Dangerous Affairs

Maya

I sat there listening to the phone ring and ring until I got voicemail. The message came on “Hi you’ve reached Annalise, leave a message and I’ll return you call”. Ugh why wasn’t she answering? This is the third time I’ve tried this morning. It’s 9 am and I know she has to be up because I’m sure the baby was up by 6am. I waited for the beep. “Annalise, it’s Maya, you know your sister? The one you were supposed to meet for breakfast this morning? My wedding is in 4 months and we still have a lot to go over! Call me ASAP!” and I hung up.  

   The waiter came back and asked if I was ready to order. Well I am hungry, guess I’ll just start without her. I told him order and handed over my menu. As I did, I caught a glimpse of my ring. How could I not? This sucker is huge! And why wouldn’t it be? Curtis is loaded and has no problem proving so. It’s a beautiful ring, just not one I would have picked out myself. I would have gone with something a little more subtle, but as flashy. But I’m sure the sales person smelt money on Curtis the moment he walked in and directed him to the case with the most expensive rings. I don’t even want to know what it cost. It has and 18 carat pear-shaped diamond in the center, with diamonds wrapped around it and down both sides on the band. He spoils me and it’s nice. I’ve never had a man be this nice and loving towards me. I can’t say for sure if I’m in love with him or in love with how he treats me.  

      The sound of my phone ringing snaps me back. “Hello?” I answer, sounding as if I don’t know who it is calling. “I’m a block away. I’m so sorry, it was a late night and for once Ethan allowed me to sleep in!” Annalise sounded almost giddy on the phone. Extremely rare these days. “Alright” I said and ended the call. My food arrived right as Annalise walked in. “You ordered with me” she said with a pouty face as she sat down. “Well, I didn’t know if you were coming or not” I answered. She motioned for the waiter and ordered her food. She has this enormous smile on her face and even though I was a little mad at her, I couldn’t help but smile back. “What’s with you? You can’t stop smiling. I haven’t seen you like this in forever.” I said to her in between bites of my food. “Ethan and I had a surprisingly good time last night.” she responded. “Oh really? Ivy isn’t going to school yet so what brought this on?” I have genuine curiosity in this as she has complained non stop for the last 4 years about Ethan and how unhappy she is. I keep telling her to leave and she says she will, but I doubt it’ll happen. She rolled her eyes at me and laughed. “I don’t know. This was different. Cameron’s friend Josh drove me home and it made Ethan super jealous. And it ignited a sort of passion in him.” 

     I don’t buy it. After how many years of him cheating, then apologizing, then cheating, then taking her into another baby so she can’t work and can’t leave. Not his MO in my opinion to be spontaneously passionate. I wanted to word what I had to say delicately, so I thought for a moment while she did something on her phone. “Just promise me you won’t invest completely in this as a turning point for him”. She looked at me, looking surprised. “I never said it was a turning point. It was one night and morning I guess. But I’m not going assume everything is different now” she responded confidently, but I’m not sure she actually believed that. She tends to always think the best in people and ignore the worst.  

     As soon as she got her food, we got in to detail about the wedding. She’s my maid of honor and knows everything about planning everything so I wasn’t surprised when she pulled out a full notebook of notes, pictures, business cards and so much more. The only thing I’ve done this far is book the venue. I wanted a small wedding, but in true Curtis fashion he wanted to go all out. After all he was a actor/producer. Not to mention he was going to be interviewed and followed around by someone from People magazine. Which is where we have to go next, to meet this guy. As soon as everyone got word that Curtis was engaged, they wanted all the details me, us, our relationship, which we had managed to keep under wraps until then. He was labeled as a habitual bachelor, and because he was nearing his forties, it had seemed he would stay that way. The fact that he’s never been married or even seen with a woman, there were questions of him being gay. So when the news broke of me and the engagement, people were instantly asking questions.  

     “Are you coming with us to meet this guy from People?” I asked as we finished up planning and eating. “What is it all about?” she asked. “Well, it’s an official interview, then I guess he will be doing some follow ups as the wedding planning progresses and coming to the wedding.” I answered shrugging my shoulders. “I’m only going to ask this one more time because I love you and I want what’s best for you” Annalise started before we got up. “Are you sure this is what you want? He’s so much older then you and doesn’t want a family. I know how much you want children and you’re so good with mine, I know you’d be a great mom.” She looked at me with sadness in her eyes. “Yes. I love him. And he’s good to me. I don’t need kids of my own, I can spoil yours…and I will have the means to do so” I joked. She rolled her eyes at me. I know she’s being the over protective big sister, but I didn’t get the same opportunities she did. When it was time for me to go to college there was no money, since mom lost her job and I was the baby. I went to cosmetology school, which was fine. I loved doing hair and makeup, and got lucky enough to land a job doing it for actors and actresses. Hence how I met Curtis. “Let’s go. Curtis said the guy just got to our apartment.” I said, thankful for the text he sent.