An Arranged Affair

chapter 41 the fight

Victoria's POV

I walked into our bedroom, threw my purse on the bed and kicked off my now very uncomfortable shoes and Phillip followed behind me in a rage.

We had spent the next few hours at the police station being interviewed by the cops. The gun, with no fingerprints and not being registered was a dead end and Phillips lawyers managed to sort things out with the police.

" how the fuck do you have a gun licence that I do not know about?" he yelled.

" well obviously the people you paid to check up on me didn't do their jobs right." I screamed back.

"I demand an explanation!"

' you want an explanation, trust me, its not nearly what you think!" I yelled as I grabbed the photo album my brother had given me for Diwali and flipped the pages until I found it, an old newspaper article with me and two other kids holding up medals.

"I used to target shoot at for the school team. I was good , the best in my school, but as I got older Mumma started going mental about how shooting was not a proper sport for a young woman so she made me a deal, if I made it to the state competitions and won, I could continue to shoot. I was so excited, I had the chance at a sports scholarship if I could make it to nationals. But I only got a bronze, I choked in the final round, there was so much pressure.

When I got home I took all my medals and trophies and threw them in the trash, quit the team and never spoke to anyone about it again." My heart was heavy. It hurt so much to bring up those memories. I had always resented Mumma for making me give it up, even though I knew in her mind she was doing it for my own good.

" I guess I kept my licence valid just to spite my mum."

I handed him the photo album and went to change my clothes, I couldn't look at the article anymore, I wanted out of this dress and the overdone makeup.

When I came back I watched as he stared at another photo and he seemed calm. This one possibly brought back an even more painful memory.

It was me, dressed in a traditional Indian dance costume, in dance pose, smiling with all my heart.

'I threw myself into dancing after that, I loved Indian traditional and modern dance and I found it was a great way to express myself, but as I got older, nearing my 20's ,mum had an absolutely psycho moment about how no prospective family would ever want daughter in law who danced. She would fight and argue with me about it, she even stopped talking to me for a bit. In the end I had to quit, if only just to bring peace back to my family."

" What happened tonight?"

The memories if the afternoon flooded my mind and my encounter with Richard filled me with so much rage I started to shake.

" hey Tori babe, what happened?"

" Do not Tori babe me!" I hissed. " What do you think I am? Do you and Richard think this is some kind of joke? Do you think I am some kind of toy? A cheap cigarette to be passed around your drinking buddied? And how the hell did a gun get in your car? You had the keys all night!"

" I don't know! I got the valet boys to give my keys right to me after they parked my car. They totalled my Jag last year. Hey what happened between you and Richard?"

' What happened? What happened?" I screamed. 'Well your so called best friend offered me 10k to spend the night with him."

' what? No! Richard isn't like that. I don't believe you!"

" Yeah? Really?" I reached for my purse and pulled out the white key card. "Then why did he give me this?"

' What's this?" Phillip asked confused.

' This is the key card to his private suite. Did you know he's a pimp?"

" No way, I still don't believe it. This key card could be from anywhere."

' how can you not believe me? I have nothing to gain by lying!" I said angry and exasperatedly and threw my hands in the air. 'You know what , don't believe me. That's up to you. Its not like I am anything important to you." I yelled and grabbed my phone.

' Where are you going?" he yelled after me.

"To another room to sleep, I just cannot be around you right now.' I yelled as I slammed the door shut.

I stormed off to the same room that Simmi had stayed in, just hoping her presence was still there. It was late and I wanted to call her, to talk to her, to hear someone who would be on my side, but she had been so different, so depressed since the break up, I couldn't burden her with my problems.

i wasnt used to arguemets, all my life i had been told to shut up and ever question an elder who was telling you off, even if they were wrong, and as a result I didnt know how to defend myself now that I was in a fight, so I did what I had always done, run away to somehwere I could be alone and safe in my own company.

