sort of way, but there was no way to make him understand how Jacob felt. How all of his anger, his sadness, his pain... It was all because he loved Almasi so much, and the fact that Jeremy was being so flippant about Jacob"s relationship to his wife was pretty hurtful. It wasn"t something that Jacob could simply brush off and ignore.
"I love her," Jacob said simply. Jeremy looked at him. "I know you won"t understand, but I"m not able to stop loving her. If I could"ve kept this relationship purely professional, I would have. You know me, Jer. I normally have no qualms about brushing a woman off once I"m done with her, but this is different.
Almasi has shown me something new. I know you"ll make fun of me for it, and you"ll use that stupid, chirpy true love at long last voice to show me how juvenile I am being, but guess what? I don"t care one single bit. Because this I how I feel, and this is what I"m dealing with."
Jacob had never talked to Jeremy without pretense like this before, and the sincerity of his tone and words shocked both of them a little bit, but after a long moment of silence, Jeremy patted him on the shoulder. "Okay," he said. "I"m sorry. We"ll find a way to deal with this, all right?" He tried a smile, and Jacob made an attempt to mirror it back.
"Yeah. All right," said Jacob.
They spent the rest of the limo ride in silence, but it was a comfortable silence, and although Jacob was nervous when he got to the mansion, he knew that he could deal with whatever happened.
Almasi had just gotten dressed when she heard Jacob"s voice in the foyer. Although she knew that she would have to face her husband at some point, Almasi"s heart began to race, and, panicking, she sneaked down the stairs and quickly made her way down to the garden. She rushed to get to the gate, and then once she was far enough away from the mansion, she breathed a sigh of relief. Walking among the flowers, she found that it was easy to hide herself. If anyone came looking for her, she knew where to conceal herself so she wouldn"t be found, and in the meantime, Almasi could decide what she was going to say to Jacob when she finally talked to him.
Jacob walked into the mansion"s foyer and was greeted by a maid and Mrs. Nettle. After conferring with the latter quietly for a moment to make sure they had their story straight, he took a deep breath and set off to find Almasi upstairs. He turned to Jeremy plaintively, and Jeremy gave him a rea.s.suring look.
"Good luck," said Jeremy. "I"ll be in your study, sorting out papers and such. Holler if you need me." Of course, by "holler," Jeremy meant "send me a text or walk over and talk to me," but Jacob appreciated the funny word choice on Jeremy"s part, so he smiled a little and turned to go upstairs.
As Jacob was climbing up the second flight of stairs, he heard a sound in the guest hallway, and suddenly Mr. Kofi k.u.mi was standing in the stairwell. Jacob was taken aback. "You," he said.
Mr. Kofi k.u.mi smiled, looking infuriatingly calm. "Me," he said. Jacob wanted to throttle the man right then and there. He would have tried to, too, but Mr. Kofi k.u.mi was bigger and probably stronger than he was, and murdering a business partner"s brother would probably be deemed uncouth by most people, including Mr. Arko k.u.mi.
"How does it feel to ruin a marriage?" asked Jacob. He stepped closer to Mr. Kofi k.u.mi.
The other man laughed. "Ruin a marriage?" he said. "I wouldn"t know. When your beautiful wife came to me, bored and lonely and begging to be had by someone who would pay attention to her... well, I didn"t think that conceding to a lady"s wishes was an act of ruination so much as a saving grace for the young woman." He took in the expression on Jacob"s face. "What, Mr. Adamson? Did you think that it was I who had seduced Almasi? Oh, no," he said, chuckling softly. "It was she who came to me."
Jacob was aghast. Was he being played? Every word that came out of Mr. Kofi k.u.mi"s mouth sounded so convincing, but what he was describing... That was the opposite of the person he knew Almasi to be. You haven"t known her for very long, he reminded himself, and she is a good actress. He thought back to the first day when they had still been very much play-acting at the couple"s affection.
He remembered the way in which that perfect stranger had made herself seem so close to him, how she had put on such a perfect show of comfortable domesticity even before they had known each other well enough to be real. So was the rest of it that followed all contrived, too? Had she been faking at everything?
Mr. Kofi k.u.mi didn"t wait for Jacob to reply. He continued, relishing the look of horror on Jacob"s face. "Why yes," he said. "It was, if I recall correctly, on the third day of our visit here in your lovely home. She beckoned me up to the hallway near your bedroom-where you"re going now, I presume-and approached me while she was wearing only a bath robe!
You can imagine how scandalized I was at the impropriety of it all. Certainly, my brother would have been terribly shocked if he"d heard, but when she spoke to me... Well, I could tell that she was feeling the icy impact of your neglect, and then she kissed me, and well, what is a man to do? I allowed her to start the affair with me."
Jacob was stunned. This... This couldn"t be Almasi. There must be some other explanation. He would be able to understand if she had been seduced away, but to actively seek out another man"s attention? She would never take such ridiculous risks. If there was one thing that Jacob knew for sure, it was that she was cautious. Even if she had been conducting this secret affair intentionally, this was not how Almasi would go about it. Something was wrong with this picture, and Jacob wanted to talk to Almasi and find out what was really going on. He didn"t want to believe that this well-spun tale that Mr. Kofi k.u.mi was telling him was true.