Been Searching For You

by Nicole Evelina

  Jolie held up a hand. “No need to say it. She’s gone already anyway. Went back to the States according to her original schedule as though nothing happened, which really, it didn’t.”

  I let out a deep breath. “At least that’s over.”

  Jolie glanced at something off camera. “Look, I hate to cut this short, but I have to go.”

  “No problem. Thanks again, Jolie. I have to go confront my former best friend about her lies.”

  Jolie’s eyes widened. “Kick some ass, Annabeth.”

  Thoughts zeroed in on confronting Mia, I didn’t even see the woman with the moving boxes until it was too late. I barreled into her, sending her cardboard boxes flying and both of us tumbling to the white polished tiles of the lobby floor. My tailbone hit with a sickening shock that reverberated up my spine.

  “Oh my God. I am so sorry,” I said when I recovered, bracing myself on my arms and struggling to my feet. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. I think so. Not your fault,” the blond woman said, dazed. “I should have been watching where I was going.” She gestured to the boxes scattered around us. “Or at least carrying less.”

  I stuck out a hand to help her stand. “I’m Annabeth Coe. Please, let me help you.”

  She shook my hand hesitantly, giving me an odd look, her head cocked to the side as if she was trying to figure out something. “Nice to meet you. Yes, please. Thank you.”

  I scooped up one of the boxes and followed her into the elevator. She looked really familiar, but I couldn’t quite place her. “Are you new to Chicago or just to the building?”

  “A transplant, actually. I lived here for a while, moved away, and now I’m back. But this is my first time in this building. A friend helped me find a place to rent until I settle in.”

  The elevator climbed past my floor into the higher-rent suites. She must have been pretty well off to afford these digs.

  “So what do you do?” I asked, curiosity getting the best of me.

  The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open to reveal that only three units shared the floor, one straight ahead and one at either end of the hall.

  The blonde gestured at the door facing us. “You can just set that down at the door. Thank you. To answer your question, I’m a lawyer, but I’m teaching adjunct classes at the University of Chicago until my new position begins.”

  “Really? I have a friend who lives in this building whose father owns a law firm, Jenner & Street. Perhaps you’ve heard of it?”

  She nodded, smiling warmly. “I start work there in July. Your friend isn’t Mia LaRue, is it?”

  It was my turn to regard her quizzically. Perhaps we had met before. “Yes. What did you say your name was?”

  She shook her head apologetically. “I’m sorry. I was so thrown by our collision I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Regina Forsythe.”

  Regina proved more delightful and enlightening than I ever could have dreamed. After I helped her unload her rented van, we ended up having lunch together, talking at length about the photo scandal and Mia’s involvement. She’d had no idea the lies and half-truths Mia had been feeding me—her rekindled relationship with Alex was news to her—so I was relatively certain Alex was in the dark as well.

  Well, it was all about to come out. While we were at breakfast, Mia had told me where her photo shoot was and invited me to come visit if I got bored. That was an offer she was soon going to regret.

  I swung open the heavy glass door leading into the photographer’s studio. There weren’t nearly as many people hanging around as I’d imagined. I’d been expecting a crowd of people oohing and ahhing and telling Mia to “work it.” Instead, the only people around—besides her and the photographer—were an assistant dressed in jeans and a concert T-shirt, who watched everything with an appraising eye, occasionally saying something to his boss in low tones, and a makeup artist with exactly the multi-tone hair and wild makeup I’d envisioned.

  I stood around for several minutes before anyone noticed I was there. Good thing I didn’t own a gun, or Mia would have already been dead.

  The assistant strode over to me, an air of self-importance wafting off of him like bad cologne. “May I help you?” He crossed his arms and looked down his thin nose at me.

  Mia noticed us and called him off. “Chester, she’s with me. Chill.”

  After a few more frames, the photographer called a break, and Mia strode over to me.

  “Come to see what the fashion world is really like?” she asked before sipping from a bottle of sparkling water procured from a craft services table laden with more food than any model would ever eat.

  It was my turn to cross my arms. “Actually, no. I came to ask you why you lied to me.”

  She gave me a quizzical look. “Which time?”

  “When you told me about the picture of Alex and Regina.”

  Another woman joined us, a stylist judging by the way she held shirts and jewelry against Mia with a critical expression. After trying a few combinations, she shoved a pair of hot pink leather pants at Mia along with a white blouse and leopard-print jacket.

  “I still don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mia replied as she kicked off her shoes and quickly stripped to her bra and underwear.

  “Yes, you do. I’m giving you a chance to admit it.”

  “And I take it I’m supposed to be grateful?”

  I gave her a pointed look.

  She shimmied into the leather pants with an ease that would have made any other woman jealous. “I give. What did I do?”

  “You told me you saw Alex kiss Regina when there’s no way you could have.” I waited for a reaction, but she gave none as she continued dressing. “And I have proof.”

  That got her attention. She stopped fiddling with her collar and cocked an eyebrow. “Really?” Her tone was skeptical. “This I have to see.” She waved away the ministrations of the stylist.

