“Yeah. I watched it all. I watched as he pushed his pants down. I watched him slide her dress up. I watched him pound against her against the door. I watched him carry her to the sofa,” tears slid down Juniper’s cheeks as she recounted what she saw, “and I watched him do her there. In our home, Lois. So no, I didn’t misunderstand.”
“I’m sorry, Juniper. He didn’t tell me all these things. He said he was feeling pressure from all the medical stuff related to the baby that he got into a flirtation with a woman he’d met at a coffee shop.”
“Ile lied. It’s what he does and I’m only finding out the depth of his lies, but he does it all the time. He lied about the reasons he needed to work from home. He was setting up his love nest. He lied about the smell of her perfume which stuck to his clothes and told me it was bathroom spray from the office,” she angrily wiped her tears with the back of her hands as she rubbed her chin on the kitten’s head. “It’s not even the worst of it, Lois.”
“What else did he do?” The woman almost seemed scared to ask.
“The day I caught him I suffered my third miscarriage. While I was bleeding in my doctor’s office, he was balls deep on my bed, fucking her into oblivion. While my heart was breaking again, he was having sex with his mistress. While my friends were bundling me up to take me from the clinic where the doctor told me she couldn’t explain why this kept happening and I bled through my pants, he was washing the sheets of our bed to try to hide the fact he came all over them.”
“I didn’t know.” Lois choked on a sob. “I’m so sorry. He told me he flirted, and you caught him flirting and you were angry because you were trying to make a family, and he was flirting. He didn’t tell me you lost another baby. Oh Juniper. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry.”
“I appreciate you are sorry, but your behavior has not been helpful. I told you through my mother I needed space, and you hounded me constantly.”
“Because he lied, Juniper!” Lois huffed as the sound of her blowing her nose echoed in the room. “That little shit told me you caught him flirting. I thought you were overreacting. He. said you didn’t speak to him all weekend for missing your doctor appointment.”
“I didn’t talk to him all weekend because he missed a medic appointment to discuss our fertility issues and I found out I was pregnant, and the doctor didn’t think it was viable, and I faced it alone. She told me to rest for the weekend with my feet up, but she expected I would be in the same situation I’d been but told me not to stress because there was no guarantee. Do you know where he was when he missed the appointment?”
“His boss called him in.”
“My evidence includes a timestamped photo of him having coffee with Denise. His mistress. While I was being told I was pregnant but not to get my hopes up too much, he was playing footsies under the table with his girlfriend. I think I had every right to give him the silent treatment over the weekend.”
“Juniper I’m so sorry. He’s not told me any of this.”
“Because you feed into his bullshit Lois. You always feed into his bullshit. I’m fucking sick of you painting him as this superior individual when he’s nothing more than a scheming prick.” everything I didn’t. If we brought in a baby, then it means less spending-money for him. I think his affair with Denise exposed him to a lifestyle he wanted. I think the other women I suspect he cheated on me with were more in line with our income, but this level of Denise’s wealth was extraordinary.”
“She blew through money like it was air,” Sandra nodded quietly. “Do you think maybe she bought him things?”
“Maybe? If she did, I never saw it, but he probably drove in her sports car and was hating on his Prius every time he drove it after. A month ago, he was talking about a new car, and I told him we couldn’t afford it and the fertility appointments. I think he wanted to convince me it was my idea to stop just so he could gain more spending money.”
“Jokes on him now.” Sandra smirked, “now you’ll get half of everything he owns and you’re getting three very wealthy men who are going to want to spoil you rotten.”
“I don’t want their money.”
“It’s what makes it even better,” Sandra exclaimed. “If you were a gold digger like Denise, Phineas wouldn’t be here with you, Juniper. He likes you because you value your independence and your financial freedom. I can promise you one thing,” Sandra smiled, “there is nothing you will ever want for between the three of them, materially or emotionally. Kyst might be looking for a wealthy lifestyle but these men they’re going to give it to you.”
“You’re really okay with this?” Juniper asked her mother and Sandra seriously.
“Juniper, all I ever wanted was your happiness. If this makes you happy, then I’m thrilled.”
“I’m the same with Phineas. All I want is for him to experience love, real love and I think you are the woman who can give it to him. You have our full support.”
As she basked in their warm smiles, Juniper couldn’t stop smiling herself
“There is no need to get this angry with me, Juniper. I’m not the one who cheated.”
“No, Lois, you’re not but you’re the one who ignored my wishes. You’re the one who throws out words like overreacting when I respond appropriately to the shit he does. You’re the one when I said I needed space, decided your son’s feelings were more important than mine and started calling me and my mother constantly. You texted me. You called me. You didn’t stop. It was like you were personally affronted and involved in a relationship which doesn’t concern you.”
“What do you mean it doesn’t concern me?”
“It’s my fucking marriage!” she screamed suddenly. “It’s not yours. Jesus Christ, Lois from the day we started dating you’ve been involved in one way or another. Your thoughts, your opinions, your ideas all come into play all the time. I swear to God if you could have been in our bedroom to tell us the best way to position ourselves to ensure maximum likelihood of conception, you would have been sitting there in a director’s chair and a clapboard. You are intrusive and involved and this, this implosion of my marriage has absolutely nothing to do with you and doesn’t involve you. It involves a man who couldn’t keep his cock in his pants and a woman who is not ever going to forgive such a thing.”
“Juniper.”
“No. You have no right. You were asked to give me space, and not only did you disregard my wishes, but you also joined in on his insanity last night and told my mother I was essentially abducted, and you encouraged Kyst to call the cops.”
“I was worried. You’re my daughter.”
“No. I was your daughter-in-law. I have a mama and she’s my only mama and while I appreciate you love me and I do love you too, I let you know the person I needed right now was my own mother and you didn’t respect it.”
“I apologize.”
“You owe my mother an apology as well.”
“I will make my apologies to her.”
“Good.”
“So, you weren’t really kidnapped last night from a club by three men?”
“No, Lois. I went willingly with the three men. They brought me home. They tucked me in, and they held me until this morning.”
“You slept with three men?”
The judgment oozed off Lois’s tongue and the room exchanged glances as they looked at each other and anticipated Juniper’s response and she didn’t disappoint.
“Yeah, I did, Lois. I slept in my queen-sized bed with three ment and there wasn’t enough room, so I actually slept on top of one of them while the other two cuddled us from either side.”
“Juniper. You’re married.”
“Not for much longer. My divorce papers were filed.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.