The two women sat close to each other so that others could not eavesdrop. The tables in the coffee house were close together, but all the rest of the coffee aficionados there were in their teens and twenties. The two women in contrast were in their early thirties, so there was not much risk of anyone there knowing them. Even if someone did overhear them, that person would be a complete stranger.
"I think John is cheating on me," the brunette with her long eyelashes and unblemished skin said to her friend. She had even features and a Roman nose and it all combined to give a pretty effect, even -- some might say -- a very pretty effect. Her diamond engagement ring, sitting next to her gold band, glistened in the light.
"What makes you think that?" her blonde friend said. Her blonde friend was a true blonde, even if last week she was a redhead. Her hair had subtle blue highlights, created at an expensive salon. The blonde was Mireille, and the brunette was Cordelia. Cordelia was born French but had lived in the States most of her life. Mireille was a native Hoosier. Both women now lived in Bethesda, MD.
"Someone sent me a video of him and a redhead doing the nasty," Cordelia said.
Cordelia's dramatic statement was met with a staggering silence. Even the three eavesdroppers were stunned. Cordelia was looking down, studying the white heart in her cappuccino that she had not yet touched. She had ordered it with a shot of CBD, to calm herself down a bit. The Xanax she had taken just wasn't doing the trick.
"Who would do such a thing?" Mireille asked, when she gathered her wits enough to speak.
"Which? Fuck my husband, or send me a video of it?" Cordelia asked.
"Either," Mireille said.
"Mike sent the video," Cordelia said.
"Mike who?" Mireille asked, and now she was quite nervous.
"You know which Mike I mean. You're married to him," Cordelia said, almost nonchalantly. Two of the eavesdroppers gasped.
"I see," Mireille said. She had feared the worst, and now she knew that it was the worst. "What did he want?"
"Revenge, I suppose. If I don't do what he wants, he'll use the video to destroy John's career," Cordelia replied.
Mireille was not about to ask what Mike wanted from her friend. She and all of the eavesdroppers were by now fairly sure they knew. It was either money or sex, or perhaps even both? Mireille had no idea Mike had installed video cameras throughout their house and gardens. He no doubt had videos of all of her dalliances; of all her indiscretions. Had he done this with other men's wives, too? Had he extorted sex from all of the wives of the men with whom she had cheated on him? Was he that disgusting of a man? Yes, in fact, he was.
"Marybeth refused him, you know. Her husband Alex is now unemployed and they've missed a few mortgage payments," Cordelia said. "Mike's threats are real."
"How much does he want?" Mireille asked.
"Ten times, over three months. According to Sarah, the sex escalates in level of outrageousness. He's into humiliation of the women," Cordelia said, sounding surprisingly calm. The CBD plus the Xanax was working.
"Of all the men in Bethesda, why did you have to fuck John? I thought we were friends," Cordelia said, and she was on the verge of tears.
Mireille felt sick. She excused herself and ran to the bathroom, and watched most of her lunch swirl around the toilet bowl. The taste in her mouth was so very ugly. The vomiting did, however, calm her down a bit. She collected herself and returned to Cordelia, who now had a cinnamon roll placed before her, a gift from a sympathetic eavesdropper.
"I'm sorry, Cordelia," Mireille said. "I'll make it up to you," she said.
"How? All is lost. I have a jackass for a husband and you have a criminal for one," Cordelia said.
"You forget about my skills. Don't worry, I'll take care of this," Mireille said. "You take care of John."
Cordelia smiled for the first time. Mireille used to work for the NSA. Nobody had better computer skills than she did, and she could probably erase everything Mike had, including the back-ups to Dropbox or the Amazon Cloud or wherever. Hell, she could probably erase Mike himself, had she wanted to.
If Mireille was determined, it would happen. Cordelia knew Mireille was determined. She was admittedly a slut whose taste to men ran to other women's husbands, but she was a loyal friend, and their friendship went way back. It went way, way back, long before Mireille became a compulsive sexual vampire.
A long time ago Mireille was a sweetheart of a girl, as too was Cordelia. They skipped through life to happy tunes in their heads. How all that has changed! Men, marriage, careers, food and lodging, buying homes, squirrels in the attic, mice in the basement, roaches everywhere, ant invasions in the Spring, roofs that leaked, leaves in the gutters, falling trees in the yard, flooded basements, fighting with the workmen, unpleasant neighbors, the stresses just went on and on. How had it all gone so wrong? Youth had been so carefree, but then Mireille got pregnant.
Yes, Mireille's pregnancy was beginning of the end. She and Mike married and Mireille gave birth to a wonderful little boy. He was now three. He was as cute as the dickens, but Mike was just not ready to be a husband, let alone a father. He felt that he had more women to explore, more women to conquer, and now -- thanks to Mireille and John getting it on, Mike had his sights set on Cordelia. Cordelia knew that if she didn't comply, John would lose his job, almost for sure. He'd lose his security clearance first, and close on its heels he'd lose his job.
Well, maybe it wouldn't be all bad? They could move into a cheap apartment, and say goodbye to the squirrels in the attic, the mice in the basement, the leaking roof, the broken garbage disposal, the dishwasher that never seemed to work that well, the cleaning of the gutters, the falling trees, the whole lot of it, except of course for the roaches and the neighbors. The roaches would follow them everywhere.
