Secret Affairs

THIRTEEN

I booked it. Running out of the building so fast that I somehow managed to avoid Daniel on my way out. Either that, or I completely missed him since I was staring at the ground the entire way out.

But it was fine. Nothing happened between Nate and I. No matter how much I wanted it to.

I shouldn’t care. I was a single woman with no ties and all the free time in the world. I should be allowed to enjoy myself. To enjoy everything Nate had to offer. Then I thought of Daniel. And I felt guilty. Or rather, guiltier.

Then again, I owed neither of them anything. Why shouldn’t I get to enjoy myself? I had already sacrificed my twenties in the name of family loyalties and got nothing in return. Why shouldn’t I do anything to make myself happy?

I decided that I would allow myself to be selfish. I would do this one thing for myself. So, I wouldn’t feel bad if I wanted to f**k Nate, or Daniel for that matter. I’d just have to be very clear on where I stood. If they were interested then fine, but I wouldn’t limit myself simply because they want something I wasn’t willing to give.

******

Over the next few weeks, Davis and I gathered all the information we could. Documents were collected, accounts were looked into, and other unsavory means of collecting information were used. Davis wasn’t very open about how he collected the information. He said that it was better if I didn’t know the details.

It was taking forever to go through all the data he collected. I didn’t even know what I was looking at half the time, or what I was looking for. There were hundreds of hours of surveillance footage from the company to go through, as well as company servers. But I would let him go through that since it was what I was paying him for.

On a Thursday, Davis asked me to meet him at an address in Brooklyn. I looked at the GPS and back at the townhouse wondering why it came to memory.

Minutes went by and Davis finally showed up.

“You’re late,” I scolded him. It wasn’t like I had any other place to go. Lately my life was a bit unfulfilled. He simply shrugged in response. “What is this place?” I asked him as I looked around.

Davis nodded towards the steps and began ascending them towards the buzzer. “Janet Wilcox had access to your father, she has to know something. I haven’t been able to track her down for a few days. It’s like she disappeared.”

That was why I recognized this place as Janet’s home. “I just saw her a few weeks ago at the office.” Granted she barely wanted to look me in the eye, but she was there.

“Well, she hasn’t gone back. And your boys aren’t privy to handing out information,” he explained as he rang the bell.

“My boys?” Davis gave me a knowing smile and a wiggle of his eyebrows like he was in on the joke. The current joke was my love life, and he knew. He was referring to Nathaniel Peters and Daniel James. “Shouldn’t this be your job?” I was a bit more annoyed than I should be.

He rang the doorbell again seeing that no one was showing up. “I simply need you to distract her husband while I look through their belongings.”

“You’re breaking in,” I questioned in a whisper. He had already rung the doorbell and someone must be on their way now. I didn’t need anyone listening to this conversation.

Davis shook his head and took a peek through the door windows. “Think of it as casually being invited in,” he explained.

The doorbell rang again and no one came to the door. I had a feeling that no one would greet us. Out of instinct I reached for the doorknob and twisted. It wasn’t locked. And when I looked inside, I could see why. The home was empty. “I don’t think you need to break in. There’s nothing here.”

Before Davis could step inside, a door shut behind us. One of Janet’s neighbors was leaving their home. “Excuse me, do you know what happened to the family that lived here?” I stopped them before they could get far.

“They packed their bags and left this morning. Movers came a few hours ago and took everything.”

She hadn’t said anything about moving. And if she hadn’t been in the office over the last few weeks, then that meant she must have quit or been fired. I automatically felt irritated that no one had informed me. Then I remembered I didn’t work there anymore.

“That bitch.”

We began walking down the steps, I could already see the gears turning in his mind.

“Among other things,” Davis mumbled under his breath.

“What?”

“What?”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

“Say it and quit acting like a child” I had soon come to the realization that Davis preferred if I asked for information rather than outright providing it. It was his way of absolving himself in case it was too much.

“She was an adulterer. She was cheating on her husband.” Holy s**t, that had me stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. I was not expecting that. There was something always off about that woman, but I never knew what was going on with her. At times she seemed overly friendly and then others she seemed annoyed by my presence. I could never tell where I stood with her.

“Swear? With who?” I stared at him in rapt attention waiting for an answer.

Davis looked straight at me, not a crinkle of a smile present on his face. “You know.”

I scoured my brain in hopes that a name would magically appear, but nothing came forward. Then I thought a little harder, and the only person that came to mind was Benjamin Sommers. My father.

That mother fucker. I wasn’t sure if I was thinking of Janet or my deceased father but what in the actual hell were they thinking. He was having an affair with a married woman. How many more of his secrets would I uncover before I’m able to put this all to rest.

“How long?” I asked the only question that seemed to matter at the moment.

Davis turned away looking out at the passing cars longingly. If I didn’t know any better he was ready to make a break for a can, or simply jump in front of a moving car just to get out of this conversation. “It feels wrong to speak ill of the dead.”

“It’s only wrong if it’s untrue. Now I’m paying you for a reason,” I argued back. My patience was dwindling. He couldn’t just say daddy dearest was having an affair and leave it at that. I needed to know the full story.

“It’s been years,” he replied cautiously.

“Be specific.”

“How old are you?”

I looked at him like he must have lost his mind. There was no way he thought Janet was my mother. I would raise my father from the grave if that was the case. “What does that have to do with this?”

“I found a divorce agreement between your father and your mother. It stated ‘irreconcilable differences’ as the cause. I tracked down the mediator and he said it was because your father was having an affair while your mother was pregnant.” I was relieved yet furious. Janet wasn’t my mother which I was thankful for, but she was having an affair with my father while my mother was carrying me in her womb.

Maybe it wasn’t true. Maybe this was all a mistake. Maybe Davis wasn’t doing his job right.

I shook my head trying to make sense of everything but nothing was adding up. “That can’t be true. How would the mediator even remember that? My father loved her. He told me himself.” Unless that meant I couldn’t trust a damn word he said to me. In which case everything was about to be brought into question.

“That’s the information I found. Janet also had an account where money was deposited every month from the personal account of Benjamin Sommers,” Davis calmly answered.

“How do you even know that?” I asked with trembling breaths.

I was on the verge of breaking and Davis looked like he was more than uncomfortable in this situation. “I went through his accounts.”

“I think I’m going to be sick.”

“I don’t hold back hair,” he joked, stepping closer towards me as if I was a feral animal easily scared.

Janet must have been in her early twenties and he was thirty freaking eight when I was born. This was just so wrong.

I felt like the wind just got knocked out of me. Everything was melding together in a blurry picture of lies and deceit. And I didn’t know how to find my way out.