by Amy Vansant
Emily offered him a sheepish smile.
Sebastian’s phone buzzed and he reached for it. He sighed.
“I’m sorry. This is like the twentieth message. I should probably check them.”
“No problem.” She stared at the fries on his plate.
Damn.
Sebastian stood and wandered into the other room as he listened to his messages. He paced. He wandered out of the kitchen and wandered back. Finally, he sighed and pulled the phone from his ear.
“I have to go,” he said.
“Really? Work?”
Sebastian shook his head. “Worse. Apparently, Greta was robbed. Or car jacked. I don’t know. It depends on which message you listen to, but she’s freaking out. I have to see if she’s okay. She sounds hysterical.”
Emily felt a stab of jealousy.
“Oh,” she mumbled.
“This is why I said I needed a clean break.” Sebastian hugged Emily, holding her and gently rocking her back and forth for a moment. “I know she isn’t technically my problem, but she’s upset and crying. It doesn’t seem right to ignore her; she might be hurt. This is the kind of stuff I worried about.”
Emily nodded. “I know; you’re right. You’re doing the right thing.” She tried to think of several other ways to sound understanding, but ran out of synonyms and the urge.
Sebastian took two huge bites from his burger, nearly finishing it. He walked to the front door and paused as Emily followed. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips.
“I’m sorry,” he said, wiping a dab of mustard he’d left on her mouth. “She’s not a strong person like you.”
Emily offered a crooked smile, as Sebastian went to his truck and pulled out of her driveway.
“Yea for strong women,” she said, closing the door.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sebastian entered Greta’s apartment, empty but for Binker, asleep on the sofa. Everything felt normal; the house was messy as usual, but not ransacked. It didn’t appear anyone had robbed the house.
Sebastian called for Greta. No answer. He checked his phone. Her last message had arrived an hour previous. The very last message he’d heard beeping at Emily’s had been his mother, but nineteen before that had been Greta. Had she been calling from the hospital? Her texts made no sense, but implied robbery and injury.
He dialed Greta’s number, but she didn’t answer.
Sebastian called Greta’s sister but couldn’t reach her or Greta’s mother. He kicked around the apartment, becoming more and more agitated. He didn’t know whether to be angry or worried.
After two hours, Sebastian tried Greta’s phone a fifth time. She answered.
“Where are you?” he asked.
“I, uh... I went to my sister’s. Where were you? I called you, like, a thousand times.”
Sebastian paused. It sounded as if Greta was out of breath. “So you’re at your sister’s now? I just ran home to see if you were okay. Are you okay?”
Sebastian heard a succession of muffled rustling noises. It sounded as if Greta had covered the phone and said something. He thought he heard a car door.
“I said are you okay?”
“No,” said Greta, her voice cracking. “I’m not okay, where were you?”
Sebastian decided now was not the time to get into his new relationship with Emily.
“I’m at home. Do you need me or are you okay? What happened?”
Sebastian heard music rise in the background.
“Are you in your car?”
“Yes,” she said. “I’m coming home. Are you there?”
“Yes. I just told you I am.”
“I’ll be there in a second. Wait for me, please, baby?”
Sebastian sighed. “I’m here.”
Sebastian sat down next to Binker, who stood and crawled into his lap. He stroked the dog until he heard a series of dull thuds on the front door. He stood slowly, giving the dog time to scuttle off his lap, and opened the door. Greta stood there, perched on crutches, a large brace around her knee.
“What happened?” he asked.
As soon as Greta saw him, her eyes welled with tears.
“Oh baby,” she said, hobbling into the house. “I’m so glad you’re here. I feel so much safer.”
“What happened to your leg? You said you were robbed? What’s going on?”
Greta shook her head and waved her hand at him.
“I’m freaking out. I’ll be right back. I have to relax. Can you order us a pizza or something for dinner? Please?”
Sebastian opened his mouth and then shut it.
“I just had lunch.”
“I’m starving,” said Greta. “Please?”
“Fine. I’ll call. Pepperoni, okay?”
Greta nodded and crutched her way into the bedroom. He heard the shower and stared angrily at the closed bedroom door. Why did she need to take a shower before she answered his questions?
Sebastian made a delivery order and reclaimed his waiting spot on the sofa. After fifteen minutes, Greta reappeared on her crutches, wearing only a kimono and her knee brace. When she moved the crutches forward, the robe opened at the bottom giving Sebastian a view of her naked body.
“Seriously?” he asked as she made her way to the sofa. “Could you put some clothes on? The pizza guy is going to be here.”
She flopped on to the sofa. The top of her robe fell open, exposing one breast. Greta eased her bum leg on the table and then leaned back, panting.
“You try and get dressed with this thing wrapped around your knee,” she said. “What, am I supposed to pull yoga pants over it?”
“No, but you could put some freaking shorts on,” said Sebastian. “And your boobs are hanging out for chrissake.”
Greta looked down at her chest. She adjusted the robe.
“Like you’ve never seen me naked before. You’re so mean.”
“I’m not mean. I’m just not your boyfriend. Do we have to go over this every day?”
Greta’s eyes welled with tears again, and she glared at Sebastian.
