play in the big leagues, this is how it is. It’s been fun. Goodbye.” He walked to the front door and out of the apartment, as Coco felt like someone had squeezed all the air out of her. He was a bad guy, and always had been, just great in bed. She lay there for a long time thinking about it, realizing what a fool she had been. She wanted to hate him, but she didn’t. She hated herself.
She got up and took a shower and dressed. She was quiet when Sam came to see her that night. By the time he came, she had taken off the Cartier bracelet with the little gold screwdriver, and the ring Ed had given her, and put them away. She wanted no reminders of him anywhere. It had gone on for almost a year and suddenly it was over.
“What’s up? Are you upset about something?” He always knew. She started to tell him, stopped herself, and then decided to tell him the truth. She told him a modified, slightly tamer, less X-rated version of the last nine months, and admitted to the affair with Ed, that he had played her and lied to her, and she had just been a diversion for a married man. Sam looked furious, not at her, but at Ed.
“I told you the guy’s a player. What a son of a bitch. He took total advantage of you and the state you were in, and the role your father entrusted him with. What a pig.”
She smiled at the intense look on his face. “I was the idiot,” she said, feeling ashamed. She’d had an affair with a married man for nine months, thinking he had an “arrangement” with his wife and he was going to marry her. He had won in the end, and she felt like a fool.
“You’re just young, Coco. The guy is thirty years older. He knows how to play the game.”
“I fell for it because he was exciting,” she said, remorseful.
“You need to play it safe next time. The exciting ones are usually dangerous, and he is. But at least you figured it out in the end. I still love you,” he said, and put an arm around her.
“You’re not mad at me for lying to you about him?”
“You had to experience it for yourself. You’ll know better next time.” She nodded, and they grabbed popcorn in the kitchen, and sat down to watch movies together. She was grateful he was her friend. Ed was everything Sam had said. He lived in the fast lane, and had run over her like a bus. She was surprised to find that her heart wasn’t broken but her pride was badly bruised.
Chapter 3
The anniversary of her parents’ death was a hard day for Coco. She and Sam drove out to the Hamptons, where she felt especially close to them. They had shared such happy times there. She remembered every moment of the year before vividly, and the last time she saw them. She and Sam walked on the beach together and she cried. She still missed them acutely and she knew that her experience with Ed would never have happened if her father were alive. He would have protected her. Sam tried to, but she wouldn’t listen. She hadn’t heard from Ed in a month, and it was awkward having him as her trustee, but she didn’t need any advice from him about the estate for now. She was thinking of trying to get a change of trustee, but she wasn’t sure how to do it. She doubted that he would fight it, for fear she would expose him and how he had taken advantage of her, which wouldn’t have sat well with a judge.
She had learned a lesson from it, and made a vow to herself. No married men no matter what they said about “an arrangement” with their wife. And no more exciting guys. She was going to keep her eyes open for a “normal” one if she fell in love again. Sam was right.
As they walked down the beach on the anniversary of her parents’ death, Coco said sadly, “Who will walk me down the aisle, if I ever get married?” Tears were rolling down her cheeks, and Sam smiled.
“I will. That’s an easy one. Just make sure you marry the right guy. We’re both too young to get married anyway. That’s a big responsibility. I’m not ready for it, and you’re