I swallow and my gaze immediately falls to her hands: no pets, no boiling pots, but she is holding a white business envelope. Well, at least it’s not a gun. God, could this day get any worse?
I quickly look towards Rosemary, but she’s in a deep discussion on surfboards. I’m wondering if we could swap customers when Seraphina slowly approaches me.
I’m frozen and immediately my mind searches for a reason for why she’s here. Did Sebastian send her here? Is she looking for the money? Maybe that’s what the envelope is for…she wants me to put the hundred grand in it.
She smiles, wickedly. Her long black hair matches her head-to-toe black attire. The only skin that shows is her ample cleavage in the skintight, spandex, deep v-neck top, reminding me of Catwoman without the pointy ears and the mask.
She hands me the envelope. “This belongs to Logan.” She says, whispering in an eerie voice.
I take the envelope and stuff it into my back pocket. Then I clear my throat because I refuse to let her get under my skin. “You’re going to end up in jail just like Sebastian, you know?” I say, assuming she’s helping him.
She laughs. “This isn’t about Sebastian.”
My stomach is in knots, but I attempt to look unfazed. “You want to buy a board? It doesn’t look like you need a wetsuit by the looks of what you’re wearing. You do know you’re supposed to only wear them in the water?” I stifle a laugh. She does look ridiculous.
“Ha. Ha.” She leans against the counter so her face is close to mine. “I don’t think you’ll be laughing when you open that.”
“I thought you said it was for Logan.” I spit.
“I said it belongs to Logan, but it’s for you. I told you he’s not yours and now maybe you’ll believe me. Besides when he sees that, I know he’ll make the right choice. Trust me.” She arches her brow and I’ve honestly never felt so compelled in my life to slap someone across the face. If only Bryn were here and could actually cunt punt her. Yes, that would make me feel better.
“Al-righty then.” I say. I need to get away from her and I start to move towards the back of the store where Rosemary is.
But just as soon as I head to the back of the store, I glance over my shoulder and see her sashay out the door. I notice I’m holding my breath. I exhale and take another deep breath, trying to relax myself.
Rosemary’s customers carry a board to the register, but she quickly turns to me before she follows them.
“Who was the chick with the big tits?” She asks.
“Seraphina.” I mutter.
“She’s a friend?”
I shake my head. “No…most definitely not a friend. I’m just going to run to the bathroom…do you mind?” I ask, a bit distractedly
“Of course not. Since when do you need to ask permission to go to the bathroom? You’re in a weird mood today.” She laughs and then heads to the register.
I laugh back, a bit shakily. “Yeah, probably that time of the month.”
When I get to the bathroom, I close the door behind me and pull out the envelope from my back pocket. I take a deep breath. Frowning, I stand still, staring at the envelope. I know whatever it is it isn’t good. My heart pounds as I hear Bryn’s voice in my head: ‘she’s a psycho bitch and she’s full of shit’.
What’s she up to? I know I should wait and open this with either Logan or Bryn. I have a bad feeling about it, but my curiosity always gets the better of me and I quickly tear it open.
I pull out two pieces of paper. The first is a note that reads in loopy cursive: it happened over Thanksgiving break. I feel overwhelmingly hot as I fight back the bile rising in my throat. The next piece of paper is a black and white photo. It’s a sonogram. I can clearly see the head, the facial profile, and the spine of a baby. A wave of nausea rises and the only thing I’m thankful for at this moment is the nearby toilet as I vomit, violently into it.
Looking into the mirror over the sink, I stuff the envelope back in my pocket then splash some cold water on my face. Shit. I fight the tears surfacing in my eyes when there’s a soft knock on the door.
“Emilia, are you okay?” Rosemary calls.
I swallow. “Um. I feel a bit sick…bad cramps.” I hate myself for lying to her, but I just can’t talk about this right now. Could it be true? I remember Logan seeing her over Thanksgiving break when he was in New York. It was the one night he got home really late and he said he was out with friends…she was one of them. Holy Crap.
“Can I get you something, sweetheart?” She asks, softly.