  I pulled out my phone and thumbed through each picture, all of which had time stamps. I didn’t want her to have any wiggle room. “This is the one you sent me, only it’s the original. The newspaper supplied it to Regina on threat of a lawsuit. See the time code?” I flipped through the next two, giving her the same explanations Jolie had given me. I ended with the one showing her back to Alex and Regina. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

  Mia bought herself some time by allowing the makeup artist to powder her face and reapply her cherry-red lip gloss. When the girl finally moved away, she said, “So I made a mistake. So what?”

  My eyebrow shot up of its own accord. “A mistake? Is that what you call swearing to me you had my back when you were really lying to me while at the same time telling my boyfriend you believed in him?”

  “Where did you hear that?”

  “Well, Alex said it first. But someone else confirmed it. You’ll never guess who I literally ran into today in our building—Regina. Not a smart move putting her up in our building where she and I could easily cross paths. Or was that the whole point, to try to create drama between us?”

  Mia didn’t answer, just sank down on a stool and fiddled with her bottle cap.

  “You wanna know what I think?” I said, knowing I had her in a corner.

  She rolled her eyes. “Enlighten me.”

  I sat on the edge of the craft table. “You’ve wanted Alex from the get-go when you thought he purchased you at that auction. Don’t think I didn’t notice you hit on him every chance you got. Once he was in England and pretty much out of the picture, you hinted that Nick still had feelings for me, hoping I’d go back to him while Alex was away. Then when you found out you’d be attending that party in Oxford, you saw an opportunity to accomplish your goal by using your old family friend Regina as part of the trap. How am I doing so far?”

  “Wow, you’re a regular Veronica Mars, aren’t you?” she scoffed.

  “I’m willing to bet a year’s salary that you were the ‘anonymous source’ quoted in the paper. I’m also willing to bet you or
someone you know was behind that perfectly timed photo. God knows you have enough connections to people with cameras and even to some paparazzi who are used to making things look different than they are. Once you’d broken the news to me, all you had to do was sit back and let events take their course. Unfortunately for you, Alex didn’t take the Regina bait, then someone else got involved and exposed your lies.”

  “Did you cook up that little theory all by yourself?”

  “Nope. I had help. Miles got me thinking, and then Regina and I put the rest of pieces together over lunch. It wasn’t that hard once we had both sides of the story.”

  “Miles knows?”

  “Every dirty word.”

  For the first time since I’d met her, Mia looked as if she might cry. But instead she turned on me. “You think you’re so perfect, don’t you? You and your little conspiracy that makes everything my fault. Did it ever occur to you that Regina might have been lying to you today? I mean, no, she didn’t kiss him, but she sure as hell wanted to. She was a willing victim in this, more than happy to see the two of you split. In fact, she’s probably planning how to get back with him now, especially since she’s neutralized you as a threat by befriending you.”

  “Is that supposed to make me jealous? Suspicious? Because I’m done with that. I trust Alex. If he wants her, he can have her. And don’t change the subject. This is about you being guilty.”

  “You don’t get it, do you?” Mia shook her head. “You had everything. Alex and Nick were both begging for your attention, and you didn’t appreciate either of them. You deserved everything you got.”

  “Look, Mia, all I want you to do is admit what you did. At least then I’ll know where I stand. An open enemy is better than a false friend.”

  “Mia, time to come back, love,” the photographer called from a set that had been completely transformed into a trendy club.

  “Be right there,” she called before turning back to me. “You should leave.”

  “If that’s how you want things to be, fine. But you’d better hope Alex doesn’t decide to sue you for slander. He’s got a solid case, and I bet Regina would be willing to represent him.”

  Mia turned her back on me. “Go fuck yourself.”

  It had been a long day, but there was still one thing I had left to do.

  Pushing through the door onto the sidewalk, I dialed Alex’s number. He and I needed to talk. One ring. Two. Three… five. Voicemail. I growled and hung up. We were not going to do this by message. I would try Skype when I got home.

  Back at my apartment, I was pleasantly surprised to find Miles in the elevator when I stepped in. “Going up?”

  “Yep.” He held up a brass key. “Taking my stuff back from Mia’s and leaving her the key. I’m done.” He patted the empty blue duffle bag hanging from his left shoulder.

  “I’m sorry to hear it, but good for you. You deserve a woman who values you for the wonder that you are.” I kissed his cheek. “Come by my place when you’re done. We can commiserate together.”

  He gave me a questioning look.

  “I’m calling Alex. Or at least trying to. I already tried once. I don’t know if he’s just busy or screening my calls.”

  “Seems like a day of reckoning for both of us.” Miles reached into his pocket and held out his phone. “Here. He’ll answer if he thinks the call is from me.”

  “Sneaky. I like the way you think.” I took the phone just as the elevator lurched to a stop on my floor. “I’m serious. Stop by when you’re done.”

  Miles eyed me dubiously. “If I hear yelling, I’m out.”

  “Har har. Hopefully it won’t get to that point.”

