Adam and I have been hooking up for two weeks.
Every night after he gets Victoria into bed, we have dinner together and then retire to his bedroom. And then we make love for hours. I was so infatuated with Freddy when I was younger, but this is something entirely different. The truth is, I think about him all the time. He’s my last thought when I go to bed at night and my first thought when I wake up in the morning. I dream about him.
But I haven’t spent another entire night in his bed. First of all, I still think of it as Adam and Victoria’s bed. It’s not my bed to be spending the night in. And second of all, I don’t want Eva or Maggie to catch me coming out of there in the morning. Maggie would just laugh and tease me, but I’m scared of what Eva would do. At best, she would give me the glowering of a lifetime.
I feel guilty about Victoria too. She doesn’t know what’s going on between the two of us, but she’s got to suspect. And even though she does have a serious brain injury, she’s with it enough that she would understand I’m sleeping with her husband. I still remember the way she looked at me that night in her room when the power was out.
Mine.
The truth is, I’m still reading Victoria’s diary, but for a different reason. She’s writing about her engagement with Adam. He’s so sweet and romantic to her in ways he can’t be with me given our arrangement. And sometimes I read her entries and just savor them, imagining that I’m the one going on a horse-drawn carriage ride around Central Park or that we are the ones going to see a Broadway show with orchestra seats.
That is not to say there’s no romance. This morning when I open my bedroom door, a dozen roses are lying on the ground. Nobody has ever given me roses in my entire life—Freddy could never afford them. I almost burst into tears. I feel a surge of happiness until I look up and find Eva staring daggers at me.
“Hi, Eva,” I manage.
She narrows her eyes at me. “I know what you are doing.”
I snatch the roses off the floor. “I… I don’t know what you mean.”
She snorts. “Do not tell lies. I knew the second I saw you this would happen. It always happens this way. Do you think you are the first? You are not.”
A sweat breaks out on the back of my neck. “I’m sorry…”
“No,” Eva says. “You are the one who will be sorry. You will be punished for the despicable thing you are doing. I promise you.”
And with those words, she walks past me and stomps down the stairs. I hear the door to the house slam behind her and I let out a breath.
The house is completely silent now. Presumably, Victoria is in her bedroom. I put the roses down on my dresser and creep down the hallway to her bedroom. When I open the door, she’s in her usual spot. Sitting by the window, her eyes closed.
Ordinarily, I would go downstairs to make her breakfast, but I feel so shaken by my confrontation with Eva, I feel like I should say something to Victoria. So I walk over to her and plaster a giant smile on my face.
“Hi, Victoria!” I say in a voice that I hope is loud enough to jar her awake.
It works. She opens her blue eyes just a crack.
“How about some breakfast?” My voice sounds strangely chipper to my own ears. That’s what two weeks of good sex will do.
Victoria’s eyes open slightly wider, but she doesn’t say anything.
I hear a knock on the door to the bedroom, which is superfluous considering the door is already open. Adam is standing in the doorway, in his jogging shorts and a damp T-shirt.
“Hey, Sylvia.” He winks at me. “I’m going to make some eggs for breakfast. Should I throw a couple on for you?”
I glance over at Victoria, whose eyes are now completely open. I get a sinking feeling in my chest. She knows. She knows what’s going on between us. It’s all over her face.
“No, thanks,” I mumble.
“You sure?” He wags his eyebrows at me. Oh God, could he make it any more obvious we’re sleeping together? “It’s no trouble.”
“Nope.” My smile is starting to hurt my cheeks. “I’m good.”
Adam wanders away, but Victoria is still staring at me. If I had any doubt that she knows what’s going on, it’s gone. Whatever little she can
comprehend, she comprehends that I’m sleeping with her husband. “I’m so sorry,” I murmur. “I just…”
I don’t know how to complete that sentence.
Victoria looks like she’s contemplating her next words. She looks like she’s got something to say. And I’m going to bet none of it is very nice. For the first time, I’m grateful for her inability to speak.
“Sylvie,” she finally says.
“Yes?” My heart is pounding in my chest. I’m bracing myself for whatever horrible thing she’s going to say to me, which I will absolutely deserve.
“You…”
I bite my lip. “I know. I’m so sorry, Victoria.” “He’ll kill you.”
I’ve never seen or heard her say so many words at one time. And the slur she usually has in her speech is nearly gone. My mouth falls open. “What do you mean? What are you talking about?”
“Gun.” Victoria’s good eye bores into me while the other stares out the window. She got out the word correctly this time. “Get… gun.”
And those are the last words she says to me all day.
