As the holidays continued onward, Chris had taken a week off between Christmas and New Year's now that Hannah was home. It was the longest time he'd spent at home in years and it felt kind of nice. One thing that he felt was interesting was the fact that he didn't have to sneak around behind everyone's back with Scarlett coming to him at work so they could fool around in his car during lunch time. He was home with his wife and it was all very legitimate and real. It gave him some time to think. Scarlett was still in Florida and would remain there until January 2nd when she would fly back to Dallas with the kids.

    Chris and Hannah still skirted around the topics they needed to discuss; her meth addiction and his sex addiction. Chris was still convinced that Hannah had no knowledge of his affair. How could she? She had never seen them together nor was there anyone that knew the both of them that would have been able to tell her. As far as Chris was concerned, Scarlett was his little secret; his forbidden fruit. He couldn't wait for her to return because though he and Hannah had sex a few times; after what he and Scarlett had, it made his time with his wife seem like two virgins not knowing how to pleasure the other.

    That annoyed him to no end. He didn't understand why he was always so pleasured and happy with Hannah before Scarlett came along but not anymore. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that the latter was more demanding of him and let him as she liked to say 'put it anywhere'. Hannah wasn't exactly a prude but she was limited in her sexuality. Scarlett was ready to swing off the chandeliers if it meant that she would have a good time. Every little thing reminded him of her. Though he was glad to have Hannah back at home, he really wanted to be in bed with Scarlett.

    It was all he could think about when he was in the shower, getting the mail, getting groceries, driving his car, and so forth. He actually nearly forgot to pay for his things in the self-checkout line because he was too busy fantasizing about what it would be like to fuck Scarlett on the conveyor belt. Only when another customer cleared his throat did Chris turn beet red and had come back to the present. He even nearly got into a car accident that same day as he missed a stop sign and had to swerve to avoid getting t-boned by another car. Shaken, he drove home a lot slower fully concentrating on the road.

    Finally, after New Year's, Chris had to go back to work; leaving Hannah alone for hours at a time. She wondered around the house and went out to the back yard where she stayed most of the time. The weather in January was rainy that year and so when she couldn't go outside, she would try and clean the house when she could. But being home alone was starting to mess with her mind. At least with Chris around, she could concentrate on something other than her illness and the withdrawal symptoms from the meth. She was starting to feel restless, anxious, and she couldn't sleep at night. She needed a fix and badly. She noticed her exhaustion was also returning with a vengeance and that scared her to death.

    It was two days into January that she heard a car pull up and looked out the window. It was Scarlett and her kids coming home in a town car. She noticed another neighbor across the street looking at Scarlett with undisguised disgust as Scarlett shot the woman a dirty look and hurried into the house with her bags as the driver got the suitcases out. Hannah's heart started to pound faster and faster. Usually, she would come out of the house and greet Scarlett but this time, knowing and suspecting everything she did, she didn't want to be anywhere near her. So she just watched from the window until Scarlett and the kids were firmly behind their own doors.

    Hannah didn't say anything to Chris about Scarlett returning but she sensed that he already knew because he came from work in an exceptionally good mood but said it had something to do with landing a new deal with a new client. Somehow, Hannah didn't believe him though because he was acting like he had just spent hours getting laid and that's exactly what had happened. As soon as Scarlett had unpacked, she took her car to Chris' office, called him into the garage, and they had some of the most mind-blowing sex in the back of her car that he'd ever experienced. If it wasn't for the fact that he had to go back to work, he would have stayed in that car with her indefinitely.

     Two days later, Chris called Scarlett after work and asked her to meet him in a 3 star hotel close to his job. Scarlett was curious about why he would want to get together there instead of his house like they always did but met him in the room he had registered. Chris had been to the bank before and noticed the decline of money in his and Hannah's account. He figured she used it to withdraw money for her drug use. He wouldn't have even noticed it had he not looked at his bank statements closely. She never withdrew a lot and since he always had his own paychecks go direct deposit into the account, it was never a huge deal. He was looking out the window thinking about all of that when Scarlett knocked on the hotel room door and he let her in. She quickly and passionately kissed him, sending her tongue deep into his mouth. When they parted she said:

"Mmmm yummy. You taste good baby." He smiled and then they kissed again.

"Did you miss me?" Chris asked.

"I missed this." Scarlett said with a sly smile.

"Me too." He replied not even caring that she didn't really answer his question. They were close to screwing as Scarlett stopped and asked.

"So why are we here instead of at your place, it's so much homier there and we're right next door to my house."

