Authors: C.J. Johnson
Step one was already in action. Along with telling everyone about how happy she and Dave were together, she had also started to complain about Dave's terrible snoring.
Chapter One
Very few people knew of Dave's problem with alcohol. He wasn't necessarily an alcoholic, but Cheryl considered it a very fine line. Once he began to drink, he wouldn't stop until he fell unconscious.
Cheryl grinned as Dave stood in front of their fireplace, his glass raised in a toast with the three other couples seated in their living room.
Dave's little speech, which slurred as he swayed, sent a ripple of laughter around the room. Cheryl laughed, delighted that her plan was coming together so beautifully.
Dave was completely and utterly smashed, and Cheryl had Ella to thank for that.
She looked at the woman now, seated beside her very handsome husband directly across the room from herself.
Usually Cheryl avoided Ella whenever she could. The woman was far too beautiful, and Cheryl had, on numerous occasions, caught Dave's appreciative gaze as he stared at Ella's gorgeous body.
Cheryl knew that nothing had, or ever would, happen between Dave and Ella. Ella was completely devoted to her husband, Richard. Not that Cheryl blamed her. Richard was so gorgeous he made Cheryl ache.
But both Richard and Ella had eyes only for each other.
Cheryl still hated the woman though.
Until meeting Ella, Cheryl had thought of dyed red hair as gaudy and rather trashy looking, but Ella's long mahogany hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders framing her face and complimenting her skin tone perfectly.
Tonight she was wearing a very tight black dress, a dress so tight that after observing the woman very closely, Cheryl was certain Ella wore nothing at all else underneath it.
Any other time, Cheryl would have been burning with jealousy and hatred. No matter what Cheryl wore, Ella always made her feel like an ugly frump. The woman radiated beauty and confidence, turning the heads of men and women. By now, with a couple of drinks inside her, Cheryl would normally be about ready to claw the woman's eyes out.
But, in order for Cheryl's plan to go perfectly, Ella’s presence was required at their home tonight.
Ella's secret ingredient cocktails were legendary among their circle of friends and Cheryl herself had experienced one blank night after indulging in a couple.
She needed Dave drunk, very drunk, and Ella, and her cocktails, were needed.
Dave by now had sampled every drink that was available from wine to Budweiser and whiskey. He was just finishing his second Ella cocktail, and he was indeed very drunk.
"He'll be about ready to do a back door boogie soon," James said loudly and a few people laughed. His wife Nicole didn't as she observed Dave with a look of concern on her face.
James and Nicole were the oldest couple in the room and Dave and Cheryl's next door neighbours. Both in their late 40's, they were school teachers in a nearby private school.
Cheryl had avoided the couple when she and Dave had first moved, feeling the sure the two would be a couple of stuck up snobs. When Dave had invited the couple to a BBQ 6 months later, Cheryl had been pleasantly surprised.
They were lovely people.
Cheryl had immediately bonded with Nicole, and the older woman had taken Cheryl under her wing. Nicole, with her plump figure, a round pleasant face that hardly ever frowned and a sing-song voice that never failed to lift your spirits, was a mother figure to Cheryl. She'd never had a good relationship with either of her parents and Nicole had filled the dark hole inside that Cheryl felt from the lack of closeness to her own mother.
Cheryl looked at Nicole and smiled, thinking of her arrival a couple of hours earlier. She'd grinned at Cheryl as she'd patted her new perm self-consciously.
"Do you like it?" She'd asked and Cheryl had nodded, assuring the older woman that it looked great.
It didn't, it looked awful and reminded Cheryl of a toy poodle, but she would never say anything would hurt Nicole.
Her husband James sat closely to Nicole on the sofa and, as always, Cheryl was struck by the bond between the couple.
James wasn't a handsome man; he was overweight and balding with a droopy face that made him resemble a hound dog. Large, thick black glasses framed his droopy eyes and Cheryl felt a tug of pity for the man.
But, what the couple lacked in looks they made up for with their personalities. They were two of the warmest most generous people that Cheryl had ever known.
The other couple in the room Cheryl didn't know.
