I would like to thank Amela for making this more presentable.
*
It was wrong, she knew it was even while she planned it. Married for over seven years, Ritty had never been completely satisfied. It didn't help that Jake stayed out of town most of those years. His job made him travel constantly, leaving her home all alone night after night, week after week. She thought back to when she had started her new job. When she became good friends with her boss it helped take her mind off the long nights by herself. What had started out as two lonely friends hanging out had escalated into something she never would have imagined.
It was all innocent at first. They would cook dinner together, watch movies, go shopping, do everything together. Do all those things that best friends do. Until Till the night they both got drunk at a party and one thing lead to another. They woke the next morning in each others' arms. Ritty shivered at the memory of their hot passionate sex they made again that morning. From then on, they didn't deny themselves the pleasure of one another's bodies. They'd feed it like oxygen to flame.
It had been different at work, she couldn't deny that. There had been more tension at first as they worried about their coworkers catching on. Luckily, no one did and before long they had become a perfect team. They breezed through projects, gained new clients and, under it all, their passion and secret blazed. She lived in fear that any day would be their last. Just one time of Jake coming home or a coworker finding out and it would all end. She had decided a long time ago to ride it out and see what would happen. Live for today and worry about tomorrow when it got there.
Ritty had been cleaning all day, prepping the house and herself for their evening together. Jake had called earlier in the day to check in. He was still several hundred miles away and not due home for another week. She could tell he missed her when they chatted. He never wanted to end the conversation, clinging to her till she had to lie to get off the phone. She knew he loved her as much as she loved him. She had never doubted his love, but that didn't change the fact he was never home. She wasn't sure if she regretted what she was doing. She had found out more about herself in the last few months then she ever would have imagined. It had opened her up in so many ways. She felt loved, adored, even needed now. To have someone in your arms to hold at night, whisper in their ear, kiss along their neck till they shivered in ecstasy. She missed that with him, and desperately needed it. She had found it again. Even though it was forbidden and would inevitably be short lived, she would savor it for all it was worth for as long as she could.
A pair of headlights flashed through the living room window. Shadows danced along the walls under the bright lights. It surprised Ritty how much she still reacted when that car showed up. Heart thudding and breathless with excitement she almost ran to the door and opened it. She watched as her boss came walking up to the door. Taking the bouquet of flowers, she leaned forward and they kissed deeply, passionately. It was past ten and her neighborhood went to bed when the sun went down. Knees weak and lightheaded from the embrace she looked up. "I'm glad you made it Lacey. How did things go with the ex today?"
They made their way into the living room where Lacey plopped down on the couch, sighing she laid her head back and closed her eyes. Ritty continued on into the kitchen and grabbed a vase for the flowers. Placing it on the table, she returned to the living room and sat down beside Lacey. She knew she had to be exhausted but she never saw it on her, just sensed it.
Taking a deep breath, she started her rambling. "I don't understand it. What part of "I don't want to be with you" can be so confusing? I have told him time and again I don't want his lies or his excuses or his dangerous life anymore. Yeah, I knew what I was getting into when we decided to go steady but when me and my family started getting threats then I'm out. I don't need that bullshit falling down on us. If he wants to risk his life for his fucking titty bar then so be it. I'm not. He can shove that bar and all his gangsta friends up his royal American ass."
"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute." Ritty broke in. "What is going on? Who is threatening you? Antonio runs a, and I quote, "titty bar"?" She was confused. Lacey had never told her this much before.
Lacey bit her lip, unsure if she had revealed too much. Whatever was bothering her, she hoped it wouldn't follow her. "When me and Antonio got together, I found out he owned Richard's Treasures. Have you heard of it? It's on the other side of town." She waited while Ritty thought about it and nodded her recognition.
"Well, not long after we got together, I found out some other good jollies. His partner had become associated with some rather nasty people. He had borrowed thousands of dollars to pay off his gambling debt and used the club as leverage. Antonio knew of it and was helping him straighten it all out...Until his idiot partner went and shot one of their men. Any hope of saving the club or the owed money went out the window and his partner killed himself. They came after us. They almost killed me twice. We left for two years. The boss was eventually killed and we returned. He got the club back and I got my business back but by then the damage was done. I live in fear every day that it will start up again. I left him six months ago, right after we returned. Around the same time, me and you meet. I don't want that life anymore. I don't want him. The bastard just won't give up." She sat back on the couch, exasperated by the whole tale. Ritty sat opened mouth on the couch, shocked beyond belief. All this time who would have know that Lacey had been mixed up in shit that deep?
"That's some heavy shit. I always sensed something mysterious about you. But never that!!" As scary as it all sounded, Ritty couldn't help thinking it was hot. All that adrenaline and danger mixed together like an intoxicating drink. No wonder Lacey had balls of steel when it came to the competition, to people. She knew how to twist the dagger to get exactly what she wanted out of the helpless victims. Ritty had seen Lacey at their conferences, she was ruthless.