The Scarlet Letter
A/N: Thanks for the reviews, y'all. I have to warn you that the updates for this story may not come as fast as some of my other stories because I'm really focused on making sure that I do justice to the extremely sensitive situations I'm exploring here. I'm really enjoying this story, so I hope you guys continue to love it, too. Enjoy!
She looked like an angel, sleeping peacefully on the bed they had picked out together more than a month ago. The moment she laid eyes on the four-poster, platform design in the furniture showroom, he could hear the breath hitch in her throat. She had gripped his hand tightly, and when he turned to her, she let out a little squeal. He had ordered it on the spot.
Now her flaming hair splayed across the sateen sheets, her soft snoring like a contented, purring kitten. The only sign of the woman he had carried from the bathroom a few hours earlier were the red splotches and bags under her eyes, results of more crying than he had ever seen from anyone, even his children.
As he watched her from the couch across the room, Dave rested his elbows on his knees and ran his hands over his scruffy face. He was well-aware that the stress of his personal life and the chaos of his professional life were starting to take a toll on his body. The insomnia that he had developed was affecting his appearance and his performance, but he knew that it wouldn't dissipate anytime soon.
The rustle of the sheets drew Dave's attention and he couldn't help but smile when Meredith shifted from her back onto her side and snuggled further beneath the mocha bedspread. In moments like that, he found it hard to believe that what they were doing was wrong. How could anything she did be wrong?
Standing, he ran his hands over his jeans and moved into the small kitchen of the apartment he had secured for her. He wondered, not for the first time, if their relationship would ever get easier. Though they no longer had to deal with the sneaking around, the secrets and lies, the road to happily-ever-after was still set to be long and tedious.
But even with the obstacles, he couldn't shake the feeling that had filled his chest when she had looked at him the first time.
It was June, and he was itching to get back into the groove of a full-time travel schedule. Sitting at home, watching his brand go down the toilet in his absence, was driving him crazy. While he loved his wife, listening to her endless yammering for six months was more than he could take. He was starting to realize that they were just one of those couples that could only last if they were apart more than they were together.
On top of the other irritations, a summer cold was beginning to settle into his sinuses. While it sounded pussy, colds were worse than the flu, in his opinion. Working out had always been his escape when he was frustrated with his wife, his kids, or his job. He'd always worked around the hurdle of his asthma, but coupled with a cold, breathing was nearly impossible. The headache that had plagued him perpetually for the last four days was only adding to the frustration as each press of the weights took him closer to passing out.
After being pushed one too many times by an argument over throw pillows, he stormed out without explanation, intent on finding medicine to solve at least one of his problems. He took the long way, however, driving around Tampa, Florida for more than two hours.
Feeling more relaxed, Dave entered the drug store and found the sinus pills with little trouble. He cast a glance around, and in a moment of weakness, called home to see if there was anything she needed. When she told him that there was only one condom left in the drawer, he almost laughed at her. As far as he was concerned, they wouldn't be going through that one any time soon, let alone need anymore.
Instead, he hung up the phone and wandered to the aisle he knew better than any other. He was vaguely aware of the people beside him as he looked over the selection, but made no attempt to turn his head.
The sounds of a driving metal song pierced the air, followed by a grunt. "Emma, hold Grandpa's stiffy pills, baby." Dave tried to stifle the grin as the voice sounded again. "Hey, sexy man. Are you home?. . . Yay. . . How was the flight. . . Runnin' errands with Emma. . . Yeah, Jaden dropped her off this morning. . . I don't know, Daniel, I didn't really ask a lot of questions. . . Sure." She turned to the small girl at her side. "Here, Sweetie. Grandpa wants to say 'hi'."
The little girl with the blonde pigtails threw the bottle in her hand to the ground and took the phone in both hands. "Hi, Grandpa!"
Dave felt the plastic pill bottle roll into the side of his foot and bent to pick it up, nearly colliding with the young woman already kneeling at his feet. She turned her face and muttered an "I'm sorry."
