“What?” Zac asked. Simone could sense some fear in his voice as well.
“When you picked up the phone, did Isaac hang the other one up?” she repeated her question. Then they both heard a click and they both gasped. Simone’s breath got stuck in her throat and she couldn’t think straight. Her heart started beating faster as panic began to kick in.
“Sim, calm down. There’s no need to get worked up about this.” Zac said as calmly as he could. He could tell that she was about to go through the roof and he had keep himself under control in order to bring her stress level down as well.
“What?! Are you serious?? There’s no reason to get worked up?!! Do you have any earthly idea what just happened?” Simone shouted, losing her temper.
“Well, there’s no way that we can prove that Ike heard anything. Maybe he just got back to the phone and hung it up when we heard the click a few seconds ago.”
“Yeah, or he heard the entire conversation!” Simone interjected.
“What do you want me to do, Sim? Go up to him and say, ‘Hey, did you happen to over hear Simone and me on the phone talking about how we slept together and how much we want to do it again’?” Zac asked.
“No, but you know what I mean!” Simone then lowered her voice. “If anyone would find out about this…then my life would be over.”
“No it wouldn’t.” Zac assured her. “ You’d have me.”
“That’s really sweet Zac, but I could never do that to Taylor. It would be like flaunting it in his face or something. Plus, you have Angie.”
“Yeah, well…” Zac trailed off. “Right now, I want you, not her.”
“I have to go.” Simone said, hearing that the shower had turned off.
“Sim--” Zac said, catching her attention just before she hung up.
“What?”
“No matter what happens…like with you and Taylor and stuff…I want you to know something.”
“What? Zac, I have to go! He’s coming out of the bathroom!” Simone hurried him along.
“I love you.”
For the second time during that phone conversation, Simone lost her breath. Only this time, she knew that she wasn’t scared. She was flattered that he would even think of saying that to her, let alone actually come out and say it. She didn’t know how to respond to it though. Luckily, the bathroom door swung open and Taylor emerged wearing only a towel around his waist.
“Yeah, room 723.” Simone said.
“What?” Zac asked, confusion filling his voice.
“Thanks for the complimentary room service, we really appreciate it.” Simone said with a certain tone in her voice for Zac to get the picture that she was no longer alone. “Okay, bye!” she said then hung up.
“Complimentary room service?” Taylor asked. Simone turned to him and smiled, especially at the fact that he only had a towel on. She could still see the water beads covering his chest.
“Yeah, it surprised me, too.” She said, looking him up and down. She layed down on the bed and gave him a ‘come-hither’ look. Taylor smiled and leaned above her and gazed lovingly into her eyes. She pulled him down to her so their lips would touch.
“This will be the last time I’ll have fun as a single woman.” Simone said. Taylor smiled, then kissed her passionately.
“Better make it worthwhile then.” He said. He slowly undressed her then stood to pull her in the direction of the bathroom. She followed him. Soon, Taylor was in the shower for the second time that evening.
***
Four days later, Simone and Taylor returned to Tulsa. They had both agreed that their marriage shouldn’t be mentioned to anyone. Mostly it was because Walker wasn’t too keen on the idea in the first place, but he insisted if there was going to be a wedding, then it wanted it to be a big traditional wedding. Simone didn’t wear the new gold and diamond band around her finger with her engagement ring, she wore it on a chain around her neck, which would always stay tucked under the collar of her shirt.
The first two people they encountered were Zac and Angie. They were watching a movie in the den and as Simone and Taylor walked by, Zac shouted something to them. Simone stopped and ducked her head in the den.
“What?” she asked then smiled at the scene. They were sitting on the floor; Zac leaning his back against the sofa and Angie was sitting with her back against Zac’s chest, her head resting adoringly on his shoulder. Zac had his arms wrapped and laced together around Angie’s stomach and her hands were caressing his. They looked perfect together.
“I said welcome home. Did you guys have a good time?” Zac asked.
“Yeah, we did.” Simone said, giving only a simple answer.
“Did everything work out as planned?”
“Yeah, it did.”
“Good.” Zac said. “Oh, and by the way, Ike never said anything to me about it.”
“About what?” Angela asked curiously.
“About an, um, about a disagreement we were arguing over the other night. Nothing too big.” Simone finished up. Angela smiled, then focused her attention back to the movie. Zac gave Simone a grateful look and he smiled. She winked at him and then went up to her room. She found Taylor lying on the bed, their bags thrown carelessly to the ground with nothing unpacked. His eyes were closed as she crawled beside him. She tickled his stomach.
“What did Zac say?” Taylor asked, keeping his eyes closed. He had lifted his hands and brought them to his stomach and placed them over Simone’s.
“He just wanted to welcome us home, that’s all.” Simone said.
“Oh. That was nice of him.” He said. “Oh, I just had a quick chat with Isaac.”
Simone immediately tensed up. Oh no, she thought, he knows!
“Really?” she asked, trying to keep her voice from sounding hysterical. “What about?”
“Why didn’t you tell me, Sim?” Taylor asked, opening his eyes for the first time that conversation, but he still didn’t look at her. She didn’t know what to say or how to say it! She began taking deeper breaths to calm herself down and she refused to start crying.
“I didn’t think you would understand.” She finally said. Taylor rolled over and finally looked at her. She didn’t see the anger in his eyes that she thought she would see. He caressed her cheek with his fingers.
“I want you to know that I’ll always understand anything.” He told her. Tears began to build up in her eyes. Now, when she thought about it, she couldn’t believe that she let herself do that with Zac. And what’s worse, she couldn’t believe that she had wanted to do it again.
“I’m sorry that you didn’t hear it from me. I’m even more sorry for letting it happen in the first place.” She said. Taylor remained calm and he continued to stare into her eyes.
“It’s not really that big of a deal.” Taylor tried to assure her. That’s when the tears fell from her eyes and stained their way down her cheeks.
“Yes, it is a big deal.” She said. “I never meant to sleep with Zac!”