Eye for an Eye by Dwayne S. Joseph Page B

It looked very expensive. She frowned. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I’m usually not one to run behind.”
    â€œIt’s fine,” Aida said. “I usually give clients a thirty-minute grace period anyway.”
    â€œThanks for giving me an extra ten minutes.”
    Aida nodded.
    Vivian stared at her long and hard for a few seconds. It was intense and made Aida slightly uncomfortable, though she didn’t really know why.
    â€œYou’re Puerto Rican?” Vivian asked.
    â€œYes,” Aida answered, wondering what that had to do with anything.
    â€œI can tell by the accent. And your looks, of course. I’ve been there a couple of times. Beautiful island. Were you born there?”
    â€œYes,” Aida answered curtly.
    â€œI’ve thought about living there. Had to be great to have grown up there.”
    â€œI moved to New York when I was four.”
    â€œOh.”
    Aida cleared her throat. “So, tell me why you’re here.” It was time to get down to business. Enough of the small talk.
    Vivian sighed. “My husband, Griffin, he . . . he . . .”
    â€œHe . . . ?”
    Vivian sighed again. “He’s unfaithful. Well . . . he’s having an affair.”
    Aida nodded. “And how do you know this?”
    â€œI found text messages and pictures in his phone. He was taking a shower when a text came through. His phone’s usually off. He has two cell phones. One is for personal use. The other is for business. He travels a lot, working for the government. His business phone is for international calls. When he’s home, which is once or maybe twice a month, he usually has it off and just uses the personal one. I don’t know why he had it on this day. Well . . . I do know why.”
    â€œWhat did the texts say?” Aida asked. It wasn’t really pertinent information that she needed. She was just being nosy.
    Vivian frowned again. “It said ‘Hi, sexy. I’m missing you and those kisses of yours already. Hurry back here.’” Vivian paused and dug into her purse, a Coach bag, and removed a travel pack of tissues. She pulled one out and blotted her eyes, which had begun to water. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I swore I wasn’t going to cry. After I saw the text, I went through the phone and found pictures of him with another female. I think she’s from the Philippines. He goes there a lot. In some of the pictures, they were kissing.”
    Aida nodded. “And did you confront him?”
    Vivian shook her head. “No.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    Vivian dabbed at her eyes again. “I . . . I don’t know.”
    â€œSo what did you do with what you found?”
    â€œUnfortunately I never got a chance to do anything.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œBefore I could even think about what to do, he turned the shower off. I panicked and closed the phone and put it back down where it was quickly before he came out of the bathroom.”
    â€œOK. And did you get another chance to go through the phone after that?”
    Vivian nodded. “I did.”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œAnd the pictures and texts were all gone.”
    â€œDid you check the phone completely?”
    â€œYes. The inbox, the outbox, the draft folder. Everything was gone. Well, everything not work-related.”
    â€œAnd you never said anything to him?”
    â€œNo.”
    Aida shook her head. She never understood women like Vivian. “So basically, you have no proof that your husband has been cheating?”
    Vivian frowned. “No.”
    â€œMy associate says you think he’s been cheating on you for a few years.”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œHave you found pictures or texts before?”
    Vivian shook her head. “No. This was the first time. But I’ve smelled other women on him. Well, other women’s perfume. And I’ve found strands of hair that were completely different