He was going to assure her that it was fine, assure her that he was actually finding the whole situation quite amusing, but one look in her green eyes stopped him dead in his tracks. He had seen thousands of beautiful women in his life, and there was nothing to distinguish her from any of them.
Sure, there was her brilliantly red hair and her piercing green eyes, but he'd seen that before. Even the tiny denim skirt paired with a torn tank top and flip flops wasn't an all-together original look. Yet, something about this one was different. Something in her eyes was screaming at him.
The words "she's the one" rattled in his head, but he laughed it off as she stood. The tiny voice behind her said, "Me and Meredith are getting your stiffy pills."
With a groan and an embarrassed smile, Meredith shot him one last apologetic glance and turned around to snatch the phone from the little girl. "Oh, thank you, Emma." She held the phone to her ear and rolled her eyes, well aware that the stranger at her side was now shooting furtive glances out of the corner of his eye in her direction. "Oh, relax, Daniel. . . she doesn't even know what it means!. . . I've gotta go pay for this shit, so I'll just see you at home. . . what? . . . I'm sorry I said shit," she flipped the phone shut and grabbed the little girl's hand again.
Why he couldn't get her out of his head, Dave didn't know. But by the time she walked into a bar in Milwaukee, Wisconson three weeks later, he recognized her immediately.
He told the bartender to put whatever she ordered on his tab, and then graciously smiled when she raised her glass to thank him. He walked past the bar with a few of his teammates and felt a jolt of electricity when she reached out and laid a hand on his arm. "Leaving so soon?" she asked.
He recognized in that instant that she was already drunk, but he couldn't just walk away when she was inviting him to join her. Instead, he sat and let her return his previous favor by buying the next three rounds.
They talked about their jobs, and their favorite music. Conversation ranged from politics to movies, and somehow found it's way to spouses. Knowing that they were both a little too intoxicated didn't stop them from venting some frustrations over the ones they had vowed to love for better or worse. And even as they crossed the line, he couldn't tell himself to stop, not with her nearly spilling out of her corset and rubbing his thigh.
"It's not like he's that old, ya know? He's only 50. Maybe it's me," Meredith sighed after explaining Daniel's recent performance issues.
Dave chuckled and shook his head, making no attempt to hide the way his eyes dragged over her figure. "Oh, it's not you," he assured her.
She flipped her hair over her shoulder and sat her glass on the bar. "That's what he says, too, but it kinda makes me wonder, ya know? I mean, if this is already happening, what's it gonna be like when he's 60? I'm just hitting my sexual prime. I like going for more than ten minutes. I'm ready to try new things, and he's just," she stopped and searched for the right word, "not."
The way she worked her fishnet-clad foot up his ankle was about to drive him crazy. That's when he realized that she hadn't told him that particular piece of information by accident. She was sexually frustrated, and he couldn't say that he was much better off. Even though he'd spent months at home, he had stopped sleeping in the same bed with his wife, let alone making love to her, more than a month ago.
"So what are you gonna do about it?" Dave asked, flashing her a smile that he knew his fans described as 'panty-dropping.'
Meredith shrugged and handed the bartender her credit card. "I knew he was going to lose his drive before I did when I married him. It's a calculated risk, I guess," she sighed, draining the last of her drink. "On the plus side, he's bought me all kinds of new toys lately. They're just plastic, but it's whatever." Raising an eyebrow, she grasped her purse and prepared to make her leave for the evening as the bartender returned her card.
He knew it was inappropriate, but the alcohol kept him from caring. As he watched her signing the bill, he withdrew his own wallet and flipped it open. Double-checking his information, he waited until she finished and then took her pen, scribbling his phone and room number onto one of the colored napkins.
