It's A Shame (13 page)

“
Yum. Let’s go home, slip into some comfortable clothes, get cozy on the couch and watch a movie.” I cuddled closer to him. “Then we’ll cook a fabulous dinner and eat like pigs.” I smiled.

He laughed.

“Like pigs, huh?”

“Yeah
,” I snorted.

Chapter
11

Monday morning came all too quickly.

I had been avoiding going to the shop like the plague. For the most part the media circus has died down, but there were always a few stragglers lurking about, cameras ever ready to flash, hoping to get you at your worst, praying you’d give them a reason to print something, anything.

I’ve had Karen open and close the shop for the
better part of three weeks now. I made myself feel less like a total bitch by promoting her to Store Manager and giving her a substantial raise.  The other girls seemed to like working for her and sales have been strong. 

I’m sure
curiosity about my connection to the ‘Golden Hair Murders’ were what had pulled them into the store and bumped up the numbers. It always amazed me how people fixated on murder and pain, attracted to it like a moth to a flame—Cliché maybe, but true.

After seeing Cole off to work,
I dressed in a pale blue shift dress with a thin black patent leather belt. Matching black patent leather Manolo Blanick’s completed the outfit.  I pulled my hair back and tied it into a low ponytail adorning it with a black bow. 

While I was in the elevator on my way down
my thoughts drifted to Michelle and I wondered what that girl has been up to. It’s unusual that I don’t see her for days. Usually, I’ll at least bump into her in the elevator, the lobby or the hallway. In fact, it’s going on two days since I’ve
seen
her at all. That was just something that didn’t ever happen. I made a mental note to call her later and ask her what she’s been up to.

I thought about Cole, as I do a zillion times a day,
not expecting to feel this nauseated when I did.

Cole, at my insistence, was going to call
on Lauren today to find out exactly what she wanted from him, and the sooner the better, as far as I was concerned. But I had to admit, it did make me a little uneasy. I mean, she is a very beautiful woman and he had been attracted to her once…
Okay, Grace, stop acting like a baby, after all, it was your idea!

I walked out the door held open by Pat, averting my eyes.

Oh Tony, I do hope you are feeling better soon.

Ray pulled up to the curb, as I walked out the door carrying my purse in one hand, and my briefcase in the other. The latter stuffed full of invoices and checks I had Karen drop off at the apartment for me to review and sign. My plan was to have Leah send them all out and file everything.

Last time I
actually did my own filing turned out to be a total disaster. We needed to find an invoice for a shipment in dispute, but since I couldn’t’ find what I needed for a month, we took a hefty loss on the merchandise. It took us days to finally get the office operational again.

We all sa
t on the floor in my office rearranging, or should I say the girls sat on the floor rearranging, for hours and hours. I finally went out to fetch lunch for us all, just to give the girls more room to work. Office management isn’t my strongest suit.  Come to think of it, I don’t think I have a strong suit.

“I’ll be here at the usual time unless
you inform me otherwise,” he said smiling.

“Thank you Ray.”
I looked up at him standing next to the opened car door. “You have a nice day, and
please
don’t worry about me I can always take a cab.”

“I’ll be here
,” he said, his voice sounding resolute. There was no argument. Hell, there was no discussion.

I stepped out of the Landaulet
. When I reached the door of the boutique I turned to wave to Ray before running in. I knew Cole was behind the enforcement of overprotection. He’d been having Ray watch over me for weeks now. He really needed to give me a little credit. I
am
capable of taking care of myself.

As I came through the door Karen looked up.

“Hey stranger. How are you feeling?”

“Hey yourself
. Much better. It feels good getting back to work, just need to keep busy. Did we get the big order from France yet?”  I asked.

“Nothing.”

“Okay.  I need you to call them and get the tracking information,” I said as I slung my purse over the hook behind my office door, my agitation apparent. I’m sure L’Altaier Clothiers was hoping ‘Grande Gueule’—that would be me—was still out on ‘leave’.

“It’s always the same with them
, it shipped, it’s on the way.” I rolled my eyes.

“I know.  Always late.”

Chapter 12

When I walked out the door
that evening, Ray was parked curbside as I fully expected he’d be and I was damned happy he was. I climbed in through the opened door and leaned back in the seat with a sigh. Astounded by how exhausted I was. Just like everything else, getting back into the
swing
of things was going to take some time to get used to.

When I
stepped into the apartment, I placed my purse down on the bench in the foyer and walked in to the bedroom to change. I threw on a pair of fleece shorts and a tee shirt, tossing my clothes in the dry cleaning basket. Then I made my way to the kitchen.

