The Hands of Time

Veronica Vaughn-Theros sat in a dark candlelit room waiting nervously on the confines of her living room sofa. Not a noise entered her thoughts. Her children were spending the night with their godparents.

Her dinner sat on the table untouched. The candles had run over her white linen tablecloth, ice that was chilling the champagne in a large silver bucket had melted and yet she couldn’t move from the couch. She clutched the fluffy couch pillow and cried into it.

Tonight had been their six-year anniversary. It had been a night that she planned to celebrate the marriage vows they had taken. It was a marriage that was once one sided.

A marriage that was based on admiration and mutual respect. They created two beautiful children. She had learned to love him the way he had loved her and it had taken her four years to do so but now she could honestly say that she was in love with her husband. So many years she spent pining over her first love Drew.


Alex was her best friend after some very trying times in her life. She had turned for him for comfort and he was there. He was always there. Now where is he, because he isn't here?

She thought that love was supposed to last forever, She still believed in fairy tales when her heart broke for the first time. Her first love had abandoned her when she needed him the most. She turned to Alex after her first love had told her he hated her. The words cut like a sword with a quick jolt to her heart. She wasn’t sure how she survived it but she did.

It wasn’t long that her and Alex’s friendship developed into more. He convinced her he would always be there for her.

“ Where is he?” she asked herself tearfully

She cried into the pillow that she clutched into her arms. She Feared something was wrong but in the pit of her stomach she knew it wasn’t an accident. Her instincts told her that he was drifting away.

Now? They had Natalie and Nathan to think about. She needed him now more than ever. They needed him. They were a family. She had stayed with him for the kids even when she was so in love with Drew. Drew had come to her and asked her to leave Alex many times but by the time she was finally willing to he had moved on. Drew was living happily ever after with Chelsea. They were now trying to have their own baby. They would have their own family soon and she would be left alone. With a heart that’s been broken twice.



Alex wouldn’t forget their anniversary she thought she got up from her red couch and made her way to the kitchen counter of her loft and grabbed her keys. She caught her reflection in the full-length mirror; she walked closer to it when she noticed a gentle trace of black streaks. Her blue eyes now a brilliant aquamarine as the formation of tears escaped. She ran her fingers through her chestnut locks. She looked again at her reflection. She had bought this low cut black dress for him. It was a bit more revealing than something she would have bought before but she wanted his attention tonight. If just for one night he would see her and remember that he loved her.

She touched the pearls he had given her on their first anniversary, then patted down the wrinkles that formed in her dress as she sat waiting hopelessly for him. She placed her hand on her stomach and remembered how she had carried their children in her womb for nine long months and had given birth to them. She was happy that she had managed to keep her figure. She had even begun to lose weight in the past three months. Alex’s late nights have kept her with an uneasy feeling. She was going to get down to it. Tonight.

No more living a lie.



Chapter 2

Rikkilynn

Her black escalade pulled out from their parking garage. Nikki wasn’t exactly sure where she was headed she just knew that she wanted to give Alex a piece of her mind. How dare he forget their wedding anniversary? Her mind wondered in circles as she thought about the last six years. Her thoughts went from Drew to Alex and then to the birth of their two children.


She didn’t have to drive long. His car had been at D& E’s. “ He’s at work” she reassured herself. Maybe all her thoughts of him cheating were just her imagination. Alex had been a good husband to her. They were just going through a rough patch. That’s why she wanted tonight to be special.


She got out of the car placing her black stilettos on the pavement and closing the door quietly behind her, she hit the alarm. She fumbled through her keys searching for the key. Her heart raced with adrenalin making just a simple task difficult. Her hand shakily put the key in the lock and twisted.


She walked quietly in the empty lobby with the exception of a distinctive clicking sound that her heals made. She cursed herself for wearing them not only were they pinching her small feet they were going to make it difficult for her to sneak up on him. She pushed the up button when she reached the elevator. It opened immediately she rested herself against the brass railing, taking her shoes off her feet.

Seconds later the elevator dinged for the second time. Her heart raced and thumped as she exited the elevator.

She told herself that maybe she had overreacted. Perhaps she was just jumping to conclusions. She wished for a miracle. Her thoughts were interceded as she made her way through the darkened office there was just one light on. She followed the luminescent light that led her to his office.

She froze in her tracks, staring at Alex and another brunette entangled in his arms. He was making love to another woman on his desk. Their wedding picture that adorned his desk had fallen off in the process. She was only there a second but that second seemed like an eternity. That second would change everything. Her heart sank, tears began to well up and she started to leave unannounced. She walked three steps backing up and then cursed herself for being naive all this time. She wasn’t the Nikki Vaughn she knew. No, she was no longer Nikki Vaughan though was she? She was now Veronica Vaughan-Theros. She had changed. She didn’t know who she was anymore. She had adjusted her life to meet the needs of her family. The fire that burned inside of her died out the night Drew told her to marry Alex. She had and here lied her fate seeing Alex entangled in a woman’s arms not just anyone but her sisters.

She couldn’t breathe how was she to say anything. She took in two deep breaths and whimpered out a sob. They didn’t even know she saw them they had been so involved at making love the sounds that plagued her mind echoed in her ears over and over as Alex whispered he loved her.

He had told her sister that he loved her. Her heart broke all over again. The images of their children flashed in her head. They adore him so much. She adored him how could this be happening to her again? This time she had no one. Her sister and her husband had betrayed her.


She cursed herself for letting her guard down. She came here willing to give her a piece of her mind and damn it she was going to do it. He wasn’t going to get away with this. She would forgive him because she wasn’t going to lose the man she loved. She needed him. Their children needed him. They needed each other. She marched into the room and announced her presence.

“ Happy Anniversary”

Her voice shook with anger and humiliation.