Chapter 5

[Atlas]

My body betrayed my heart last night. I’m disgusted at how quickly I forgot about Angelica while in the arms of her little sister. Yet I cannot get Cordelia out of my mind. When I close my eyes, my thoughts wander to the way she smells, the way she tastes, or the feeling of her soft, smooth flesh underneath my fingertips.

I left work a little bit early today so I could talk to her about what had happened and clear the air between us. But as I pull up into the driveway I see a rental car. Who could be here in the middle of the day?

The house is quiet except for some soft sounds I hear coming from Cordelia’s room. Moving swiftly, I make it to her door just in time to find her in the arms of my brother, Clark. He was supposed to call me when he got here, but instead, he rushed right over to see her. 

My vision goes red. “Clark!” I shout. “What are you doing in my wife’s room?”

“I am doing what you should have been doing,” Turning towards me Clark stands up straighter, “I’m taking care of her. Unlike you. You should talk to April. She isn’t doing her job. Cordelia was all alone with a high fever.” 

He then goes back to spoon-feeding my wife. Her little pink lips as they drink down the broth make my blood boil as I remember her licking other, more intimate things. 

Is that what she’s been doing with my brother too? Is that why he’s here?

“Clark, you need to leave,” I clench and unclench my fists as I watch the display between the two of them as they flaunt their relationship in front of me. “I need to speak with my wife…alone.” 

I love my little brother, but if he doesn’t leave now, I am afraid of what I might do if he stays in this room much longer. 

Clark looks towards Cordelia for reassurance. “Cordy, If you need me…” He squeezes her hand before turning from her side and walking from the room.

I listen for his footsteps to fade down the hall before turning towards the woman I married. 

“Do you expect me to believe what was going on here a moment ago was innocent?” I confront Cordelia, “You might have succeeded had I not caught you.”

“Caught me?” She starts to cough, continuing her pretense of being ill. “Doing what? I don’t have the energy to argue right now when I don’t even know what we are arguing about.”

Her eyes begin to water as if I was the villain here. She’s the one ready to open her legs for any man who comes her way in a desperate attempt to have a baby. Did she think I’d stand by and watch it happen? 

“Tell me, Cordelia, how long have you two been fucking behind my back?” I gulp, taking a step forward and placing my hands on the bed to steady my nerves.

Her eyes open wide with shock at my crass words. “Wait. What?”

“You know what, I don’t care!” I push away from the bed, unable to look at her any longer.  “Just..don’t do it under my own roof, okay? Keep your affairs to yourself.”

“Keep my affairs to myself,” She shouts at my back, her tone mocking. “That’s rich!”

I turn around slowly. “What did you just say?” 

“I said that for someone who spends his nights and weekends screwing his secretary, you sure have a lot of nerve coming in here and telling me what to do with my life!” Her face is red and covered in tears as she points at me screaming. “I’m not the whore here. You are!” 

Her words feel like a slap across my face, making me sick to my stomach. I can’t believe she thinks I’m screwing around with Sydney or anyone else. I might not be interested in this marriage, but I’ve always been faithful. 

Or at least I was until I betrayed Angelica’s memory with my wife.

 “You can’t really think that I’ve…”

“I know you have, I've seen you two together!” She flops back on the bed. “You seem to have no problem throwing me aside whenever a pretty girl comes your way.”

Cordelia closes her eyes. “Just go away, Atlas.  I’m done trying to convince you of my innocence when I’ve done nothing wrong, or at least, nothing worse than you have done to me.”

“You know what, fine,” I give up. I can see there is no talking sense to her. “Do whatever you want, I can clearly see that you don’t give a damn.”

Slamming the door behind me, I walk downstairs.

This is stupid. How can she think that I’m having an affair with Sydney of all people? That girl is pure innocence, not to mention screwing around with her would be dangerous to our family and our reputation. She’s just a summer intern, I was asked to look after her at the behest of an important client, Bryant Textiles. 

Cordelia must think I’m the worst kind of man to think I’d be capable of something like that. 

Heading outside it only takes me a few minutes to find April. She has a basket of carrots on the ground next to her as she reaches into the soil to grab another. As soon as she sees me walking her way she stands up and smiles. “Young Master, you’re home early! I’ll…”

“Why didn’t you take care of Cordelia?” I cut her off. “She needed help and I had to come home and find my brother doing your job. Did she neglect to ask you for help?”

