Image of Deceit

by Raines, Rumer

  Image of Deceit

  By Rumer Raines

  Copyright 2018 Rumer Raines

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without prior written permission of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  Contents

  Alexis

  Noah

  Alexis

  Noah

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  Noah

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  Nick pulls me against him and I snuggle back into his chest. He feels much warmer than the blankets. He moves one of his legs between mine and I lay my head against his arm.

  “Excuse me!” I’m brought back to the present by a young blond girl standing in front of me looking at me intently. “I’m sorry. Did you need something?” I ask her, and notice Lola is watching me from the front of the store. “I was asking if you have rose-scented lotions?” the girl asks, and I tell her that we don’t have anything right now, but I’ll be happy to order some for her. The girl agrees and thanks me, then turns to leave. I watch as Lola approaches me with sad eyes.

  I hate the look she’s giving me. I’ve been getting the same look for a year now and it only makes the pain worse. It’s been a year since Adele’s husband, Garth, killed my fiancé and I haven’t moved past it. While I was in the hospital, Nick’s family had the funeral for him. I was told they had a small memorial and his body was cremated. I didn’t know anything about Nick’s family, so I was unable to contact them to even tell them how much I loved him. Nick continues to haunt my dreams and there is a small part of me that feels like he really does come to me at night.

  “Are you okay, Alexis?” Lola asks me, and I glance at her, startled to see that she is now standing only a few inches from me, with concern in her eyes.

  “I’m fine,” I lie and walk over to straighten up the bath bombs that have been moved around. I can feel Lola’s eyes still on me and chances are she doesn’t believe me and knows that I am lying to her. As Lola moves towards me, our new employee waltzes back in the store from his lunch hour. We hired Chance three months ago and he is an eye-opening creature. Chance dresses like he jumped from the pages of GQ and is a very devoted employee. The guy takes ass kissing to a new disgusting level. I don’t mind employees wanting to make the bosses happy, but damn, have an opinion of your own sometime.

  “Hey, Mrs. Lola and Ms. Alexis. Why don’t you let me straighten those bath bombs? It’s part of my job, along with keeping you happy,” Chance practically sings. I roll my eyes and Lola tenses up at the sound of his voice.

  “It’s fine, Chance. I can do it,” I tell him, and Chance practically skips over to me and bumps his hips against mine to bump me out of the way. “No way, girlfriend. It’s my job and I want to do it well. I will do anything to keep you girls happy and do my job to your satisfaction,” Chance says, and I hear Lola sigh as she walks away from us and back to the front of the store.

  “Chance, are you seeing anyone?” I ask and Chance freezes as he looks at me. “I am married to my career here at your wonderful store, Ms. Alexis,” he tells me. I notice that Lola's head falls back, and she stares at the ceiling. “We appreciate all your hard work, Chance,” I tell him as I walk away, and I hear his obnoxious voice telling me “I appreciate being here, Ms. Alexis.”

  I glance at the clock and back towards Chance who is looking at me with a revoltingly smug smile and realize that we have too many hours left in this day.

  Noah

  It’s the middle of the day, and once again I find myself staring out of the same damn window. I have been useless today, but luckily, I’m the boss. I swivel around in my leather chair to answer the buzz from my receptionist, Pam.

  “Yes, Pam?”

  “Mr. Hudson, Sam is here to see you,” Pam informs me, and I close my eyes realizing that I will have to consider Sam’s sad eyes again. It’s been a year now since Nick has been missing. Once a week, Sam comes to my office asking if I have heard anything. I should be relieved that it’s only once a week now. When he first disappeared, Sam called every day asking me if I knew his whereabouts.

  I take a deep breath as Sam opens the door and I feel deflated as I look at her.

  “Hi, Noah,” she says, and I look at her, noticing that she finally gained a few pounds. I think when Nick originally disappeared, Sam lost fifty pounds that she didn’t need to lose. My parents wanted to have her hospitalized for depression.

  “How are you, Sam?” I ask her as she sits in the chair across from me.

  “I feel a little better today. Have you heard anything from the private investigator?” Sam asks, and I shake my head no, I haven’t found anything new.

  “What do you know, Noah?” she asks, and I take a deep breath knowing that she has asked me the same shit for the last year. I close my eyes and lean over my desk as I rub my temples. Sam sits back in the chair, realizing that she is pushing the same buttons that she has pushed from the day I met her.

  “I know Nick was in Chicago for some reason. I have no idea why he was there or who he was with.”

  “Why do you think he was with someone?” Sam asks. I don’t know how to answer her questions. Nick was constantly back and forth between Boston and Chicago. I doubt he would spend that much time in Chicago if he didn’t have friends there. Nick was a people person and was the type of guy who always wanted people around. He was the total opposite of me. I can go days without talking to anyone. I have a handful of good friends and a few friends with benefits. My parents always thought that Nick would be the son to have the good wife, a houseful of kids, and a white picket fence. On the other hand, I was the son that had scandalous affairs and couldn’t commit to a woman. I started a very successful company with my best friend Maurice Kennedy and my perfect brother Nick. We are equal partners , but Nick wanted to remain the silent partner.

