“It’s understandable. You’re going through a lot.” He scooched closer on the bed and began massaging the back of my neck. His touch felt like an invasion, and I flinched, then ducked away from his touch.
He held his hands up. “Sorry.”
I let out a long sigh. “No, I’m sorry.”
“I understand, baby. You got a lot going on.” I sensed the edge in his voice. He had thought he’d won out over Steven, but now he could see how deeply I was affected. His phone rang, and he reached into his pocket to cut it off. “I was just saying, I know you are going through a lot right now, but I want us to be able to pick up the pieces and move on.”
That sounded less like comfort and more like a threat. Or maybe I was imagining things.
The phone rang again. This time Greg glanced at the display and said, “I’m sorry, babe. Gimme a second. Hello,” he answered.
I narrowed my eyes at the sound of the woman’s voice.
“Hello . . . Um, yeah, I’m in the middle of something. Okay. Will do. I’ll call you back.”
It took everything in my power not to go off as he hung up the phone.
“Who was that?”
“What?”
“I didn’t stutter.”
“That was Donna from work.” He had the nerve to look appalled that I was questioning him.
“Who is Donna?” I snapped.
“Really?” he said. “You know me better than that, Felise.”
“I know I’m not going to let you make a fool out of me,” I said, snatching the phone from him. I glanced down and saw several text messages on his screen. Need u now, I read. I looked up at him in shock. “ ‘Need u now’? Who the hell is Donna, and why is she talking about needing you now? Tell your hos not to call you in the middle of the night!”
He stared at me in disbelief. “Wow. My hos? Donna is my supervisor.”
“You must think I’m stupid. I know your boss, and she is a he.” I was so not in the mood for Greg trying to play me. He’d had a brief affair nine years ago, and I’d found out this exact same way—from him ignoring her phone calls. Granted, Greg and I had gone to counseling and worked through that, but I wasn’t about to travel down that road again. I pushed Donna’s name on the phone and put the phone to my ear.
“May I speak to Donna?” I snapped as soon as the woman answered. I half expected Greg to snatch the phone away.
“This is she,” the woman said.
“Yes, Donna, this is Felise Mavins, Greg Mavins’s wife. I’m trying to understand why you’re texting and calling my husband at almost one in the morning. News flash, he’s married.”
Silence filled the phone before the woman said, “Umm, I know that.”
“And I guess you just don’t care.”
“Umm, wow, okay. This is Donna Langley—I’m one of the new partners. I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of meeting as I just transferred in two weeks ago. I wasn’t trying to cause any problems, but my computer crashed and I lost a report Greg did and we need it for a presentation in the morning. That’s all.”
I swear, if I could’ve made myself disappear in a tiny hole in the earth, I would have.
“Ah, ah, I . . .”
Greg snatched the phone away. “Donna, I can’t apologize to you enough for my wife. As you can imagine, she’s very upset about her friend’s husband, and that’s the only reason I can imagine that she would do something like this. So please accept our sincerest apology for disturbing you.” He let her respond, and I could only imagine what she was saying. “I’m sorry, I was just trying to be by my wife’s side, I was going to call you back . . . Yes, ma’am. I will email you over another copy of the report right away.”
Greg hung up the phone and glared at me. “I know that you’re going through a very difficult time, and for that reason, and that reason only, I’m going to give you a pass. But don’t ever, ever do some anything like that again.”
“But I mean Miranda . . .”
“Miranda was almost ten years ago. We went to counseling. You said you forgave me. And I have never given you reason since then to believe that I am unfaithful.” He was steaming, and now he had another reason to be upset. “You know I don’t do that ghetto foolishness of calling and confronting someone.” He stood, then walked toward the door. “It’s obvious you need some ‘me’ time, so I’m going to sleep in the guest room. Hopefully, when you wake up tomorrow, you’ll be in a better place because this is absolutely unacceptable.”