“Oh, do you mean we have to go over it every day that you’re living in my apartment?”
Sebastian closed his eyes and calmed himself.
“You’re right, you’re totally right. I need to move out. I know. I’m trying.”
“No,” Greta said, leaning towards him and groping for a hug. “I didn’t mean it. I told you to take as long as you need to find a new place and I really want you here now.”
Greta began to sob as she clung to Sebastian. He lightly patted her back, staring at the ceiling. He imagined this was what new parents felt like at two in the morning, waiting for the baby to calm down.
“Don’t cry,” he said. “Tell me what happened.”
“I drove into work to do a few things and I was walking back to my car, and this guy came out of nowhere and grabbed my purse and knocked me down. Some other guy saw him and screamed out ‘Hey!’ and he got scared and ran away, but I twisted my knee really bad.”
Greta pointed to her knee, sniffling.
“Otherwise you’re okay?”
“I guess,” said Greta, whimpering. “But I’m so scared to be alone now. Please promise me you’ll stay. Don’t move out.”
“Greta, I can’t stay here forever. You have to get on with your life and so do I.”
Greta heaved a mighty sob and fell on Sebastian again. “I don’t want to get on with my life,” she wailed. “I want us to be together again!”
Greta took Sebastian’s hand and gently led it beneath her robe to her breasts. She kissed his neck.
Sebastian stood up. “Greta!” he said. “I’m sorry about your knee. I feel terrible for you, I really do. I always do, but I can’t—”
Sebastian wanted to tell Greta about Emily. It might force her to face the reality of their situation. But, as she sat there, robe akimbo, eyes swollen with tears, he couldn’t bear to upset her any further. He couldn’t stand the tearful, moaning conversation his new
information would inspire.
Someone knocked on the door. Sebastian grabbed a blanket from a nearby chair back and threw it on top of Greta.
“Cover up. Pizza’s here.”
“You’ll at least stay tonight?” begged Greta. “Please? Please?”
“Well, yeah,” said Sebastian, opening the door. “I haven’t find a place yet.”
“Yea!”
Greta’s happy yelp drew the attention of the pizza guy.
“Everybody loves pizza,” said the delivery man.
Sebastian signed for the food.
“Yea,” he muttered.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ten minutes after Sebastian left, Emily grabbed her phone and called Kady.
“So he stayed over?” asked Kady.
Emily grinned so hard she thought her cheeks would break.
“Yep!” she squeaked.
“And did you...”
“No.”
“No?”
“He says he wants to wait until he’s got his own place and a clean break from Greta.”
“So he’s still dating Greta?”
“No, they’ve been broken up for over a month, but he feels weird with still living in her house... I dunno. We had a good time otherwise.”
“It’s kind of sweet, I guess. He must really like you if he wants to do things right.”
“I don’t disagree, but try explaining that to my hormones when he’s lying in bed with me.”
Kady snickered.
“Greta clearly has some hold on him,” Emily added. “She worries me.”
“What do you mean?”
“This is just a guess, but I think she’s trying to get him back.”
“Ooh. That isn’t good. Not when he’s in her house.”
“Exactly. I mean, there’s no sign he has any desire to be with her anymore. But she could certainly muddy his path to me, if you know what I mean.”
“Yeah...” said Kady. “No, not really, but kind of— Hold on a second.”
Emily could hear Kady and Joe talking. It sounded as if Joe was going out and Kady was wondering why and where. She heard the slam of Kady’s screen door.
“Em?” said Kady. “You still there?”
“Yes. Something wrong with Joe?”
Kady sighed. “He has today off and he just came downstairs with his hair all done up, smelling like cologne. He said he’s going out with a friend of his to help him pick out new bar furniture or something.”
“Does he usually wear cologne to furniture shop?”
“He never wears cologne, period.”
“Screw this,” said Emily. “Hang up with me, right now, and follow his ass!”
“What?”
“Go get in your car and follow him. You can’t sit around wondering if something is up all the time. Just follow him.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea,” said Kady, whispering.
“Go! Just call me when you can and let me know what’s going on!”
“I will!” yelped Kady.
The phone went dead.
Emily sat staring at her phone. There was a knock on her door. She jogged to the door, hoping it was Sebastian returning.
It was Mark.
“Hey Mark,” said Emily, letting him in. “What’s up?”
“I’m bored. I was wondering—”
Emily’s phone rang and she held up an index finger to put Mark’s thought on hold. Mark immediately wandered to her kitchen and started picking at the fries scattered on the cookie tray.
Kady’s name appeared on her caller ID.
“Where are you?” answered Emily.
“I’m at the Mexican restaurant on Route 2, in the parking lot. Joe went inside.”
“Did you see anyone else?”
“No, that’s the problem. The windows are dark and if I go in he’ll see me the second I walk in the door. I don’t want to give him a chance to come up with some cover story. I want to catch him cold.”
“Hmm...” Emily mulled over the situation while she watched Mark demolish the half-eaten hamburger she’d planned on finishing.
“I have an idea,” said Emily. “Mark just showed up. We’ll drive there and Mark can go in. Joe doesn’t know him.”
