by L A Walton
CHAPTER 19
“There’s something different about you two,” George said looking between Laci and Andrew. “I can’t quite pinpoint what it is…but something’s really different.”
They were standing in the elevator and Andrew’s eyes widened as he looked at Laci. Laci shrugged.
“Did you cut your hair?” George asked Laci.
She put a hand up to her hair self-consciously, “No.”
George looked at Andrew, “Did you cut your hair?”
Andrew copied Laci and put his hand on his hair, "No."
“Hmmm….there’s definitely something different,” George was rubbing his chin as if he were trying to solve some perplexing problem.
The elevator dinged as it stopped at their floor and Laci and Andrew quickly exited, leaving behind George.
“I’ve got it!” George cried walking quickly to catch up to them, “You two…you kissed didn’t you?” He whispered loudly, inadvertently bumping into Andrew who had stopped moving forward.
“What are you talking about, George?” Andrew asked.
“You sly dog, you think I didn’t notice the tension between you two has changed?”
“George, let’s not get started on this again. We’re not kids,” Laci looked around to make sure no one was listening to their ridiculous conversation.
“I wish I had gotten a picture of it,” George whispered to himself.
“George!” Laci couldn’t believe he was still pushing the relationship bit.
George laughed, hurt. “Well, you can’t blame me for trying. You know our listeners will eat this up. Let’s get couple advice from the two love doctors. Oh the bits we could do are endless.”
“We aren’t going to do bits. The segments we do are still going to focus on the psychology of relationships George. That should never change,” Laci was about to walk away when George asked them, “How about we go out to celebrate tonight?”
“No!” they both said at the same time, remembering the lap-dancing Elsa from the last time George celebrated Andrew joining their team.
“Don’t forget who set you two up. Oh, and before I forget, Laci you got this letter in the mail today,” George handed her a letter and walked away from them both, disappointed that they didn’t want to go out with him.
“That was close,” Andrew whispered.
“Yeah,” Laci nodded and placed the letter George had given to her in her purse. “I feel slightly bad. I’d feel worse but I’ve been through several of George’s celebrations. They never end well.”
“So how about you and I do something tonight?” Andrew asked her smiling.
“Sorry but I already have a date,” Laci said apologetically.
“What? I thought we were…you know,” Andrew was looking uncomfortable, making Laci laugh.
“Dr. Brett, how can you be so indirect? You’re a relationship expert but you won’t ask me to be your girlfriend?”
“Well…it’s different when it’s your own relationship.”
Laci laughed, “Fine. I’ll do it. Andrew Brett…wanna be my boyfriend?”
“You mean exclusively?”
“Definitely,” Laci grinned.
Andrew pretended to have to think about it, “I don’t know. I have a lot of women after me.”
Laci rolled her eyes, “Spare me.”
Andrew laughed and put his arm around Laci, “I’d love to be your boyfriend. Should we get couple rings or matching clothes to commemorate this wonderful day?”
Laci laughed, “Not necessary.”
“So what are we going to do tonight?”
“Andrew, I’m sorry but I was serious. I really do have a date tonight.”
“With who?”
Laci smirked, “My brother’s best friend.”
“What?”
“My brother’s friend is going to install a security alarm tonight.”
“Why so late? Can’t he do it during the day?” Andrew asked.
Laci shook her head, “No. I asked him to install it late so that I could be there when he did it.”
“Well I’ll come over if it’s okay with you.”
Laci laughed and joked, “Can’t stay away from me, can you?”
Andrew stood still for a moment and stared at Laci, “Nope. Not even for a minute.”
“So I press the button and then enter my code and the alarm is activated?” Laci asked Robert, who had just finished installing the alarm.
“Right,” Robert looked at Andrew who was hovering over Laci.
“That seems easy enough,” Laci whispered.
“I don’t know…you’re pretty bad at anything technical,” Declan caught a glance at Robert who was still looking at Andrew.
“Whatever Declan. This is easy,” Laci slid the keypad cover down.
“Well, I should get going,” Robert said, picking up his bag of supplies.
“Already? I thought you wanted to go hit up a bar or something,” Declan pouted.
Robert smiled, “Sorry. I already have plans.”
“With your girlfriend?” Declan asked snidely.
“Girlfriend?” Laci asked. “I thought you two just broke up.”
“Correction. She dumped him but they got back together,” Declan had his arms crossed and was looking at Robert in disappointment, “Don’t you know the bro code man? Bros before -“
“Don’t even say it Declan!” Laci cut him off.
Robert and Andrew laughed at Laci and Declan arguing with one another.
“Thank you for all your help Robert,” Laci said as they walked to the door. Her cell phone rang and she excused herself.
“Dr. Cummings?” the voice on the other end asked.
“This is she. Who am I speaking with?” Laci didn’t recognize the number that had populated on her caller ID.
“This is Officer Stewart. I just wanted to give you a call about Henry Meiser.”
“Oh. I wasn’t expecting a phone call but I appreciate it. Did you need another statement from me regarding what happened in my home the other day?”