"Because Hannah is home and obviously that's a no go." He answered her quietly as she took a step back.

"What the fuck? Why is she back?" Scarlett asked, crossing her arms over her chest clearly pissed.

"What do you mean, why is she back? It's her home too. It always was." Chris replied.

"Then kick her out! She can't just come and go like that! What if she is out fucking someone else and gets pregnant? You're home all the time, worrying about her, and she just comes in as she pleases?"

Scarlett tried to sound indignant making Chris once again seem like a victim but the truth was that she hated to be inconvenienced. It was a lot easier for her to have Chris' house as her playground though she had a home of her own. She wanted both places and Hannah was getting in the way.

"I can't kick my wife out! Are you nuts? She's ill and because of this she's now addicted to meth!" As soon as Chris said those words, he knew he had made a colossal mistake. Scarlett looked at him with wide eyes.

"Hannah is a drug addict? Are you for real? Little Ms. Perfect?" Scarlett started laughing hysterically then as Chris looked miserable and wished he could take the words back. He had spilled a secret that wasn't his to tell in the first place and to Scarlett of all people.

"Can we forget about that and her? I want you to blow me." Chris finally said tired of the conversation but Scarlett had a glint in her eye that he had never seen before.

"Chris, you're a smart man. Send her to rehab and then divorce her ass! What do you need some invalid on your hands for plus one addicted to drugs? That's just gnarly! Just think of it; no more excuses, come and go as you please, fuck me at all times of the day and night."

    As she was talking, she walked closer and closer to him until she was right in front of him, then she dropped to her knees and unzipped his pants. In less than 30 seconds, he was in her mouth as he collapsed on the bed, groaning, and she grinned triumphantly as she deep throated him as he pushed her head down even further. She was great at multi-tasking and as she was doing her deed she couldn't believe her good fortune in learning the news about Hannah. Now she had even more leverage to get rid of that good for nothing wife of his and be in control of two houses. Now that would be the coup de etat.

    In the meantime, Scarlett begrudgingly agreed to meet Chris in hotels and motels in the area until further notice. Scarlett was still determined to get rid of Hannah once and for all. She knew there was one sure fire way that has worked for her before though she was tired of it, she felt that Chris was the best catch yet and if that meant coming off the pill and getting pregnant with his baby, then that was what she would do. He knew she was on the pill but they used condoms sporadically as they both said they had gotten tested and were clean.

    A month after she came off the pill, she thought she was pregnant for sure when she missed her period only to get it a week later. She was so pissed that she didn't even want to go screw Chris. He had no idea what her mood swings were all about. So two days later, he called her. When she picked up the phone, she barked into it:

"What!!"

"Well hello to you too." Chris said frowning while sitting at his desk at work.

"What do you want Chris?" She sounded exasperated like she was talking to a child.

"What's the matter with you? You sound like someone peed in your soup." Chris' tone was tired.

"My fucking period started! What's it to you?" She said.

"That's why you're acting like such a bitch? You've had your period every month since you were a teen. Now all of a sudden that's a bad thing?" Not every month, Scarlett thought angrily to herself. She didn't have her period when she was pregnant. 

"Fuck you! Mind your own business!" She yelled into the phone and hung up as he stared confusingly at the receiver.

    Scarlett meanwhile, knew she had to calm down. So it didn't work that month, it'll work next month or the month after. She was praying that Hannah would just go back to her druggie friends and die there. Scarlett hated not being in control and that little stupid prude of a housewife next door was fucking up all of her plans for a greater life. She couldn't keep screaming her frustrations at Chris because he would leave her and she never let a man leave her. She was always the one that left. If and when she left Chris, it would be on her own accord when she was ready.

    As the days wore on, Hannah started to realize that Chris and Scarlett had started up their romance again because he started coming home at almost midnight and he would always smell of the same perfume; Chanel #5. He always played it off as being at the office or going to bar with coworkers. Finally, one day she called and asked him to pick up dinner and once again he made an excuse about working late and she let it go. So while he was getting his bean waxed at a local motel, she called the office and one of his coworkers picked up the main line and said that he had left work hours before. She waited until he got home to confront him. As he walked into the front door and kissed her on the cheek chastely, she asked him:

"So where have you been?" He looked at her surprised.

"Honey I told you that I was at work."

"Really? All of this time?" She said stoically without batting an eyelash as he swallowed hard.

"Yes of course, why?"

"Because I called the office and one of your coworkers said you left two hours before that. That was about 3 hours ago that I called over there so that's 5 hours that you have unaccounted for, dear." She said evenly as Chris blinked. She could tell he was trying to find a way out. She wondered if he would come clean, but he didn't.

