Secret Indiscretions by Trice Hickman Read Free Book Online Page A

status.
    Once they said, “I do,” things between them had changed. Vivana stopped going out with him. They argued over simple things they used to do, like going out to eat, watching a movie, going to concerts, and any other type of leisure activity he wanted to do. She didn’t have many friends and she’d never bothered to introduce him to the few she had. And what made things even more strained was that she didn’t involve herself in anything related to his career. She had long stopped attending events at Sandhill and she never showed her face at any of the community meetings or festivals that the school routinely hosted. It was a stark contrast to the kind of relationship he’d watched his parents build since he was a child.
    If ever there was a blueprint to follow as an example of true teamwork, Samuel knew that his parents were it. They’d been each other’s study partner in college, and after graduating in the top ten percent of their class, they’d both worked long hours, side by side, in training programs to gain business and leadership experience. They scored their biggest accomplishment when they walked down the aisle and became husband and wife. And while their marriage was more a partnership than a love connection, Herbert and Sarah’s union was still going strong after forty years, and they remained each other’s biggest supporter. Samuel smiled at the thought of his parents and wished he had the same kind of support in his relationship that they had in theirs.
    He put his papers to the side when the doorbell rang. The delivery guy, who appeared to be in his mid-fifties, greeted Samuel with a smile and sweat dripping down his round face. “Good to see you, Dr. Owens,” the man said.
    Samuel smiled back. “Likewise, Paul. How’s it going?”
    â€œCan’t complain. Just hot as hell out here tonight, especially without the AC working in my car. But fall is around the corner and I’m looking forward to the cooler weather because I don’t do well with this kind of heat.”
    â€œI know what you mean, man.” Samuel was getting damp just standing in the doorway. A few minutes later he returned to the couch, hunched his body over the tray table, and began devouring the wings and pizza as if it were lobster and steak.
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    As Samuel finished his third slice of pizza, he again thought about his marriage, and how he was growing tired of it all. He was fed up with trying to please someone who acted as though they couldn’t care less about him. “Why am I living a loveless existence?” he asked himself out loud.
    He’d suggested many times that they seek marriage counseling to improve their relationship. But each time he brought up the subject, Vivana looked at him as if he’d lost his mind before telling him no. Then another argument would ensue before she stomped downstairs where she would sleep for the night.
    Samuel was a man of logic and reason, and he knew he had to take the same advice he gave to his teachers and their students: if he wanted different results he was going to have to start changing things up. He’d been passive for far too long, which was contradictory to the bold entrepreneur he’d once been. His logical mind, along with his common sense, gave him the answer about what he needed to do.
    â€œI deserve more. I deserve better,” he said, “and if Vivana can’t give me what I need, I’m prepared to call it quits.”

Chapter 5
    G ENEVA
    â€œI think he’s cheating on me,” Geneva said to Donetta as she stood in front of the oval mirror, styling her pixie-cut hair with a generous amount of mousse.
    â€œOf course he is,” Donetta said, not holding back. “He’s a damn dog who’s sneaky as a fuckin’ snake.”
    â€œI didn’t want to believe it, but now I have no other choice.”
    It was seven thirty in the morning, and Geneva and