Chapter 23: Jealousy

“Take your hand off her cheek,” Vivian gritted out as Sarah kept pinching Harley’s chubby cheek.

“Aw, I can’t. Your daughter is so adorable,” Sarah said and winked at me as teasing Vivian.

We were having dinner at one of the attractive restaurants in New York. Vivian had asked me for dinner and I couldn’t say no because of Harley. So I’d brought Sarah with me. She was pissing him off for an hour and I couldn’t help enjoying both of them. They both were fighting like Tom and Jerry.

Sarah cleared her throat. “Harley, you want mum, right? I’m ready to be your mum.” She caught Vivian at the corner of her eyes as noticing his reaction.

Vivian scowled at her. “She wants mum, not a sibling. You don’t even know how to use a napkin properly!” He snapped at her and I broke into a laugh.

Her eyes widened as she glowered at him. “I know how to use a napkin. Let me show you.” She took out a napkin and blew her nose into it and handed it to him. "Check it out."

“You…! Take this shit away!” He snarled.

Harley and I couldn’t help and burst into laughter. I’d never laughed so much in my life before.

Suddenly, Harley stood up. “Viv, I want to pee.”

Vivian was about to stand up, but Sarah interrupted him. “I’m taking her,” she said and rose to her feet. “Let’s go baby before you soak yourself.”

“I’m not a baby,” Harley said firmly.

“You’re my baby. Let’s go.” Sarah grabbed Harley’s hand, and they walked towards the restroom.

We watched them as they disappeared around the corner. “Why don’t you marry her?” I asked Vivian.

“I don’t want another baby girl,” he said while glancing through the menu card. “I’ve never seen her in this way. She is more like my sister.” I smiled at him and studied his muscled arms, which were filled with black ink. He had a heart tattoo on his left hand. “Anyway, I don’t want to marry again.”

Suddenly, our attention was caught by the clicking of cameras and people’s murmurs. I turned my head to the entrance gate, where the crowd of people gathered. Some of them were paparazzi, and some were common people. The next thing I knew, a familiar figure was entering through the gate. Henry. He was with a woman. When they came closer, I studied her face. She was stunningly beautiful with soft sapphire eyes and a smooth complexion. She looked familiar like I’d seen her somewhere.

“Your husband,” Vivian said while watching them. “With Hollywood actress Kate Winget.” Oh, that’s why she looked familiar. Probably I’d seen her in one of the movies. “They are coming towards us.”

Hell no! Don’t come!

I bowed my head down and placed my hand on the side of my face so that Henry would not notice me.

“What are you doing?” Vivian asked.

“I’m hiding…” before I could complete myself.

“What are you doing here?” I heard his deep voice from behind me. After a moment of silence, I looked up, facing him with a forced smile.

“What do I look like I am doing here? Of course, I’m here for dinner.” I gave him a tight smile.

“Who’s she, Henry?” Kate asked in her smooth voice. I glanced at her and was mesmerized by her beauty.

“She is his…” Before Vivian could say anything more, Henry cut him off.

“She is one of my employees,” he said, and my eyes widened in surprise. Employee? I’m his wife! I watched his expression and there was no sign of shame on his face as he lied to her like I was really his employee. How could he not accept me as his wife in front of the public?

I hate him!

“What are you doing here, Vivian?” Kate asked, glancing at him. “You’ve come here for a date, right? And…”

“Shut up Kate!” Henry snapped at her and shut her up.

“Yeah. We’ve come here for a date,” I said quickly and held Vivian’s hand. He frowned, as he didn’t understand my gesture. I pleaded with him through my eyes, ‘don’t snatch your hand.’ And finally, he understood and let me hold his hand for a show.

“See, I’m right,” Kate said with a smile. “I’m so happy for you.”

Vivian nodded curtly and said nothing.

I could feel Henry’s fierce stare on my neck. Anyway, I wasn’t feeling ashamed because he was the one who should have been ashamed. How could he be so mean? He didn’t want to let his beautiful date know he had a wife in the same room.

“Let’s go. I’m hungry,” Kate said and grabbed Henry’s hand before dragging him towards their table across from us. I looked at them as they sat down across from each other and her hand interlocked with his. I felt the fire inside me. I wanted to push her away from him and tell her the truth. But it wasn’t her mistake, it was Henry who was playing with two women.

“He hates you, right?” Vivian said, glancing at them.

I refused to look into his eyes. “Don’t talk about him.”

After a few minutes, Sarah shouted at Harley. “Hey, don’t run. You’ll fall.” Harley ran towards the table, gasping for air.

She couldn’t jump on the chair because it was too high for her small size. “Let me help you.” I picked her up and sat her down on the chair.

“Whoa! Who is coming here?” Sarah blurted out once she noticed Henry and Kate. “You should have been in Italy. What are you doing here?”

“Just mind your own business!” Henry snapped at her and stared at me.

“Can’t you be a gentleman?”

He rolled his eyes and ignored her words, as usual, his permanent behavior, ignoring people.

Sarah looked at us. “Why is he so rude? I don’t understand why those bitches are crazy about him.”

“Sarah! Language.” I hissed. “Harley is here.”

“Oh, sorry.” She rubbed her forehead.

The server approached our table to take the orders. We ordered fried chicken, a veg sandwich, and chocolate cake. Fried chicken for Vivian and Sarah and I took a veg sandwich and Harley loved chocolate cake.

After a few minutes, the server served our food. “Yummy.” Harley licked her lip, and I smiled. Vivian and Sarah talked about their family business, which was out of my concern.

