Our Wicked Lies by Gledé Kabongo (story read aloud TXT) 📗

on the table across from them as she tried to gather her thoughts. She needed to choose her words carefully, make Eliot understand.

“I love our family, and I feel lucky that I was able to stay home and raise our children. But I need to find out what else I’m capable of, besides being a housewife. There’s nothing wrong with that. Believe me, I appreciate how hard you work to provide the lifestyle we enjoy.” She looked out at the glittering night sky, as though it would provide encouragement. She returned her gaze to Eliot. “I need to rediscover who I am outside of being a wife and mother.”

He listened attentively without interrupting her. Then he said, “I understand your wanting to return to school. Quitting when your mother fell sick and becoming her sole caretaker meant you couldn’t finish your degree. But I worry you’ll be stretched too thin by taking on a job, as well. Think about it. You already volunteer most days at Howell House, and with a full course load, plus your duties at home, your life will become chaotic and stressful.”

She opened and closed her mouth several times. She appreciated his concern that he didn’t want her stressed out. On the other hand, if she went back to school and got a job, things would change on the home front. She wouldn’t be around as much, and Eliot might have to take on more at home. Would her husband be that selfish?

She lowered her gaze and then whispered, “Sounds like you’re trying to talk me out of it.”

He leaned in and lifted her chin with his index finger. “Alicia, all I want is for you to be happy. What I don’t want is you taking on too much and being overwhelmed and exhausted. You’ve been taking care of everybody. First your mother, then our children and me. I’d be a self-obsessed jerk if I didn’t support your goals, which I’m behind a hundred percent, but it needs to make sense.”

“What does that mean?”

“Say you went back full-time, then it makes sense to get a job in your field of study afterward. Do you still want to study public administration?”

“Yes, with a non-profit management minor.”

“So, you’re leaning toward returning to Suffolk, then?”

“I still haven’t decided. It depends. If another school offers a faster route, I’ll take it.”

“I’m so proud of you.” He lifted her hand and kissed it. “And I do appreciate your sacrifice for our family.”

“What sacrifice?”

“You waited. In the past ten years, you could have been out there, taking over the world. But you didn’t. You stayed home, for me and the kids. But now that they can fend for themselves, it’s your turn. Unless that was your plan all along?”

She cracked a smile. “Yes, that was my plan all along. To wait until the kids were older so I could return to school unfettered. Genius, huh?” She tapped her temple twice.

“You got that right. Eliot didn’t marry no fool.” He leveled a wicked, seductive grin at her, the one that made her heart dissolve into liquid fire. He leaned in, and she met him halfway. Forgetting they were in a public place, they were swept up in a deep, sensuous kiss she didn’t want to end. Paris in spring, with sweeping views of the city and the twenty thousand lights of the Eiffel Tower, was the perfect backdrop.

She was thrilled he had come around. His initial anxieties about getting a job had made her nervous, but she understood his logic. He only wanted the best for her and their family. It would be a lot of work, but she would return to school full-time so she could finish her degree sooner, rather than later. Plus, with more and more classes being taught online, it would be easier to balance her family life, too.

Eliot held up his glass of champagne. “To you, baby, our family, and the future.”

She clinked her glass with his, wholeheartedly embracing the promise of a future filled with optimism and hope.

When they returned to the suite, Eliot synched the wireless floor speaker to his iPad playlist. The opening notes of “Perfect Symphony”, Ed Sheeran’s duet with Andrea Bocelli, enveloped the room. Alicia inhaled the fragrant aroma of raspberries and citrus emanating from the bountiful bouquets of exotic roses.

“Dance with me,” he said, extending a hand.

She molded her body to his—a body that still thrilled her after twenty years. When Andrea Bocelli’s bold, dazzling tenor reverberated throughout the room, she wrapped her arms around Eliot’s neck, rested her head against his chest and moved with him in a seamless, sensual rhythm.

“How did I get so lucky?” she asked.

“I’m the lucky one,” he said. “I landed my perfect angel.”

That halo is about to fall off your deceitful little head, isn’t it?

She bit her lips and stayed quiet. If only he knew. She buried her face deeper into his shirt, breathing in his cologne to calm her racing heart.

Eliot’s voice jolted her back to the present. “I have a confession to make.”

Her heart thrashed around in her chest, and thoughts raced around her head. What was he about to say? Was this about the phone call? Had he lied to her all along? She lifted her head from his chest and looked him in the eyes. Even by candlelight, she caught the anxiety-riddled intensity in his deep, mahogany gaze.

“What is it?”

“You’re not the only one who wants to fulfill a dream.”

“Oh?”

He hesitated, unsure of himself. Eliot possessed unwavering self-confidence, so when he revealed even the smallest crack in the armor, that worried her.

“I know we never discussed it, but after we lost Jonathan, I wondered if we should try again. I know the pain we both went through, but he did give me hope that we could grow our family. Then tonight, when you brought up returning to school, I thought, that’s the end of that dream. I know how selfish that sounds, but I guess I never got over losing my boy.”

Her