Page 18 of Never Have We Ever
“Please don’t do this.” Valeska shook her head. “If it’s true, then it doesn’t matter. Our marriage isn’t going anywhere. Not with Daniela so young.” She didn’t bring up that she considered having another child to appease her husband’s family.I always wanted two children. Daniela is young enough to adjust to having a sudden sibling.Valeska was in her thirties now. It was time to seal how many children she planned to have.
“How does it not matter? If he’s sleeping around, then you should be able to as well!”
“That’s out of the question.” Truth was, Valeska didn’t want another man. That possibility sailed when they decided to have children. Not only did Valeska have to ensure that her children were André’s, but the bondthey formed in both marriage and parenthood meant shecouldn’tlook at another man that way.I’m so sad and weak that all he has to do is look at me and I want to be with him.Valeska didn’t want proof that her husband sought other women outside of their marriage. It would break her heart, and she wasn’t sure she could do anything about it.
Not with Daniela so young.That’s what she told herself.
“Fine.” Hailey wiped her hands of her sister’s stubborn attitude. “It’s your face to save. He said that you guys could have an open marriage if that’s what you wanted, right?”
“That was what we discussed on our second anniversary. We decided to stay closed and have children.”
“Uh huh.” Hailey stole the cherry from her sister’s drink. “You’re a better woman that I am. If Dillon pulled that crapon me, I’d hang him by the testes. Then again, as you can tell from the amount of children we’ve had, I keep him preoccupied.”
“You’re not the only one satisfied in your marriage.”
“Hmph. That’s rich, since you said you didn’t even fuck him before your wedding.”
“Things changed quickly afterward.”
“I’m just saying. He’s away from home a lot. Men are idiots.”
“What good does it serve me tothink about these things? Don’t you have something better to do than taunt me with half-truths?”
Marlene and Daniela returned from the restroom. Hailey shut up after that.
As much as Valeska hated to part from her family, she was needed at home, and Hailey was needed on an airplane back to London that evening. Marlene was staying with Valeska in the family flat near Monte Carlo. Daniela wasattached to her mother’s lap, fast asleep the moment the car began to move.
“Welcome home,” Lena the nanny greeted them when they reached their two-level flat. Big enough for a married couple, their daughter, the nanny, the live-in maid, and a guest. Marlene, for now. “How was your lunch?”
“Fine.” Valeska didn’t bring up Daniela’s mishap. She was more inclined to pass her sleeping daughter offto Lena and bid her mother to go about her business. “Where is my husband?”
Lena patted Daniela’s golden curls and smoothed down her white dress. “Up in his office,meine Dame.”
The nanny wasn’t usually this polite. It must have been for Marlene’s benefit. “Danke.I will go see him about something private. Please take care of everything down here.”
Lena nodded, lips pursed.Keep them closed,you blabbermouth.Sometimes Valeska took Lena’s role as a German-speaking confidant too personally. Because she totally knew what “something private” meant.Get your mind out of the gutter. My daughter and my mother are both around.
Valeska kissed her daughter’s forehead before showing herself upstairs. André’s office was at the end of the hall, overlooking the Mediterranean, which was crystalblue and calm that sunny afternoon. No wonder André had claimed this room for his office. It was more soothing than his view of the Seine River back in Paris.
She lightly knocked before testing the door handle. The moment the door was ajar, she heard her husband speaking brusquely in French. His back was turned to his desk and the door. He always did prefer to stare at the ocean while takingbusiness calls.
Valeska quietly closed the door behind her. The best way to get his attention was to stand off to the side and hope she didn’t startle him too much. When he was like this, it was easy for him to jump at her sudden presence, no matter how often she intruded.
“S’il vous plait, excusez-moi un instant.”He lowered his phone and gave her half-divided attention. “What is it?”
“Nothingimportant. I can wait.”
He briefly nodded before going back to his conversation. Valeska attempted to be patient, but her husband had decided to wear his work suit around the house. He must have had a phone conference or a meeting earlier that morning. Either way, Valeska was now taunted by this man in a tailored French suit that clung to every muscle and mussed hair that implied he had run hishand through it on more than one occasion.
Valeska locked the office door.
I hate that I can’t understand your conversation.André spoke much too quickly and casually for her to catch half the words uttered.I hate how often you’re away from home.His father had been lenient when Valeska was on maternity leave from most housework, but gradually, Monsieur Dubois upped his son’s traveling untilhe was gone more than ever before. Someone was being groomed to take over the company sooner rather than later.I hate the amount of women I see calling and texting you.André never hid it. Sometimes Valeska grabbed his buzzing phone off their bed and handed it to him in the shower. So many female names, like Collette, Roxanne, Tanya, Wilhelmina, and Yvette… Who were these women? Work colleagues?That’s what André told her when she politely inquired about an unknown name. She even met some of them. Pretty, young women who spoke a number of languages and laughed at André’s dumb jokes. The man was such an effortless charmer that he probably didn’t realize that those women knew he was flirting with them.
I hate how much I love you.
Valeska had been naïve to think she was prepared for thismarriage. It was one thing to know her husband would probably sleep around, and it could be a point of discussion. Well, that point had come and gone. It was too late for her to open up dialogue about opening their marriage. She was a doormat now. She had to get whatever fun she could and pretend nothing else mattered.
She sat on the edge of his desk and waited to catch his attention again. WhenAndré finally hung up, he spun his chair around, finger playing with his top lip as his big eyes met Valeska’s.My daughter’s eyes. My daughter’s hair. How many other little girls out there look like her?
