have to say I never slept with her? I wouldn't do that to you, Anna.”
“Yes, you would!” Anna shrieks and pushes him backwards. “You think I don't know you were leaving me that night? For God's sake, Sean, you admitted you'd had your tongue down her throat. Why do you think I told you to choose me or her?”
He did? Oh my fucking God. Why didn't Ashleigh tell me?
“How could you fucking lie to me over something like this, Sean?” Anna cries. “You didn't choose me and Stephi. We're your fucking consolation prize!” Anna bursts out of the court room and Sean is hot on her tail, telling her it's not like that. Right now, I can't believe my brother is that much of a jackass! I think I might actually hate him, just a little bit, for treating both Anna and Ashleigh this way.
“If this whole mess wasn't bad enough, without all that drama with Ashleigh being dredged back up.” Mom links my arm with hers as we follow Dad out the courtroom. “I guess you knew all about this?”
“Actually, Mom, I had no idea.”
“But she's your best friend?” Mom regards me with that horrible questioning gaze that makes me doubt everything I thought I knew for certain. Is she my best friend? Really? Aren't best friends supposed to talk about this kind of shit? Yeah, now I'm pissed at both of them.
My cell rings again. I look at the caller ID. “It's Wayne.” Honestly! This is the eighth attempt he's made since I put the phone down when Ashleigh walked into court. “Hey, baby.” I smile into the phone. “The case was dismissed.”
“You hung up on me!” he shouts down the line at me.
Huh? What? Why is he so mad? “I had to.” Hadn't I explained that on the earlier call?
“You didn't call me back.” I don't understand what the big deal is. “You rejected my calls.”
“The court was in session.”
“I've been going out of my mind here, Julia.”
Honestly, you'd think I'd never been away from him since... Oh... It is the first time I've been away from him in two years. “It's fine. I'm fine. Everything's fine. You have nothing to worry about. I'm with Mom and Dad. Everything is all okay.”
“I want you to come home.”
“What? But I'll be home tomorrow.”
“No, today.”
Fear starts to pool in the bottom of my tummy. “What's wrong?” At the question my parents turn around and stare at me.
“Just come home!” he yells so loud that my parents both frown.
I sigh. There's just no point arguing with him when he's like this and if I'm honest, something has happened to freak him out and I want to be with him, to help him deal with whatever it is. Instinct drags my mind back to the last time he was this erratic. “There’s another woman, isn’t there?”
He doesn’t lie to me and deny it. But he doesn’t answer me either, so I take it as the confirmation he’s not allowed to give me. “Alright, I’m coming home.” I look at my parents, who are hovering with concern, as I close the cell phone. “I think he’s missing me.”
Chapter Twelve
January 2008
Our first dinner party is tonight and I'm nervous, yet super-excited. Wayne wants to impress his Captain. Although he's been nothing but a shining example of the LAPD homicide unit, he's convinced his one AWOL from six years ago is held against him. He thinks it's prevented his progression in the unit. He wants to show Captain Warren choosing Los Angeles is the best thing he ever did.
We have thirty of our closest friends, relatives and business colleagues coming over for a night of fine cuisine. I've hired the best caterers in Los Angeles and they come highly recommended by Angela's personal assistant, Liv. She's used them many times and even negotiated a fantastic rate for us.
I've spent one half of the day following Liv's hosting guidelines to the letter and have everything working like clockwork, and the other half being primped and polished courtesy of Ashleigh's personal team of beauty therapists. I guess
“Yes, you would!” Anna shrieks and pushes him backwards. “You think I don't know you were leaving me that night? For God's sake, Sean, you admitted you'd had your tongue down her throat. Why do you think I told you to choose me or her?”
He did? Oh my fucking God. Why didn't Ashleigh tell me?
“How could you fucking lie to me over something like this, Sean?” Anna cries. “You didn't choose me and Stephi. We're your fucking consolation prize!” Anna bursts out of the court room and Sean is hot on her tail, telling her it's not like that. Right now, I can't believe my brother is that much of a jackass! I think I might actually hate him, just a little bit, for treating both Anna and Ashleigh this way.
“If this whole mess wasn't bad enough, without all that drama with Ashleigh being dredged back up.” Mom links my arm with hers as we follow Dad out the courtroom. “I guess you knew all about this?”
“Actually, Mom, I had no idea.”
“But she's your best friend?” Mom regards me with that horrible questioning gaze that makes me doubt everything I thought I knew for certain. Is she my best friend? Really? Aren't best friends supposed to talk about this kind of shit? Yeah, now I'm pissed at both of them.
My cell rings again. I look at the caller ID. “It's Wayne.” Honestly! This is the eighth attempt he's made since I put the phone down when Ashleigh walked into court. “Hey, baby.” I smile into the phone. “The case was dismissed.”
“You hung up on me!” he shouts down the line at me.
Huh? What? Why is he so mad? “I had to.” Hadn't I explained that on the earlier call?
“You didn't call me back.” I don't understand what the big deal is. “You rejected my calls.”
“The court was in session.”
“I've been going out of my mind here, Julia.”
Honestly, you'd think I'd never been away from him since... Oh... It is the first time I've been away from him in two years. “It's fine. I'm fine. Everything's fine. You have nothing to worry about. I'm with Mom and Dad. Everything is all okay.”
“I want you to come home.”
“What? But I'll be home tomorrow.”
“No, today.”
Fear starts to pool in the bottom of my tummy. “What's wrong?” At the question my parents turn around and stare at me.
“Just come home!” he yells so loud that my parents both frown.
I sigh. There's just no point arguing with him when he's like this and if I'm honest, something has happened to freak him out and I want to be with him, to help him deal with whatever it is. Instinct drags my mind back to the last time he was this erratic. “There’s another woman, isn’t there?”
He doesn’t lie to me and deny it. But he doesn’t answer me either, so I take it as the confirmation he’s not allowed to give me. “Alright, I’m coming home.” I look at my parents, who are hovering with concern, as I close the cell phone. “I think he’s missing me.”
Chapter Twelve
January 2008
Our first dinner party is tonight and I'm nervous, yet super-excited. Wayne wants to impress his Captain. Although he's been nothing but a shining example of the LAPD homicide unit, he's convinced his one AWOL from six years ago is held against him. He thinks it's prevented his progression in the unit. He wants to show Captain Warren choosing Los Angeles is the best thing he ever did.
We have thirty of our closest friends, relatives and business colleagues coming over for a night of fine cuisine. I've hired the best caterers in Los Angeles and they come highly recommended by Angela's personal assistant, Liv. She's used them many times and even negotiated a fantastic rate for us.
I've spent one half of the day following Liv's hosting guidelines to the letter and have everything working like clockwork, and the other half being primped and polished courtesy of Ashleigh's personal team of beauty therapists. I guess
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