Unfaithful: Web Of Betrayal

“I absolutely love what you did with my bedroom … it’s a marvelous job, darling,” Kelly gave her a cheek-to-cheek with a wine glass in one hand.

It was a long overdue lunch meeting. Kelly invited Olivia to the Ritz Carlton, where she stayed for a few weeks while waiting for her house to finish. The hotel was not far from Pioneer Crest, so it was convenient for Olivia to take the short trip for a long lunch.

“I’m glad you like it. I tried to translate what you described as best I could… I hope you like the emerald green Roman chosen for the artwork?”

Kelly put both hands to her chest, “Oh … like them? I adore them … they’re perfect, you translate it perfectly, and Roman … it’s hard to believe that you’ve only started working together, what you both did to my house … it’s like a fairytale marriage I never had,” she laughed out loud.

Olivia laughed lightly. She put a napkin on her lap. It’s not the first time her client complimented her work with Roman, they’ve been doing quite some projects together, and everyone was beyond satisfied with the result. Roman knew her style like it was his own. He could combine his artwork with her color palette in his mind. She had never worked with anyone quite like that before.

“He’s a very talented artist,” Olivia didn’t take any credit for that.

Kelly raised her brows and sipped her wine, “So I see … and a delicious looking one, too,” she laughed cheekily. “Must be refreshing to work with someone like him,” she touched her arm and continued laughing.

Her comment made Olivia uncomfortable, but she tried to play along to avoid any suspicion. Kelly signaled a waiter to come to their table.

“I’m kidding … but you know what I mean … I’ve been married for so long and suddenly find myself so available everywhere I look … these men just seem to get prettier and prettier every day… so how are you and Declan? Everything good in that department? You wouldn’t worry about men getting prettier around you, right?” she giggled.

It seems like Kelly was a little tipsy. She probably had been drinking since she woke up. They ordered their lunch and a bottle of wine before Olivia could tell her about Declan’s plan for an IVF treatment.

“Oh wow … congratulations! I mean … it’s a big step to try again regardless of the outcome … although I’m sure it will be successful this time, or at least Declan will make sure that it is,” Kelly finished her glass.

“Hmm,” Olivia curved her lips, “I don’t know … there are things that even Declan couldn’t do … I think,” she laughed lightly.

Kelly tucked away strands of Olivia’s hair from her cheek, “It’s not easy, isn’t it? I mean … look at you. You are the embodiment of what most women want their life to be,” she chuckled, “Still … men … I don’t understand them … they always find a way to fuck things up, I won’t blame you if you’re having second thoughts about having any children with him, but if you ask me … it would strengthen your position in his family’s legacy if you can give them little ‘Hunts'”

Olivia stared at her in bewilderment, surely it never crossed her mind.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, the men we married are not exactly pursued for their chivalrous behavior … they’re chick magnets because of how rich they are, the only advantage we have over those other women who are willing to spread their legs for them are the bloodline that bound us with their family … it wouldn’t hurt to have his kids to secure your place in the family.”

Olivia listened intently as she ate her soup.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

“And these women who pursued them … they know exactly what they’re doing, so be careful … you’re not on the safe side yet, and Declan wanting to try again with an IVF is actually a good sign. He really adores you, doesn’t he? I wouldn’t be getting anything out of my miserable marriage if it weren’t for the kids … Greyson would make sure I get nothing except the agony of having to put up with all his shit for 21 years,” she chuckled.

“Well … that’s one way to look at it, I guess,” Olivia said.

“Of course, honey, these families are vicious … they’re very protective of their fortune, but … tsk,” Kelly brushed Olivia’s forearm, “I’m sorry … I don’t mean to put things in your head, it’s just that … I’m going through this God awful divorce, it’s not like you’re going to go through the same thing, … Declan is by far still much better than the rest of our husbands … he still loves you, and that’s the most important thing.”

Olivia forced a smile. She didn’t know how to respond to that.

“On a side note … though …” Kelly sipped on her wine again, almost blushing, “Do you think you can hook me up with that business partner of yours?” she giggled.

Olivia’s eyes widened. She almost choked on her soup. “Kelly?”

Kelly laughed out loud, “Not in that way … I was thinking … I want to make a portrait of myself … naked … do you know if he’d done anything like that?”

“I … have no idea … I can ask.”

Kelly squeezed her arm, “Will you? You’re such a doll … yeah … I’d like to have one for my bedroom as a souvenir for being single again after so long … and who knows … I might get lucky,” she winked at Olivia.

Olivia looked at her in confusion.

“You remember that scandal involving Roman, don’t you?”

She could barely close her mouth, “I can’t say I do … you didn’t finish your story the last time.”

“Aaah … of course … well,” she leaned closer to Olivia’s ear, “I’m surprised you didn’t know this already. It was quite the news back then when Roman left his home … he was involved with a married woman, his professor.”

Olivia was stunned. She couldn’t believe her ears.

“He was smitten by her, … she was 32 or something at the time, and he was barely legal …” she chuckled, “Brian and Elizabeth obviously opposed to the relationship especially because she was a married woman, and his Professor at the University … so Roman ran away from home to be with this woman.”

Kelly let out a long exhale and drank her wine, “Poor boy … the woman dumped him afterward, that’s what I heard, she patched things up with her husband, and Roman dropped out of college, and no one’s heard of him again until he was back here … and worked with you,” she glanced at her with a twinkle in her eyes. It almost felt like Kelly suspected something about the two of them.

“Wow … we’ve never discussed anything other than work … I had no idea,” she kept her cool.

“It was what the wives talked about for months … Brian was furious, he almost got the Professor fired from the University, Roman threatened to kill himself if he’d made her lose her job… that boy was a love-sick puppy, he’d do anything to defend his love for another man’s wife … ‘stupid’ was the word Elizabeth used for her son, her favorite son might I add … but love is stupid … I guess … and only to be dumped later to go back to her husband was tragic.”

Olivia had stopped eating at this point. She put her spoon down and wiped her lips with a napkin. She didn’t know if she was feeling sorry for Roman or uneasy knowing he’d been with a married woman before. “Oh my God … and he was so young.”

Kelly nodded, “Relationships like that change people. Especially when you’re that young … thinking it was true love when he was probably just a nice distraction from a dysfunctional marriage.”

Was he a nice distraction from her dysfunctional marriage? Olivia was rendered speechless.

“Do you know if he has a girlfriend? Probably a lot of them with that kind of experience such early on in his adolescent life?”

“He has a girlfriend actually … he introduced her on his birthday, a nice girl too,” Olivia gulped her wine. Though she knew the truth, it doesn’t mean she has to tell Kelly about it.

“Well … good for him, but still … ask him if he would do a portrait of me anyway,” Kelly giggled, “If there’s anyone I’d like to post naked for … it might as well be him.”

Olivia forced a smile, “Sure.”