I opened
the door to the fridge and pulled out the iced tea pitcher pouring myself a short glass and drained it in a flash. I couldn’t believe how thirsty I was. Too much wine last night… I placed the glass in the dishwasher and walked over to the bench to get my cell phone out of my purse…but it wasn’t where I’d left it.              

What the hell?
Where the hell is my pur…

I
spun around and spotted it on the table next to the lamp.
That’s it; I really need to get my shit together. I am totally losing it.

I
picked my purse up and pulled out my cell to call Michelle. The call went straight to voicemail. I immediately called Cole.

“Where are you?” I asked
him. My voice sounded shaky.

“I’m on my way to meet
Lauren
.” The venomous way he said her name caused a shiver to run up my spine. I was relieved I was one of the people he liked…wow. “This bullshit shouldn’t take long, I’m giving her ten minutes. I’ll call you when I’m on my way home.” His tone was clipped, businesslike.

“I’m beginning to
wish I never insisted you see her,” my voice cracked.

“What’s wrong Grace, you sound like something
’s wrong.”

“Just
a bit shaky. I think I may be going crazy.”

“Do you want me to
come home first?”

“No, I want you to get it over with so she goes back to Denver and leaves us alone.”

“That’s the plan,” he answered brusquely.

“Call me when you’re on your way home, I’ll order up Chinese or something.”

“I don’t have much of an appetite, but I’ll call you when I’m on my way.” And with that, he killed the call.

He sounded tense, angry, not like himself.
Not that I blamed him.

I sat on the couch
with a box of Triscuit crackers on my lap, intermittently staring at the phone mentally willing it to ring. I watched a little television, but nothing held my interest. I paced the floors…literally. My nerves were shot. It felt like hours since I talked to Cole. I heard the elevator doors open, then voices…Cole?

I got up
walked over to the door and looked through the peephole just in time to see Michelle, and the back of a tall man, walk into her apartment.

Michelle was not the type to
just
pick up
a guy, so I figured it had to be someone she knew, or someone she worked with. I smiled to myself. She had faced an awful lot on her own. I at least had Cole. Poor Michelle was stuck with only me.

Ever since her
boyfriend Jeff broke off with her, she had slowly been losing her confidence where men were concerned. She was a little self conscious about the jagged scar on her throat, and was sure it was the reason normal men didn’t approach her anymore. I was hopeful that wasn’t the reason, but knowing how shallow men could be, I had to admit, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find that she was right. She had her fair share of losers who wanted nothing more then to find out the story behind the scar. It pained me to think of her alone. She deserved nothing but the best as far as I was concerned, and at the very least she should be happy. So I smiled to myself as I stared through the peephole at her closed door
.  Please let her have found a man that will treat her the way she should be treated.  She needs some loving.

I must
have fallen asleep on the couch. The sound of the key sliding into the lock woke me. I sat up rubbing my eyes. I looked out the window and was instantly confused. Was the sun setting or…what the fuck.

T
he sun was rising. I could see the faint light pushing it’s way through the curtains. Cole walked in and tossed his suit jacket onto the bench. My eyes shot straight to the clock; it was five thirty. Five fucking thirty am…AM! Fucking five thirty AM! I stood up and crossed over to him as he casually walked over to the refrigerator, pulling out a bottle of water, chugging it down without so much as a ‘hello’ for me. I just stood there, like a fool, dumbfounded.

“What happened to the call?” I asked
my mind still trying to adjust to the time difference in my head.

“It was late. I thought you’d be asleep
,” he answered.

“
That brings me to the next question. Why so late Cole, or should I say early?”

I could feel m
y anger steadily building.

He looked
up at me, somewhat surprised at my tone, but stood there looking like a kid waiting to be reprimanded by an irate parent.

“I really don’t think
I could do this now. Can we talk after I sleep a little?”

“Are you kidding me right now?”
I felt my hands on my hips and knew I looked every bit the enraged psycho girlfriend. “You can’t seriously think you could stay out all night and tell me you’ll talk to me after you had yourself a little nap? You can’t be that stupid.” My feet dug in and I raised my chin to perfect arrogant bitch height.

“
Did you see her? Lauren? Did she tell you why she is hounding us, why she was so desperate to talk to you?” My voice, which sounded shrill, was hitting notes I didn’t think I could; it pained
my
ears.

“
Please Grace, not now,
please
. I can’t do this now. I just need to think. I’m brain dead. Please baby, we’ll talk about it later. I’ll tell you everything, when I have a clear head.” His tone was somewhat dismissive. He was talking as he crossed back to where I stood. Once he reached me, he held his arms out, almost in defeat, and I smelled alcohol on his breath.

That
just pushed me right over the edge.

