“W-what are you talking about? There is no connection there, Steph, and there never has been. You’re married for Christ’s sake.”
Stephanie’s eyes dropped as she took in a shaky breath. “If Adaline was out of the picture, if she left you, would you want me then, Emmit?”
My eyes widened in horror. “What?”
“She’s going to hurt you eventually. One day she is going to get tired of this life and leave you. But I’ll always be here for you. Always.”
I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to wipe away everything that just happened in the last two minutes.
As I turned away from Stephanie, I reached into my pocket and pulled my phone out. Hitting Adaline’s number, I dragged in a deep breath. I had to tell her what was happening.
Voicemail.
I tried three more times, and each time it went right to voicemail.
My heart dropped. Adaline never had her phone turned off. I pulled up my mother’s number and hit it.
Stephanie walked up to me and put her hand on my shoulder as I took a step away from her.
“Emmit! How are you sweetheart?”
I didn’t have time for conversation with my mother. I needed to talk to Adaline. “Mom, can you go over to the house and see if Adaline is there?”
“Um—I um, well I can’t do that.”
“Mom, I need to talk to Adaline and her phone is going straight to voicemail.”
“What? Oh God, I hope she’s okay. She left a little bit ago.”
Something inside of me screamed that things weren’t right. Stephanie walked around and stood in front of me as she began to take her shirt off.
“What in the fuck!” I took her by the arm and pushed her out the door. Slamming it shut, I said, “Mom, some crazy shit is happening right now and I need Adaline.”
“Well, if I tell you I’m going to ruin the surprise, but it’s not like her to not answer her phone. Adaline has been planning a surprise birthday party for you. Robby sent her a text saying that Stephanie had dropped the cake off at the shop and that he couldn’t bring it with him because you would see it. So, Adaline headed to the shop just a few minutes ago to pick up the cake.”
Holy shit. This is not happening.
My legs about gave out on me as I turned and looked at Robby’s phone sitting on my desk. I walked over to the phone and pulled up his text messages. There was nothing sent to Adaline in the last thirty minutes.
“Mom, are you sure Robby sent her a text?”
“Or course I’m sure. She should have been there by now.”
My eyes closed as I replayed the last thirty minutes in my office. Stephanie had walked in and said Robby had left his phone. She had put it on my desk and we started talking about the party for Adaline I was planning. Everything had been fine until Stephanie started talking crazy about Adaline finding out about—“No,” I whispered. The front door, I could have sworn I heard the bell ring, but that’s when Stephanie started talking nonsense.
She heard Adaline coming in.
“Holy fucking hell. Mom, I’ve got to call you back.”
“Emmit! Emmit wait!”
I hit End and rushed to the door. Throwing it open, I screamed out Stephanie’s name. She ran out of her office and up to me. “Emmit, I’m still here.”
My hand came up in a motion to stop her. “What. Did. You. Do?”
Stephanie wore a confused expression. “What do you mean?”
I closed my eyes and counted to ten before looking back at her. “You planned it didn’t you? You arranged it so Adaline ended up here at the shop. Once you knew she was here, you put your little plan into action.”
Stephanie let out a nervous chuckle. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
My heart was pounding against my chest. I grabbed her by the arms and shook her as I shouted, “Don’t fucking lie to me! You are messing with my life, and I swear to God I’ll get the truth out of you somehow, Stephanie.”
“Emmit, we could be happy together.”
I looked at her with a stunned expression on my face. Where in the hell was this coming from? “I don’t love you! I love Adaline! I’ll only ever love her. Now tell me the fucking truth!”
Stephanie broke down crying as she said, “All right! I set the whole thing up. I saw her in the mirror in the hallway after I heard her come in, and that’s when I started to act like we were keeping a secret about us from her. I knew she would step into the room and when I saw her movement, I kissed you.”
My mouth dropped open. “How could you do this to me?”
Her eyes softened as she grinned slightly, “I love you, Emmit. No one will ever love you like I love you.”
How did I not see this coming? With a quick push, I stepped away from Stephanie. “You’re fired.”
“W-what? Y-you can’t fire me!”
I hit Robert Elliot’s number and glanced over my shoulder. “I just did.”
“Hey, Emmit my man, what’s up?”
“I just fired Stephanie. She has lost touch with reality and has seriously overstepped her boundaries. I need you to make sure she is cleared off the property as soon as possible.”
“Oh, um yeah, I’ll get on it right now.”
With a quick nod to no one, I said, “Thanks, Robert.”