Vergara rolled out of bed and dressed. When got into his car, he had already alerted his staff that he would be alone as far as any security detail had been concerned. This entire excursion cost him ten thousand six hundred and eighty three dollars. The amount of money he had to put into getting a whole new wardrobe and finding a pistol and then renting an expensive car set him back significantly. Relina’s perfume lingered on him. He never thought of taking a shower. He had to high tail it out of there with swiftness. 

“My,” she remarked. “Aren’t you looking spiffy.”

“I’ve gotta change, hon,’” He announced once he crossed the threshold. He jetted up the stairs and stripped himself of his clothes. A thud. The pistol dropped to the floor, he picked it up and hid it under the mattress. Once he got into the shower, he looked at his wedding ring. It glistened in the light above. He’d never cheated on anyone, not even his highschool sweetheart. His wife now had the distinction of being in an adulterous marriage. He shaved and looked at himself in the mirror. He saw a man but not a whole man. What reflected back at him seemed like shards of a human being, pieces broken and shattered in some places. Whim had brought him here. He was like the daredevil who had to get an adrenaline rush with one more jump over a river. Of course he crashed and burned, but he couldn’t tell Anjelica. Or maybe he could?

Heavy steps came from Hector Vergara descending the stairs. A red plaid shirt and jeans covered his body. Anjelica remained in her baby blue pressed shirt and khaki skirt. She got up from the kitchen table when she saw him.

“I could pour your coffee…squeeze orange juice…how about blueberry pancakes?”

“No, I have to talk to you, honey,” his voice sounded gravely like he had just chewed and swallowed a pack of cigarettes. Angelica’s face looked somewhat perplexed. They both sat down together at the exact same time.

“I…I’m going to be with the ACA all day tomorrow. Don’t fix dinner. I’ll grab a bite after the service.”

“You didn’t come to bed last night….”

“It was the ACA. I had been tied up with all of this.”

“And those clothes you were wearing?” Angelica’s tone almost turned accusatory but maintained an air of simple bewilderment.

“Yes, I had to change into something else to report to the rest of the guys.”

Angelica lifted her head and lowered it slowly.

“Okay….” she intoned in a final act of wondering or just thinking about how to process all of her husband’s words. Then she perked up again. “Coffee?”

“Yes. Thanks.” He raised up when she did and approached her and hugged her from the back and kissed her neck.

“What do I do?” She repeated, smiling.

“Nothing. Thanks for understanding, darling.” The words felt acrid in his mouth because he never brushed his teeth or rinsed his mouth. Relina’s perfume still pervaded his breath. 

“It’s on the way for the man I love,” Angelica meant every word. Vergara shrunk a bit and journeyed to his study. He sat in front of a typewriter. He loaded the paper and set the type. He began to write. His mind reeled, however. Thoughts of Relina kept popping onto his consciousness. What he tried to do he could not. Impotence at the keypad inhibited him. As the time passed, he kept trying to type but nothing came to him. 

Angelica walked into his study with a tray of piping hot Colombian coffee.

“I dusted around your keypad. I hope it won’t be a bother.”

“No, thanks.” A tight grip curled around the handle of the mug and he sipped. Finally, he could kiss her without giving himself away. Angelica smiled. “If you need me to write something, never hesitate to call me,” she ordered.

“Thanks, hon’,” he mentioned and he returned to the keys. As Anjelica left, he felt a surge of creativity spark his brain. He put down in words all of the things that the ACA represented: loyalty, thinking of others first, and honesty. The last one felt like a foreign language bouncing around in his head. With this, nonetheless, he felt like making an entire way of issuing new ideas for the organization. Passion still played a role in his psyche. Night moves plagued him and he almost became totally incapacitated from the tugs of false truths he offered to Angelica. 

In time, he found enough strength to start writing his column for the ACA newsletter Selfless Meditations. For all of the time he spent with Relina, he still loved his wife. He just had a horrific way of showing it. Still, he knocked out letter after letter. His struggle to find the right words granted him no easy task. In what would have taken forty five minutes stretched into almost three hours. 

“I’m making lunch now. I know you love those little empanadas,” she smirked and sashayed back into the kitchen. A strange feeling somewhere in between nausea and dizziness overwhelmed him for a moment. He cracked open a bottle of water as if it were a bottle of medicine. He chugged the water, the liquid satisfying the spell but not his memories of his actions. He pulled the paper from the typewriter. With a red pen, he marked his errors and it felt like blood had splattered across the page. 

“Goddamnit!” He shouted and automatically regretted it as a Christian, as a husband to a trad wife, as a member of the ACA. 

“Is everything alright, dear?” Angelica asked. 

He put in a fresh piece of paper like it was snow untouched by anything.

To type, he used two fingers and never picked up his gaze at the paper. Every stroke remained purposeful, true. In the time he could have been able to jot down notes and direct his pen on the page, he could hear Relina’s laughter, her voice. Almost, he had slipped and called Anjelica, Relina. By stopping every other paragraph, he wished to flog himself. In his mind, he thought about totally annihilating his back as penance for his transgressions. He began to pray over the writing. Tears welled in his eyes. Anjelica came in with an array of four empanadas and a beer. 

