I didn't hear a word of it. I just stared at the thing in my hand. A pair of sheer purple panties. The same ones from the photo Vivian had sent last night.
Vivian's brows pinched together in mock embarrassment. "Oh my, how did those end up in here? It must have been that day with Mr. Sanchez..." Her cheeks flushed with theatrical indignation. "I'm heading to his office later for a work briefing, and he still wants to see me in them!"
"Mrs. Sanchez, would you be a dear and run an errand for me? There's an unmanned shop a few blocks down. Pick me up a new pair?" She pulled a wad of bills from her pocket and shoved them into my hand before I could refuse.
Walking from the restroom to the front entrance of the tower, every person I passed recoiled from me like I carried the plague. Those who brushed by me covered their noses and snickered. I caught a whispered remark: "Gold diggers really go all in these days".
On the walk back to Sanchez Tower with the purchase, I pressed a hand to my chest, over the numb ache there. What exactly did I dig up? Ten years of marriage had left me with a bank balance of zero and a lover who had never loved me back.