“Oh my god, that’s brilliant. I’m parked across the street at the car wash.”
“We’ll take Mark’s truck.” Emily looked at Mark. He opened the refrigerator and drank orange juice directly from the jug.
“Seriously?” she said to him.
Mark peeked at her from behind the inverted bottle. He lowered it.
“Sorry. You always have such good orange juice.”
“Did you bring your truck?”
“Yeah. You need me to haul something?”
“No, I need you to run a super secret covert operation for Kady.”
Kady’s name piqued Mark’s interest. “Kady from the Rover?”
Emily nodded.
“She’s a cutie. Whatever you need!”
Emily put the phone back to her ear. “Okay, he’s in,” she said. “We’ll meet you at the car wash parking lot and Mark can drop me off with you and then go over to the restaurant.”
“Great, see you in a bit!” said Kady.
“Those fries were weird,” said Mark as he and Emily hopped in his truck.
Emily huffed. “Well, you ate them all.”
“Well, duh, but they were, like, sweet or something...”
Emily cut Mark short by launching into an explanation of Kady’s problem, and what Mark could do to help.
“So you’ll go in, find out who Joe is meeting with, maybe take a picture of the situation if you can, and then report back to us,” said Emily.
“So Kady thinks her boyfriend is cheating on her?”
Emily nodded.
“Do girls spy on their boyfriends like this all the time?”
Emily shrugged. “Only if you idiots force us to, I guess.”
Mark grimaced. “Yikes.” He fell silent for a few minutes and then asked, “You think Kady’s going to be single soon then?”
Emily looked at him. “You can’t be scared at the idea of being spied on while cheating and then ask if my friend is single.”
“I wouldn’t cheat on her! I told you, I’m looking for love. I haven’t cheated on anyone in like... I dunno. Like two or three years.”
“My, what a show of restraint. I don’t know about Kady and Joe, but she’s my friend, Mark, you can’t just hit it and quit it. You have to promise me that, if something happens between you two.”
Mark held up his hand. “Scouts’ honor.”
Emily eyeballed him.
“Were you ever a Boy Scout?”
He twisted his lips and looked away. “No.”
Mark and Emily pulled up to Kady’s car. Emily hopped out and ran to Kady’s passenger door, opening it just wide enough to poke in her head.
“What is Joe wearing?” she asked.
“Oh, a light blue polo and khaki shorts.”
Emily closed the door without latching it and Mark rolled down his window.
“Okay,” said Emily. “Brown hair, light blue polo and khaki pants, medium build, medium height.”
“Got it. Hey Kady!” he yelled at Kady’s car.
Kady leaned into her passenger seat and looked up, waving.
“Hey Mark!” she called back.
“Okay, go!” said Emily, slapping Mark on the shoulder.
Mark saluted her and rolled up his window. While his truck pulled away, Emily settled herself in Kady’s car.
Emily looked at her friend. “This sucks. I’m so sorry, Kady.”
Kady shrugged. “I don’t know. In a way it’s good. I know it’s over. We’ve been falling out of love for a while now.”
“Why don’t you just break up with him?”
Kady shrugged. “I guess I just want there to be no question,” she said. “If I have proof of him cheating, we don’t have to have long conversations about the nuances of ou
r relationship and what ended us.”
“That’s true I guess.”
“Every time I break up with someone because it doesn’t feel right, I start to question my feelings the second they’re out the door,” added Kady. “Just once, I want to have things be cut and dried. No, did I make the right decision? Nice and clean.”
Emily nodded. “I can see that, but you’re still a nut.”
“Fair enough,” said Kady.
Twenty minutes later, Emily and Kady saw Joe’s car pull out of the Mexican Restaurant and turn left. Mark pulled out a moment later. He made a U-turn around the median and made his way to where the girls waited in Kady’s car. Mark hopped out of his truck and jumped into Kady’s back seat.
“Okay, whatcha got?” asked Emily, turning to face him.
“Well, I walked in there and there was a guy in a light blue polo sitting at the bar. I wasn’t totally sure it was Joe, because, you know, lots of people wear polos.”
Mark sat between them, hunched at the end of the seat, his face inches from theirs. He fell silent until Emily couldn’t take it anymore.
“So...was it?” she prompted.
“Was it what?”
“Was it Joe.”
“Oh! That’s the smart part,” said Mark, clearly happy with himself. “I went up, kind of close to him and called out ‘Hey Joe!’”
Emily slapped her forehead. “Oh no! You didn’t talk to him!”
Mark shook his head, smirking as if he had a secret. “He turned around and looked at me, but I pretended to wave at someone on the other side of the restaurant.”
“Aahh...” said Kady. “Nice.”
Mark tapped his forehead. “That’s some spy shit, right there.”
“Okay, so we know it’s him,” said Emily. “Was anyone with him?”
“Well, yes and no. When I first walked in there was a girl walking away from where he was sitting at the bar. After she left, he sat at the bar with half a glass of white wine and there was another glass next to him, like someone had been there, so I’m pretty sure the girl walking away had been sitting with him.”
“She never came back?” asked Kady.
“No.”
“Did you see what she looked like?” asked Emily.