The Affair

Catching Up

Marlena passed her secretary’s desk, she was handed a message. It seemed Roman called while she was out. She didn’t really want to call him back but she knew if she didn’t he would either call her back or unexpectedly drop by. She preferred to deal with him on the phone. Sitting at her desk she dialed his number.

“Boaty here.”

“Hi Roman; its Marlena. You called?”

“Yes I did, I called to give you the time for our date but you weren’t in your office. Where were you?”

“I had a few errands to run and a little free time after lunch so I decided to take care of them.” She hated lying to him once again but it was better than the truth; than saying ‘I met John at his penthouse and we made love.’

“You should have called me; we could have met for lunch and spent a little time together.”

“Actually I had lunch with Laura. We went to a little diner and while eating we ran into John.” She didn’t want it to appear she was trying to hide anything from him.

Just for a second, Roman’s guard was up. “John was there.”

“Yes, he came in after us and since the place was crowded he asked if could join us. We all had lunch together.” Did she detect a difference in his voice? She listened carefully.

Just hearing Laura was also there helped to ease his mind. “So how’s he doing?”

Maybe it was just her imagination. “I guess fine, he did mention that he was leaving town tonight for some kind of business meeting. He told me Boaty would be staying with Victor while he was out of town.”

Roman leaned back in his chair. Since John would be leaving town tonight that was one less phone call he had to make. And that was the one he really wanted to make. For some unknown reason he wanted John there.

Anxious to change the subject Marlena spoke up, “So Roman you never told me the time. I hope it’s not too late. I really don’t want the kids to be by themselves late at night.”

“Doc, don’t worry so much. Carrie is a big girl. She can handle it.”

“I know she can but I still don’t want to stay out late.”

“Sometimes you worry too much but before you say anything, how does 6 o’clock sound to you?”

“It works for me.” That would give her more than enough time to fill Laura in on everything.

“Ok, Doc, I’ll see you then.”

Before he could hang up, Marlena asked one more question, “We’re still having dinner at the Pub, right?”

“I’ll see you there.”

They both hung up.

Roman felt quite pleased with himself. She didn’t suspect a thing. The only glitch was John being out of town. For some reason he really wanted John to witness everything; to see how much he and Marlena loved each other. Oh well, he thought, he might not be there but he would definitely know what happened. And that was just fine by him. He would never admit it to anyone else, hell he rarely let himself think about it, but there had been something special between John and Marlena; that they (meaning him and Marlena) never shared. It wasn’t anything they did or said it was just something he felt; and by all accounts of their life together they had truly loved one another. It had taken him a long time to get over that fact and sometimes he wasn’t sure if he was really over it but the fact of the matter was Marlena was his wife and they were married. The only reason she had been with John in the first place was because everyone believed he was Roman. Enough thinking about the past! He still had a list of things to do before tonight. Once again he picked up the phone and started dialing.

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Marlena hung up the phone and replayed her conversation with Roman in her head. Was it her imagination or did Roman sound different when she mentioned meeting John at lunch. They would definitely have to be a little more discreet and no matter how much she enjoyed their encounter today at the diner, they couldn’t risk the chance of being caught. She closed her eyes and remembered the way her body always responded to his touch. Just remembering the things he did to her aroused her once again. She never wanted a man as much as she wanted him. Stop it!! You can’t think about that. Get to work. Marlena opened her eyes and began to look over her files. In a few minutes she was totally engrossed in her work.

**************************************************

John opened the door to his office and walked in. It seemed while he was gone the pile of messages had grown. As he sat down he began to go through his list but his mind kept wandering back to Marlena. She was the love of his life. No one ever affected him the way she did; each and every time he saw her he wanted her. His pants began to tighten. Ok John Borne you have way too much work to do so stop thinking about her and get back to work. The sooner you’re done, the sooner you leave and the sooner you get back to her. John began to work like a mad man.

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A few hours later

Before she realized it, Laura knocked on her door and walked in. Marlena looked up in surprise, “Wow, is it that time already?”

Laura sat down, “I don’t know about you but it’s been a long day.”

“To tell you the truth, the time just seemed to fly by this afternoon. I didn’t realize it was so late.”

“Well it is and I’m here so talk to me.”

Marlena put down the file she was working on and looked at Laura. “How much did I tell you?”

Laura sat back in her chair and began. “I know you and John found each other again the night of the blackout and I know he was here yesterday. I also know Roman doesn’t have a clue as to how you two feel about each other and that you’re waiting until what ever case he’s working on to be over before you tell him the truth. I know something else happened yesterday but I don’t know what. That’s what I know.”

“Well you know almost everything.”

“So tell me the rest of it.”

“You know John was here in my office yesterday but what you don’t know is after he left I found his car keys. I knew he would be back for them but what I didn’t know was as John was leaving, Roman was just arriving. They must have just missed one another in the elevator. Anyway, I was standing right where you are facing my desk when I heard the door to my office open. I thought it was John trying to surprise me but it was Roman.”

“Oh my God, you didn’t say anything did you?”

Marlena shook her head, “I did. I thought it was John…I think I asked him what his intentions were. I swear I thought it was John but it was Roman.”

