Swan Song

Secret Dinner Dates

RYLIEE

I was sick and tired of watching Lilibeth get everything I ever wanted, Little Miss perfect. She was the perfect student, had the perfect boyfriend and of course she had the perfect father. Hell, even my own father loved her more than me. He constantly compared me to Lilibeth. If it wasn’t for my mom being on my side, I likely would have lost it a long time ago. She was my favorite person because she saw through the bullshit. Yes, she loved Lilibeth because she was her husband’s niece. But she was different from my mom and I and that was something we bonded over.

I was at my wits end with Lilibeth, her family's secret that I have been forced to keep most of my life and the fact that she overshadowed me at every turn. When she told me that Kendryck had proposed to her, I nearly lost it. I was on the verge of mentally snapping. I didn’t want to believe it, I couldn’t believe it, but there I was earlier today looking at wedding dresses so Lilibeth could once again have the perfect life. The life I deserved with the man I always dreamed of.

I had begun to resent her; I mean I had always resented her but not to this level. We were close at one point, but that was years ago. Before high school, before she invaded my space, she was younger than me and yet she graduated in my year, with my class. Hell, she was the f*****g valedictorian! While my dad and Uncle Chris gushed and fawned over the perfect Lilibeth. My mother made me feel wanted. She loved Lilibeth too, but not as much as her only child, her only daughter. The one she would do anything for.

Kendryck and I had been fooling around behind her back for a little over a year now. Call it petty, I really didn’t care. He was what I had been craving for the past five years. He should have been mine the night of the party, but my dad made me take little miss perfect along with me. Kendryck had promised me he was going to leave her. He kept telling me soon, soon we would finally be happy together. He kept reminding me that I just had to be patient, but patience wasn't my strong suit. It never had been.

I had grown shorter and colder with Lilibeth. When she asked me to be her Maid of Honor it was like a slap to the face. Once again, she won! I had been going crazy, trying to find a way to push this along, to make Kendryck leave her once and for all. I wanted my time in the spotlight and I knew if I could bag Kendryck, someone with money, with standing, I would be able to further my life in a more prestigious way. A way even my father couldn't ignore.

Looking for a wedding dress with Lilibeth was a nightmare and I was beyond thankful that I had these dinner plans with Kendryck tonight. For once his attention would be solely on me and I could relish in that. I loved these dinners, they usually turned into a long passionate night of screwing, and I could use that right now. Ken’s job was his life, that’s why he used it as an excuse to see me. Sweet little innocent Lilibeth would do nothing to damage that, to damage his reputation in the business world. Kendryck was on track to make the top 30 under 30 list for business managers in Louisiana and I wanted to be by his side when that happened.

I pulled up to the restaurant I was meeting Ken at. Sullivan's Steakhouse is usually where we met for dinner. It is a fancy restaurant, so it made sense if Lilibeth ever questioned it. It’s not like he would be entertaining his clients at the local burger joint or something simple like that. I got out of my car and made my way to the entrance of the building. It didn't look like Kendryck was here yet, I couldn’t see his Jeep Wrangler anywhere in the parking lot, so I went inside and got seated at our usual table. I ordered a glass of wine and waited. I knew I wouldn't have to wait overly long for him to arrive. Kendryck had been on the phone with me when Lilibeth got home, so I knew he would be here any minute. I had called him when I left Lilibeth at the boutique a little while ago to make sure we were still on for tonight. I needed this more than he realized.

I needed to know he wasn’t just stringing me along like it had been starting to feel like. The engagement really hurt me, I hoped he was just doing this to save face. To make it look like they were taking the next steps in their “happy” life together. Clearly Kendryck wasn’t so happy, or he wouldn’t have ended up on my doorstep over a year ago with a bottle of wine and a box of condoms.

Twenty minutes later I saw Kendryck walking through the door and a waiter escorted him over to our table. My heart began to race like it did every time I saw him. I had been completely infatuated with Kendryck since the night we met. I had dragged Lilibeth to that party. Dad had begged and pleaded with me to include her. After a few weeks of him pestering me to bring her I caved. I had wanted to go alone, but my ever-saintly father wanted poor Lilibeth to experience life more and get her nose out of the books.

Well, look what happened now, the joke would be on her when I was finished. I was tired of coming in second and was going to take matters into my own hands, even more than I already had.

