Part 14 (2/2)

For the first two shots in the photo booth I tried to look sweet and innocent. For the third one, I flashed the camera and gave my best supermodel expression. In the fourth one, I was sweet and innocent again. Jake is going to love it, I thought, as I stepped out of the photo booth proudly. He loves the sweet and innocent girl turned naughty kind of stuff.

I handed it to him at the bar right in front of Hope who gave me a knowing smile. ”I wouldn't go topless for all of Facebook,” I told him, ”but I'll go topless for you.”

”You're a tease,” he said smiling. ”You can't tell me you never want to have s.e.x with me again and then give me a picture like this.”

I took it from his hands and stuck it in my purse for safekeeping. ”I never said I didn't want to. I just said I wasn't going to.” Were we really having this discussion in public? In a loud bar where I needed to raise my voice to be heard? I must be drunk. As if pa.s.sing around a topless photo of myself wasn't my first clue.

”Maybe you can explain the difference to me later,” he said with a smirk. ”After s.e.x.”

I playfully punched him in the arm. ”Not happening. Can we stop talking about it?”

He laughed out loud. ”You're opposed to uncomfortable conversations when you're on the other side of them, huh?”

I rolled my eyes. ”Are you having fun?”

He smiled at me and took my hand in his. ”You know I am.”

I pulled my hand away. Being drunk around him was no good. When I was sober I could try to keep myself in check, but when I was drunk, the game was over. We needed to sober up a little before we went back to the Plaza, and we weren't going to do it in a bar. Air. We needed air.

”We should probably start heading back,” I yelled over the music. ”I've got that meeting in the morning.”

He nodded and took my hand again. I let him keep it this time since it was easier to get out of the crowd that way.

When we were back on the street I asked him if he got the pictures he wanted.

”I would have gotten better ones if I'd had my tripod, but I didn't want to carry a bunch of gear around all night.”

I got an idea. ”Hey, I know where we can go! The condo is only a few blocks away. You can set the camera down on the balcony and get some awesome pics. I still have my key and we haven't rented it out yet.”

I started walking faster out of excitement. I couldn't wait to show Jake my beloved terrace and its incredible panoramic views. Maybe then he could get to know the New York me.

He kind of pulled my hand back a little though.

”What?” I asked him.

He shrugged. ”I don't know. Are you sure? It won't make you upset or anything?”

”No way,” I answered quickly. ”I love my condo. I can't wait to show you the views.”

I realized as soon as I opened the door that someone was living in the condo, the condo that I was still paying half the payments for each month. The empty beer bottles on the coffee table and dirty dishes on the counter gave it away. My first thought was that Caleb had rented it out and forgotten to tell me, in which case I intended on leaving immediately and praying that the tenant never found out I'd walked into his or her apartment, especially since there were noises coming from the bedroom that were of a private nature, if you know what I mean.

Caleb was as a.n.a.l-retentive as they came. He wouldn't ordinarily leave beer bottles and dirty dishes around. He preferred neat and orderly to chaotic and disorganized. Every night when he came home from work he took off his shoes, polished them with a special rag and lined them up evenly and neatly next to the other shoes on the mat. When I looked down, there they were; s.h.i.+ny and sharp and lined up as always.

I should have left. But I didn't. I headed toward the bedroom. Jake put a hand on my shoulder to stop me but my adrenaline had kicked in and there was no stopping me. I moved fast and burst into the bedroom without warning. Afterward, I really wished I had knocked.

The first thing I saw was a blonde head, a cheerleader's uniform and some pom-poms. Next, I saw a person sitting on the bed wearing nothing but a black, furry bear mask.

It all happened so quickly, but I really thought I had walked in on Rebecca Dunbar going down on my husband while he sat on our bed dressed as a bear. I mean, that would be kind of weird, right? And most likely traumatizing. And certainly vomit-inducing to the current-but-soon-to-be-ex wife who drank seven c.o.c.ktails in the last four hours.

Except that's not what I saw at all. It was way worse than that.

When the cheerleader turned around I saw that it was Caleb wearing a cheerleader's uniform and a wig not Rebecca. And when the bear stood up and took off the mask, I saw it was Rebecca Dunbar ... wearing a strap-on.

I am not a prude. I can handle a little bit of freaky s.h.i.+t. But that was the melting pot of freaky s.h.i.+t. It was a pot of Freaky s.h.i.+t Stew and they had thrown in a little bit of everything.

I didn't make it to the toilet. I tried and I even covered my mouth but I didn't make it. Oh well. Let them clean it up. I took off running, grabbed Jake's hand and pulled him out the door with me. I was too scared to wait for an elevator because they'd likely be dressed and running after me before it arrived. I ran for the door to the stairs and slammed it open.

I quickly removed my heels and ran down the stairs, totally expecting Caleb to chase after me with a chainsaw and then throw it down at me like in the movie American Psycho. I had never been more scared in all my life.

I ran down four floors and when I didn't hear anyone following us, I thought it was safe to leave the stairwell. I pulled Jake back into the hallway, closed the door to the stairwell and leaned against it so they couldn't open it if they tried. It was now time for me to slide down the wall and put my head in my hands like they do in the movies.

”I don't want to leave for awhile,” I whispered to Jake. ”Just in case they come after me.”

”I'm starting to feel like I'm in a James Bond movie,” he whispered back.

”I'm starting to feel like I'm in a Tom Cruise movie,” I said. ”A horror film starring Tom Cruise.”

He looked alarmed. ”That does sound scary,” he said seriously.

I shook my head slowly. ”You don't even know, Jake. You don't even want to know. I won't even scar you for life by telling you.”

”That bad?”

”Worse.”

He sat down next to me on the floor and turned on his camera. ”Then I won't show this to you. But you might want to let your lawyer know you have it on camera.”

We waited in the hallway four floors down for about thirty minutes before I felt it was safe to take an elevator. I worried they'd be waiting for us in the lobby, but they weren't. We escaped the building safely, and I found a cab right away, even at the late hour.

It wasn't a surprise to me when my cell phone rang right after Jake and I got back to our hotel room.

”I just got an emergency call from the other side,” my lawyer told me. She sounded raspy, like she'd been woken up. ”The meeting tomorrow morning has been postponed. He said he and his client have a lot to discuss before we meet. Do you have any idea what this is about?”

”Unfortunately,” I said gravely.

”Do you want to tell me?”

”I caught him doing some pretty twisted stuff with his coworker's wife. I really don't want to get into detail because it's pretty, um, disturbing. But I have a picture.”

”Okay,” she paused. ”This could be really good news for us, Roxie. He said he'd call me by tomorrow afternoon to reschedule. Why don't you sit tight for one more day and I'll see if we can get this taken care of quickly?”

”Sounds good. Talk to you tomorrow then.” I hung up and gave Jake a small smile. ”I guess you get to spend some more time in New York.”

He put his hands just under my shoulders in that calming way he's done before and looked me in the eye. ”How are you feeling? Are you okay? I don't want to be happy about staying another day if you're miserable.”

I shook my head. ”I actually feel kind of relieved because this explains so much.” I paused. ”I wish I hadn't had to see it firsthand, though. And how did you get the picture? I thought you stayed in the living room. I never saw you follow me.”

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