Diary of a Mistress

Chapter 3

bare hands.

“Umm, something smells good,” Carlos said, taking a deep breath.

“There’s salmon in the oven,” Monica said, smiling.

“My favorite dish? I laid it on you then, huh?” Carlos jokingly suggested as he

hugged his wife from behind.

“Go get in the shower. You smell like s*x,” Monica teased, bypassing Carlos’s

comment.

Carlos did as he was told. By the time he finished washing up and throwing on

some clothes, dinner was done. The pair sat out on their deck to enjoy the deli-

cious meal. They talked and laughed about their relationship over the years, going

back as far as college. Carlos and Monica had been married for almost ten years.

They first met in college. Carlos was going into his junior year and was giving a

tour of the campus one summer, and Monica just happened to be in his group.

Monica was going to be a freshman that fall, and of the other female freshmen,

she was among the top ten in the looks and style department. She had long jet-black hair that she tied up in a ponytail, trimmed bangs that just covered her

thick, neatly arched eyebrows and accented her almond-shaped eyes. Her golden

complexion resembled a perfect tan. All the latest fashions covered her shapely

physique, and she was smothered in gold. She was a daddy’s girl and an only child,

so she was spoiled rotten. The upperclassmen were likely to be all over her. They

liked what they called fresh meat. They figured new girls were naïve and vulnerable

because they didn’t know the guys’ reputations yet, and Carlos was no different. He

had taken the tour-guide position in the first place so he would have first dibs. He

was a ladies’ man who enjoyed flirting with all the pretty faces, and he particularly

liked being able to try his hand with them before all the other guys could.

“Maybe later I can give you a tour of the dorms,” Carlos said to Monica, a boy-

ish grin on his face.

Monica looked at Carlos like he was crazy, and said, “I’ll pass.”

Carlos was caught off guard. He wasn’t used to a response like that. His six-

foot-tall, athletic build; light, soft skin; and curly hair usually got him yeses from

girls right off the bat.

“What’s wrong? Did I offend you?” Carlos asked, correctly reading Monica’s

attitude.

“What would I need a tour of the dorms for?” Monica responded.

Figuring he wasn’t dealing with a ditsy cute girl, Carlos thought up a quick

reply, “ ’Cause if you see them, you can know which one to pick. See, they usually

assign freshmen randomly, but if you know which dorm you want they’ll let you

choose. I’m tryna hook you up.”

Monica blushed, and said, “Oh,” still carrying an attitude. She was so used to

guys coming at her, she kept her guard up at all times.

“See, you thought I was bein’ nasty. What’s on ya mind?” Carlos joked.

Monica smiled and playfully hit Carlos on his arm. It was then and there that

she felt some type of chemistry between the two of them. She knew that the story

about showing her the dorms was game, but she respected the fact that he had

made something up. Guys like Carlos, who could probably get any girl he lookeat, didn’t make excuses. They saw somebody they wanted, made their advance, and

if that girl wasn’t with it, they said to hell with her and moved on to the next one.

But Carlos was different, at least on that day, and he won her heart.

Four years went by, and they found themselves saying “I do,” followed by twin

sons five years after that. Carlos and Monica were inseparable. They had the type of

relationship that other couples only dreamed of. It was like a fairy tale with an ever-

lasting happy ending.

Their sons, Carlos Jr. and Christopher, looked like a perfect blend of the two of

them. They both had Carlos’s big cocoa brown eyes and light, smooth, buttermilk-

like skin; and their mother’s dark, thick hair covered their heads and formed their

eyebrows. They were an adorable pair of five-year-olds, and all together they were a

beautiful family.

The sun was now on its way down and the wind blew a comfortable breeze.

Monica and Carlos needed that day. Between her teaching preschoolers at a sum-

mer program, his teaching workout courses at a university, and all of their spare

time devoted to the twins, they hadn’t spent any quality time together in a while.

It had grown dark by the time Monica and Carlos went to pick up their boys

from Monica’s mother. As Monica turned the key in her mother’s door, a sense of

excitement came over both her and Carlos. This was the first time they had spent

the day without their children in a long time.

“Daddy’s here,” Carlos sang immediately after entering his mother-in-law’s

house.

“Dad-dy!” his sons squealed as they paused the video game they had been play-

ing and ran into their father’s arms. Monica stood to the side smiling as she

watched her husband hug the boys.

After soaking in all the love from his sons, Carlos stepped back and looked

them over. “Let me look at you two. Which one of you grew taller since yesterday?”

he asked.

“I did! I did!” they both shouted, each one trying to be louder than the other.

Carlos laughed and rubbed both their heads. “Go give your mother a hug and a