“Was he the guy? Did he murder Marie Ann Davis?”
“No. He had an alibi. He was released early this morning. I wasn’t sure if I should call you to let you know but you previously claimed someone was stalking you and after what happened at your house…I thought you should know.”
“Thank you for calling me and letting me know,” Laci disconnected the call and walked back to where her brother, Andrew, and Robert were standing.
“Who was it Laci? You look as pale as a ghost,” Declan looked concerned.
“Henry Meiser isn’t the guy,” Laci whispered.
“The guy?” Robert asked.
“I told you my sister’s friend was murdered. Well apparently this Meiser guy was also writing creepy lover letters to her in his diary.”
“Declan!” Laci didn’t want him discussing the personal life of her clients.
“Don’t worry Laci. The alarm will keep intruders out,” Robert assured her.
“Thanks Robert. You’ve been incredibly helpful,” Laci hugged him before he left.
Declan looked at Laci and Andrew and smiled, wriggling his eyebrows up and down, “So what are your plans for tonight?”
Andrew quickly grabbed Laci’ purse and shoved it at her, “Let’s go before we get a third wheel.”
He was joking but Nichols scowled, “Not nice.”
Laci opened her purse and noticed the envelope George had given her earlier. It was an egg shell color. She opened it and smiled.
“What is it?” Andrew asked.
“A wedding invitation. A listener I helped out invited me to her wedding. I guess she sent the invitation to the radio station.”
“A wedding?” Declan groaned, “I feel sorry for the poor sucker that gets roped into going with you to that.” He quickly walked out of the room in the event that the poor sucker would be him.
“It’s a wedding for Veronica Watson and Clay Garmon. It’s in a couple of
weeks. Did you want to come with me?” Laci asked Andrew.
“Veronica Watson? She was your listener?”
“Yeah. She had been in an abusive relationship but finally got out of it. Now she’s getting married.”
“That’s great,” Andrew said softly.
“So do you want to go?”
“To the wedding?” Andrew asked looking behind her to see if Declan was coming back.
“No to the moon. Of course to the wedding.”
“I’m sorry Laci but can I take a pass on that? I’m not a big fan of weddings.”
Laci was disappointed but didn’t argue with him. It was still too early in their relationship for her to be making demands. She smiled and put the invitation back in her purse. Declan was going to be the poor sucker that went with her and that was final.
Amber stared at the picture of Laci Cummings and Andrew Brett laughing in the studio of their radio show. She scrolled down to the comments section of the website for Love Guru and frowned. It looked like a majority of the listeners were in favor of the two being a couple.
“Of course Miss Perfect is dating the perfect boyfriend.”
She had typed in a rude comment the other day but Kay had made her delete it. Now she was alone and she could type whatever she wanted, “This relationship is fake. They’re only pretending to date for ratings. The truth is that she’s living with another man!”
She sneered at her comment. Readers wouldn’t know that the other man was her brother.
Amber didn’t always hate Laci. The truth was Laci was that woman that seemed to get everything easily and it bothered Amber. Laci was beautiful, confident, smart, and was able to make friends with everyone. It was tough trying to keep up with her.
When Laci had her own magazine, Amber had been happy for her. After Laci got her own talk show, Amber started to resent her a little. That feeling continued to grow each time Laci inadvertently bragged about her job. Amber would remind herself that Laci wasn’t trying to brag…she was just sharing an interesting bit of information about her job. Still, it came across as bragging to Amber. None of them were married or had kids so they usually discussed work.
At one point she thought of emulating Laci and listened to her radio show religiously. The real reason she broke up with Officer Joe Bishop was because he wasn’t good enough. Amber had originally thought an officer would be a boyfriend she could show off. However, she heard Laci talk to a listener on her show.
“Dating a police officer or anyone in a dangerous job is stressful and I don’t envy you.”
I don’t envy you.
Those words were enough to cause Amber to dump Officer Bishop.
Then she started dating her new boyfriend who was starting his own small company. She never told Laci about it because it was something she secretly held over the psychologist.
I have a boyfriend and you don’t.
Even Kay and Marie Ann didn’t know about him. She still wasn’t sure if he was good enough. Especially now that Laci was dating Dr. Andrew Brett.
She heard a knocking on the door and shouted, “Come in. It’s open!”
Amber wrapped her arms around him and greeted him back, “Hey Robert.”
CHAPTER 20
“One cup of chocolate chips…and two sticks of butter,” Kay was reading a list of ingredients off of a recipe for chocolate chip cookies she wanted to try. “I am so not domestic.” She placed the list down and reached for her cellphone. It had been a week since she heard from Judas.
“Guys are such jerks. Is it that hard to give me a call?” she was tempted to text him but didn’t want to appear needy. She refused to text him first.
Kay was about to delete his number when it suddenly started ringing, “Is he psychic?”
Flashing across the screen was Judas’s name. She had met Judas a few weeks back at a graveyard which was an odd place to meet a man...but she wasn't going to focus on that fact.