I took a bite of my sandwich and glanced at that couple who were sitting across our table. Henry was talking to Kate professionally, and they locked their eyes with each other. The next moment she squeezed his hand gently, and he didn’t withdraw his hand. My appetite was gone, seeing my husband with another woman. But I kept eating as I did not want him to know that he was unknowingly hurting me. I took another bite of bread, but it went the wrong way as I choked up, coughing hard.

“Alice.” Vivian handed me a glass of water and rubbed my back.

“Are you okay?” Sarah came to my side.

“Why are you looking at him again and again? Don’t tell me you are feeling jealous?” she growled at me.

I coughed quietly. “A-are you crazy? Why would I be feeling jealous?”

She grabbed my chin and forced me to look into her eyes. “You are lying.” She held my eyes for a few seconds like reading my mind. “Ok, let’s play a game. Let’s check if he feels jealous or not,” she smirked.

“What are you going to do?” I and Vivian said simultaneously.

She glanced across the table. “Let’s see.” She grabbed Vivian’s hand and dropped it on my thigh.

I jerked away. “What the hell are you doing, Sarah?” I whispered.

“Just wait and watch.” She gave me a playful wink. She returned to her seat with Harley. Vivian sat beside me with his hand on my thigh.

“Harley, what do you think about your future mom? Aren’t they looking cute together?” Sarah said loudly on purpose so that she could catch Henry’s attention.

“I like both of them together. Alice is like a princess and Viv is like a king.” Harley grinned, showing her full white teeth, and Vivian’s smile widened.

The next moment Henry threw back his wine, coughing hard. “What’s wrong, Henry?” Kate rubbed his back and handed him a glass of water. “Are you okay?”

He wiped his mouth and narrowed his eyes at me, and I quickly looked away.

I took a bite of my sandwich. “Alice, your mouth.” Sarah pointed at the corner of my mouth.

“What!”

“You’ve got cheese at the corner of your lips.” She slipped a napkin towards Vivian. “Help her.”

“What the fuck are you doing, Sarah? She can do this by herself. She is not a child.” Vivian growled and slipped a napkin towards me.

I wiped the cheese at the corner of my lips. “Look, what she is doing. Now you look like a clown, Alice. You spread your red lipstick all over your face.” Sarah was getting on my nerves.

Vivian snatched a napkin from my hand. “Look at me,” he ordered, and I turned my head to him. He gripped my chin and tilted my head and cleaned my lipstick. His hot breath fell across my face and made me blush hard. He was very close to me and I could smell his minty breath.

Suddenly, the noise of broken glass echoed in the room and made me jump in fright.

I snapped my head at Henry’s table and watched chunks of glass scattered across. Henry threw the glass purposely. “What happened, Henry?” Kate growled, but he didn’t reply to her and stood up to leave.

“I gotta go!” He gritted his teeth, and I could feel the anger in his voice. Without another word, he dashed out of the restaurant.

“Did you see him? How angry was he?” Sarah laughed. “Oh, my God. He was feeling jealous. I can’t believe he was jealous of Vivian.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Why would he not? After all, Vivian is so handsome and rich. Every woman wants him.”

I don’t want him. I want my husband.

Vivian chuckled. “Shut up, Sarah.” He looked at me. “He has always been like that but I do accept he was jealous.”

I said nothing at their comments and kept silent.

*****

“Did you enjoy the dinner?” Vivian asked me.

I looked at him, smiling. “I loved it. I’ve never been so happy before. Thank you for bringing me here.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “No, thank you for making my daughter happy.”

We stood outside the restaurant, waiting for our cars. “It was an amazing dinner.” Sarah smiled. “Alice, I will drive you back home.” I nodded and followed her towards her car.

I stumbled when something hit my legs and I was about to fall, but Vivian wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me into him.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, thank you.” I smiled and was about to pull myself away from him, but a hand gripped me and yanked me away.

“Stay the fuck away from her!” Henry shouted and flung a punch right into Vivian’s face, making him bleed.

“What the fuck is that?” Vivian wiped his blood off his nose, glaring at Henry.

“Dad is bleeding!” I heard Harley’s voice from behind us. I quickly turned to her, finding tears in her eyes.

Oh no!

“Sarah, could you please take her in the car?” I asked her. She, too, looked worried, but she gave me a nod and took Harley away.

“No!” Harley protested and didn’t want to leave her father alone.

I sat on my knees. “Baby, dad will come after a few minutes. Don’t worry. He is going to be okay.” I gave her a forceful smile before nodding at Sarah, and she quickly dragged her into the car.

I approached Henry and pushed him away. “You can’t punch him like that!” I growled.

He didn’t acknowledge my presence and kept glaring at Vivian as if he wanted to strangle his neck. “I can punch him even harder if he’ll try to touch you again!” he said through the teeth.

Vivian came to my side and pulled me into his arms. “I can, what will you do, huh?” He provoked him.

Henry quickly grabbed him by the collar. “Don’t you dare, fucker!”

“Weren’t you the one who refused to accept her as your wife in front of that hottie?”

“This is none of your fucking business!”

“This is my business. You don’t even care about her feelings. Would you ever think about how she feels when you insult her and refuse to accept her as your wife in front of people? But I care about her. So much.”

The tears rolled down my cheeks as I looked at both of them. Henry finally let him go. “Oh really, finally you forget your late wife and fall for another woman?” His tone held a hint of sarcasm.

Vivian quickly pushed me aside and lunged at him, punching him right in his face. “Fuck you, Henry! Here you went wrong!” Before Henry could recover from his punch, he punched him again. Henry lost his balance and his body collapsed on the harsh road. “Don’t the fuck talk about my wife ever again!”

“Don’t touch what’s mine. And she is mine, not yours?!” Henry barked, glaring at him hard.

She is mine.

She is mine.

Henry stood up and grabbed me and ignored his bleeding nose and broken arm and took me into his car.