“And…”

“And the second he put his arms around me I knew it was Roman. He gave me some answer, turned me around and kissed me. I was so surprised I didn’t know what to do until…”

“You kissed him back, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t have a choice. If I didn’t he would wonder what was wrong. I just prayed he didn’t see the look of surprise on my face when I turned around.”

“Is that it?”

“No; it gets worse. While I’m kissing Roman, John walks back in to get his keys. Diane stepped away from her desk and he just walked him.”

“John saw you kissing Roman, is that the misunderstanding between you two?”

“If only it was that simple; but it’s more than that. At first it caught him off guard but he guessed what happened. Roman’s beeper went off and he went to use my phone to call the station. He had to leave so I walked him to the elevator.”

“Before you go any further, what reason did John give for stopping by your office unannounced? I mean Roman’s a cop, he’s going to wonder why John’s there.”

“Titan business. Both John and I are on the Board of Directors. Getting back to the story, I walked Roman to the elevator and he kissed me goodbye. And I don’t mean a quick peck on the lips.”

“So what did you do?”

“The only thing I could, I kissed him back. I just closed my eyes and pictured John standing there instead of Roman. Roman left after that and I went back to my office.”

“And to John.”

“He was waiting for me. We uh, talked and I promised him I would stop by his loft later that evening before I went home.”

“Did you?”

“I did, he wanted to know how I would handle Roman.”

“I guess he did, seeing as how he saw the way Roman kissed you. I’m sure he wasn’t happy about that.”

“He wasn’t happy, but he understood. Anyway when I got to the loft he was in the shower. Did I mention he gave me a key to his loft while he was in my office?”

Laura shook her head and said, “No, you didn’t.”

“I guess I forgot to mention that and I probably didn’t mention that he bought the penthouse and he also gave me that key.” She was quiet for a minute, and then she continued, “No one else knows about the penthouse.”

“The one you spent the night in during the black out.”

“That’s the one; he bought it. Like I was saying, John was in the shower and I decided to surprise him.”

Laura was somewhat shocked by her friend’s new found boldness but she said nothing.

“John must have heard a noise because before I could surprise him, he surprised me. I guess he thought someone was trying to rob him because he was waiting for me and he threw me on the bed. Once he realized it was me everything was fine. We uh…” Marlena didn’t finish her sentence.

“Say no more, I get the picture.”

“But before things got too out of hand his door bell rang. I was so afraid it was Roman…that he somehow found out about John and me.”

“Obviously it wasn’t Roman, so who was it?”

“Rebecca Morrison.”

“Rebecca Morrison the DA. What did she want?”

“John, she wants John. It seems she was at the hospital earlier and she rode down the elevator with John. She asked him out but he begged off. She also asked him to be her escort to the Policeman’s Ball.”

“John told you all of this.”

“Yes he did but not right away. He got rid of her as quickly as possible while I waited for him upstairs.”

“Ok, I don’t see where the misunderstanding takes place.”

“He came back upstairs to me but he didn’t tell me right away.”

Laura put two and two together. “You made love before he told you, didn’t you?”

“He waited until I was in the shower getting ready to leave before he mentioned it; like it was no big deal.”

“And you were upset because he made love to you first. I think he could have told you sooner but you know John loves you. You know you’re the only woman he wants, so why did you get so upset?”

“I honestly don’t know. I knew I was blowing everything out of proportion but I couldn’t stop myself. I don’t know why I got so angry. It was like I had no control over my emotions. I don’t like to feel that way.”

“So what happened next?”

“We got into a fight and by the time I left, we both said things we didn’t mean. I don’t know what came over me. I couldn’t stop myself. I know he loves me; I know he doesn’t want Rebecca but I couldn’t help myself.”

“You know Marlena; you’re carrying around a huge secret. It’s not in your nature to lie and keep secrets. It could be your body’s way of dealing with the amount of stress you’re under.”

“Maybe, I don’t know. I do know I haven’t felt like myself for a while.”

Now Laura’s doctor instincts kicked in. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know; I just know I don’t feel like myself sometimes. I think you’re right. I think it’s the stress. I’ll be glad when all of this is finally over.”

“When’s the last time you had a complete physical?”

“I guess about a year ago; why?”

“No reason but just to be on the safe side maybe you ought to take one just to rule out any medical problems.” She had an idea but she wouldn’t say anything just yet. Marlena was under enough stress without worrying about anything else.”

“Maybe I will; when I get time.”

“So get back to the story; what happened next?”

“I left John’s loft and went home where to my surprise Roman had arranged for the kids to spend the night at his parents’ house.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“I wish I was. I walk into my house, my head is killing me and I see the children’s bags are already packed. He thought I would be happy. Needless to say I wasn’t.

“What did you do?”

“I told him the truth; at least part of the truth. It had been a long day, I was tired and my head was killing me. All I wanted was to go to bed.”

“How did he take it?”

“He wasn’t too pleased but he could see I really wasn’t up for a night of romance. He left to drop the kids off and I fell asleep on the couch. When he got back I was still sleeping on the couch. After he woke me, I went into the kitchen to make me cup of tea while he ran my bath water.”