Vergaras had stabbed himself with the pen. The red ink mixed with the blood and made it look even worse.

“I’ll get some hydrogen peroxide and some cotton balls,” Angelica announced.

Vergaras wiped away his tears. His hand still showed the redness of the liquid pushing from deep in his palm. 

“Here, let me clean you up. My God, I leave you alone for a bit and you go ahead and hurt yourself.”

“I’m sorry,” Vergaras finally admitted. 

“It’s not that deep. You won’t even need stitches.”

“It’s okay, really. You didn’t strike any arteries, silly.”

He didn’t say it again. He wanted to, though. All that coursed through his brain was the guilt and the shame that followed his fling with the former governor. 

“There. I’ve got a bandage for you, too, okay? Get you all cleaned up so you can enjoy your lunch.”

“Thank you, my sweetness,” Vergaras whimpered.

“Awww. Now you don’t worry about writing for a while. Eat your meal and let that hand heal.” Away she went again, this time, with the bloody rags she gathered. Vergaras was in no mood for eating. The food just stood there on the tray. He looked upward. With every moment that whisked by, he felt the weight of his decisions wash over him. The want to know about Relina came into his mind as well. Would she keep quiet? Would she keep their tryst a secret? Worry didn’t paint his psyche as much as dread. It was the fear that could oust him as president of the ACA. They didn’t exchange numbers, but it wouldn’t be difficult for her to find his number, his address. What if she showed up in silk stalkings, high heels, a coat, and a smile? Anjelica would welcome her in and probably ask for her coat. By banishing the thought, he got up from his desk and made his way into the living room. The bandage over his hand he pressed to feel even more pain. It appeared that it didn’t assuage the pain he felt for himself and his choices. Angelica came second in his list of things he could regret hurting.

Somewhere in his thoughts, he wanted her to know everything. Every detail, all of the positions…everything. He walked through his home and felt the pangs of barbarous behavior. Each step produced another flurry of thoughts that permeated his thoughts. He breathed.  He looked at his mantle. A photograph of a president from a similar organization, The Unselfishness Guild (TUG) and him warmed his mind. Just then, he thought about something else that would warm his mind. He picked up the beer from the tray and chugged it. He then went into the refrigerator to search for more.

“That was the last bottle. I could pick up some.”

“No, no. I’ve gotta get out of here anyway. I’ll be back soon.”

He grabbed his keys and took one last look at a can with bloody pieces of paper and rubbish attached to it.

Once he entered his vehicle his phone sat on the front seat. It rang. It was Relina. She had called six times prior. He put the phone to his ear.

“Why don’t you come by today. We had fun last night, didn’t we?”

“Look, Rel’, you’re great and all but I’ve got a wife and I’m not about to mess that up over one night.”

“Okay. Fair enough. But you do know I have you by the short ones if you ever cross me. An adultery scandal would boot you from your perch as president faster than a rooster crows at the crack of dawn.”

Vergaras’ blood turned to ice. “I understand,” he finally intoned.

“Just so we know we’re on the same page,” Relina shot back and canceled the call.

Vergaras threw the phone at the passenger window. The screen cracked like an egg. He just huffed. As he drove off he could see Angelica in the window as drove off. Since he didn’t have his detail and his personal vehicle permitted him the freedom to go anywhere, he felt like just hitting the liquor store. He loaded up on booze. Beer, rum, anything he thought would numb the pain. He spent over two hundred dollars on alcohol. He stepped back into the house with two bags and turned a corner headed to the kitchen when heard a familiar chuckle.

“She parked out back. It’s such a pleasure to have a former governor in our home again.”

Relina Fort looked at Vergaras with talons in her eyes. 

“Yes, as I’m sure you know your husband and I were trying to beat the heat during a ceremony the other day.”

“I’m just so proud of him,” Anjelica remarked.

“Aren’t we all,” Relina dug her talons in deeper.

“It looks like you’ve bought some refreshments. Maybe our guest would like something to drink.”

“No, no. It looks like this guy’s got the hard stuff. I’ve gotta drive. I’ve got my personal car, too. I won’t stop until next tuesday if I start drinking now,” Relina snickered.

“Alright, well I’m sorry we all couldn’t share this time together for too long,” Angelica admitted. “I’ll see you out, former Governor Fort.”

Vergaras just stood there the entire time. He didn’t say a word. As Angelica and Relina walked to the car, Vergaras put away the alcoholic beverages and waited for Angelica to return. She closed the door behind her. Vergaras ran to her and slapped her face. He slapped her again, and again.

 need cotton balls and hydrogen peroxide.”

Chintan Jani

Smartystan

Talons

Vergara rolled out of bed and dressed. When got into his car, he had already alerted his staff that he would be alone as far as any security detail had been concerned. This entire excursion cost him ten thousand six hundred and eighty three dollars. The amount of money he had to put into getting a whole new wardrobe and finding a pistol and then renting an expensive car set him back significantly. Relina’s perfume lingered on him. He never thought of taking a shower. He had to high tail it out of there with swiftness. 



Smartystan

Talons

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Businesswoman Chapter 72

Smartystan

Talons

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Businesswoman Chapter 72

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