  Maurice and I were fine with that since we only needed his money and not necessarily his input. We planned to have our own company for years, so it was our dream not Nick’s.

  “Do you think the Private Investigator has discovered anything?” Sam asks, and I glance at her, realizing that I almost forgot she was even sitting there.

  “I will touch base with him, Sam. How about I take you to dinner?” I ask her, and she nods. I shut down my lapt
op and call it a day.

  Alexis

  It’s finally the end of the day, and we decide to all go out to dinner. Chance tells us that we should consider it a team activity since Adele will be meeting us at the restaurant. Lola decides to drive, and I suggest that Chance should choose where to go.

  “I will eat anything that you want, Ms. Alexis,” he says. Lola’s eyebrows lift, and she glances between Chance and me.

  “Chance, it’s late and I am tired. Please choose a place so we can tell Adele where to meet us.” I practically growl at him and he smiles and tilts his head.

  “Anything that will make you happy, Ms. Alexis, is fine with me. I am happy to spend quality time picking your minds on proper career advancement in the retail setting,” Chance advises, and I hear Lola’s teeth grinding as she shakes her head. “Chance, will you please pick a place damn it!”

  Chance finally picks a family-owned seafood restaurant and I text Adele telling her where to meet us. There are only four of us working at the store, so team events don’t happen often. When they do, Lola and I try to make them count. I must admit that we have had several employees come and go before Chance. I was awful to be around after I found out about Nick death. I, unfortunately, took that anger out on several employees who had every right to quit. I have my suspicion that Lola paid them severance packages once I ran them off. The last girl that quit was happy when she was leaving even if she was yelling at me to seek professional help. How can you be happy when walking out after quitting a job, because of mistreatment? One day, I’ll have to contact each of them and apologize.

  We pull into the parking lot of the restaurant and I see Adele’s car is already parked. I glance towards the door and she waves at me. Adele looks great considering a few months ago she had little Mia. I can hardly believe how Adele and Mia have Alex wrapped around their little fingers. I would never have imagined that Alex would have settled down to have a passionate relationship with one, sane woman. I think Adele has calmed Alex and he has become a very devoted husband and father.

  I wrap my arms around Adele, giving her a big hug and I wait as Lola and Chance do the same. When we are seated, we all order drinks and I glance at Adele noticing that she still has her beautiful glow. I am not sure if it’s still from the pregnancy or if it’s from being happy.

  “Who has Mia?” Lola asks as I take a sip of my wine

  “Alex does. He loves spending time with her. He calls it daddy-daughter time. It is so cute to watch him as he sits and talks to her and she gurgles. He thinks she is talking back.” Adele, Lola, and Chance all chuckle, while listening to Adele tell how Alex baby talks to his little girl. I find myself drifting back to the time when I thought I would have those things with Nick.

  Adele and Lola take turns showing off baby pictures to Chance, who tells them both how breathtaking beautiful my nieces and nephews are. I roll my eyes listening to him. I agree that my brothers made beautiful kids, but I don’t know if I can stomach Chance kissing ass while I am trying to crack my crab legs.

  “How about you, Ms. Alexis?” Chance breaks into my thoughts and I turn to look at him.

  “What about me?”

  “Is there a special man in your life that is going to give you beautiful little babies?” he asks, and I hear the intake of breath by Adele as Lola chokes on her drink.

  I take a deep breath and take another sip of my wine. It’s unbelievable how the pain of losing Nick feels like I lost him yesterday. I have been told that time heals, but damn, how long does it take?

  “I don’t,” I tell him as I glance over at the sad faces of Adele and Lola. I hear and feel Chance sliding his chair closer to mine and I tense, wondering why he’s moving into my personal space. I look over at him with wide suspicious eyes and he gives me a small smile.

  “I am sure the right guy is waiting for the perfect time to approach you,” he says, and Lola practically slams her glass down on the table. Chance and I look at her and I should admit I am glad she turned the focus back to her since I had no idea where Chance was headed in this awkward conversation.

  “How about you Chance? No special girl waiting for you at home?” Adele asks and both Lola and I shoot daggers in her direction. “Nope. I do have my eye on someone but I haven’t made my move yet.” Chance replies and I say a silent prayer that I don’t know who the girl is.

  After a very long hour and several drinks later, Adele says that she needs to get home to Alex and Mia. We all start to stand, and Lola abruptly stands and tells us all to sit back down. “What’s going on Lola?” Adele asks as Chance and I practically bump into each other when taking our seats.

  “Frank is going to come pick us up and he’ll give everyone a ride home,” Lola answers. I glance at Chance, who is leaning on his hand and staring at me, I roll my eyes and look back at Lola.