Standing, he tucked his wallet back into his pocket and folded the napkin, offering her a hand to help her off of the stool. She thanked him and looked at the paper he had just given her, smiling seductively when she realized what he was offering. Her eyes glinted with a touch of "it's a nice offer, but you know I can't," though she didn't say it.
Shrugging, Dave leaned over and dropped a kiss on her cheek. "In case you get tired of the plastic," he winked as he pulled away and left her there.
If she chose to, he would relieve her tension for one night. She could return the favor. They never had to speak of it again. Even though they lived in the same area of Tampa, he knew the chances that they would see each other again were slim. Though he probably should have felt guilty for even propositioning another woman, he didn't.
"Dave?"
Her voice was groggy and vulnerable, sounding miles away though she was on the other side of the wall. When he rounded the corner, two cups of steaming coffee in his hands, she was shovelling her hair out of her face and looking around in slight confusion.
"Hey there, kasint'ahan," he greeted warmly. In his mother's native Filipino tongue, it meant "sweet heart." His father had learned it when the pair began dating, as a term of endearment, and Dave vividly remembered hearing him greet his wife with the phrase each morning when he was a small child.
Meredith had fallen in love with the phrase from the moment he told her the story of his parents, and tears had formed in her eyes the first time he had used the term with her. "Thank you," she whispered, taking the mug from him and sipping at it. "Whoah," she blinked her eyes in response and looked up at him with narrowed eyes. "Are you tryin' to get me drunk?"
Dave shrugged slightly and lowered himself to the bed beside Meredith, reaching out to run his finger over the denim on her thigh. "Thought it might help you relax," he admitted. "You want mine? It's virgin," he offered the trade.
Meredith shook her head and drank from her own cup again. "I'll take any comfort I can get right now," she responded, setting the mug on the bedside table and resting her head on his shoulder. "Can you say the other thing I like?"
Laying his cheek on the top of her head, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply the scent of her shampoo. "Walang ligaya sa lupa na hindi dinilig ng luha."
"There is no earthly bliss not watered by tears," she repeated the closest English translation, just as he had explained it to her. "I love when you speak Filipino," she said, running her fingers over his bracelets as she always did when she was thinking too much.
Dave gave a half-chuckle and wound his arm around her waist, caressing her hip with his thumb. "Too bad I don't know very much," he sighed, staring at the eggplant color of her walls, too lost in his own thoughts to ask about hers. "You're turn," he said finally.
"Blech," she scrunched up her nose and stuck out her tongue at his request. "Gaelic is so gutteral, Dave. It's not sexy," she protested, just as she always did when he asked her to share some of her family's native Irish tongue.
"Oh, right," he laughed. "Because 'dinilig ng luha' sounds so smooth."
She turned in his arms and stared into his eyes, placing her palm on his cheek. "Everything sounds sexy when you say it."
When they made the decision to follow their hearts and be together, they had also agreed to forego any physical intimacies until they had left their respective spouses. That had been almost six weeks ago. Though he knew they should probably be brainstorming acts of eternal penance for their sins, all he wanted at the moment was to taste her again.
As his lips met hers for a kiss as explosive as their first had been so many months ago, Meredith slid her hand from his cheek to the back of his neck, feeling his tiny goosebumps and the soft hairs standing to greet her touch. She ran her tongue slowly over his top lip, revelling in the taste of his tooth paste mixed with the strong coffee he had been drinking.
Dave tightened his arm around her waist, pulling her chest flush against his as he sucked on her bottom lip. Though there was a hint of the Bailey's that he had added to her drink, he found himself delving deeper into the taste that was uniquely Meredith.
Meredith pulled back to catch her breath, her eyes closed as she whispered, "Beidh lá eile ag an bPaorach."
Dave smiled and pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, running his thumb along her jaw line. "What's it mean?" he asked, his voice dangerously low as his lips still brushed against hers.
Finally, Meredith opened her eyes and returned the smile, her first in nearly a week. "We'll live to fight another day." But it's sure as hell not gonna be easy.