"Oh, I'm so sorry; I totally forgot I had to have dinner with a client from out of the country. And we ended up talking until the restaurant closed, and then I got stuck in traffic. I'm really tired babe; can we talk about it tomorrow?" Chris said walking into the bathroom to get away from her.

    Hannah shook her head and sighed. She had seen a lipstick stain that was faint but still visible on the collar of his shirt and she was pretty sure that he didn't even know that it was there. It was at that moment that she realized that she had no business being there and her withdrawal symptoms were getting the best of her. She went to sleep next to him that night somehow knowing that that would probably be the last night she would spend in her house and shed some tears quietly over it.

    The next day when Chris left for work, she got up, put on her durable clothing, grabbed the old backpack, and stuffed a whole bunch of clothing in there. She also took her cellphone just in case as well as a charger for it and grabbing her keys, left the house. As she was getting ready to get into the car, the female neighbor from across the street called her name and Hannah stopped. The woman named Linda beckoned Hannah onto her property and invited her to sit down. She said she wanted to warn Hannah about Scarlett.

    It was there on the porch of the neighbor's house, that Hannah got the 411 about Scarlett's past including how she married men and discarded them like trash even after she had children with them. How she cheated on multiple men and was never satisfied sexually. How she had stolen a woman's husband on that very street and he became husband number 2. How she was known in a lot of bars for having orgies and never using protection. That she wasn't a woman but a class-A whore; a viper in the clearest sense of the word. Linda warned Hannah that if her husband was involved with Scarlett, that he would soon find himself on the receiving end of a positive pregnancy test or perhaps even an HIV diagnosis. Hannah was stunned. She knew that Scarlett's reputation was bad but not that bad. Linda also told Hannah to go check out the Dallas Times and gave her the years to look at because 2 of Scarlett's divorces were highly publicized.

    Hannah thanked the woman profusely and knew that after she had gotten her hit of meth and she would be wired for a few days, she would then go out and research everything she could on that beastly woman who lived next door. Though Hannah wasn't sure she wanted to be married to Chris any longer, she still didn't want Scarlett to give him some crazy disease if she had it. No one needed illnesses even if they put themselves at risk through their own misguided stupidity.

    She then left Four Seasons Lane and drove to Southland Street to the very familiar by now warehouse and parked her car near the deli where she had before. She didn't know who was arrested or not from the night of the raid so she hoped someone would be around to give her the fix she so desperately needed. She walked over to the warehouse and peeked in.

    Chris had come home from work and noticed that Hannah's car wasn't in the driveway. He quickly parked and a sense of dread filled him as he entered the house to find it totally empty. He saw that she had taken her phone with her and when he looked in their closet, he noticed the backpack missing along with some of her clothes. She was gone again. He thought of calling her but didn't know what to say or whether she would even pick up the phone. He knew he screwed up the night before and he was worried for her safety but he just didn't know what to say to her anymore. One thing he knew for sure was that Scarlett would be extremely happy about the new set of developments.

    Hannah, meanwhile, had walked into the warehouse past the usual hobos that slept on the first floor and walked up the stairs to the second floor. There she was spotted by some of Randall's girls who all smiled as she passed them. They welcomed her back very warmly and finally on the third floor she found Shanel staring out the window. Shanel was so happy to see Hannah; she threw her arms around her.

"Hey girl! I'm glad ya back!" Shanel said as Hannah smiled.

"Yeah me too. I got a better reception here then at home." Shanel snorted.

"Is ya husband still fuckin the tramp next door?" Hannah nodded.

"Yep and he sucks at lying though he did it through his teeth to me. I think he thinks I was born yesterday." Shanel waved her hand.

"Forget that freak. Randall ain't here. He got some meetin with some big boss or somethin. But I got some ice for ya, if ya want." She said wiggling her eyebrows as Hannah laughed.

"More like need. I'm actually surprised no one got arrested in the raid in December."

"Well let's fix ya up so ya don't have no worse withdrawal and then I can tell ya more about what jail's like. But yeah we got lucky this time. No jail. Those cops dumb as fuck yo! They ain't findin nothin in that house so they couldn't do shit to us. Just asked a shitload of stupid questions and let us all go. Wanna know what jail's like?" Shanel asked as she produced a clean needle and got some meth into it as Hannah tied herself off.

"Sure, I've never been and hope never to go but why don't you give me a summary of it." Shanel laughed as she gave Hannah the needle and started giving her the play by play as Hannah finally got her fix and breathing deeply, listened intently.