Her Secret Affair

Chapter 26

"Excuse me, where can I find Mr. Joseph Miller's office?" Frankie asked the first person he saw as he walked out of the boardroom.

"Second floor, the secretary there will show you to his office."

"Thank you." As he strode to the elevator, his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Frankie, what are you doing?" Brianna asked anxiously.

"What do you mean?" Frankie asked confused.

"Joe just sent me this strange message, saying that you are at his office. Please just leave. I don't want any more problems," she begged.

"Brie, I came here for a business meeting. I was just about to leave now," he assured her, keeping it to himself that he had been on his way to find Joseph.

"A business meeting? But why did he make it sound like you came looking for him?" she asked, her anger rising.

"I don't know, Brie. He is just tormenting you. Are you sure you still don't want me to take you and Nicholas somewhere else? Even if it is just for a few days."

"I have to go. I can't talk about this right now," and she hung up.

Brianna stared at the message Joseph had sent her.

J: Your lover is here at my office.

"That bastard," she thought. She picked up her phone to call Joseph and then decided that she would wait for him to come home. 

**********

It was almost six o'clock and all the staff had already left. Joseph sat alone in his office glaring at his computer screen. "How the fuck am I going to work with that bastard?" he thought.

Lucy strode in, swaying her hips as she walked towards him.

"Baby," she said smiling as she perched herself in front of him, on his desk, slowly spreading open her legs, "want to have a little fun before we leave?"

"I'm not in the mood," he told her gruffly.

"Oh, come on. I know how you want me."

"After you spent the after drooling over Frankie?"

"What?"

"You think I didn't see you? You wanted him."

"Are you jealous now?" she asked teasingly.

"Lucy, just leave."

"What's with you? You've never been the jealous type. I know you know him. I saw how you two glared at each other."

"I'm not going to say it again. Just leave."

"When you decide you're ready to stop acting like a child, call me." And she left.

Joseph, alone once more, sat thinking about the past week. Everything had changed since the accident. Tomorrow is supposed to be Brianna's birthday, but he has been unable to look at her since she admitted to her affair with Frankie. It drove him crazy when he thought of her with him. He was unable to keep his temper in check and he hated the person he was becoming with her. 

"But I cannot let you go," he thought.

He packed up his things and left for home. Brianna was sitting in the living room watching television, her face slightly bruised from the slaps he had given her. He sighed and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. As he let the hot water flow down his body, he wondered what the hell he was going to do.

**********

Brianna sat watching T.V., her mind unable to focus on what was playing. She had lost the will to ask Joseph about Frankie coming to the office. She knew it would end up in an argument, and that is not something she wanted tonight.

This week had been the longest of her life since coming home from the hospital. Her life was in shambles and she had no idea how to fix it. She quickly wiped the tears falling down her face when she heard the bathroom door open.

"Please leave me alone tonight," she prayed silently.

She flipped through the T.V. channels until she came across My Best Friend's Wedding, one of her favourite romantic comedies. She smiled to herself. She absolutely loved this movie. She restarted it at the beginning and started watching it.

Fifteen minutes into the movie, she saw a movement through the corner of her left eye. Joseph walked out of the bedroom and went to the kitchen to grab a beer. She tensed when she saw him take a seat in the sofa adjacent to hers. She remained silent and kept her eyes on the screen. She felt him looking at her before he slowly turned and concentrated on the movie. She breathed a soft sigh of relief, grateful for the silence. They quietly watched the movie without acknowledging each other's presence.

"I'm sorry," she heard him say softly when the movie was over.

She stared at him for a while before slowly responding, "For what? I deserve whatever is happening to me."

"I shouldn't have hit you. I'm not that kind of person. I don't want to be that person. But whenever I look at you," he continued, "I see you with him. I've known for a while that you were sleeping with someone else. I could tell. I even saw the marks on you." He looked at the surprise registering on her face. "But I was more upset and angry when I knew it was him. I know him for fucks sakes."

"Why didn't you say anything if you knew there was someone else?"

"Because I figured it was a temporary thing and you would stop. But knowing it's him, it meant that it was more than just sex for you..." he trailed off, leaving the words hanging in the air.

"Say something, Brie," he said after the silence grew heavy between them.

"I don't know what to say. I really don't. I didn't plan any of this. It just happened. And.. and I didn't expect it to go this far. I didn't expect us to end up like this. I'm really sorry I hurt you, our family."

"I need to tell you something," he sighed as he leaned back.

She felt her stomach clenched as she thought about losing her son. "He is going to tell me to pack up and leave. He is going to take Nicholas away from me," she thought in a panic.

"I slept with someone else," she heard him say distantly.

"I'm sorry, what?" thinking she heard wrong.

"I slept with someone else."

She sat there, staring at him blankly, having no idea how she was supposed to feel about this. "Is this karma?" she thought. "Well, I deserve that," she said softly, "I was unfaithful to you, I cannot blame you for going to sleep with someone else." 

He looked at her, wondering whether to tell her the whole truth. There they were, finally talking like civilised people. He took a deep breath, "No, Brie. I don't think you understand. I don't mean to say I slept with someone else after finding out about you and Frankie. I mean, I had been sleeping with someone else."

"I'm confused."

Joseph sighed, there was no backing down now. Might as well get this over with. 

"I have been sleeping with someone else on and off for the past 4 years."