3 Years

65 - Spying

Nia arrived at her mother's apartment building rather fast; it wasn't that far away from her own. She thought about why she's been so scared to tell her parents and brother about the false marriage; it wasn't necessarily that it was too much for them (well, that was part of it), but it was loads for her too. She wished she could skip the explanation part and just transfer all her memories with them instantly to avoid that whole conversation.

She was going to tell them, but then Ricky came home and told her how Nini initially reacted. Nia was afraid her family would do the same, so she's been ignoring it.

But now, she realizes how stupid and silly it is to put it off any longer. Her actual love life was down the drain (a story for another time), so what was she trying to hide?

Nia rode the elevator up, watching the numbers tick by. She took deep breaths when the doors opened to her mother's floor. She gave herself a pep talk too on her way to the door.

She stood there and heard voices coming from the inside. She knocked, and everything went silent. She heard footsteps approaching, and her brother opened the door. "Ryan?" she questioned. "What are you doing here?"

He had a blank look on his face and turned back to their mother for a moment. "Nia... there's something I need to tell you." He stepped to the side to let her come in; she did so, skeptical of the situation.

"Hey, sweetie," her mother, Raven, greeted as she stood to hug her. "Sit down."

"Uh, ok?" Nia did as told, and Ryan sat on the other side of her. "What's going on, guys? You're scaring me."

"Nia," Ryan said delicately. "I was at the park last night just taking a walk and, um..." He looked at Raven, and she nodded. "I saw your husband there."

Oh fuck. "Really?" she said, her voice becoming higher.

"Mhm." Nia could see regret and guilt in his eyes. "But he wasn't alone."

Shit, fuck, hell. "Ryan, before you-"

"No, you need to know."

"But I think-"

"He was with another woman!" Raven blurted.

"No, no, no you guys have it all wrong-" Nia tried to say.

"But I know what I saw," Ryan insisted. "Look, I even have proof." He pulled out his phone and showed them a picture. "I know it's dark and difficult to see, but I promise you that it was him."

What the fuck? "Why would you take a creepy picture?" Nia questioned.

"That's what you're focusing on?!" Ryan said, astounded.

"Yes, it's kind of disturbing! You spied on them!? And why did you zoom in so close?!

"Nia, what's disturbing is that your husband is a lying cheater! He went behind your back last night and out with someone else."

"No, he didn't; that-"

"Explain that then," her mother interrupted. "Oh, your dad is going to kill him when he finds out." Their dad lived in Dallas for his job.

"Is he here? Did he come with you?" her brother questioned, standing up.

"No, he's at home with Noah," she said, pulling him back to sit down. The first full sentence I've been able to finish. "Look, first off, that picture is very difficult to see, so-"

"Nia, why don't you believe me?" Ryan insisted. "I know what I saw; I'm telling the truth."

"I'm sure you are from what you believe, but Ryan, I can explain everything if you would just chill out some-"

"Chill? I will not chill!" He stood back up. "First, I'm already stressed enough from having to plan and organize my wedding; second, the last thing I wanted to do when I chose to take a relaxing walk was stumble upon my sister's husband with someone who wasn't you!!"

"Mom, Ryan, listen to me! Yes, that was most likely Ricky, but-"

"A-ha!" Raven shouted. "She admitted it! That's enough of a reason to murder him."

"But!! But he wasn't cheating; it was-"

"Oh, would you like to use a different word then?" Ryan said, pissed off. "Would you prefer adultery? Dishonesty? Traitor? Infidelity? Unfaithfulness? Do any of those suffice?!"

"The marriage is fake!!" she screamed.

"Honey, what are you talking about?" Raven said, her voice now at a much more normal level.

"Our marriage... is fake," Nia finally confessed. "It was just a ruse, so we could have protection from whoever it was that imprisoned us. It gave us a background story to have for when we were in New York."

"Wait... I- I'm confused," Ryan said, sitting back down. "You and Ricky... You're... You two aren't actually together?"

"No. Our sergeant helped us with the documents. There's another couple in West Jordan in the same situation."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"I wasn't sure how. It was just too much all at once. Ricky told me how Nini reacted, so that made me want to put it off, and-"

"Hold up, who's Nini?" Ryan wondered.

Oh great, just great. "Nini is the woman you saw him with. She's his girlfriend from before the whole military thing happened."

"S- So you two are ok?" Raven asked.

"Yes, Mom. I knew he was on a date last night."

"A- And does Noah know?"

"Be specific."

"About last night's date?"

"No, he doesn't."

"Does he know your marriage is false?" Ryan questioned.

"Well, technically it is legal, just not under our real names."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"He knows about the false names but not the entirety of the story. He, um, he kind of thought it was cool at first because it sounded like something out of a movie."

"But you two are broken up? His relationship with this other person is... fine?"

"Yes, it is completely. We signed the divorce papers a while ago."

"What was Noah's reaction?" Raven inquired.

"He didn't take it well at first. He questions where we go all the time when we leave the apartment, but we want to tell him together about possible relationships with other people to reassure him that nothing's changing."

"Phew, I'm glad we cleared this up," Ryan said, leaning back on the couch.

"Really? That's all you have to say?" Nia asked.

"I mean... I guess. What else do you want me to say? As long as it's all true, I promise not to kill him."

"Well, I don't," her mother chimed in. "If he does anything, and I mean it when I say anything that you don't like... he will get it."

"Mom, you don't have to worry; I can take care of myself."

"I know you can," she said with a smile. Raven opened her arms and hugged her daughter. "But I mean it. If he does anything, he will end up six feet under so dang fast that I will make his head spin, and it'll feel like a deadly carnival ride."

Nia chuckled. "I'll be sure to tell him your threat."

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This chapter was more for laughs and a little insight into Nia's life since I haven't involved her too much.