“No, but I think I should go home. I feel like I need to lie down.” I murmur as I open the bathroom door.
“Sure…go and rest.” She says as she looks at me warily.
THE TEARS START TO FLOW as I start to walk home and I’m thankful I can hide them behind my dark sunglasses. I don’t know if it’s true, but how or why would anyone make something like that up? I know she’s crazy and obsessed with Logan, but the part about being with him over Thanksgiving Break is a fact and I strongly doubt she’s aware that I know this to be true. I wrack my brain trying to remember what Logan said about that night.
I take some deep breaths and gather my wits about me as I approach our house when I suddenly feel like someone is watching me. Shit. I’m by myself and Sebastian is out there, somewhere, with a gun. I glance over both my shoulders and pick up my pace. Could this day get any worse?
When I get home, I quickly unlock the door, step into the house and slam the door behind me. Just as I slam the door, I turn around and bump directly into Bryn and Chloe, who are standing right in the entryway.
“We saw you coming down the street. First of all, why are you out walking by yourself?” Bryn asks and Chloe looks at her with a confused expression. I’m reminded that she doesn’t know about Sebastian and that whole other mess.
“Um. I left work early. I don’t feel so great.” I mutter.
“Well, we’ll get to you walking alone later, but we need to talk.” She says.
I take off my glasses, stuff them in my purse and toss it on the nearby table. Trying to avoid eye contact for fear they might know I’ve been crying, I quickly walk around them and head towards the stairs.
“She already knows.” Bryn says, quietly to Chloe. “Emilia, what happened? I know you’ve been crying and I can probably guess why, but you have to realize she’s full of shit. Where’s Logan? I’m sure he’s pissed.”
“What? How do you know?” I stop in my tracks.
She nods in Chloe’s direction. “Chloe overheard Seraphina talking to a friend in the student union this morning.” Bryn looks at Chloe to let her explain.
“I went into Starbucks to get a latte and they were in there. I never go to that Starbucks on the weekend, but I had to meet someone to drop off some notes and was desperate for a coffee fix. Anyway, I’m in line ordering and Seraphina and her friend walk in and get in line.” She’s says, rapidly and takes a second to catch her breath.
“You’re never up before noon.” I mutter.
“I know, right? It was probably right around that time.” She explains. “Why?”
“She came into Spyder about an hour ago so I was wondering if this was before or after that.” I walk towards the living room, kick off my shoes and sit on the couch. I think I need to sit down for the rest of this conversation.
Bryn and Chloe follow me. Bryn sits beside me on the couch with her feet curled up underneath her and Chloe sits on the adjacent chair.
“Fuck. She came into Spyder.” Bryn puts her hand on my knee. “I wish I was there so I could have cunt punted her.” She says and I know she’s trying to lighten the mood.
I smile at her slightly. “I actually thought about that.”
“Chloe, finish telling her your story.” Bryn looks at Chloe.
“There’s not much to tell. The two hos get in line and they start talking really loudly. And, I mean really loudly. I think it’s really obvious they’re just putting on a show. But it’s crowded in the
re and it’s fairly quiet…everyone is kind of nursing their Friday night hangovers…so they’ve got everyone’s attention. Even if you didn’t want to listen to their shit, you couldn’t help it because they are practically telling everyone to listen to them. You know?”
Both Bryn and I nod. “Yes, Chloe, just tell her what they said.”
“I will. I’m just trying to set the mood. They’re in line talking about what their going to order which seems totally innocent, but then Seraphina says she has to really watch what she puts into her body now because she’s quote, ‘eating for two.’ Well, of course now they have everyone’s attention.”
“Oh, God.” I say, quietly.
Bryn scoots closer to me on the couch. “She’s full of shit, Emilia. I totally understand you being upset. I know I would be too, but she’s full of it.”
I swallow. “What else did she say, Chloe?”