“That was thoughtful of him.”

“It was; I made the tea and went upstairs. He left me alone while I took a bath. I must have fallen back asleep and started dreaming. I guess he heard me or figured I was taking a long time; anyway he came in to check on me and heard me talking in my sleep.”

“Don’t tell me you said John’s name.”

“No, but I was dreaming about him. Roman must have heard me and thought I was dreaming about him.”

“And?”

“And when I felt his hand on my body, I woke up and I guess I screamed at him. He was taken by surprise to say the least.”

“I bet he was.”

“He couldn’t understand what was going on; one minute I was welcoming his overtures towards me and the next minute I was screaming at him.”

“I can understand why he was confused. He had no idea you were mistaking him for John.”

“Exactly; earlier in my office I thought he was John and then again while I was sleeping in the tub, I thought he was John. It wasn’t his fault he was so confused. But he wanted an explanation and I had to give him one.”

“So, what did you tell him?”

“Once again, I gave him part of the truth. We went downstairs to talk and I told him what I thought.”

“Which was?”

“That our marriage had problems; that I wasn’t happy and if he was honest with himself he would admit that we were going through the motions.”

“How did he take that?”

“At first he was angry and then he only heard what he wanted to hear.”

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning that he thinks that all we have to do is spend a little quality time together; that we need to make time for more romance in our marriage.”

“Are you sure you were clear about how you felt?”

“The only way I could have been any more direct is if I told him about John. Roman heard what he wanted to hear. At first he thought I was blaming him for our problems and when he finally realized that I wasn’t saying that, he latched on to this more romance in our marriage idea. By then I was ready to call it a night. All I wanted to do was go to sleep. The only good thing that came out of that talk was he realized we would not be making love any time soon.”

“And is that all of it?”

“Almost.”

“What else could have possibly happened?”

“We went up to bed and just before he dozed off he came up with an idea. I was too tired to argue anymore so I agreed.”

“What was his idea?”

“That tonight we would go out on a date. Just like when we were dating. I didn’t want to do it but he wore me down. Besides, it’s just dinner.”

Laura spoke aloud without realizing it. “So that’s why he called me today.”

“What did you just say? Roman called you today.”

“He did; some time after we came back from lunch. I completely forgot all about it until you mentioned your date with him. He wanted to make sure I got you to the Pub for 6 o’clock this evening. I wonder what he’s up to.”

“He’s probably making sure I don’t come up with an excuse not to go. He knows I really don’t want to do this and he knows how close we are. If you’re on his side, then that’s half the battle.”

“I don’t know. It sounds like it’s more than just a date to me.”

“Well I told him I didn’t want to go anywhere fancy and I didn’t want to stay out too late. This is the first time we’re leaving Carrie in charge and I don’t want to take any chances.”

“Well I hope everything goes the way you think it will. Is that all of it?”

“Just about.”

“What’s left to tell?”

“Here’s the thing. Today at lunch, I apologized to John about my outburst and I was going to tell him about Roman but then he dropped the bombshell about him leaving town and I didn’t want to spend our time together talking about Roman.”

“So in other words, he has no idea what happened between you and Roman last night or that you agreed to go on a date with him tonight.”

Marlena shook her head, “No he doesn’t know any of that. Not the fight with Roman or the date tonight. I should have told him but I didn’t.”

“I can understand why you didn’t say anything about this today at the diner. It wasn’t exactly the right place and he did catch you off guard with his business trip.” So far she could see why Marlena didn’t tell John about Roman.

Now she had to finish the story and she knew what Laura would say. “But I could have told him when I met him at the penthouse.”

Laura looked at her in surprise. “You saw him again after lunch.”

“I called to thank him for my beautiful picture and I agreed to meet him at the penthouse.”

“And you didn’t tell him; you didn’t say a word.”

“There never seemed to be the right moment. I was about to tell him when he apologized again for the misunderstanding and that he wanted us to be completely honest with one another.”

“Well that was the perfect time to tell him. Why didn’t you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Now you’re not only lying to yourself but you’re lying to me. Why didn’t you say anything?”

Marlena knew Laura was right. She wasn’t being honest with either one of them. Ok here goes, “Because every time I’m near him I can’t see straight, I can’t think; all I want to do is make love.”

You couldn’t get more honest than that and frankly Laura didn’t know what to say so she said nothing.

Marlena surprised herself with that bit of an outburst. She loved John and she wanted him. “Is that honest enough for you?”

“I’d have to say, yes it is.” After a few minutes she continued, “Do you think John will understand?”

“It’s only dinner, and a quick one at that. I’m going to tell him everything when he gets back. No more secrets.” She looked at her watch, it was time to leave.

“I hope you’re right.” Laura stood up to leave with her. “He’ll probably understand why you didn’t tell him at the diner; but he might not understand why you didn’t say anything to him at the penthouse, especially after he said he wanted nothing but honesty between you.”

“He was there; he’ll understand.” She remembered them making love on the table and the couch.

Laura said nothing. She hoped her friend was right, but somehow she thought this evening wasn’t what Marlena expected. She hoped she was wrong but she got the feeling this was way more than a dinner date.