Three more bubbles appear on the screen. I don’t know what he’s writing to me, but it seems to take an eternity. By the time the message appears, I half expect it to fill the entire screen. But instead, it’s one line.
Better we don’t. Trust me.
And then:
Delete these messages.
I almost hurl my phone across the room in frustration. I write him half a dozen more messages, begging him to meet with me. But he never responds again.
Chapter 35
Graham comes home from work at five o’clock. Camila opens the door for him, and he’s carrying a bouquet of a dozen roses and a box of Godiva chocolates.
“Wow,” Camila comments. “Someone is in a romantic mood today.”
Graham’s blue eyes lock with mine. “It’s been a hard week, and I wanted to do something nice for Tess.”
I rise from the sofa, thinking of my phone stuffed under one of the cushions. It’s on silent, so it won’t ring or buzz to give me away. I was careful who I called today. I didn’t contact Lucy. But I found my father’s number programmed into the phone, and I tried calling him. There was no answer, but I left a message.
“Thank you,” I say stiffly. “The roses are beautiful.”
“If you’d like,” he says, “we can go out to dinner. Anywhere you want.”
The thought of going out to a restaurant with this man makes me physically ill, but I can’t let on. “Maybe.”
He looks me up and down in my jeans and sweatshirt. “You’d have to change though. Obviously.” He squints at my face. “And put on some makeup.”
I turn my head so I don’t have to look at him. “Maybe tomorrow.”
“I’ll put those beautiful roses in some water,” Camila says helpfully.
She takes the roses out of Graham’s hands, but he is still staring at me. “Don’t you want the chocolates?”
I take them from him. I open the box and it’s filled with white chocolate truffles. My favorite.
“Your favorite, right?” He pushes his glasses up his nose. “Did I do good?”
I nod slowly. “Thank you. It’s very nice of you.”
“Well, you are my wife.” One corner of his lips quirks up. “I wanted to do something nice for you.”
He has a nice smile. He’s attractive. It would be easy to believe his lies if I hadn’t found that phone this morning.
“Listen.” He leans closer to me so that I catch a whiff of his expensive cologne. “I’ve got to get a little more work done in my office upstairs. But let’s plan on going out tonight, okay? We’ll have a nice time. Anywhere you want to go.”
“Okay,” I hear myself saying. “That sounds great.”
Graham leans in and gives me a peck on the cheek. It’s all I can do to keep from jerking away from him.
I watch my husband disappear up the stairs. My shoulders don’t relax until the door to his office slams shut.
“Well, that was nice of him, wasn’t it?” Camila returns to the room carrying a large glass vase containing the roses. “I wish I had a man coming home for me with flowers and candy.”
“You don’t wish you had my life,” I snort. It came out more bitterly than I intended.
Camila stops, just looking at me. It almost seems like she wants to tell me something, but she’s not sure if she should.
“What?” I finally say.
“Nothing.” She clears her throat. “I have to head out now. But I hope you two have a nice time at dinner.”
“Thanks.”
She hesitates. “And make sure to put Ziggy outside before Graham comes back down. You know how he feels about the dog.”
That’s right. For reasons I don’t understand, Graham doesn’t seem to like Ziggy much. I have a horrible feeling that one of these days, Ziggy might simply disappear during the night and I’ll never know he even existed. Much like my phone.
Camila heads out, leaving me behind. I don’t know much about her, but unlike me, she has a life outside of this house. I envy her that more than I envy her incredible beauty. I miss being able to leave the house on my own. I miss driving. I miss going to work every day. And I’m beginning to be scared I will never experience any of these things ever again.
Graham has disappeared into his office and the door is closed. I plop down on the sofa, trying to figure out what to do next. Before I can figure it out, I get this strange sensation in my head. A fuzzy sensation, almost like I’m drifting off to sleep. The entire room melts away to white. And when I blink again, I’m outside the door to a room, my hand hovering over the doorknob.
My hand drops onto the doorknob and I twist the knob. The room is an office at My Home Spa, with large windows in the back, a mahogany desk, and a leather chair. Sitting in the leather chair is my husband Graham. And sitting on Graham is his secretary. At the sound of the door being yanked open, she scrambles off his lap. But it’s too late.
“Tess,” Graham gasps, as he attempts to wipe Taylor’s lipstick off his mouth. If she’s going to be making out with my husband, she should wear lipstick that doesn’t rub off on him so easily. “Christ, Tess, I didn’t realize you were—”
I arch an eyebrow at him. “You didn’t realize I work here? At my own company?”
“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Thurman.” Taylor anxiously tugs at the hem of her skirt, which has ridden way up during whatever it was she was doing with Graham. “I… I didn’t mean to…”
“Don’t worry about it.” I wave a hand at her. “Also, you’re fired, Taylor. Clean out your desk right now.”
Immediately, Graham’s twenty-two-year-old secretary’s eyes fill with tears. “But, Mrs. Thurman—”
“Get out now.” I give her a look that is not to be argued with. “You’ve got twenty minutes and then I call security.”