They had moved into the little cul-de-sac one month earlier and Dave had asked if he could invite them to this little get together after he'd struck up a conversation with the man about golf. Cheryl had agreed.
The more witnesses the better.
Tom and his wife Karen had sat quietly the entire evening, speaking only when spoken to and seeming rather uncomfortable.
Cheryl was enjoying the appreciative stares that Tom was giving her, though he looked at Ella a lot more. He was fairly handsome himself but struck Cheryl as being rather boring.
His wife Karen, Cheryl didn't care for at all.
Attractive with long, shiny dark hair, the woman was possibly mid thirties, therefore too old to interest Dave. Whilst Tom had made some effort to speak, Karen had simply sat and watched everyone drinking and having a good time.
They weren't important anyway and Cheryl felt a tremor run through her.
It's show time.
"Dave. Sweetie? She said loudly."Should we make our announcement now before you fall unconscious?"
Silence fell and all eyes darted between Dave and Cheryl.
Even Karen looked slightly interested.
Dave grinned a large goofy grin and leaned against the mantelpiece.
"Announcement?" Nicole said excitedly. "Are you pregnant?"
"Nicole," James said, "Let them tell it."
"I am, I am."
She leaned forward in her seat, her eyes never leaving Cheryl.
"You're up the duff, aren't you!" Ella shouted loudly and Nicole sent her a stern look, obviously not caring very much for the woman's choice of words.
Cheryl stood by Dave's side and he through his arm over her shoulders as he leaned onto her drunkenly.
All eyes in the room fixed on them and Cheryl grinned. "We're not pregnant," she said, and watched the eager expressions in front of her turn into disappointment. "But, we are trying. We've decided to start a family."
Nicole beamed with delight and James nodded smiling from ear to ear. Ella and Richard cheered loudly, whooping and bouncing on the sofa. Richard pumped his fist in the air and Dave did the same. Tom nodded and smiled, Karen just watched everyone celebrate.
She said nothing.
Applause and cheer filled the room and Nicole rushed to Cheryl, grabbing both of her hands in her own. "I'm so happy for you both," she gushed as tears leaked from her eyes.
A dark feeling washed over Cheryl.
What was it? Guilt? Remorse?
She glanced over at Dave who stood grinning and swaying like a moron. A sudden rush of affection assaulted her.
For the past couple of years, Dave had repeatedly brought up the subject of children. Although Cheryl liked and cooed over babies as much as the next woman did, she didn't want any. The pregnancy, getting fat and ill, then caring 24/7 for a screaming baby just didn't appeal.
She had repeatedly put Dave off, claiming to want children, just not right now. Whilst forming her plan to kill him and clear herself of any and all suspicion, she realised that an announcement of this sort would look even better on her for when the affair with the slut secretary came to light.
A woman that learnt of her husband's affair would not normally play happy families and plan a pregnancy within days of the revelation.
If she claimed ignorance in reference to the affair, then they would have no motive if any suspicion did arise.
She stood to inherit a lot of money from Dave's death plus the house, which he owned outright and his business, so she had to prepare for an investigation into their marriage.
She expected them to question her about her marriage and financial situation, that she was prepared for, but she had to prevent any solid evidence linking her to Dave's death.
Spouses, family and close friends were always looked at closely when someone dies, Cheryl intended for them to look at her, see a broken, devastated grieving young wife and leave her be.
For that reason, she had to be very clever and generate as much pity as possible and this charade was just another manipulation in her plan. But, she hadn't expected to feel like way.
As Nicole held her hands in her own, Cheryl stared at Dave as he high-fived Richard. Even with his shirt crooked and un-tucked, his dark and grey hair mused and the glazed look of a man that had consumed far too much alcohol in his blue eyes, Dave was still a very handsome man.
And I'm going to kill him tonight.
Tears flooded her eyes and her chin began to shake.
"Cheryl." Nicole said in a tone of voice better suited for talking to very young children or beloved pets. "Whatever's the matter?"
Aware that all eyes, including Dave's were now upon her, Cheryl shook her head. "I'm just so happy," she mumbled and a chorus of 'awww' and 'bless her' filled the room.