I wanted him to follow me, I wanted him to ask me to come back, to pull me into his arms and to tell me he believed me, I needed him to, but I knew he wouldn't.

He was a proud man and men with that much pride would never run after a woman.

So I took my anger, hurt and frustration out on the door, slamming it shut as hard as I could before I buried my head deep into the pillow and cried myself to sleep, my dreams filled with the perfect afternoon drive, his hands his touch, then the snarling face of Richard the snake and the pair of them laughing, while I banged on a door, not sure if I was desperate to get in or be let out.

Phillips POV

I drank.

I drank a lot.

What she said, what she had accused Richard of didn't make sense. He didn't have any problems getting women into bed - so if what she said was true, why would he do it?

I needed to talk to him, needed to find out the truth.

Firstly to ask what had happened and secondly to find out who put that god damn gun in my car.

But how could I ask him that? I had known him since I was ten, I stayed summers with his family during school holidays and his family had been my hosts and friends for the better part of my life.

Sure, how his family made their money was dubious, I knew he ran an escort agency for his wealthy friends, it wasn't illegal -but he wouldn't go so low as to do that to Victoria.....would he?

I stared at my phone , at his number on my screen.

It felt wrong, like almost a betrayal.

We had always promised that no woman would ever come between us, but this time it wasn't just any woman, no random one night stand or hired partner for the night, this was about my wife.

The woman I wanted to stay married to.

I look another sip if whatever was in my glass and dialled, the phone rang and rang and kept on ringing. I almost thought he wasn't going to answer but he did.

" Phillip mate! Where did you disappear to? The party's just getting started!" he shouted into the phone, in the background I could hear the lout music and the cheering of party goers .

" Richard can you find somewhere quiet, i need to talk to you."

" sure mate!" Cheryl darling get off my lap will ya?" i heard him say and the background noise was instantly dimmed as he stepped into somewhere more private.

" what's up?" he asked as I heard him light up a cigarette.

" hey do you have any new guys working the valet?" I asked. It was the easier question .

" yeah a few, why?"

" one of those little shits stashed a gun in my car, we got pulled over and the cops found it."

' no way! Are you sure it was one of them?"

" who else would it be? Stanford knows I hate guns."

" what about that chick of yours, what's her name? Vikki? Veronica? Vanessa?"

" Victoria and she's not just some chick, she's my wife."

" Chill man, geez, you're serious about this one eh?"

" Why wouldn't I be?"

" Well. Maybe it was hers, after all , you got mugged a few weeks ago right? Maybe she wanted some extra protection."

" what did you say to her at the party? She got so mad."

He started laughing, ' man that was hilarious, that girl cannot take a joke. I just mentioned that if things didn't work out between the two of you that she could come work for me, and could help her make a lot of money!"

' Shit man, that's not the kinda joke you make with my wife. She's my wife for God's sake!"

' hey chill! It was only a harmless joke, she took off like a spooked wildcat. Are you sure this girl is ' the one' ? you know how much you love the ladies, and they love you. Melissa has been asking for you."

' well I told her that our mutual agreement was over ,"

' ok, ok, Geez don't bite my head off, so you coming back to join me or what?"

' Nah man, you carry on." I said, I wasn't in any state to drive and wasn't in the mood to party anymore. I didn't know who to beleive.

I don't know when I stopped outside her door. I wanted to knock, not to apologize but at least try and make peace.

Instead I stood there and took another swig out of my bottle, the glass long forgotten in my study.

I was too drunk to do any. Hell, things had been so heated between us, if we started something tonight, I wasn't sure if I would be able to stop myself.

And I didn't what that, I didn't want my first time with her, her first time, to be passed in a drunken haze.

So I stumbled back to the study and fell asleep on the couch, not wanting to go back to our room and the bed that smelt like her perfume and fell asleep in my drunken stupor.

I only vaguely remember being covered with a blanket sometime in the early hours of the morning and the smell if her familiar perfume filling that air, but as I reached out to find her, I only found air