Simone grabbed her purse, but as soon as she did, her doorbell rang. She certainly wasn’t expecting anyone, and when she opened the door her stomach turned flips. It was Chris, and she could barely look him in the face.
“Can I come in?” he asked.
Surprisingly, his tone and demeanor were noticeably polite, so she wondered if maybe he’d had a change of heart and wanted to work things out.
But when he closed the door behind him, his calm look turned furious. “So is it true?”
“Is what true?”
“That you got busted in Ohio for selling prescription drugs? Illegally, that is. And that you were locked up in jail until you finally agreed to snitch on your partners? And the state gave you total immunity? Is it true?”
Simone’s chest heaved up and down faster than normal, and she wanted to deny all that he’d asked her about. But she could tell he already knew too much. “Who told you that?”
“Your grandmother.”
“What?”
“Yeah, your grandmother. The woman who lives right over in Ohio? The woman who doesn’t live all the way in California the way you claimed.”
Simone stared at him, trying to find the best words to say, but she couldn’t.
He half squinted his eyes. “You are by far the biggest liar I know. You know that? And you make me sick. Oh, and your grandmother also told me that she called you last night to tell you about your mom being in the hospital, but you said you were too busy to come see her.”
“That’s not what I told her, and you don’t know the kind of history I have with my mother. You’ve only heard my grandmother’s side of it.”
“Then why did you lie about where they live?”
“Because they’ve never treated me like family.”
“Well, given the way you’ve treated me and knowing what a huge liar you are, I don’t blame them.”
“You really don’t know my mother and grandmother. You know nothing at all, so please don’t judge me.”
“I know you lied to me about where they lived. You lied about why you left Ohio, you covered up all the criminal activity you were involved in, and look at all the lies I just caught you in last night. And now I know why you spend beyond your means. Why you have to have everything Traci has.”
Simone had tolerated about as much as she could take from Chris, and if he kept badgering her the way he was, she would have to throw him out. “Why?”
“Your grandmother told me that trying to keep up with another friend you had in Ohio is the reason you started selling drugs. She said you had a sports car, a luxury car, and a five-bedroom house just like your friend, but that when they arrested you they took everything. She also told me that you copied everything she did and that you became so clingy and obsessed with her, she had to cut you off. But even then, you stalked her, and she had you arrested. So imagine how stunned I was to learn all this about you.”
Simone couldn’t take any more. “Chris, I want you to leave. I’m sorry that things didn’t work out between us, but I need you to go. If you don’t, I’m calling the police.”
Chris opened the front door. “You know, at first I felt bad about stealing your key, but now my only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. I’ve known for months that you kept a spare in your kitchen drawer, but it wasn’t until two nights ago when you were in the shower that I decided to take it. And boy, did I get the surprise of a lifetime. I found your grandmother’s number, and today, she sang like an opera legend.”
“I’m giving you ten seconds to get out. I mean it, Chris.”
He shook his head, laughing. Then he became so serious, she got scared. “You’re an awful person, Simone. The worst. But I’m going to make sure you get everything you have coming to you. Everything and then some.”
Chapter 23
Traci saw that Tim was calling and picked up the phone. “Hey, baby.”
“Hey, I’m on my way, so what’s for dinner?”
“I ordered lasagna, fettuccine, spaghetti, and salad from Big Italy’s, and they just delivered it.”
“Sounds good to me, but that sure is a lot of food.”
“Simone is coming over.”
“Oh. Is everything okay?”
Traci opened all the bags and pulled out each of the four foil pans. “No, not at all. Chris broke up with her.”
“Really? Why is that?”
“Something about her not wanting to have joint bank accounts when they get married. She also doesn’t want to join his church, and I guess he wasn’t happy about that, either.”
“Hmmph,” Tim said. “Let me guess. She wants to join our church instead.”
“Yep.”
“Well, I haven’t been around Chris a lot, but that doesn’t sound like him to me. He seems much more reasonable than that.”
“I thought the same thing, but according to Simone, he basically called things off for no reason.”
“Very strange, and somehow I bet if we ask Chris, the story might be a little different.”
“That could be, and I do think something else happened. So maybe Simone will eventually tell me.”
“Hey, you won’t believe this,” Tim said. “Chris is calling me.”
“Really?”
“Hold on a minute.”
Traci pulled three plates and three glasses from the cupboard and set them next to the food containers. She knew Tim and Chris had exchanged numbers a few months ago, but as far as she knew, they never talked on the phone. So she couldn’t imagine that Chris was calling to tell Tim about his and Simone’s breakup. Traci and Simone were friends, but Tim and Chris only got together because of the two of them.
After a minute or so, Tim came back on the line. “He’s on his way over.”
“Here?”
“Yep.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know exactly, but he said it was important.”
“Did you tell him that Simone was on her way here, too, and that this probably isn’t a good time?”
“I did, but he said that he has something to show us. And that it’s all about her, anyway.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“That sounds really bizarre. What else did he say?”
