According to him, Lola had no idea about our getaway. He had told her he was going golfing with some buddies. Lola also hadn’t told Corey who I really was, but she had mentioned that she was heartbroken over finding out some horrible things about me.
She was trying to make me seem like the bad guy while she played the victim. Fortunately, Corey hadn’t fallen for it, nor did he care what I’d done to Lola that broke her heart. He was glad that we were no longer friends. It meant he could have an affair without more guilt than necessary, and that it would stay out of the house.
My time spent with Corey was great, though. What, Marriott? Don’t think of me like that, okay? I’m not weak. This wasn’t just for his benefit.
Anyway, he’d had his boat taken down to Destin, and we spent many special moments on it, having sex in every place we could, sipping mimosas in the morning and guzzling hard liquor at night. His favorite was scotch on the rocks with a lemon peel. I made it for him every night, and he thanked me and gave me a deep kiss.
I could overlook the way he had choked me the night of the gala and the pretending-to-be-Lola shit. After all, no one is perfect. Corey was still ten times the man Xavier was. Plus, I could tell he really wanted more with me, that he wanted to take our relationship to the next level.
“I think I’m going to take my chances and divorce Lola,” Corey said one night. We were at our hotel, seated on the oceanfront balcony. It was our third night there.
The moon was the only thing in the midnight sky, with just a smattering of stars. No clouds were in sight. He was sitting in one of the cushioned chair and I was on his lap, stroking the stubble on his chin. I loved when he let his beard grow. Lola loved his face bare. The moon shone down on us like a beacon, as if revealing to the whole world that we were together and having an illicit affair.
“Really?” I asked him.
“Yes. I think we’ve run our course. She’d be better off single.”
“But if you leave her, what does that mean for us?”
“What do you mean? We’ll still be together. I want you.”
I beamed. “I want you too.”
“So, it’s settled then. I’ve looked into a divorce lawyer already. I’ll do what needs to be done, and then it’ll just be you and me.”
I giggled like a schoolgirl and then we made love on the balcony. I wish I could say things were great after that, Marriot, but they weren’t.
Our trip was over two days later, and we went our separate ways—me back to my run-down studio apartment in Liberty City and Corey back to Lola. I hated the idea of him being around her, kissing her, pretending to love her. He loved me now, and I’d worked hard for that love. Lola didn’t deserve his affection or his attention. He was a good man and she didn’t appreciate it.
To my utter surprise, though, Lola sent me a text the Sunday after our trip. Apparently, she wanted to have dinner at seven and make up for what she’d said to me.
I found that bizarre, but then again, it was just like Lola to try to mend things with me so she wouldn’t feel guilty for covering up what she’d done. She was lucky I hadn’t run off with the information I had to The Breakfast Club on the radio, or to Good Morning America. But that wouldn’t have done me any good.
Corey wouldn’t have forgiven me for it, even if he didn’t know the truth about his wife or me. He would have hated finding out about me that way anyway. There was no point in telling him about it. Lola did what she did, and she’d confessed to it. Now I had Corey and he was going to divorce her to be with me. That was all I needed.
I figured why not go and meet her? She’d offered money before, and though Corey would have enough for both of us, I knew once he was done with the divorce, it would suck him dry, emotionally and financially.
I would ask her for money now—as much as I wanted. She’d pretty much given me a blank check after dumping her wine in my face. It was time to put that to use, but if that wasn’t what she was offering, I’d need a new plan. I needed some way to shut Lola down to soften the blow for Corey after the divorce. My man wasn’t about to suffer because of her too.
I dressed well but kept it subtle—a short, floral sundress and sandals. I brushed half of my hair up into a ponytail and then grabbed my keys, heading to Biscayne Bay.