𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐟 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐮𝐬𝐭

Payback Is A Bitch

The base from the main stage was loud and shook the concrete floors backstage, but Aaron could barely hear it over the thoughts in his own head. He adjusted the labels of his custom suit, checking his phone again.

No response.

They sat in the front row for the first hour of the show, smiling for the cameras every time they came their way but as soon as the commercial break hit, Kenya slipped away to fix her makeup. That was nearly twenty minutes ago. By passing a group of dancers and a frantic floor manager, holding a clipboard, Aaron rounded the corner to the VIP hall. A restricted strip of rooms, reserved for the night's performers. That's when he saw her. She was stepping out of the last door on the left.

The polished gold plaque on the Door read Donnie B. Flashbacks of her performance started to play rapidly in his head. The memory hit him like a blindsided hit on the field. Sitting on the living room floor with their sons, while Kenya was out, supposed to be hanging with her girls. One of their twins had casually babbled about the fun they had with mommy's new friend. If he had known Kenya's so called new friend was a fucking stud he would have put things into perspective together back then.

The pieces clicked together with brutal, sickening precision. The late nights, the sudden emotional distance, the cold detachment she had treated him with while they were supposed to be so called fixing their marriage. He thought It was all just grief over his own past affairs and the child he had on the way. In actuality she had moved on and replaced him with a woman. The humiliation burned through him, turning his blood to fire.

When Kenya finally recognized him standing there she froze, her hand still lingering on the door handle. Her signature red lipstick was slightly blurred and her eyes were bloodshot and wet. Fresh tears glistened on her cheeks. She looked disheveled in a way that had nothing to do with bathroom touch-ups. She reached for her silk robe, pulling it tighter around her shoulders. Her hands visibly trembled.

Aaron didn't move. His eyes locked on to hers. He wasn't just seeing her state right now, he was seeing the last four months in rapid-fire rewind. The sudden interest in finding a sitter. Staying at her mother's house for weeks at a time, She moved back home just to sleep in a separate room. Two and two didn't just equal four, It made her the biggest hypocrite in the room.

" Nahhh," Aaron said, shaking his head in disbelief.

He stormed towards Donnie's dressing room. Kenya quickly stepped in front of him. She placed delicate hands on his chest as she tried pushing him in the opposite direction. Once people started to realize what was happening the two of them became the center of attention. Kenya was slipping and sliding all over the place trying to keep Aaron at bay. He was bigger, taller and way stronger than she was.

" Watch out, I just wanna talk to her. Let me talk to her" He said, pushing Kenya out of his path. Every time he did she ended up coming right back. She was no match for the professional athlete. He did this type of shit for a living. Kenya was hanging from his arm like a monkey on a branch while Aaron forced his way down the crowded hall. A few artists and crew members tried to defuse the building situation while others stood by confused about what was happening.

" Aaron, stop it. Let's just go!" Kenya screamed, causing him to turn his frustration on her.

" You wrong as fuck for this shit" he said smashing a stiff finger into the side of her temple as he backed her up against the wall.

His large frame was towering over her. He continued to yell in her face. Kenya tried pushing him away but his big ass wouldn't budge. All she could do was smack his hand out of her face and move her head from left to right, trying to block some of the unintentional spit that was flying out of his mouth as he scolded her. Security eventually arrived, expecting a confrontation but quickly stood down once they recognized Aaron Wright the quarterback for the Atlanta Knights. They were unwilling to use force against someone of his stature, so they tried reasoning with him. 

" Look, Mr. Wright, let's take a breath. We don't want any trouble"one of them said, trying to cut in between them.

Kenya was relieved by their presence. Instead of putting up a fight Aaron decided to obey after seeing all the people who had swarmed the hall, trying to see what was going on. Donnie and her team emerged from the dressing room and were immediately caught up in the mayhem. Even with the six foot four quarterback standing a few feet away from her, yelling and acting out, Donnie appeared unbothered.

" You're lucky I got some self-control, bitch cause I'll be at your ass." Aaron said, pointing at her. Donnie didn't flinch. She simply smirked, while maintaining her cool.

" You better hold on to every bit of it too, because as soon as you lose it, you're gonna find out I ain't the one" She shot back.

That did it. Aaron immediately started trying to make his way towards her, shoving anyone in his path. He wanted to smack the arrogance right off her face, See how bold she would be after that. Cocky bitch. There were too many people between them. They were at least fifteen feet away from one another and security had already started hauling Aaron and Kenya down the away.

Back at home the silence in the kitchen carried a heavy deliberate weight. The explosive chaos that happened at the venue had faded, leaving only the two of them to confront what had happened. Aaron leaned against the kitchen island, rubbing a slow hand across his jaw.

" Why her?" he asked. His voice lacked the rage from earlier. It was replaced with quite exhausted desperation. " I just need to understand. Out of everyone... Why a woman?"

Kenya stood near the opposite wall, posture erect, her expression unreadable. " It wasn't a calculated choice. It wasn't about gender. It was just her, "she answered. He looked up, searching her eyes.

" Did you get what you wanted out of it?"

" I got exactly what I needed out of it, " She said plainly.

He stepped closer, his tone laced with a bitter edge. " And what was that?"

" You really wanna know?"

" I asked, didn't I?" He pushed.

" To feel alive again. Not useful. Not just the one holding down this house, running on hardly any sleep, and raising our sons alone while your life stayed big and quiet... just alive. When I'm with her..." She paused and shook her head as the moments she and Donnie shared resurfaced in her mind. " I feel alive. I wasn't just a football wife or a mother pulling her hair out. I was a person somebody actually saw"

The word SHE hung in the air heavier than any man's name ever could. Aaron stood there completely stripped of his pride, realizing that his absence didn't drive her into the arms of another man to replace him. Instead it drove her into the arms of another woman to heal from him. It was a gut punch of profound inadequacy. She didn't need another alpha male. She just needed care and a woman gave her the gentle humanity he considered too small to offer. Aaron felt smaller than he ever had in his life. His deliberate neglect and cheating caused his wife to change her entire world just to feel seen, wanted and validated.

" Do you love her?" He asked. His voice was small, desperate for the truth. Kenya sat silently, wanting to choose her words right.

" I... I have feelings for her. I wont lie and say that I don't. She gave me space to breathe when I was drowning. But if you're asking if I want to be here with you? Yes. I never stopped wanting us. I just stopped believing you wanted the same." She said, taking a shaky breath, looking down at her hands.

" It doesn't even matter now, anyway. I've already ruined things on that side. Once she realized how torn I was, how much of my heart was still tied to you, it broke trust. In her eyes, I'm a mess. She's done with me, and I don't blame her. I know we won't be talking again after all this"

" Then why are you going to see her?" He said, looking down at the car keys in her hand.

" Because someone else got caught up in our mess. I owe her the truth to her face. I need to speak with her one last time before I close that door forever. Not to fix things with her but so I can look you in the eyes and know that I walked away clean." She replied. Aaron didn't explode no matter how bad he wanted to. He had to remember it was himself who had caused this. He didn't like the thought of Kenya going to see that bitch at all but if it meant it'll be the end of things, he had to be okay with it.