“Her friend asked if she talked to Logan about it and she said she hadn’t because she’s worried he might not be happy about it since he’s sort of seeing someone else. What a fucking piece of work she is! Oh sure, my ass, he’s sort of seeing someone else. She knows perfectly well that most of the school thinks you and Logan are engaged. I’m sure people heard that and realized she’s making this all up.” Chloe throws her hands up in the air, dramatically.
I sit in silence for a minute.
“Emilia, what is it?” Bryn asks.
“I don’t know. I want to think she’s full of shit, but maybe it’s true. First of all, I can’t imagine someone making something like this up and second of all, she claims it happened over Thanksgiving break.” I exhale.
“Thanksgiving break? Why does that matter?” Bryn asks as she stares into my eyes.
“I know for a fact that they saw each other over Thanksgiving break. They were both in New York. Logan and I were emailing each other and one email he sent was at like two or three in the morning.” I say, quietly.
“And?” Bryn says.
“I asked him about it and he was out with a group of friends. One of those friends was Seraphina.” I say and I’m surprised that I don’t sound shaky.
“Oh, Em…that doesn’t mean anything. Just so you know, I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you calmly about this if I didn’t truly think she was making this all up. We knew she was up to something, she’s a total psycho bitch and she kept saying all those cryptic things to you. We knew it was just a matter of time…right? So, now she’s going around telling people she’s pregnant. What a moron on top of being a bitch! I don’t know what she thinks she’s going to gain from this. She probably should have stuck with boiling a bunny…maybe she’d get more attention that way?” Bryn shakes her head.
“I hope you’re right.” I pause a second. “She might get what she wants…maybe Logan will feel so sorry for her and take her back.”
“Take her back? They were never really together in the first place…right? Emilia, you’re getting yourself all worked up about nothing.”
I shrug.
“Did you say she came by the store you work at?” Chloe chimes in.
I nod as I lean forward and pull the envelope out of my back pocket. “She gave me this.” I hand it to Bryn and Chloe quickly moves from her chair to beside Bryn on the sofa.
They open it and pull out the note with the sonogram. I watch as both their mouths drop open. “Motherfucker.” Bryn seethes just as there’s a knock on the front door.
Bryn gets up and opens the door while Chloe remains with me on the couch. Her hand rests on my knee.
“Is Emilia here? I went to meet her after work and Rosemary said she left early.” Logan says, urgently. I can hear the worry in his voice.
“She’s here.” Bryn waves in the direction of the living room.
CHAPTER THIRTY
LOGAN’S EYES ARE IMMEDIATELY ON MINE. I stand as he moves towards me swiftly and wraps his arms around me, pulling me tight against him.
I glance over his shoulder and see Bryn wave Chloe over, giving us time alone.
“I was so worried about you.” He breathes in my hair. “I know something happened. Please tell me.” He leans back and his eyes burn into mine.
I move, silently towards the sofa and sit back down. A second later, Logan sits beside me, we are face to face.
He takes my hands in his. “Emilia, talk to me. I know something happened with Seraphina.”
My eyes stare at his and he answers my question before I can ask it.
“I know it has to do with her because Rosemary said you were quite upset after in Rosemary’s words ‘a girl with big tits came into the store and talked to you’. She couldn’t remember her name but she said it was something like ‘Slytherin’.”
I laugh. Slytherin is one of the houses in Harry Potter. It’s the home to the students who are mostly Dark Wizards…the evil and cunning ones. Voldemort as well as many of his Death Eaters are from this house.
“Aptly named.” I smile. “She’s really not far off the mark.”
“Agreed.” Logan smiles. “I’m glad you’re smiling.” He pauses and caresses my face. “I can tell you’ve been crying. What happened?”
Instead of telling him, I hand him the envelope that she gave me. I watch his expression change when he opens it and looks at the two pieces of paper. His concerned look vanishes and is quickly replaced with one of anger and annoyance.
He runs his hand through his hair. “This is bullshit. Emilia, you know that, don’t you?”
“I…I thought maybe, but I can’t imagine someone making something like this up and you did see her over Thanksgiving Break. You told me.” I sigh.
“I’ve had it with her shit!” Logan snaps.