“That he was sorry he didn’t call us last night, right when he figured out what Simone was up to.”
“Okay, now I’m really lost. And I sure hope Chris isn’t planning to start trouble with Simone when he gets here.”
“I don’t think that’s why he’s coming. That’s not how it sounded.”
“Maybe I should call and warn Simone.”
“Look, baby, I know that’s your friend, but let’s just see what Chris has to say first.”
“I don’t like this.”
“Well, I’m pulling into the driveway now, and Simone just parked in front of the house.”
“Okay, I’m hanging up.”
Traci heard Tim letting up the garage, so she opened the door between the garage and the kitchen. Once he drove forward and turned the ignition off, he got out and spoke to Simone, who was walking toward him. Then the two of them walked inside the house.
Simone hugged Traci in tears.
Traci hugged her back. “What’s wrong?”
“Everything,” Simone said, sobbing.
Tim and Traci looked at each other, neither of them knowing what to say.
But then they heard the doorbell ringing, and Tim went to answer it.
“Simone, I hate to tell you this, but that’s Chris at the front door.”
“Excuse me? For what?”
“We don’t know. He called Tim and said he had something to show us, and that it was about you.”
Simone opened her mouth to speak, but Tim and Chris walked into the kitchen.
“Chris, why are you doing this?” Simone asked. “All that stuff my grandmother told you was none of your business. It’s not anybody’s business unless I tell people myself.”
“That’s not why I’m here,” he said, refusing to look at her. Instead, he pulled a set of documents from one of two large envelopes he was carrying and passed them to Traci.
“What are these?” she asked.
“Photos of every room in your house and photos of every room in Simone’s condo.”
Traci looked at each and every photo. If she hadn’t seen them with her own eyes, she never would’ve believed it. Simone’s living room was identical to Tim and Traci’s. Her master bedroom was identical to Tim and Traci’s. Her guest bedroom looked just like Tim and Traci’s, and even Simone’s office had the same furniture that Traci’s had. In some cases, Simone had been forced to improvise, but even when she had, she’d found pieces that were so similar one could hardly tell the difference. She’d even found similar accessories for every room, and every single color scheme in the various rooms matched Tim and Traci’s. The only variation was that the rooms in Simone’s condo were a lot smaller than the ones in Tim and Traci’s house, although that hadn’t seemed to matter to Simone at all. She’d still packed in everything she could. She’d cloned the inside of Tim and Traci’s home in a way that didn’t seem possible, but more important, what she’d done was insane.
Traci finally looked at Simone. “So every time I invited you here, you were taking photos and using them to redecorate your condo?”
“Traci, you know we have the same tastes. With everything.”
“No, we really don’t. Not at all, and actually, I’ve never bought a single thing you have. Plus, Tim and I had all our furniture and accessories well before I met you. Not to mention, when I came to your condo back in March, it looked completely different than it does today.”
“Chris, I can’t believe you did this!” Simone said, beating him on his chest. “Why are you trying to destroy me? Why are you trying to ruin my friendship with Traci?”
Chris pushed her arms away from him. “Don’t touch me,” he said, and passed a much thicker stack of documents to Traci. “This is what I’m most sorry about. And I just couldn’t let Simone do this to you. I couldn’t let her get away with it.”
“I’m almost afraid to look,” Traci said, “because if it’s any worse than what I’ve already seen, I’m not sure I can take it.”
“I took photos of the first three chapters of Simone’s next book. And here’s a copy of one of your books with all the character names highlighted.”
Traci scanned a few pages. “Oh…my…goodness. Simone, is this some kind of joke? You’re actually copying the story line of my first novel? And basically just changing the names of the characters and using a pen name? Are you crazy? You’ve got the nerve to be smiling in my face and trying to steal my work? Are you kidding me?”
Tim took the first couple of pages from Traci and skimmed through them. Then he glared at Simone, who was in tears. Now he looked back at Traci. “Didn’t I tell you to be careful with this woman? I told you that from the very beginning.”
Simone clasped her hands together in front of her chest. “Traci, please let me talk to you. I’m begging you. Please let me explain why I did this. I promise you, it’s not what you think.”
Traci set the photo version of the manuscript on the island. “Simone, all I want is for you to get out of our house and to never come back.”
“Traci, you don’t mean that. You’re just upset.”
“I do mean it. Now get out before I have you arrested.”
“Well, it’s not like she’s never been to jail before,” Chris said. “That’s for sure.”
Simone stormed by him, heading back toward the garage. “Just shut up, Chris. Or even better, why don’t you do all of us a favor and just die?”
Tim went and opened the door. “Okay, that’s enough, Simone. It’s time for you to go. Now.”
Simone didn’t say another word. All she did was stare at Traci, begging her with tearful, pleading eyes. But when Traci stared back at her with no sympathy, she cried like a child. She fell completely apart and finally left.
She drove away, and Traci vowed to never speak to her again. Not for as long as she lived.
