One Wild Night

"What's taking Anita so long?" Tiffany asked as she glanced at her wristwatch.

"Unlike us with maids, she lives alone and probably needs time to take care of something," Bernice said before taking a bite from her sandwich.

"You look so relaxed and happy, Benny," Tiffany observed over the rim of her glasses as she observed Bernice who was glowing.

"I thought I was the only one who noticed. I guess you made up with Adam and things are going smoothly between you two now?" Rebekah asked, watching her oldest daughter with interest.

Bernice smiled, "Not exactly. I decided to take your advice and focus on myself. I will let Adam do whatever he pleases as long as he plays his role for our kids and takes care of my financial needs," Bernice said, and both Rebekah and Tiffany smiled in approval.

"See? Life is easier when you relax and just focus on yourself. I'm so happy to see you this way," Tiffany said as she reached across the table and patted Bernice's hand.

"It's thanks to you," Bernice said as she patted Tiffany's hand in return.

"I'm glad that you've learned. No more of that love nonsense or moving out of your husband's house. Countless women would give anything to have what you have, so you should always be thankful," Rebekah said with a contented sigh as she raised her glass to her lips.

She glanced at her phone when it started ringing and picked it up when she saw that her caller was Priscilla.

"Good morning, Priscilla. Please tell me she is going to show up as planned," Rebekah asked since she was aware that Lucy was supposed to sign the contract that day.

"That's why I'm calling. She already did. She had to come in earlier than planned because she had to be somewhere else," Priscilla explained, and Rebekah smiled.

"Perfect! Now, all we have to do is make sure she won't be available on Friday evening. Let's arrange for an event outside Ludus," Rebekah said, and Priscilla nodded.

"I will work on it," Priscilla assured her before hanging up.

"What's going on, mother? Who was that?" Bernice asked curiously.

"Lucinda Perry. She bit the bait. She is now under my thumb," Rebekah said with a triumphant smile as she relayed her plans to her daughters.

"That poor ambitious thing. I'm surprised Thomas let her accept the offer when he is so wealthy," Tiffany said with a shake of her head.

"Maybe he doesn't care about her as much as we thought," Rebekah said with a wide smile which broadened even more as Anita joined them.

"Good morning. Sorry, I'm late. Got a flat tire," Anita said as she joined them at the table.

"Oh, dear! You're welcome," Rebekah said before calling out to one of her maids to serve Anita.

"Where is Lisa?" Anita asked curiously when she noticed Lisa's absence.

"She was not invited. You know how she can be a spoilsport. This meeting is just for us four. I told you about the show with Eric Howells. She is not joining us on the show so there is no reason for her to be here," Rebekah said, but Anita was not pleased.

"Mother, Lisa is gradually drifting away from us and she is not going to be happy to learn she was left out," Anita protested.

"Never mind that. I've got great news for you. Lucinda Perry is now an employee of the she can heal foundation," Rebekah said excitedly, and Anita smiled in confusion.

"Oh, really? How did that happen?" she asked, and Tiffany quickly told her about their mother's plan.

"Oh, that's brilliant!" Anita exclaimed, trying to muster up some semblance of excitement.

She knew she couldn't tell her mother that she no longer wanted to have anything to do with Tom, so she had to play along.

If for nothing, but for homes that her mother's plan might work and they would be able to ruin Tom and Lucy's relationship even if she was no longer interested in him.

"I know, right?" Rebekah asked with a giggle.

They all glanced at Bernice when her phone beeped with a text notification, and she smiled when she picked up her phone and opened the text from her sister's husband.

[Good morning, beautiful. I miss you. When will you be available?]

Since they had sex on the balcony three nights ago, and in the car on his way to drop her off at her home the next morning, they had both met up for sex daily, and more than that they exchanged text messages whenever they could. It was weird to say that her sister's husband who was known to be a womanizer made her happy.

Forgetting that she was with her family, Bernice texted back, [I miss you too.]

"Who is that?" Rebekah asked curiously when she noticed the smile on Bernice's face.

Bernice cleared her throat as she set her phone aside and glanced at her mother, "A friend I was supposed to meet today. I told her I was having breakfast with you and she texted to know when we would be done," Bernice said, and although Rebekah eyed her suspiciously, she didn't ask any more questions.

Bernice was startled when her phone suddenly began to ring, and she stood up immediately she saw it was Jackson, "Please excuse me. This is important," she said as she walked away from the table and went to find somewhere private.

"Why are you calling when you know I'm with my family?" Bernice asked in a whisper.

"I told you I miss you. Can't you just leave them?" Jackson asked, and Bernice felt butterflies flutter in her belly.

Here she had been begging for her husband's attention, yet here was her sister's husband craving hers. What an irony. She felt pleased to know she was desired in this manner.

"You shouldn't act so carelessly. You don't want us to get caught, do you? Besides, it's not I'm the only lady you're seeing so..."

"You are the only lady I want to see, Benny. I swear it," Jackson said, and Bernice's heart skipped a beat.