As Kendryck sat down at the table he started talking in his low raspy voice. "Ry, have you been waiting long?" That voice did everything to me. It set my soul ablaze and got my panties soaking wet. "I'm okay I guess, I haven't been waiting too long, 20 minutes or so." I replied, fluttering my eyelashes at him and then looked back down at my almost empty glass of wine. "How did you get away from Lilibeth tonight?" I asked, already knowing the answer, but wanting to hear him explain it. It gave me pleasure to hear how he lied to her, time and time again so he could sneak off and be with me, and that pleasure is what I was after.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Dinner plans with a new client." He smiled at me as he picked up his menu. Kendryck was very predictable, he always ordered the same meal whenever we came here; Wagyu bone-in strip steak with a baked potato and Caesar salad. He was a man who knew what he liked, what he wanted. He had an expensive taste and his lifestyle reflected that.

I could have easily ordered it for him, and maybe one day I would, just to throw him off his game. But he liked to take charge and it was sexy to watch him do it. As much as I loved being in control, when it came to Kendryck I would give that control up any day.

"How was dress shopping?" He asked, putting down his menu as my whole body tensed up. I shot him a glare. He knew better than to ask something like that. Looking at me with those big brown eyes had my frustrated demeanor just melting away. I could never stay mad at Kendryck for long, not even if I tried. "It went...fine, I guess. She didn't choose a dress, it's like she's purposely tormenting me." I huffed rolling my eyes. I didn't want to spend the whole night with Ken talking about Lilibeth and he should know that. I never did, this was our time, and I wanted his attention to be focused on me, not worrying about what his fiancée was doing. "She asked me to talk to you, you know?" He said, shrugging his shoulders. It seemed like he knew he was in hot water with me just for bringing her up and this was his lame attempt at justifying his reason for ruining the one night a week we didn’t have to pretend, where it could just be us in our Lilibeth free love affair.

Before I could reply, a waiter came to get our order and Kendryck ordered another bottle of wine for us to share which I was thankful for. My glass was completely empty now and it was already shaping up to be one of those nights. I would likely want to find myself at the bottom of a few more.

Kendryck reached across the table, scooped up my free hand, and intertwined his fingers in mine. "I'm sorry Ryliee, I know this isn't ideal." Kendryck started. I was sick of hearing the same thing time and time again, and actually started to question whether or not he was just stringing me along this whole time. I pulled my hand away from his and picked up my wine glass. I was over it. Over feeling like even with Kendryck, the person who says he loves me, that I am second best. I was sick of hearing his excuses. I understood it would look bad on him, and his pride wouldn't let him, but still, why did I have to suffer?

When our meals finally arrived, we ate them in almost complete silence. Kendryck knew I was upset, and he likely didn’t want to push his luck any further as he was currently the root of my frustrations, him dragging his feet and leading me on. I twirled the pasta from my Chicken Parm around on the fork I was holding in my hand. I wasn’t really hungry anymore, but I knew if I continued to drink at the pace I was going, I would need to eat something or I would regret it later.

The atmosphere had changed between us, and I knew this was all thanks to Lilibeth and their stupid engagement. She had to ruin everything for me. There were times I wished her father never sent her to live with us. I was happy being the only child, the apple of my father’s eye. I was his little girl. When Lilibeth came, my younger perfect cousin, that all started to change. Not right away, but over time I could see how proud my dad was of her and her accomplishments, and he began to forget about me. Thankfully, I had mom, she was always in my corner.

Lilibeth's father had sent her to Baton Rouge to hide her family's secret from her. I knew, I have known since I was seven years old. Once I tried to take Lilibeth’s locket off her, I wanted to see what was inside and she refused to open it and show me. That’s when I learned the real reason behind that necklace and the real reason she never took it off. My father had taken me aside and explained that Lili was “special,” that one day she would be able to know all of this, but for now, he made me promise to never tell her or anyone else what I knew, and because I loved my father, I kept this secret for 20 years.

It wasn't as late as it usually was when we finished our meal. But the deafening silence that filled our ruined evening had given me time to decide my next plan of action. I was over Lilibeth getting everything that should have been mine. It was time to take matters into my own hands regarding my current uncomfortable situation. Being who I was I knew the stories, I knew of the voodoo magic that lived in Louisiana, but especially in New Orleans. I would seek out a Bokor, a voodoo witch, someone that could help me. I knew nothing normal would work, and desperate times called for desperate measures. And this definitely classifies as the most desperate of times.