Releasing me, he asked, “Why have you been avoiding me?”
“To prevent something exactly like this from happening. I meant what I told you that Saturday afternoon. We can’t be committing adultery.”
“We belong together.”
“You belong to my sister.”
“I can’t continue to perpetuate the mistake I made.”
I sank into my chair as Wayne took my hand in his. There were tears in his eyes. I felt my own heart respond.
“The truth is that I married your sister simply because I made her pregnant. And after having said that, the ironic thing is, though I love Ty, I now doubt that he’s even my child.”
I couldn’t believe what Wayne was telling me, and I was too speechless to interrupt.
“Raven was a party girl and a great deal of fun to hang around with, but I never loved her. When she introduced me to you, I knew you were the one woman I’d always wanted—the one I’d been destined for. The night I was going to break off with her and ask you to dinner, she told me she was pregnant. I thought I was the only guy she was sleeping with, but I found out differently later from another guy she’d been with.”
Tears began to slip from my eyes. Wayne kissed them away. “I’ve been in love with you for so long, Rochelle. I often tried to imagine how it would be to make love to you. When it finally happened, it was every bit as wonderful as I’d dreamed it would be and more. Staying away from you is almost like taking away the very air I breathe. Especially now that I know you feel the same way about me.”
“Wayne, I’m not my sister. I know right from wrong. As long as you’re married to Raven, I must stay out of your bed.”
“Is this what you want?”
“It’s the way it must be.”
My heart was breaking in two as I watched Wayne take Ty home. Despite my honorable intentions, I heard a tiny voice inside my head calling me a fool. That night I cried myself to sleep.
* * *
A few days later, I bumped into Michelle, a sweet maternity nurse I’d gone to school with. She looked terrific. I guess being a newlywed can do that to you. After we talked for a few moments about this and that, she asked me a strange question.
“Did your sister divorce that cute husband of hers already?”
“No. Why do you ask?”
“Because the other night I saw Raven in Devine’s drinking with a guy who definitely didn’t look like the person you introduced me to in the supermarket. Not unless he’s been pumping iron and shaved his head.”
“She works at night now. Perhaps it was an innocent drink between her and her supervisor, or maybe even a new client.”
“I’d love to have a supervisory relationship like that,” Michelle replied, smirking.
“Why? What was she doing?”
“She was practically giving this guy a lap dance. And his hands were nowhere in sight.”
What could I say to Michelle? Unfortunately the more she continued, the more uncomfortable I felt. Raven had lied when she told Wayne she was working that night. I gritted my teeth and thought, she was working all right—working hard at cheating. And what about the other nights?
“Look, I have to run,” I said. “It was nice bumping into you, Michelle.” And then I fled down the hall.
How long had my darling sister been cheating on Wayne? Had she ever stopped her partying ways at all? I had to admit, when it came to Raven, anything was possible. Not that her terrible behavior excused what had happened between Wayne and me. That was still wrong, no matter how you looked at it, but it certainly did make our crime less somehow. It also explained why she hadn’t needed to sleep with Wayne. She was taking her business elsewhere. Again, I wondered, what the hell was wrong with my sister?
I was angry—no, furious with Raven. She was hurting the one man I cared deeply for and couldn’t have. Wayne was a good person and didn’t deserve such betrayal. I wanted to run to him and tell him about her infidelity straight away. My head, however, told my heart it would be wrong and nixed the idea. Why hurt him even more with such awful news? No. I couldn’t do that. Wayne would have to find out about Raven for himself. I only hoped it was sooner, rather than later. In her own selfish way, Raven was playing havoc with all of our lives. That in itself was so terribly wrong.
The next evening, Raven walked into my apartment as cool as ever. I found it difficult to keep my tongue.
“Rochelle?”
“In the bedroom!” I called. I was folding laundry. And at that moment, the last person I wanted to see was my sister.
“I need to borrow a blouse to wear with this skirt,” she said as she entered the room. “I spilled wine on mine.”
As I pulled a blouse out of my closet, I wanted to ask if it really was wine. With only a little stretch of the imagination, I visualized how she might have soiled her blouse. I tried to remain quiet, but heard myself ask, “Need it for work tonight?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.”
That’s when I lost it and blasted her with both barrels.
“Come off it, Raven! What kind of job has you out at all hours of the night in clubs entertaining men?”
“What are you talking about?” she asked through narrowed eyes.
“Were you working the other night when a nurse from the hospital saw you at Devine’s?”
“Of course.”
“Doing what? Giving lap dances?”
“Rochelle, I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
“Maybe.