“So let me understand something
…one thing. You come home, at five fucking thirty, after spending the night with your
ex-fiancée
. So far I’m accurate right?” I took a step backward and continued my tirade. “Doing God knows what, God knows where—from the smell of you I’d guess it was a bar.” I looked at him, his tired gaze fixed on me. “I’ve got to tell you, from where I’m standing you most definitely need to start explaining. What is going on? You owe me that.”

“I’m sorry for the hour…I
needed time to think. I walked into the first bar I passed, I couldn’t even tell you the name…and I only had two drinks.”

“
How convenient.” I stood defiant, my hands on my hips. “You’re seriously going to stand there and tell me that you nursed two drinks for like ten hours? You must think I’m a total fucking idiot.” I took a breath and continued without skipping a beat, “I must be the biggest jackass in the world, cause while you were sipping drinks with that bitch, I’ve been waiting up for you…in case you wanted to talk, in case you needed a friendly ear...I actually felt sorry for you.” My eyes held his captive and I could feel angry tears start to build.

“
When you live with someone, you need to have respect for that person and it is crystal clear you sure as hell don’t have any respect for me. I’m not some stupid, ignorant girl…oh let me take that back…I am, I am the stupidest girl I know, I was…”

“
Grace, I don’t want to fight with you. This has been a really, really bad day, night, whatever,” he cut me off announcing, with a finality in his voice and I suddenly realized I would not be getting any answers from him now. “And whatever you think happened, didn’t. I’m just asking for a couple hours sleep. I feel like I’ve been drugged. My head is pounding. I can’t even think.” He grabbed his head with both hands and bent over. He looked ashen, run down.

“
Again, how convenient. What are you going to tell me next, she gave you a roofie and had her way with you?” I turned my head and looked towards the door, not wanting him to see the tears threatening to spill over.

“Please…Grace, baby, I’m sorry…I… I’m sorry.”
He sounded pitiful. I almost felt sorry for him.

“Really? I mean come on Cole. To come up with that lame excuse
…and
fuck
baby
. I’m not your baby.” I walked towards the front door, “I think you should go sleep somewhere else.”

“Sleep somewhere else
? Where?”

“At this point, I just don’t care
…as long as it’s not here.  Go stay at the Asbury. I’m so mad right now I could scream.”

“You have been.
” he blinked at me. His usually gorgeous eyes bloodshot and distant.

“What
?!”

“Screaming.”

“Okay, okay, that’s enough, get out. I want you out. I’m really hurt and angry right now I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be here, with me. I want you to leave...It’s better if you just get out of here.”

Then
the flood, I couldn’t hold them back anymore and they ran freely down my cheeks. I tasted their saltiness as they slid over my lips.

I
turned and walked into the kitchen. My shoulder colliding with his as I passed. I took a bottle of water from the fridge and after opening it, drank half the bottle, and then turned to him, “Why don’t you go hook up with Lauren, find a nameless bar and talk over your problems together, because you sure as hell are not talking to me.”

I hadn’t realized I was yelling
so loud until I heard the echo in the kitchen.

Cole
quietly turned, picked up his jacket and placed his key to my apartment on the table near the door. He turned to look at me briefly, a distant look…a sadness settled in his eyes. He looked empty, void, and then, just like that, he walked out.

I stood there shaking
with anger, frustration, and pain. My emotions ran the gamut in slow motion. I felt like I was in a car wreck; everything louder and more pronounced, more clear. Common sense totally abandoned me.

We’ve never fought
before. Hell, we’ve never said an unkind word to one another before, and I was angry with myself for acting so irrational.

I realized I may have just pushed away the very person I wanted to hold
onto so tightly, and suddenly…he was gone. A burning ache grew in my belly and like some nut job I suddenly became terrified at losing him. What if that was her goal all along? Did I play into her game? Did I give her just what she wanted? I swung open the door and watched the elevator doors open.

“Cole…wait
!” I shouted. But he just stepped in and turned to face me. The last thing I saw before the doors shut, was the pained look on his face…and his vacant stare. 

“FUCK. Fuck me.
FUCK. Goddamn Fuck!”

I
turned to go back inside and looked up. Down the hall, around the slight bend in the hallway stood Michelle. She was standing in her doorway rubbing the sleep from her eyes, and behind her stood
Detective Dean Johansen,
bare-chested and barefooted, wearing only his pants. His hands rested possessively on her shoulders.

“Jesus Christ!
” I said looking directly at them both. I stepped inside and slammed my door, hard.

I looked down at the tab
le where Cole left his key and felt an ice-cold chill run down the length of my spine as an uneasy feeling washed over me.