“Well no, Sir,” she answers honestly. “But I was busy with the laundry and so I told her she needed to get her own food. I don’t understand. Is there a problem?”

This woman helped raise me from the time I was a small child. She has always been such a competent and caring employee. But now I am wondering if she has been treating Cordelia like this the whole time and how I didn’t notice it before.

“So, if I am hearing you correctly, she asked you for help and you denied her your services,” I pause watching her expression as she realizes my tone has changed. “Remind me again why it is that we pay you. Is it time for us to find someone to replace you?”

She blanches, her face growing very pale as she answers, “But Sir, I’ve worked in this house for thirty years. She’s just some silly girl that you married for business. She isn’t worth the time.”

“She is my wife,” I remind her, giving her a cold, hard glare. “And the lady of this house. As such she deserves respect, as much respect as any other member of my family. Am I making myself clear?” 

April’s face falls. I think she was expecting me to take her side. No matter how I might feel about Cordelia, it is not okay for the staff to treat her like an outcast. 

“Yes, Sir,” she looks down to hide a tear, folding her arms behind her back. “If you’ll excuse me.”

April grabs the basket of carrots and rushes away,  almost bumping into Clark as he comes outside to talk. “So…is now a good time to talk about what happened a few minutes ago?” he begins. 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I grumble, still upset about the idea of his hands all over her body. “I don’t need to know the details.”

“The details,” his face is puzzled, until his eyes open wide in realization. “Look, brother, I don’t know what crazy idea you have in your mind right now, but I did try to let you know that your wife was sick. I called, I texted, and I even tried to email you. Didn’t you get any of my messages?”

Pulling my phone out of my jacket pocket, I noticed that I had neglected to check it. Sydney had been holding it for me and when she handed it back, she didn’t say anything about missed calls or messages.  Flipping through my phone I don’t see anything right away, but when I double check my phone record, I can see that he called 7 times. 

But each time it rang, the call was canceled before he could leave a message. His text messages had been erased as well.

I feel like such a jerk. I accused my brother of behaving badly without pausing long enough to hear him out. When I explained what had happened, Clark’s forgiving smile beamed as he clapped me awkwardly on the shoulder. “Hey, let’s start over, okay? You tell me about your day, and I tell you about the last four years…”

____

Clark and I stayed up past midnight catching up. Unfortunately, a late night made it hard for me to get up the next morning. So by the time I made it to the office, I was already exhausted before the day even began.

My first order of business is clearing up some expectations with my new secretary. 

“Hi, Boss,” she chirps as she comes into my office holding a tall cup of coffee which she placed down in front of me. She’s always so cheerful and bright, like a small yellow bird. 

“So Sydney, when I asked you to hold my phone yesterday,” I start, “I realize I didn’t clarify with you what I expected from you as my secretary.”

“Oh, did I do something wrong?” Her eyes are wide with surprise and worry.

“Why did you cancel all of my calls?” I ask her directly, using as few words as possible. “You could have taken my messages or let it go into voicemail.”

“I wasn’t sure what you wanted, Sir,” she blinks her hazel eyes, her long lashes making her look even more innocent. “You didn’t say and I didn’t want to bug you and I figured that if it were important enough they would call you back and…”

“Those calls were important, which is why they called me back seven times.” I explain, “And the messages you erased….”

“They were old. So I cleared them off your phone to make more room,” she explains brightly even though a tear is rolling down her cheek.

I sometimes forget how young she is. The same age as my wife, so barely more than a child. 

“Next time,” I speak slowly and clearly so that she does not misinterpret my words. “When I hand you my phone, just let the calls go to voicemail. Also, do not erase anything.”

“I understand,” she sobs, “I’m sorry. I was only trying to be helpful.”

“Mistakes happen,” I hand her a box of tissues, feeling a bit like a beast for making her cry, “But I need you to ask questions first before you act impulsively.”

“I won’t do that again, Sir,” she gives a small smile as she gently blots away her tears. “Please let me do something to make it up to you.”

I look around my office and see an old suitcase I had packed a while ago when I had considered moving into the office to get away from Cordelia. But now I think she needs my attention more than ever to keep her out of trouble. 

“Here,” I hand her the suitcase. “Can you get someone to take this back to my house? I don’t need it here anymore.”

“Sure thing, Boss,” she salutes taking it from me with a smile.  “I will not disappoint you.”

With my suitcase in hand, she leaves my office, gently closing the door.