I jump because I’ve never heard him so angry. My stomach further knots and I wonder for a second if I should head to the bathroom.
He starts to stand and I blink up at him, nervously.
“Where are you going?” I ask, panicked.
“I’m going to tell her to stop with this fucking shit. This is…” He holds the sonogram and the note in his hand and waves it in the air. “This is fucking insane! It’s seriously fucked up.”
I grab onto his hand, tugging him back towards me. “Please, Logan. Don’t go. I’m sure that’s what she wants. She wants you. You go to her…regardless of you being pissed at her…she’s getting what she wants. Besides, I can’t bear the thought of you being with her…even if it’s just to chew her out.” I gaze up at him.
He breathes. I’m caught off guard when he suddenly scoops me up into his arms then sits back on the couch, holding me tight against him. “I just want her to know that she can’t do this…this is unacceptable.” He shakes his head and his arms slide around me, pulling me closer.
I can feel his eyes on me, but I can’t look up at him.
“Emilia, look at me. You’re really going to believe her over me?” He asks, quietly, but there’s an underlying tone of annoyance in his voice.
“Don’t be annoyed with me.” I say, angrily.
“Baby, I’m not annoyed with you…far from it. But you won’t look at me and I can tell you’re upset.”
I swallow and finally look up into his eyes. “How can you be sure? She has a goddamn sonogram. What the fuck should I think, Logan?”
“You should think she’s crazy and your boyfriend is telling you the truth.” He says, firmly.
“But you told me you saw her over Thanksgiving break, it’s not possible?” I ask so softly that I’m not even sure he can hear my words.
He takes my face in his hands and stares into my eyes. “Exactly, I saw her.” He pauses and strokes the side of my face with his hand. “Emilia, I told you I went to a bar with a group of friends from different boarding schools and Seraphina was only there because she was one of their friends. I didn’t invite her and I certainly did not have sex with her. It was a large group of people and I barely saw her.”
“But she obviously has it bad for you…you don’t share any of those feeling
s?” I ask, nervously.
“I love you, Emilia. I’m yours…yours forever. You know that…I wish you wouldn’t let her make you doubt that. It’s like you said earlier when I was about to leave, track her down and tell her to fuck off, that’s what she wants. She wants you to doubt my love for you. Doesn’t that make sense?” He kisses my forehead.
“I love you, too, Logan, but…” I start to say and he interrupts me.
“No buts. This is the part where you’re supposed to nod or say ‘yes, Logan, you’re exactly right’.” He smiles, warmly.
“I suppose that makes sense.” I smile, slightly.
“It’s really the only thing that makes sense. She can’t possibly think I’m going to believe she’s pregnant. I’m sure she’s hoping you believe it. But the bottom line is she wants you to doubt my love for you. Her deranged mind somehow thinks that if you doubt it then you’ll leave.” He sighs.
“Slytherin?” I giggle. “I like that.”
“I’m sorry she came in the store and did that to you.” He shakes his head. “I understand you getting upset, but you really shouldn’t have walked home by yourself. You put yourself in danger. When I got to the store to meet you and Rosemary told me you left; I felt like the ground had dropped out from under me. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.” He says, softly.
“Logan, I feel the same way about you.” I look into his eyes. “That’s why I didn’t want you to go after her…I don’t trust her…obviously, she’s not right in the head and then there’s Sebastian.” I sigh.
“You’re sure you don’t want to leave tonight?” He whispers.
“I do, but I can’t.”
“It’s been a shitty day.” He murmurs and kisses me softly on the lips.
“It has.” I breathe. “We still have tonight…do you have any ideas on how we could make up for such a shitty day?” I smile, knowingly at him.
He cups my face with his hands again. “I think I can come up with a few.”
IT’S NOT MY RUNNING, HOMEWORK, AND CLASSES that make my brain feel sluggish and uncooperative. It’s the exhausting stress of avoiding gun-toting and sonogram-wielding psychopaths every corner I turn. There’s also the additional concern I have that they would harm Logan, Bryn or someone else close to my heart. I push the thought to the back of my mind.
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