Unspoken

Chapter 8

The next day, when Brady was napping, John kissed Marlena in the kitchen. A soft kiss, a simple brush of the lips, causing her to blush deeply. It was followed by a few more. Later that evening, after an obviously difficult day, he kissed her again before bed. This time he licked across her mouth and bit her bottom lip. Marlena was confused. She knew the grieving process was difficult, and sometimes people lost their sex drive completely while at other times people had a heightened sex drive. John had always had a heightened sexual drive, and that seemed to be pushing his need for connection. That need for connection came in the form of kissing her at random moments. Moments when he seemed to be struggling the most, he would find her, touching her face softly, and placing soft kisses on her mouth. She knew she should stop him. Stop whatever they were doing, but the pain in his eyes stopped her, and she couldn't refuse him.

The night before they were scheduled to leave for Colorado, Marlena had Brady firmly settled in for the evening. After closing his door softly, and making sure she had the baby monitor, she went back to her room, hoping that she might be able to contact Roman this time. She hadn't spoken to him once in the almost two months she'd been gone. She found herself leaving messages on their answering machine, and messages at his work, and never receiving a response. This time, Roman answered the phone, "Brady residence."

"It's Marlena," she said softly.

"Hey, Doc," he replied, but added nothing else to the conversation. The silence carried for a long awkward pause.

Finally Marlena said, "I wanted to let you know that I was planning to go see Eric and Sami in Colorado before I come home. I thought you might want to join me there? It's been awhile since you've seen them."

"I'm really busy at work. There's a lot going on."

"Roman, when was the last time you spoke to them?" she asked him.

"I'm not sure. Listen, I've—"

Then Marlena heard it. A female voice, "Roman, honey, I can't find the towels—" followed by him muffling the receiver, and mumbled conversation.

"Roman, who is that?" she asked, but she was pretty sure she knew.

"Nothing. Nothing. Taylor was looking for a kitchen towel," he said quickly.

"And Taylor calls you honey?"

"Doc, it's not a big deal. A slip of the tongue," he told her carelessly.

She wasn't sure whether she could believe him. She remembered the morning she feigned sleep until Roman left for work. The telephone call he'd answered, where he'd told someone on the end of the line that they weren't supposed to call him at home. "Roman, is there anything you want to tell me?" she asked him quietly.

He was silent for a long moment, staring at Taylor McCall's naked body standing on the other side of his bedroom, "No, Doc. Everything here is fine. Kiss the twins for me, and tell them I love them." He hung up the phone, and stalked over to Taylor. He grabbed her by her upper arms, pushing her body into the wall by the bathroom door, "That was my fucking wife on the phone, McCall."

"Hmmm," she said in a sultry tone. "Maybe you should tell her what you've been up to for the last six months."

Roman looked down at her naked body, "Maybe you should keep your mouth shut when I'm on the phone."

She bucked her hips towards him, feeling his erection, "You're hard again, Brady. Does this turn you on?"

Roman was in too deep. He knew he was, but he could't seem to stop himself, even after a phone call from his wife. Looking at Taylor, he said, "Get on the bed."