Page 32 of War
Fifteen
“Girl, did you hear the latest gossip?” Sylvia Winston entered the locker area where her best friend was trying to nap on a cot.
Dr. Erica Toure yawned and shook her head. She was in the middle of a long twelve-hour shift and she only had twenty minutes to nap before she checked on her patients. “Syl, you know I don’t care about any of that.”
“You might want to care,” Sylvia produced the latestNew York Postand placed it on Erica’s lap. “Lookahere.”
Erica opened her eyes and stared at her best friend for a long, hard moment, debating how badly the woman needed a throat-punch before she turned her attention to the paper. She sat straight up when she read the headline.
DEFLOWERING MRS. D’AMATO
A picture of Eli was in the caption as Erica’s eyes widened. The front page was a naked woman assumed to be Faith. She quickly went through the bullet points:
Spicy phone calls and texts!
Promises to finally leave Eli!
Threats to make the entire D’Amato family bankrupt!
Erica didn’t know Faith very well but she couldn’t imagine the woman saying such heinous things. Even when things weren’t that great between Eli and Faith, he’d always spoken fondly of his ex and praised her as a mother.
Was Faith really playing Eli this entire time?
Erica only thought about how devastated her ex must be. Eli loved Faith so much and even Erica had to admit, she had to stop watching the show because she was too jealous of Faith.
No, she won’t call him. She won’t call him. She most definitely won’t pull out her cell phone, search for his number, and call him.
Search for his number? Erica knew good and well she had Eli’s number memorized. “Oh no.”
“Oh, it gets better!” Sylvia turned the page to the middle where more incriminating pictures of Faith appeared, along with some text messages. Erica usually turned a blind ear to gossip but her eyes were glued to every word, every picture, every bad thing from one Faith D’Amato.
And her paramour? Darren Matthews? Erica did not see that coming.
Erica immediately thought about Eli. The paper’s content suggested he knew about a previous relationship but did not know about the salacious details of it. And Faith was still in contact with Darren a year after they broke up?
This was better than any reality show.
“I don’t know,” Erica shook her head again, “this is just too much. Eli wouldn’t stay with her if he knew all of this.”
“And that’s the joke!” Sylvia nodded with glee. “He didn’t know about any of it! Girl, I bet his phone is ringing off the hook now! Have you seen his IG page? His comments have exploded with all these thirsty-ass girls trying to shoot their shot! He just has tail thrown at him left and right now. You need to go talk to him before he gets locked down!”
“Locked down?” Erica glanced at Sylvia. “He’s still married, by the way.”
“Not for much longer. You honestly think he’s gonna stay with her after she humiliated him on a worldwide stage?”
Erica thought about Eli’s affair. She didn’t know how many people knew about it but she was surprised how quiet it stayed in their private circle. She wondered if the rumors of Eli and the D’Amato clan being connected to powerful figures had some truth to it.
She then wondered if that was true, why would Eli allow this news about his wife come out? Eli wouldn’t do it. No matter what he and Faith went through, he would never let this come out about her.
It then occurred to Erica what the answer was – the target was not Eli or the D’Amatos; it was Faith.
Erica briefly glanced at her iPhone and resisted the urge to call Eli. She knew how desperate it sounded. Her reaching out was the equivalent of ‘Hey, Big Head!’ and she might as well send Eli kiss emojis while she was at it.
If he wanted to reach out to her, he would find a way. He had three small children to think of in addition to his business. His priority was not Erica or anyone else, for that matter.
Erica read a few more paragraphs and gave the paper back to Sylvia. “I’ve seen enough.”
“Well?” Sylvia asked. “What do you think? Are you going to call bae back?”
Yes.“No.”
