Unfaithful: Web Of Betrayal

Olivia …

When he found out her real name, where she lived, who her husband was, and where her new studio was, it snowballed from there. He wanted to know more about her life and what she tried to hide from him.

It was easy to find information about the couple since Declan was quite well-known in the business industry. There were articles about him, his family, and the diamond company they own. There were articles about how he married the beauty queen from one of the pageants his company funded. There were pictures of 22-year-old Olivia as a beauty queen, 25-year-old Olivia on her wedding day, and not much else after that. As if she had retreated to the background, and the only news he could find was about Declan’s achievements and his company’s major deals.

He wasn’t satisfied with that. So he hired a private investigator to dig further. That’s when he found out about Sienna. The woman Declan was having an affair with. Then he dug in deeper about her too. She was 36 years old at the time of the affair, Olivia was 33. There was nothing special about the other woman; she was married with no children, worked at Declan’s company as a Senior Manager in one of his departments, and was not a beauty queen in any sense.

Comparing Sienna to Olivia would be like comparing Camilla Parker Bowles to Diana Spencer. But men seek what they seek, and it’s not always about beauty and appearances. What happened there? Roman was intrigued.

He was more intrigued with Olivia, of course. He found out about her miscarriages and her medical history when she was trying to get pregnant. She stopped going for treatment after a while and followed by the affair. How did she find out about the affair? What did she do after that? How has she coped with the truth and moved on with her marriage? Is she still hurting? Was that why she let down her guard and let him slip into her life? The more these questions occurred, the more answers he wanted to know.

At first glance, her smile looked sad. After Roman learned more, he started to look at it differently. Her smile was subtle, yet it showed the strength of how far she had come out of the devastation she had endured. Her walls were high, guarding whatever was left of her heart. And he tore it down. For a brief moment, he broke through that wall and saw what a wonderful thing they could have together, and he didn’t want to let go of that. Learning about Declan’s infidelity assured him that he had to be the one to save her. A foolish male ego who didn’t understand how marriage really works. He was a stubborn young man who could’ve gotten out of that mess to find someone else and not complicate his life.

Instead, he told her to keep the scarf he had put around her that night. He didn’t need it; he had plenty of those. Knowing she was wearing something of his gave him a sense of comfort. He asked her if she would like to have a cup of coffee with him sometime, to which she declined politely with the sweetest smile. Then he did the next probable thing he could do to keep himself in the picture. He waited for her where she always bought her morning coffee and walked her back to her studio so he could talk to her.

“What are you doing tonight?” he asked in front of her studio.

She laughed at his persistence and shook her head in disbelief, “Probably working, sketching for remodeling a client’s bedroom.”

“I can help you with that,” he sipped on his coffee.

“That’s very thoughtful of you … but no, thanks; I might need to get you to look at the place, though, she was interested in one of your pieces, but she wanted it custom-made.”

He curved his lips, “Cool … when?”

“In a few days, I’ll let you know once the sketch is ready,” she tucked one hand in her pocket.

It was hard not to look at him. He was too good of sight not to look at.

It didn’t go unnoticed; he could see it in her eyes; it was how she said ‘yes’ to him. He smiled.

“My doors are always open for you … we can look at the sketch together.”Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

She giggled, “Nice try … look, we can go together to the client’s house. I’m gonna go now,” she pointed to the door.

“Okay … I’ll see you later.”

He only needed that ‘yes’ from her every once in a while. Through her eyes and smile, she was screaming for him to break down her walls again. He will make it through if he is persistent enough to keep going. So he waited patiently.

He spent his day in the gallery explaining some artworks to visitors whenever he was not working upstairs. His painting studio was on the third floor, as well as his photo studio. It’s a lonely life to be an artist; he works by himself most of the time, alone with the thoughts he expresses through his work. Part of what makes him productive is actually the pain; sometimes, he thinks maybe he’s addicted to the pain because he always seems to be chasing something he couldn’t have.

When the night comes, he often spends his time outside for a drink, meeting other people, taking home a girl, and having a bit of fun. But his favorite thing to do was to watch Olivia from the end of his lens, especially when she was working late. He decided to stay in that night, smoking his cigarette on his balcony and trying his luck yet again.

He took his phone out and called her office. He could see her at her desk from where he stood. She was alone. She picked up the phone.

Olivia: Good evening, Urban Aesthetic. How may we help you?

Roman: Hi …

Olivia: (Recognizes his voice, pauses for a moment) Hi …

Roman: Busy?

Olivia: (Leaned back on her chair and tilted her head to see if she could see him on his terrace) I thought I finish this week’s work so I could go out on surveys for the rest of the week

Roman: (Took a drag of his cigarette) Do you want to take a break and have dinner?

Olivia: (Laughed lightly) Are you asking me out to dinner? (She saw him and walked over to her window)

Roman: I’m still allowed to do that, aren’t I?

Olivia: Since when did you smoke?

Roman: (Looked in Olivia’s direction) Since two years ago.

Olivia: (Folded her arms) Where do you want to have dinner?

Roman: What are you in the mood for?

Olivia: (Rubber her face, she couldn’t believe she was considering it, but she was feeling quite hungry) I don’t know … anything, really.

Roman: Do you want to come over? We’ll just order takeout… you can take a look at some of my other works you haven’t seen.

Olivia: (Curved her lips, looked at Roman)

Roman: I promise to behave.

Olivia: (Laughed, leaned on her window sill, still looking at him) You have to put on a shirt, though.

Roman: (Realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt) Of course … if that’s all it takes … I’ll put on an overcoat if I have to.

Olivia: You know what I mean … do you promise to be nice?

Roman: (Raised his arm after he made a cross sign in his chest) Cross my heart and hope to die … I’ll be good.

Olivia: (Laughed) Okay … I’ll finish up in here and I’ll come over.