Dave came to her and threw his arms around her in a strong embrace, squeezing her to him tightly as he whispered "I love you, Mrs Turner," in her ear.
Cheryl's throat constricted and she hugged him back fiercely.
It’s going to be all right
, she thought.
He'll dump that slut secretary and we can be a family.
Cheryl didn't relish the idea of having a baby, but if it would keep Dave and make him happy to stay with her. Plus, the disappointment on her father's face when she announced the marriage he believed wouldn't last very long (though he'd never said such a thing, Cheryl just knew he'd thought it), had resulted in a pregnancy with his first grandchild would be the icing on the cake.
Sure of the new course of her life, Cheryl smiled broadly at everyone, feeling as though a ton weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
She felt genuinely happy, the happiest she'd ever been—then she saw Ella advancing on Dave, her arms outstretched to embrace him in congratulations.
Keeping her smile in place despite the ugly emotions that burned within her, Cheryl watched Dave as he held Ella in his arms a little too tightly, his hands a little too low on her back.
The shine that lit the drunken dullness of his eyes ignited a fire of rage and jealousy within Cheryl.
She watched as Dave and Ella giggled, Dave's face so close to Ella's and the way his eyes darted repeatedly to her full lips, no doubt imagining kissing them.
He smiled and leaned into her whilst holding her tighter around her back, Ella's breasts flat against Dave's large chest. Cheryl's stomach lurched when she realised Dave's hands were mere centimetres from cupping Ella's behind.
Is he aroused right now,
Cheryl wondered.
Has he forgotten that he's in a crowded room?
He was not behaving like a man who had just announced that he and his wife were starting a new family, he looked like a man who had the attention of a beautiful woman and he was copping as many feels as he could whilst he stoked his lustful fantasies.
Cheryl imagined being stuck at home alone all day with a screaming baby while Dave was out bedding every gorgeous woman he could find.
She pictured how hideous her body would look, ravaged with stretch lines after Dave's child had grown within her for 9 months.
A baby wouldn't change Dave; he had a son already. Although the boy was about 12-13 years old, Dave never saw him but paid money to the boys mother every month.
Why did I even think he'd change?
She considered her life as a single mother receiving money from Dave for the child as she raised it alone, her life revolving around the every need of the child while Dave moved on with his life.
No way. He didn't deserve a life.
Startling her from her dark thoughts, Richard suddenly advanced on her, congratulations on his lips as he leaned towards her. Feeling instantly flushed, Cheryl noticed from the corner of her eye that Dave still held onto Ella and hadn't noticed, or had but didn't care, that Richard was now with her.
Please embrace me
, Cheryl thought as Richard leaned closer to her.
Hold me, flirt with me, express a lusting interest in me like my husband is doing at this exact moment with your wife.
Richards lips lightly brushed against Cheryl's cheek, causing a stirring of butterflies in her stomach before he pulled away.
As he'd been holding her shoulders, there was no touching of their bodies and Richard stepped back immediately. Winking at her, he turned away.
That's probably how he kisses his mother,
Cheryl harshly.
Richard grabbed Ella and tugged her out of Dave's arms. He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled his face into the side of her neck.
Obviously smitten with his wife, he didn't care that there were other attractive women around.
Cheryl ached as she wondered how that would feel, to be the centre of a man's world and be the only woman on his mind.
If only Dave treated me like that
, she thought as she smiled at Nicole who was babbling on about how wonderful a baby would be.
Cheryl and Nicole sat down together as Dave shouted "Music! Time to boogie."
He weaved drunkenly to the CD player and turned it on. The soundtrack to dirty dancing blasted out and Dave raised his hands, swaying his hips in time to the beat as he mugged at everyone.
Richard, obviously a little drunk himself as he was usually quite reserved, also began to sway seductively to the music.
Nicole laughed and James shook his head smiling as the two men began to dirty dance together.
Watching Dave as she laughed and clapped along, a part inside Cheryl crumbled as she realised there was no other choice for her than to go through with her plan.