  “Why is Frank coming?” I ask as Adele lifts her arm to get our waiter’s attention. When he arrives, she orders another drink and I tilt my head and sigh.

  “I sent him a text and he noticed I misspelled some words, which led him to ask if we were drinking. Which may have led to him asking who was driving. He asked if we were all drinking and I told him we were, and he said he’ll pick us up.” Lola says, and I realize that I may be a little tipsy because I only understood a portion of what she just said. Basically, Frank will pick us up because we are drinking. I suppose that is the highlight of her little statement anyway.

  Forty minutes later, Frank is putting us all into his truck. The three women in the backseat and Chance up front with him. I had to chuckle when Chance requested to sit in the backseat, preferably in the middle. Frank didn’t find it funny and practically tossed him in the front. Adele and Lola whisper and laugh all the way home as I stare out the window.

  It’s been a long time since I have been out this late. I have become a homebody and really have no interest in going out. My life is work and then home. Adele and Lola are my best friends and I spend most of my time with them at the store anyway. I lay my head back against the headrest and soon I fall asleep.

  Something is shaking my bed. No, I am wrong. Someone… or someones. There are people jumping on my bed. There are small kids jumping on my bed. “Aunt Lexie…Aunt Lexie WAAKE UP!” I roll over onto my side and see the twins jumping on the bed. I glance around the room and notice this isn’t my room. I shoot up in bed as the bedroom door is pushed open and Frank strolls in shaking his head.

  “Didn’t I tell you two to let Aunt Lexie sleep?” he asks as he grabs one kid under each arm. The kids both laugh and giggle, realizing that they are safe and sound in their daddy’s arms. Frank walks out of the room but leaves the door open. He comes back a few minutes later and I am sitting up in bed with my back against the headboard.

  “Why am I here and not at home?” I ask him, and he walks over and sits on the edge of the bed.

  “You were still sleeping when I dropped Adele and Chance off. So, I just thought I would bring you here for the night,” Frank tells me, and I nod. “How are you doing, Alexis?” he asks. I see the concern in his clear, observant eyes. I sigh, realizing that I am sick of everyone giving me that sad look.

  “I am fine,” I tell him, snippily.

  “We're all worried about you, Alexis,” he says. I toss the covers off and get out of bed.

  “I wish you all would stop,” I say loudly, but quickly lower my voice since I don’t want the twins to hear me yelling at their daddy.

  “Stop what, Alexis? Being worried about you? We’re always going to worry.”

  “No. All these questions and concern about Nick. How in the hell am I supposed to move on when none of you will let me?”

  “What are you talking about?” Frank asks with lifted eyebrows.

  “I am talking about the sad looks everyone gives me. Everyone is always watching me, and it keeps me from moving on.” Frustrated, I start to pace the bedroom. Frank rises from the bed and walks over to stand in front of me.

  “I wish I had known Al
exis,” Frank says as he puts his hands on my shoulder.

  “Known what?” I ask.

  “If I had known you were involved with Nick, I never would have had him protecting Adele. I would have gotten someone else to do it. Especially after we found out Garth had tracked her down,” Frank offers, a look of raw hurt glittering in those dark eyes.

  “I don’t understand? You have other people that could have protected Adele? Do you employ bodyguards, Frank? I thought Nick was asked because he was friends with Lola’s family?” I ask. Frank sighs as little FJ comes running back in and grabs Frank’s leg.

  Frank picks up a giggling FJ, tossing him over his shoulder and leaves the bedroom. He gives me a brief glance over his shoulder as he does so. Maybe there are things I don’t know about my Nick.

  Noah

  I woke up early this morning, so I could go on my ten-mile run. I knew I would need something to relieve my stress after another night with Sam. I don’t know how many more of these nights I can take. I realize she doesn’t do it often, but even if it’s once a month, it’s too much. We all miss Nick, but I don’t know how to convince her that I will find him. Tonight, I am taking my parents out to dinner and I’ll have to see the pain still in their eyes. Their favorite fucking son has abandoned them and they will sit across the table from their scandalous, naughty son who is here for them.

  I walk the last block back to my townhouse and see my private investigator, Ted, sitting on my steps. I hired him almost a year ago to find Nick and he hasn’t had much success. He could only confirm that Nick was last seen in Chicago. I already knew that he was constantly between Chicago and Boston. I need new information soon, or I’ll fire his ass. He looks at me as I approach, relief evident on his face. He looks almost happy to see me, which is rare because normally I am bitching about him not finding Nick.

  “Do you have good news, Ted?” I ask sitting next to him on the step. My brow lifts as Ted replies in the affirmative and stands up to pass me a brown envelope. I pull out the paperwork and I glance back at a practically giddy Ted. “What exactly is this?” I ask, and Ted sits back next to me.