Scandalous Arrangement (5 page)

Chapter
7

Something is a little off

I made it through my first trimester with no problem. I was excited to see what the 2
nd
and 3
rd
trimester would be like. By now I was an expert on all things baby. I had read so many books and magazines, prepped for safety issues in my apartment. I was stocking up on diapers and wipes just like the books said to do. I have 2 names picked out, one for each gender, Alex Michael Burton and if it’s a girl Jasmine Grace Burton. I ran the names by my mom and she loved them both; she said they flowed well.

Saturday afternoon finally showed herself.
I left my apartment around 2 pm to go run some errands and grab a bite to eat with Andrew. We also needed to discuss the obvious situation at hand. We were still collecting money from the company and I know that we are well above our 2 million dollar mark. We met at our usual soup and salad bar. I asked him when he thought we should leave and where were we with the level of accrued profits. He said we were at 2.5 million. We had more than enough to move away and start a new life or we could just stay, and buy a house in the country, a more simple way of living without all of the stress of the city life. I had a big decision on my hands. I just wanted what was best for our child. On one hand we would be in paradise and have everything that we wanted or needed on the other hand I wouldn’t be able to see my mom for a long time, if at all. We went back and forth about it for a while, and still didn’t come to a conclusion. Until I mentioned that we could have both; a vacation house on a private island and a house in the country. We have so much money we can do both.

He thought it was a great idea. I said that I w
anted something built, a place just for us. We should start talking to home builders to build our dream home. He told me that he would get right on it. I was thrilled with the idea of having both. I shouldn’t have to choose; Andrew told me to name it and he would get it for me. So that is exactly what I am going to do. I told him I was ready to go home a take a nap, all of these errands I finished today had me exhausted. When I got home I noticed that some of my things were moved around. Now I know that pregnancy brain was something to deal with but I know I didn’t leave the table with all that stuff on it. I am not a neat freak but I am also not a clutter monster. It looked like someone had to have been in my place looking for something specific. I remember putting the bags full of baby items in the corner. Now they were in a different place.

I must have been tired; I called Andrew and tried to explain what I saw. He just reassured me that I was tired and needed to get some rest. I might have moved the bags out of the way so that I wouldn’t trip over them.
I was too tired to stress about it. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out for the count. From the things that I have read, about how the body changes as the baby grows made more and more sense every day. I was tired and forgetful for every little thing. After I woke up from my nap I decided that I better get a small note pad and keep it in my purse so that I can refer to it so that I won’t forget anything else. That seems like it would solve a lot of my issues.

When I woke up from my nap, I sat down in my favorite chair by the window to read the newest edition of the parenting magazine. There were some articles listed in there that I had been waiting to read. I was so glad it was my day off, I love the weekends
especially Sundays. There was nothing like having every weekend off plus major holidays. I really needed to catch up on my rest. Andrew was taking it easy on me these past few weeks which I appreciated. I couldn’t afford to make a costly mistake at the office. Andrew’s job was too important and so was his mission on the side. I needed him to be focused enough for the both of us.

I looked out my window at the people walking down the street and cars driving by: it was actually peaceful to just look
out and see people going about their everyday lives. I watched the couples with their children and noticed how happy they looked.  I decided to get up and move around a bit, to get some fresh air and maybe pick up a few items for the baby.

I jumped into my car and drove down to the mall to look at baby clothes. While I browsed the isles of endless clothes my mom called me to check on me. I guess I was so involved in my conversation with my mom I didn’t see the lady in front of me. I bumped into her and she dropped the items in her hands. I apologized with all sincerity. I tried to bend down and help her pick them up. She said “that’s ok, you are pregnant no need to bend over, I got it.” I said well thank you as I walked
away. I told my mom that I was so distracted by our conversation that I bumped into a lady. My mom laughed and asked if I was ok; I assured her that I was.

I bought a few gender neutral colored items, realized I was hungry and headed to the food court. I was looking for some type of sandwich shop. I didn’t want anything greasy, that’s not good for the baby. I finished my food and headed to my car to head home. I had the strangest feeling that I was being watched. You know that feeling that you get
when some is staring at you and you look around to see if anyone is looking. That was the vibe that I was getting. I didn’t like that feeling at all. I walked a little faster to my car, got in quick and locked the door. As I fumbled through my purse, there was a knock on the window. My heart just about jumped out of my chest. It was a lady, she said that I left my phone on the table in the food court. I said oh wow thanks so much. The lady walked away, and I just sat there for a minute trying to collect myself. That was a really intense moment, I needed to get home and prepare for Monday morning at the office. I didn’t know if it was just me or was it the pregnancy, either way I was paranoid.

When I got to work Monday morning everything seemed normal until I got to my desk to log into my computer. The computer itself was turned on but the computer screen was off. I know I turned both of them off; it’s not good to let the CPU sit idle like that. Once again I just said it was my forgetfulness. I carried on with the rest of my day. Once Andrew came into the office I asked him did he use my computer for anything while I was gone. He said “no if I needed something I would have just called you directly.” He had a good point, I told him about my computer the incident at the mall yesterday. He told me that I was probably under a lot of stress and that I might need to take a few days off.

What could I have been stressed about, I have lots of money, a baby on the way, and I have the guy of my dreams. But I guess a few days on leave wouldn’t hurt. I wanted to finish out the day but he told me to go on home; so I did. I took a quick detour to the grocery store to grab a few items since I would be at home during the day. Once I left there I headed home and to my surprise my apartment door was open. Someone had broken in! I didn’t get any closer to the door; I went back outside to call the police. I reported that my apartment had been broken into and that I needed the police to come over. I was too afraid for me and my baby to even go back into the building, until someone searched my place.

