Her Secret Affair

Chapter 12

The next morning, Joseph woke up with a renewed determination to make things right again and got breakfast ready. Nicholas was already sitting at the table, happily eating his cereal when Brianna walked in, hair tousled from a restless night. "Sorry, I must have slept in," she mumbled with sleep still in her eyes. "Don't worry hun," he said kissing her on her lips, leaving a confused look on her face, "you needed the rest."

He handed her a cup of coffee and a sandwich on a plate. She took it quietly and sat down at the table. "So, I thought maybe we could go out to the beach today."

"Are you not going into the office today?"

"Nah, those papers can wait until Monday."

She was about to come up with an excuse not to go when she noticed how delighted Nicholas was. She got some laundry done and packed their bags for the beach. It was only when they were at the beach and she was about to text Frankie to say that she couldn't make it today that she realised that she had left her phone on her bedside table. "I'll just text him when I get home," she thought.

They had not been to the beach for a while. The sun shone brightly in the clear blue sky. The sea, the clearest blue, calm and inviting. She opened their towels under a beach umbrella and smothered Nicholas in sunscreen. She removed her dress and opened her book as she sat down, with Nicholas building sandcastles in the sand. Joseph had gone to get lemonades from the stand by the road.

"Is that new?" he asked as he handed her a fresh lemon and passion fruit juice.

 "What is?"

"That bikini."

"No, I just haven't worn it before," another lie rolled off her lips. Without realising, she had worn the bikini Frankie bought her that day at the hotel. She could feel a blush creeping up her face as memories of him invaded her thoughts. She could feel his hands and his lips all over her body, how it felt to have him inside her.

Grateful for the sunglasses covering her eyes, she took a sip of her juice to cool herself down.

"I'm going for a swim, you coming Nicky?" she stood up and took his hand.

"I'll join you guys in a moment," Joseph said to her as she headed towards the water.

He stared at her as she walked away, that feeling in the pit of his stomach back stronger than before. He watched her and Nicky playing in the water, jumping up each time a small wave came crashing on the shores. Trying hard to control his emotions, he wondered what he would do if his suspicions were confirmed.

"Will I be able to accept another man touching her?" he thought, forgetting his own infidelity. He forced himself to push his thoughts aside and joined his family.

Squeals of delight from Nicholas were enough to make them seem like a happy family again. After spending time splashing each other, they went up the beach and helped Nicholas complete his sandcastle.

"Mummy, can I collect seashells to put on the castle?"

"Of course baby, just stay where Mummy and Daddy can see you, ok?"

Nicholas ran off to collect shells on the shoreline. Brianna and Joseph sat in silence, smiling as they watched him running up the beach each time the waves came.

"Would you like to go for dinner tonight? Nicky can stay over at mum's."

"Sure, why not," she answered. It has been a good day for them and she didn't want to ruin things.

Nicholas ran back up, with a handful of shells in his tiny hands. They spent the rest of the afternoon decorating the sandcastle. Walking back to the car, Joseph took her hands in his. "You got a tan," he smiled, as he saw her cheeks glowing from the heat.

"Nicky, you will be sleeping over at grandma's tonight. Is that ok? I want to take Mummy out for dinner."

"Yay, I love going to grandma's. She gives me chocolates," he beamed.

"I'll go give Nicky his bath. Will you call your mother to check if it's ok for him to spend the night?" she asked as they walked into their home.

"Sure, let me just get the bags from the car first."

Joseph unloaded the car and brought the bags inside. As he walked into their bedroom to place her bag against the closet, he noticed the small light on her phone blinking on the bedside, indicating that there were messages. He stood there, his hand hovering over her phone. As he was about to check the display, he heard her and Nicholas walking towards the bedroom. He quickly moved away from her phone and placed her bag against the closet.

"Finished taking your bath Nicky? Go get changed so we can take you to grandma's. Which reminds me, I have to call her." And he walked out of the room. 

"Get a grip of yourself," he said to himself, frustrated. "You are not the kind to snoop on her phone. Never have been." He took out his phone, dialed his mother's number, and waited.

"Hi Mum, you think you can watch Nicky tonight? Brie and I are going for dinner."

"Of course, Joe, you can send him over now if you like." His mum always jumped at the chance of having Nicholas over. She loved him, but she also believed giving them time alone increased her chances of getting more grandchildren.

"Nicky, you can run over to grandma's when you're ready."

"Now? I thought we would drop him off when we were about to leave?"

"He can go now, gives us more time with each other." Brianna remained silent, her thoughts racing in her mind. "Why does he want to spend so much time with me all of a sudden?" she wondered. Nicholas did not need a second reminder that he could go to his grandma's right away. If it were up to him, he would stay there because grandma didn't have a lot of rules and always spoiled him.

With Nicholas gone, they were left alone in the house. She was about to check her phone when Joseph walked in. "Where would you like to go for dinner?"

"Hmm, maybe to that new Italian restaurant in town? I hear they make an amazing seafood tagliolini." She picked up her phone and noticed that she had 2 missed calls and 3 messages from Frankie. She cleared the notifications from her screen, hoping to find some time alone to read them. She placed her phone back on the bedside table and walked to their adjoining bathroom.

"Anyone called? You forgot your phone home, didn't you?" Frankie asked as he followed her to the bathroom.

"Yeh, I did. But no one missed me today," she laughed. Taking off her dress, she hesitated as she was about to remove her bikini. "Are you going to stand there?"

"Yes," he smiled teasingly, "can't a man watch his woman take a shower?"