Turning A New Leaf

Ten

With Krist out of hearing range, the women turned their attention to Atira, like vultures hungry for gossip.

"I've been wondering this since Thanksgiving," Jillian began, Atira's stomach tightened, "You told Kevin that you cheated on him and slept with someone else, was it him?" She whispered, moving her eyes upward towards the ceiling to indicate she meant Krist.

"No, we didn't even start talking again until Kevin and I were done-done," Atira replied, sipping her mimosa.

Jillian gave her an all-knowing smile, "You can tell us if it was. I mean it would make sense that you've been together longer than you're letting on if you two are already getting married. Especially since he got your name on him already."

"I hate to break it to you, but it wasn't him and it happened about a year and a half before I even broke it off with Kevin when I had to go to that conference in Colorado," she confessed. Atira didn't care if Krist overhead her talking about her infidelity in her relationship with Kevin, he knew already. She also suspected that Kevin had put Jillian up to ask about the affair.

Jillian took a drink of champagne, her eyes wide, "I can't believe you didn't tell us!" She exclaimed.

Atira shrugged, "It wasn't a huge deal. It was a one-time thing, I didn't tell anyone about it."

One of the other women, Mia, laughed, "Until you yelled it in front of everyone. I would have just taken that to my grave."

"Well, that was the plan but Kevin had me so pissed off with the victim act that I told him that so he'd leave me alone."

"So did you or didn't you cheat on him?" Jillian asked.

"I did," Atira admitted.

"Was it any good?" Mia giggled.

A slow smile crept across Atira's face, "Yes," she said slowly.

Mia, Jillian, and the other women perked up, "Who was it?"

"Just some guy that worked for the same company as me but in a different location," she replied nonchalantly.

She wasn't going to confess that it was, Peter D'Agostino, the Senior Vice President, for her previous employer or that he was pushing fifty or that the sex had been mind-blowing. That one-night stand may have been one of the craziest things she'd ever done, excluding her whirlwind relationship with Krist.

****

Atira had only slept with Krist and Kevin before that night. She had sat through hours on end of boring material being presented at the conference. The company had an open bar after the presentations and Atira was eager to get a drink afterward.

She'd been dressed in a short, black bodycon dress with a form-fitting blazer and her black Louboutin Hot Chick stilettos. Peter had been at the bar when she walked in, sipping cognac. He was a handsome man, tan with salt and pepper hair and a surprisingly athletic build.

Atira ordered herself a cosmopolitan and sat at an empty table, enjoying her drink and taking in the atmosphere.

"Mind if I join you?" Peter asked, gesturing to the empty seat across from her.

Atira's pulse quickened, she knew why he wanted to sit with her. If she hadn't been so bored by Kevin, she would have declined but the thought of being with someone else was exciting. She flashed a smile, "Go right on ahead."

After a few rounds of drink and a nice conversation, Peter let her know he would be retiring to his hotel room if she wanted to come up in a half-hour's time.