Epilogue
Six Months Later
It was one year ago today that Traci and Simone had met at Marie’s Hair Salon. It had been a normal Thursday evening in March, but little had Traci known she’d been headed toward massive drama. She’d heard about women who mimicked their female friends, but never had she believed she would meet someone on the level of Simone. Simone had taken everything to major extremes, and Traci had to admit, she hadn’t fully seen it coming. Yes, she’d known within the first couple of months of their friendship that Simone tended to order the same food as her every time they went to lunch or dinner, but Traci hadn’t seen anything strange about it. Of course, in hindsight, she now knew that it hadn’t been as normal as she’d thought. Maybe if a person occasionally ordered the same thing as one of her friends, that would be one thing, but to do so every single time at every single restaurant, well, that was a bit different. Then, when Simone had changed her entire look, including the way she dressed and wore her hair, Traci had noticed that, too, but she still hadn’t thought it was going to be a problem. Traci certainly hadn’t liked the idea of someone monitoring every detail of her physical being, along with all other aspects of her life, but she’d tried her best to look beyond those particular oddities. Because after all, Traci and every other person on the planet had their quirks, habits, and differences.
No two people were the same, and Traci had chosen to focus on all the good qualities she’d seen in Simone. Robin hadn’t liked Simone from the beginning, and Tim had voiced his concerns very early on, too, but Traci had thought they were both blowing the whole Simone matter out of proportion, and so had Traci’s mom. Although, Traci couldn’t deny that it was her mom who she’d adopted this whole try-to-see-good-in-everyone philosophy from. Traci didn’t necessarily think that was a bad thing, but now that she’d misjudged not one but two so-called friends, she knew it was time to start seeing people for who they were—right when she met them. For most of her life, she’d been a noticeably good judge of character, but for reasons she didn’t understand, she clearly hadn’t been when it came to Denise and Simone. Maybe it had to do with the fact that after she’d left corporate America, she’d missed having friends who were coworkers—something she had discussed with Tim many times. But even so, this never should have caused her to want to befriend an author so badly that she was willing to overlook obvious and sometimes consistent personality issues.
Of course, nothing compared to all the photos Chris had taken and shown Traci and Tim. No matter how much time had passed, Traci still couldn’t believe that Simone had spent so much money and energy on replicating their home. It just didn’t make sense to even want to do something like that. But the drop-the-mic moment had occurred when Traci had read those manuscript pages and realized her “friend” was plagiarizing her work and planning to sell it. Her “friend” who she’d helped as much as she could had gone behind her back as though it was nothing.
But what Traci found comfort in now were the words her mother had been telling her since she was a child: “For everything bad, something good always comes out of it.” To this day, Traci had never seen that belief proven wrong. Yes, her experience with Simone had turned out to be a nightmare, and Traci had spent the last six months despising her and wishing she’d never met her, but as of last month, she’d gotten past it. She’d prayed hard to forgive Simone, and she finally had. For a while, she hadn’t been sure she could, but it was her mom who’d kept reminding her that she hadn’t raised Traci to be resentful and unforgiving. She’d taught Traci to love people in spite of their faults, just as God loved her.
Her mother had also insisted she not forget the kind of life Simone had lived as a child. Her mom wasn’t dismissing the bad choices Simone had made, but she insisted that when a person hadn’t received a certain amount of love and affection as a child, it could set the course for
a not-so-great adulthood. Then, when Traci had told her mother about the voice message Simone had left her two weeks ago, apologizing and sharing the truth about what her mother and grandmother had subjected her to—and also saying she knew she had a problem, was seeing a psychologist, and had moved to Atlanta—her mom had felt even more empathy for Simone. Traci had felt the same way, and although she had no proof that Simone was, in fact, in counseling and getting the help she needed, Traci had thought about her a lot and had tried to imagine how hard things must have been for her as a small girl.
Traci knew she and Simone would never be close friends again because too much had happened, but she had genuinely forgiven Simone and was hoping for the very best for her. Later today, Traci would even take the time to tell her by phone, but the important thing was that Traci’s decision to forgive Simone had given her a noticeable sense of peace. She felt free and relieved, and she knew it was because she’d done what God wanted all of His people to do: forgive and truly mean it. Let bygones be bygones and move on—regardless of how unkindly someone had betrayed or deceived you. This was exactly what Traci was doing, and she was a better person because of it, which meant everything truly did happen for a reason, and for that, she was grateful.
Six months had passed, yet Simone still couldn’t believe how horribly things had turned out for her—and sadly, how cruel of a man Chris had become. He’d seemed so kind, loyal, and loving, but in the end, he’d betrayed her much more callously than her last fiancé had. He’d proven that even the most unsuspecting people might ease a knife in your back when you weren’t looking. He’d known how important Traci was to Simone and that their friendship had meant everything to her, yet he’d done all he could to sabotage it. Worse, he’d secretly interrogated her heartless grandmother and then set out to destroy Simone in more ways than she’d counted on.
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