2 police cars arrived within 10 minutes, 1 group of officers went inside to check the apartment and I waited outside with the other 2 officers. After 5 minutes or so went by, the 2 officers came back outside from searching my apartment and said that it was all clear and that I needed to file a police report. So we all went back inside so that I could file a report. I wanted them to stay with me until I got a chance to look over what was missing or broken. I had renters insurance too, so best believe I will be calling them if I need to.

Nothing seemed to be broken or stolen just a lot of my things were rummaged through and scattered all over the place. There was defiantly forced entry into my home, but other than the physical mess nothing was “really” missing. 1 of the officers sat down at my table with me to ask me a few questions. “Is there anything missing,
or broken, have you noticed anything out of the ordinary lately at home or work, ma’am do you know anyone that would want to harm you or your baby?”

These were all valid questions that deserved so well thought out answers. I told the officer I would still need to look through everything once I clean up and re organize
d everything. I have had this strange feeling that I am being watched or followed. I just thought it was the pregnancy hormones you know. I remember coming home one day and a few bags were placed in a different location. I know where I put them down but for some reason they were in a different spot when I came back.

My boyfriend just kept reassuring me that it was just in my head, and that I just needed to rest up. The cop asked me are you and your boyfriend having any relationship trouble. I told him no we were doing well. They said in most investigations they always look at the spouse of significant other first. After an hour of back and forth they finally left. I called Andrew and told him everything, he said that he was
at the office and couldn’t get away. He was meeting with a huge client and that he would be there as soon as he could. So I hung up and called my mom, I know I can count on her to come over now. I really needed someone to sit with me and talk things out. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going crazy. My mom answered and said that she was already in town, and that it will take her about 20 minutes to get to me.

As soon as she got there she hugged me and reassured me that everything was going to be ok. We sat down and I went over everything with my mom.
My mom stopped me halfway through my story and asked where Andrew was. I told her he is still at work. “Julie its past 6:45pm, he is not a lawyer he is in charge of the money not legal stuff.” She actually made a great point, now she had my wheels spinning about my relationship with Andrew. She told me to think clearly not like a person in love. “Julie when there is a family emergency they let you leave work no matter what.” She said she had a funny feeling about something. She told me to check my calendar and compare it to Andrews work calendar. She said “Julie didn’t you say something about Andrews divorce being finalized in 2 weeks, well hasn’t it been over 2 weeks since you told me that. Has he mentioned anything about you moving into his house or even inviting you over?”

You know mom you are right about all of this. Andrew has never invited me to his home or said lets move in together so that we will be settled before the baby gets here. My mom asked me if I believed that he really left his wife. At that moment I was frozen and said I really believed him when he said he did. My mom grabbed her phone and called one of her guy friends. She asked where Andrew lived and if anyone has seen him with his wife within the last month. She hung up and told me to grab my purse; we
needed to take a drive. I asked where we were going and she said “just get your purse, let’s go.”  So we headed out the door and as we get buckled into the car she says Andrew never left his wife he is at home with her right now.

My face went numb, not my Andrew, he wouldn’t do something like this to the woman who is carrying his child. I asked my mom if she was sure and she said “well we are about to find out very soon how right or wrong I am.” We drove about 30 minutes in the opposite direction of my apartment and came up on a nice quiet suburban neighborhood.
We drove though very slowly and came to a big house at the end the street. It was one of those houses where the windows don’t have curtains to them. I hated people like that, just wanted to flash their wealth in your face. We parked a few houses down and got out slowly to walk closer to the house. And what do you know Andrew and his wife dancing around the living room, looking “all in love”. Once my mom saw my face she grabbed my arm and said “not here, not now, you need to handle this with a clear head.”

I am so glad that she grabbed me, because every part of me wanted to go confront him. We got in the car and I cooled down just enough to speak my feeling
s out loud. My mom said “revenge is so much sweeter when it’s planned out just right. We went back to my place and worked out how I should approach this situation. The father of my unborn child is a liar and “a thief”. He used me to get exactly what he wanted; money from the company. My mom said Andrew was using me to be the person to take the fall for his crime. Since I had access to his office and his appointments, there was no way anyone would believe me about not knowing anything at all.

My mom knew
about all the money that we were embezzling from the company, she said “that I needed to gain access to his office computer and find the information about the separate account and move that money into a completely different account. She made another phone call. She found out more info on Andrew, his wife and what the company was planning to do with him. She found out that Andrew was broke and that he and he wife were filling chapter 11, bankruptcy. He made a few bad business investing decisions and was in the process of losing it all. I asked my mom about the promotion that I was given; she said the original position was the one set up for me and Andrew snuck in and took advantage of me.

He had no intentions on leaving the country with me he was going to be leaving with his wife. I would have been the one with the evidence in my hands and they would have been long gone. I sat there totally speechless, why did this have to happen to me, how did I not see this coming. I should have known that he wouldn’t leave his wife.
I needed to show him who was in control. So I called him back and as you might have guessed it, voicemail picked up the call. How convenient for him. I told him that I was alright that my mom came to my rescue. I also told him that I have changed my mind and that we need to leave in 2 days, that someone is watching me and that very same someone probably broke into my house. This was no place to raise a baby.