Dead to Her(47)
“Why don’t we grab a cocktail at Sacchi’s before home?” Jason asked.
Marcie flipped down the visor to check the mirror. “I look awful,” she said. It wasn’t true. She was wind-swept and decidedly dressed down, but awful? No. If anything she looked fresh and young.
“You look beautiful,” Jason said. She looked at herself again. There was something about her today. Is this what a woman’s touch could give you? This glow? Maybe it was the heat of having a delicious secret. A slight revenge on her husband for his middle-of-the-night lies and outrageous flirting.
The occasional buzzes from her purse had unsettled her though, and as soon as they handed the car to the valet, she excused herself to the restrooms and checked her texts. All from Keisha. While there was nothing particularly incriminating about them, which was a relief, there was definitely a sense of neediness in her bitching about William’s retirement. I won’t be able to breathe. How am I going to get time for doing my own thing? How will I be able to hang out with you so much?;-) The smiley face emoji was loaded with subtext and it made Marcie cringe slightly. Yes, there was that draw that Keisha had, the magic pull on her she found so hard to resist, but she was also a childlike liability. She read farther down the messages. Please tell me you guys haven’t been in bed all day! That was followed by a puking emoji. Answer my texts and save me from boredom! Up for some party planning stuff next week? I need you!!!
It was like having a bouncing puppy pawing at her legs, and now that she had Jason home and in such high spirits, even with her suspicions about his recent behavior, she wasn’t ready to wreck it all by having Keisha causing trouble. Out of Keisha’s orbit, Marcie’s sanity was returning. She had been longing for her freedom and youth, that was true, but she wasn’t going to lose everything she’d worked for because of some crazy infatuation, and definitely not because the person she was infatuated with couldn’t keep her mouth shut. Especially now that everything was going so well for Jason. When they were about to join the true elite. The women of the city would be turning to her for their lead on charity events and luncheons. No one would look down on the second wife anymore. Not when her husband had access to all their private financial and legal affairs.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard. Having a day out with Jason! Sorry! she replied. But yes, will text tomorrow about party planning. See you in the week! Not unfriendly, but not intimate. She tucked her phone away again, satisfied. She would take control of this. Control was something she was good at.
She swept through Sacchi’s, nodding at familiar faces here and there, enjoying how casual her beaten-soft white jeans and blue and white cotton shirt looked compared to the carefully coutured outfits on display in the old-fashioned leather wingback chairs that filled the gloomy interior. Sacchi’s was a home away from home for most of the club crowd, somewhere central and yet familiar in decor and ambience, servers dressed impeccably as they delivered perfectly mixed cocktails before whispering away across thick pile carpet.
When in the cool, softly lit bar, it was hard to remember that it was eighty degrees and humid outside, but thankfully the courtyard in back was a more relaxed affair and Marcie was pleased they’d gotten a table outside. She was enjoying the freedom of the sunshine today, and she didn’t care if it meant her back would be slick with sweat under her shirt before too long.
She froze as she stepped outside into the bright light, a stage set before her, as her brain tried to process what she was seeing. Jason had his back to her at the table, but even from several feet away she could see how stiff his spine was. Marcie’s own was suddenly a bolt of lead through her core, even as her hands trembled. A dark-haired woman was standing beside the table, leaning forward. All the catlike angles of her face seemed sharper in the bright sunshine, her expression hard as she whispered into Jason’s ear.
Jacquie.
Marcie no longer felt the heavy afternoon heat. Instead, a chill prickled over her skin as if she were still inside the fiercely air-conditioned bar. Keisha had been right. Jacquie was back. Those feline eyes looked up, as if their owner shared that animal’s nine lives and sense of danger, and they glittered as the face pulled into an angular smile and Jacquie straightened up and waved.
Marcie forced herself to smile back, sauntering over to the table on unsteady legs, determined not to put on a show for any beady eyes that might be watching for entertainment. Jacquie was elegant in a powder-blue fitted dress, hips impossibly narrow to still have a waist, slim feet in elegant open-toed sandals, and Marcie felt like a waitress all over again, dressed down as she was. Jacquie had never failed to make her feel like a child. And a dumb one at that. It was something in her eyes and it was stronger now that the heartbreak had left them. Pure disdain with a veneer of polite grace. Jacquie might be all smiles now, but Marcie could see that Jason was pale and angry. What was going on here?
“You’re looking well, Marcie,” Jacquie said. “Those extra pounds suit you.”
Marcie grinned, ignoring the insult. “Bless your heart, thank you. We’ve had a day date at the beach.” She hated how she sounded. Kind of passive-aggressive defensive. A day date? Who ever said that? And why did it matter to her that Jacquie should think everything was rosy in their marriage? Jacquie was history. But what had she been saying to Jason with such intensity? Had Jason known she’d be here? Unlikely. Sacchi’s had always been a favorite of Jacquie’s. If she was back in town, of course she’d drink here.