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Glenda eased out of his arms. “I’m sorry,” she said as she wiped away her tears.
“It’s all right,” Carter said and pulled out a chair for her to sit down. “Thank you, Carter,” she said and sat down as the server came with coffee. Once she had taken their order, she disappeared.
“What happened?” Carter asked.
“I just happened to go by our office because I had to pick up some papers. I didn’t see his car, so I didn’t think that Perry was there.”
“But he was,” Carter said, knowing the rest of the story without having to hear it.
Glenda nodded. “I got what I came for and was about to leave when I heard him.” She laughed. “And since I’ve heard that sound many times, I knew what he was doing.”
“I’m sorry, Glenda. You shouldn’t have had to go through that.”
“It’s all right, Carter. And you are wrong. I did need to go through that though. If I hadn’t, I probably would have just gone home and gone to bed and I’d be in the same place that I started the day out.”
“How’s that’s?”
“Married to a man that I don’t love that cheats on me with …” she paused and chuckled, “With every woman he comes in contact with.”
“I’m sorry, Glenda.”
“I’m no better than he is. Look what I’m doing with you. I could justify it by saying that what we’re doing is in response to him cheating o
n me for years.” She huffed. “Cheating on me relentlessly for years.”
“Still. You shouldn’t have had to go through that,” Carter said as the server returned with their food. “Can you bring me some Heinz 57 and some Tabasco, please?”
Carter dug into his steak, eggs, pancakes and toast right away. But not Glenda. She took a couple of mouthfuls of eggs and she ate the bacon, but then she picked over the rest.
“I had caught him in lies and compromising situations more times than I could count, and this was just one more. But this time, was different somehow because even though I hadn’t been to the office in over a year and a half, that is still my office too and although I am sure that this wasn’t the first time that he fucked some woman in one of the treatment rooms, but since I was there it was just so fucking disrespectful.”
Carter said nothing because he thought about how fucking disrespectful it was for him to be fucking Yarrisa in his office while Mileena was in the club.
“It’s my own fault. I have nobody to blame but myself. I should have left the first time it happened. But I didn’t. I called myself staying for the children.” Glenda shook her head. “The truth was that I was just afraid. I was afraid that I couldn’t make it on my own. So, I accepted the lie, she meant nothing to me, Glenda. And all of the times he promised; I promise that nothing like this will ever happen again,” she said, imitating the words the he said to her more times than she cared to count. “And now look at me, crying over a relationship that had caused me so much pain.”
Carter put down his fork. “I’m sorry,” he may have said to Glenda, but in his heart, he was talking to Mileena. “You shouldn’t have had to go through that,” he said knowing that he had put her through the same thing. He had rationalized it to himself by thinking that she had ended things between them, not him. Mileena wouldn’t even speak to him, and that was what forced him to fuck Fantasy.
But that is bullshit and you know it. You fucked her because you wanted to, and you used Mileena’s breaking up as an excuse to do what you wanted to do anyway. Same reason you fucked Yarrisa and the same reason your fucking Glenda.
Now it was Carter who no longer had an appetite.
“Can I get you anything else?” their server asked, bringing Carter back to the table. He looked at Glenda, she shook her head.
“Just the check.”
The server quickly pulled their ticket and placed it on the table. “I’ll take that whenever you’re ready.”
“I’m finished,” Glenda said when the server left the table.
“You hardly touched your food,” Carter said, reaching for the check.
She shrugged her shoulders. “I guess I wasn’t as hungry as I thought I was,” Glenda said looking at Carter’s half-eaten plate. “You done with yours?”
“Yeah,” he said, throwing some cash on the table. “That steak got me full,” he said instead of telling her that her words made him lose his appetite. “You ready to go?”
“Yes,” she said, and they left the restaurant. They walked to the elevator and rode up in silence. “Thank you for coming,” Glenda said when they got to her room. Carter took the card key from her hand and opened the door.
“It wasn’t a problem. I’m here for you.”