Даниэла Стил - All That Glitters

“For God’s sake, Coco, why did you come back here?” As though she was the one at fault. She glanced at the bed, and recognized the blond girl from marketing at the magazine. She ran from the bed into Coco’s new bathroom, slammed the door shut, and locked it.

“I forgot my color wheel,” Coco said, “and you forgot that you’re married. For chrissake, we’ve lived here for three days, and this is what you do?”

“It was an accident…I didn’t mean it…I can explain…” He looked pathetic, as he clutched their new sheets around him.

“I want you both out of my house by the time I come home,” was all she said, and then she grabbed the color wheel she saw on the desk, ran back down the stairs, and out the door. She was back in Leslie’s office after twenty minutes, not ten, and she was deathly pale under her tan, but the client hadn’t arrived yet.

“Are you okay?” Leslie asked her, concerned. “You look like you saw a ghost.”

“Yes, something like that. I saw an accident on the way back.” She didn’t know what else to say to explain her disarray. All she could think of was what she’d seen Nigel doing to the girl on the bed. She had a sleazy reputation at the magazine, which was apparently well deserved. But Nigel was no better. She couldn’t let herself think about it now. She had to get through the meeting first.

The client arrived two minutes later and stayed until two while they discussed the apartment Leslie had found them. It was perfect for their needs, and they had to decide what color to paint the rooms. Coco sat back in her chair, and let out a breath as soon as they left, as Leslie watched her. She had made sense in the meeting, but she looked sick.

“Coco, what’s wrong?” she asked her gently. Coco shook her head, trying not to cry, and then looked at her.

“I found Nigel in bed with another woman when I went home. The slut secretary from marketing that everyone says is a whore. I guess they’re right. They were in my bed, going at it when I walked in.” It felt better to tell her and get it off her chest.

“Oh my God,” Leslie said, horrified.

“Yeah, I think that’s what I said too. I had to leave to get back here.”

“I’m so, so sorry. What are you going to do?”

“I told him he had to leave before I get back. And I just gave up the mews house yesterday.”

“Do you want to stay here?”

“No, I want him to get out,” she said fiercely. “I’m not going to let him do this to me.” Leslie made her a cup of tea. Coco stayed at the office to avoid Nigel, and she left at six o’clock. Leslie was worried about her.

The house seemed empty when she got home, and then she saw him in her office, waiting for her when she went upstairs. “I told you to be out of here when I got home. If you don’t go, I’m calling the police.” She stood with her phone poised in her hand, ready to call them, and he stood up. He didn’t look menacing, he looked broken, and she didn’t care. He was trying to bankrupt her with what he spent, and now he was cheating on her too, in her own bed. He was the biggest mistake she could ever have made. She was clear about it now. There was no doubt in her mind.

“Coco, we have to talk,” he said in a pleading tone.

“No, we don’t. The only person I’m going to talk to is my attorney. Get out of my house, Nigel.” He couldn’t get to her in time, and she called the police. They answered right away. She told them there was an intruder trying to break in, and gave them the address and her name. They said they would be there immediately.

“For fuck’s sake, why did you do that?” he shouted at her and headed toward the stairs.

“Why did you have to do that in my bed?” she shouted after him, as he ran toward the front door. “I’ll have you put in jail if you come near here again.” He didn’t stop to talk to her and left seconds before the police arrived. When they questioned her, she told them that her estranged husband had tried to break in, and gave them his name and description, and asked for passing calls to drive by the house and watch for him outside. They assured her they would, and when they left, she called Nigel on his cell. “Don’t come back here, Nigel. I gave them your name and your description, and told them you were trying to break in.”

“Into my own home?” He was shocked. He didn’t want a police report against him. Coco had changed. He had finally pushed her over the edge.

“It’s not your home, it’s mine. And you don’t live here anymore.” Her voice was hard. She was done.

“Coco, please. It was a stupid thing to do. I’m sorry. Things have been so rough between us for a while, I just slept with her to let off steam. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“It means a lot to me. And how rough were things for you on the boat? You had to screw her now ? Three days after we move into this house you forced me to buy?”

“I made a date with her a long time ago, and forgot about it.”

“So you figured that as long as she was here, you would screw her in my bed? Like, why waste an opportunity to get laid?” It was sounding worse and worse as he explained. There was nothing he could say to make it right or better. He had gone one giant step too far. Money was bad enough, but cheating on her was a whole different category of offense. She knew she would never trust him again. “Text me where to send your things,” she said in a voice of pure fury.

“I don’t have anyplace to stay,” he whined.

“You should have thought of that this morning.”

The girl he’d had sex with was pure trash, and so was he, whatever his fancy lineage. He was no better than the girl was. He was a fortune-hunter of the worst sort, a user, and a cheat.

“Coco, can we get together and talk about this?”

“There’s nothing to say. I saw it all.”

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry…I swear I’ll never do it again…”

“You can do whatever you want,” she said, her voice shaking, “I’m finished with you, Nigel. Done.” And with that she hung up and burst into tears. She didn’t even call Sam that night. She was too upset.

Nigel called her thirty or forty times that night, and she didn’t answer. He was afraid to come to the house and get picked up by the police. She lay awake all night, and then finally in the morning she called Sam and told him what had happened. He was horrified at the meanness and bad taste of it. But at least now she knew who she was dealing with. She was furious and hurt all at the same time.

“He charged that enormous yacht to me, and then came home and screwed that sleazy whore in my bed.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“Divorce him. I never should have married him. I can’t afford him anyway, emotionally or financially. He was so sweet and so charming and seemed so boyish and innocent when I met him. I never should have married him. You were right. I was an idiot.” They had been married for eight months. He had cost her millions, and cheated on her in their bed.

“At least you’ve figured it out. You’ll get over it,” he said gently. “You’ve been through a lot worse,” he said, thinking of her parents, and she started to cry when she thought about them too.

“This never would have happened if my father were still alive. I wouldn’t have married him. I wanted the kind of relationship my parents had. Dad wouldn’t have let me marry him.” Sam had tried to stop or at least slow her down, but he didn’t have the power, and Coco had been dazzled by Nigel. He was so charming at first.

“He’s not a good guy. Neither was Ed. You need a good one now,” Sam said quietly.

“I just want him out of my life.” She called a lawyer she knew that afternoon. He hadn’t called her back yet when Nigel showed up on her front doorstep, begging to come in. Her housekeeper was there, so she wasn’t afraid, and she went outside to talk to him.