  I dumped my purse on the couch and flopped down next to it, staring at Miles’s phone. I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want to hear Alex’s voice because my heart would break all over again. I didn’t want to admit to how wrong I had been, how much I had wronged him. I didn’t want to tell him about Nick—God knew I’d lose him for sure then. But yet, I wanted to do this. I had to hear his voice one more time, to fix it in my memory so that I’d always remember the good times. I wanted Alex to know how sorry I was and that I finally trusted him. At least that way, he’d know before he walked away forever.

  I took a deep, ragged breath and navigated to Alex’s name in Miles’s contacts. I closed my eyes as I pressed the connect button and listened to the phone ring.

  As soon as he answered, my heart double-timed it as though it could run away and avoid whatever was about to happen. “Hey.”

  Alex was quiet for a moment, long enough for me to fear he had or was going to hang up on me. “Hi.” His voice was barely above a whisper.

  “You said to call when I could talk to you like an adult.”

  “I shouldn’t have said that—”

  “It was exactly the right thing to say. You were right. I was behaving like a child. But things have changed. I’ve changed. I’m so sorry, Alex.”

  He let out a noisy breath through his nose. “I’m listening.”

  I filled him in on everything that had taken place since we’d last talked, including meeting Regina, confronting Mia, and once I could no longer avoid it, what had nearly happened with Nick. “I’m such a hypocrite. As if taking Mia’s word over yours wasn’t bad enough, I committed the very same sin I wrongly accused you of.”

  “Even though we never said the words, we were broken up when you did what you did with Nick. There’s nothing to apologize for. We’re both adults. We know that life sometimes throws us curves, and sometimes we react in strange ways.”

  “Strange is an understatement.”

  “Grief makes people do crazy things. I’m so sorry to hear about your father, by the way. I would have been on the next flight if I could have gotten away.”

  “I understand, really. Look, I’ve talked enough about myself. How have you been through all of this?”

  His laughter was dark, sarcastic. “I won’t lie. It’s been rough. The worst part was not understanding what was happening or why. Everything was going along so well, then all of sudden there was this photo and you hated me.”

  The pain in his voice was so raw that tears pricked my eyes and fell before I could stop them. “I never should have listened to Mia. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you, and now I have—multiple times. Can you ever forgive me?”

  “Yes. And do you know why? Because you’ve changed. You proved it by not freaking out that Gina lives in your building and will be working at the university—at least temporarily. I can hear it in your voice. The uncertainty is gone. You know what I have all along—that all we have to do is trust one another.”

  “Would it break your trust if I asked what really happened that night? With the picture, I mean.”

  Alex chuckled. “No, not at all. You’ve been honest with me, so I should do the same. Clean slate and all that.” He paused, and I imagined him running a hand through his hair while he framed his thoughts. “It was a chance meeting. When that picture was taken, Gina was apologizing for the way she ended things between us. She didn’t want to have our breakup on her conscience anymore. I think it set us both free, if you want to know the truth. No more unfinished business.”

  “It sounds like we’ve both gotten closure in the last few months.”

  “It’s about time.”

  “So where does this leave us?”

  “Hurt, but I think we’ll be okay,” he said. “We both need time to process everything that’s happened. I’ll be back in the States next month. Why don’t we see how things are then?”

  It wasn’t an affirmation that we were back together, but it wasn’t the hellish fight I had been dreading or a shattering breakup, so I would take what I could get. “Okay. Thanks for hearing me out and giving me a second chance, Alex.”

  “Always. Tu me manques.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  July

  I hadn’t realized just how dependent
I’d been on Mia until she was out of my life. Suddenly, I was alone. I saw Regina every so often, but she was too busy working to do much. Miles and I wallowed together occasionally, but he was more of the suffer-in-silence-then-move-on type and was already testing the waters of the dating scene again.

  I, on the other hand, was stuck in limbo, waiting for Alex to return. I needed to make an effort to get out and meet people, but I was content to lock myself at home and work on the edits Alex’s friend had given me of the first Millie mystery. That was enough until I knew what was what with Alex.

  But all that changed when Angela knocked on the edge of my cube and handed me a small envelope. “It was just delivered for you.”

  “By who?”

  “A bike courier. You know, that cute guy who sometimes flirts with Kendra.”

  I slipped my nail under the glue and pulled out a single sheet of paper with a solitary line of typed text.

  There’s one letter left in the box. Read it.

  “It can’t be,” I said to myself.

  I’d just put the box in the hall closet yesterday. It was empty. I’d opened the last envelope before we left for the airport the day my dad died. It had said, “Open me when… your world is falling apart.” Along with a few pieces of chocolate, it contained a beautiful handkerchief with my initials monogrammed into it and a photo of Alex and me from our first date. I had clutched the small square of linen all the way through my dad’s funeral.

  What if that wasn’t the box referenced in the note? What if my imagination was truly running away with me? But if it wasn’t from Alex, who was it from? And what did it mean? I closed my eyes and held my head, trying to decide if I was losing my mind.

  Miles came up behind me and rubbed my shoulders. “What’s up, Pookie?”

  I glared at him. “Don’t ever call me that again.”

  “So the right to that name doesn’t pass on to your next best friend? Damn.”

  “No. It’s time to let it die. It goes the way of your relationship—right down the tubes.”