Although she knew deep down that this was wrong on every level and her family would never forgive her if they found out about what she was doing, she couldn't help it. All she wanted was to be happy, even if her sister's husband was responsible for it.

She wasn't going to break her sister's home. She was going to try and be as discreet as possible with Jackson so that no one would find out. That way Tiffany wouldn't get hurt. Tiffany had said she was happy to see her happy after all, so it was a win for everyone.

"I will come up with an excuse to leave here, and then we can meet," Bernice promised.

"I will be waiting to hear from you. In the meantime, I will find something to distract myself so I don't call you again," Jackson said, and Bernice laughed out loud.

"Alright, be good," she said and hung up the call.

Just as she turned around to return to the dining, she was startled to find her mother standing behind her, "Mom!" she exclaimed, wondering how long her mother had been standing there.

"Are you having an affair?" Rebekah asked with a knowing look in her eyes but Bernice looked away from her without answering her question.

"I see you are. I'm not going to ask who it is or how long this has been going on. Just make sure this doesn't ruin your marriage and you don't get caught. And stop being so obvious," Rebekah advised before walking away, leaving Bernice to stare at her mother's back in shock. That was the last thing she had been expecting to hear from her mother.

Bernice returned to the table and joined Anita and Tiffany as they talked about the latest fashion trend and what to get when they all went shopping.

"I already have a gown in mind for the dinner party. I spotted it in their collection yesterday and I asked them to reserve it for me," Anita said proudly.

"Let's see if it's good enough," Bernice said, and when Tiffany nodded, Anita picked up her phone and showed them the picture of a beautiful long-sleeved black sequin mermaid evening gown with a deep V neckline and an open back.

"This is classy," Tiffany said with approval.

"It oozes confidence and sophistication," Bernice added and Anita smiled.

"I know, right? By the way, are you really not going to convince mother to let Lisa join us at the Eric Howells show?" Anita asked her sisters.

"It's probably best if she doesn't join us. Besides, she is in her last trimester remember? We don't want her standing up every couple of minutes to ease herself on the show, do we?" Bernice asked, and they all laughed.

"Then we should let her know about it even if she's not going to join us," Anita said.

"Okay. Let's do that later. What's your plan for Tom at the anniversary dinner party?" Tiffany asked, and Anita shrugged.

"I don't have a plan. I'm just going to be my beautiful self and have fun," Anita said, and her sisters shook their heads.

"That's not good. You need to have a plan. Get drunk or something and find a way to go close to him especially since he won't have that girl by his side. Find a way to be alone with him in a space. Cry if you need to and act vulnerable when you are alone with him. Men fall for tears all the time," Tiffany said, and Bernice nodded in agreement even if she knew that her husband had never once fallen for her tears.

"Kiss him or get him to bed," Bernice suggested, and Anita looked from one sister to the other and nodded as she listened to them even if she knew she was never going to do anything they said.

"Whatever you do, make sure someone captures it and it makes news on the blogs. That's the most important trying," Rebekah said as she joined her girls, dressed in a simple yet classy flowing dress.

"That's an exquisite piece of jewelry, mother," Tiffany observed, and Bernice's eyes moved to her mother's neck and caught on the familiar-looking diamond necklace her mother was wearing.

"Thanks, darling. It was a gift from an admirer," Rebekah said with a proud smile as she fingered the necklace on her neck.

"We should leave now. We don't have all morning," Rebekah said as she led the way out of the house, while her daughters followed.

While the others engaged in one discussion or the other, Bernice kept mute as she kept looking at her mother from time to time and wondering why she was the one wearing the expensive necklace her husband had bought.

She remembered calling her mother to complain when she saw the receipt of that necklace in Adam's pocket. She had gone to the store where Adam had gotten it to ask questions and she had been told it was custom-made.

Did Adam have them make a diamond necklace for her mother? Why? Her mother had said it was a gift from an admirer, did she know that admirer was Adam? Was Adam truly her mother's admirer? Bernice mused.

"Are you alright, Benny?" Tiffany asked when they all got into their various cars but Bernice remained where she stood looking in their mother's direction.

"Yes. Sure," Bernice said as she got into her car. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she was going to look into it.

Some moments later they arrived at the clothing store they usually shopped, and Anita was shocked to hear that the dress she had specifically asked they reserve for her was not available.

"What's going on?" Rebekah asked one of the store attendants.

"I'm sorry, madam, someone else paid for it," The attendant explained, and Anita scoffed in disbelief.

"Are you kidding me? I've always gotten my clothes from this place. How could you not keep that one gown?" she asked angrily.

"The person bought out all the clothes of that size. We have other nice gowns, you can check..."

"That is the gown I want!" Anita snapped at the lady in annoyance.

"Can we know the person who bought the gown?" Rebekah asked with interest.

"I'm sorry, madam, but we can't give you that information," the lady said apologetically.

"It doesn't matter. We can find the designer to make you the dress if that's what you want," Bernice assured Anita.

"Yes, we should do that," Tiffany added, patting Anita's shoulder in a placating manner.

Anita took a deep breath to calm herself, "Let's do that then."