Another short chapter, but this will have a second part I'll hopefully post tomorrow.

Chapter 2 - Before He Cheats

My alarm clock woke me up on Tuesday at nine in the morning. First off, I really hate whoever invented the early morning. Why can't be just be civilized and wake up around noon? Nevertheless, I got up and did my shower-thing with minimal grouching. Ok, so minimal was a lot. Sue me.

And then I was faced with a dilemma. Standing the steamy bathroom, I stared at my reflection in the fogged up mirror. Just about anyone would know who I was right off the bat, simply because of my hair. I grimaced as I realized I would have to use the wig Mary Lou had given me at my divorce party years ago, when we went clubbing to celebrate my separation from the dick. It was called Obsession, and fell in straight, burgundy colored locks to the small of my back. The bangs ended just below my eyebrows, easily hiding them so I didn't have to concentrate on changing their color somehow.

And then came the fucked up dress code Connie had demanded. It would make Ranger proud, if it didn't set him off in raucous bouts of laughter first, or scare him off completely. Because I owned nothing that would fit the image Connie had demanded and, quite frankly, neither did Mary Lou, we'd gone shopping about a week ago, and the boxes had only arrived yesterday.

See, part of the revenge I'd planned was to not let Morelli know I knew of his cheating ways until we made him pay. So I'd been acting normally, much as I wanted to vomit in his mouth every time he kissed me.

Now, though, now we were going to start the subtle first phase of revenge. And since in the public eye, I was on terrible terms with Joyce Barnhart, Terry Gilman, and Jeanne Ellen Burrows, it would turn a lot of heads seeing us gossiping over pizza at Pinos.

Thus the disguises.

I dreaded what was in those boxes. I really did. But I needed them. And so I took a deep breath, yanked the door open and winced as it banged against the tub, and crossed over to my bed where they lay.

And when I opened the first one, I stared down at the black corset and black triple-super skinny jeans underneath for a full ten minutes. The second wasn't actually a box, just a bag from Hot Topic. It held black fingerless fishnet gloves that went up to my elbows, and three different belts. I guess they wanted me to have variety, I thought with a roll of my eyes.

Then I saw what was printed on each of them. The first didn't actually have anything printed on it, it just looked like it had white bullets held in place by the snaps in between each one. The second was black leather, with a loop where a pair of handcuffs were attached; the handcuffs acted as the fastener. The third was my favorite, though. It looked like a seatbelt, with a batman symbol shaped flag before the words, "For President." I chuckled, and moved on to the third box.

My favorite - shoes.

I admit. I've never seen shoes like these. The box read Mica01, and on the sole of the shoe was the words "Wild Roses." They were black, with at least a five inch heel, but there was also a two inch platform, which made them a lot more comfortable. I was in love with them, I realized with a chuckle.

And turned to the final box, eyeing it warily. I already had an outfit. Granted, there wasn't any jewelry, but the gloves and belt sorta made up for that. So what could be in this box?

It turns out: a lot.

First I found a smaller box which, upon further inspection, revealed itself to be colored contacts. Green colored contacts, to be exact. Next I found a whip. An honest to goodness, four foot long single-tailed bullwhip. I grinned. My grandfather - Grandma Mazur's husband - taught me how to crack a whip when I was about ten years old, as well as cleaning the whip, and - to my mother's chagrin - how to sterilize whips that had drawn blood.

Finally, I found delicate chain necklace with a key hanging from it. It was beautiful, and I smiled as I got dressed.

)O(

"Connie. Your older cousin Enzo, he still work at the hospital?"

"Yeah, Jeanne Ellen. Why?"

Beside me, Lula mumbled she's like to know why Jeanne Ellen was even there. I elbowed her, but of course, she heard.

"Because I just got an idea that can jumpstart this little plot we've hatched. And Lula? I'm here because I was born in the 'Burg, and much as I'm glad I joined the Marines and got out early, before Steph went psycho jealous for Raaaaaanger, we were actually very good friends. Same as with her and Joyce, they decided they would be very negative toward each other in public, to provide a good ally if they ever needed one. And Terry, she -"

"Thought it would be fun to stun-gun that lying sack of horse-shit in his dick until it shrivels." Terry interrupted sagely. Lula glanced around the table we'd grabbed at Shorty's - Ranger's table - and then shook her head.

"Y'all 'Burg chicks be fucked up in the head." We all chuckled, until I noticed the door opening. And the man-in-black himself walked in, followed by Tank, Lester, Bobby, Hal, Cal and Hector. "She-yat." Lula breathed.

Steph's new clothes will be posted on my profile. You should check them out; I mean, I waded through fifty-plus pictures of naked chicks to find the picture for that corset. You should honor my sacrifice by at least commenting!