“Hello?”
Judas’s voice came across the line, “I’m so sorry Kay. I’ve been swamped with work but I’m glad I caught you.”
“I thought you lost my number,” Kay laughed.
“No way would I ever do that. I was calling to ask if you wanted to grab some dinner.”
“Tonight?”
Judas laughed, “Yeah…tonight. And tomorrow…and maybe the day after that.”
“Well I haven’t seen you in a while so I want to make up for lost time.”
Kay smiled. She really didn’t expect to hear from Judas but she was glad that he had finally called her. “Okay, I’ll meet you tonight, tomorrow night, and the night after that.”
Judas chuckled on the other end of the phone and that thought, “This was going to be easy.”
Laci sat in front of her vanity table, straightening her hair. It had been a little over two weeks since the whole Henry and Portia Meiser incident occurred. She had begun renting an office space to see her clients and she hadn’t heard a peep from her “stalker.” She was beginning to relax a little.
“Laci,” Declan knocked on her door.
“You’re not getting out of this so just tie your tie Declan,” Laci yelled at him before he could make up another reason that he couldn’t’ attend the wedding of Veronica Watson. She hadn’t give him too much information. She hadn’t even give him a choice. The conversation consisted of her telling more than asking.
“Laci, aren’t you being a bit too bossy? I’m your brother…you should be making Andrew go with you. Besides, isn’t it weird to be going to the wedding of a listener? What if she’s not really getting married? I mean who has a morning wedding anyway? What if she’s some crazy woman and this is all a trap?”
Laci looked at her brother and held back a giggle, “Declan do you know how crazy you sound right now?”
“That’s what every man thinks when you make him go to a wedding. Ask Andrew.”
“Andrew would not think that.”
“Oh yeah? Then why isn’t he coming to this wedding with you? He’s your boyfriend. If I were you, I would have forced him to come. I can’t believe you let him off the hook but force your younger brother to go.”
“Declan I don’t know if you know this or not but I hate carrying around change so keep your two cents to yourself. I want to go to this wedding and you’re coming with me. I’m using my big sister card here.”
Declan turned around mumbling something about tyrannical older sisters, causing Laci to laugh.
After they were both dressed they drove to the hall where the ceremony and reception were to take place.
“So what’s the name of the bride?” Declan asked turning his head towards Laci.
“Declan, pay attention to the road. There’s a truck coming!” Laci pointed towards a white truck that hadn’t stopped at a four-way stop.
“Relax Laci, I know how to drive.”
Ten minutes later, they were seated in a large hall. To the side was where the reception would take place.
“This is fancy. When you and Andrew get married, will it be in a church?” Declan asked.
Laci sighed, “Andrew and I are just dating. Marriage isn’t even on the table.”
“So who is the bride?” Declan asked while looking around at all of the other guests.
Declan didn’t get an answer because the wedding march began to play. The audience all turned to watch the procession of bridesmaids come down the aisle and finally Veronica, dressed in a mermaid cut wedding dress. Laci didn’t care for her dress but still pretended to fawn over it as was custom of the audience.
Declan had turned around to see Veronica and then quickly turned back around to face the groom. If Laci thought his behavior was strange, she didn’t say so.
After the ‘I do’s’ were said, everyone clapped as the couple strolled back down the aisle together. Declan whispered into his sister’s ear, “Let’s get out of here.”
She turned to him and grimaced, “Declan we just got here.”
“Trust me
Laci. We should go.”
“I’m not going anywhere Declan. I want to congratulate her.”
“Fine. I’ll wait in the car.”
“Declan, what’s the matter with you?”
“Nothing. I’m just tired of being here.”
“You’re my date. You can’t leave me.”
“I’m not your date…I’m your hostage.”
Laci rolled her eyes and dragged him towards the direction of the wine bar. Declan seemed nervous and kept looking around. Laci knew men could become jittery at the thought of attending a wedding but Declan was being ridiculous. Not even fifteen minutes had passed when he asked again if they could leave.
“Declan, what is wrong with you? I’ve never seen you act like this,” Laci asked her brother.
Declan opened his mouth to respond when another voice cut him off.
“What are you doing here?”
Laci and Declan both turned to Veronica, the bride, still dressed in her white wedding gown. She repeated her question, but was looking at Declan, “What are you doing here?”
Laci didn’t understand, “Hi Veronica, this is my brother Declan. I had him come with me.”
Veronica turned to Laci, “He’s your brother? Is this some kind of joke? I want you both to leave now.”
“What?” Laci didn’t know why Veronica was becoming upset all of a sudden.
“I said leave. Now,” Veronica kept her voice low but firm so that she wouldn’t get the attention of her other guests.
Laci looked at Declan who appeared pale. “Fine. We’ll leave. Congratulations,” Laci mumbled. She and Declan left the hall but Laci still didn’t understand what had just happened.
After they were back in the car, she turned to Declan, “What was that all about?”
“This is why I told you we should’ve left,” Declan muttered.