Skeletons in the Closet by Terry Towers Page A

married!"
    The clerk shot up straight in her chair, her mouth falling agape and Nikki heard a couple faint gasps coming from the line behind her.
    "Umm, Nikki.... sweetheart..."
    What she had just said out loud suddenly hit her and heat rushed up into her cheeks. This was turning out to be one of the most horrible days of her nineteen years. Looking up at Grant her heart sank to her stomach, the faint surprised look that had crossed his features was gone. She knew at that moment it was true. He was married.
    "How could you!" she spat. "Why?"
    "Nikki." He attempted to grasp her shoulders, but she shrugged off his touch.
    "How? I don't understand."
    He leaned into her and though she was tempted to shuffle away, pride kept herself rooted in the spot, and she was terrified to make more of a scene than she'd already caused.
    "We need to talk. Privately. I can explain this; it's just a big... misunderstanding. I can fix this."
    She crossed her arms over her chest and continued to glare at him. "Then fix it, now ."
    Grant ran an unsteady hand through his dark hair, "It's not that simple." He grabbed her arm once more and this time she allowed the contact to happen. "Please, let's get out of here."
    She looked around them and noticed at least a dozen sets of eyes glued to her and Grant. Oh-my-god! This is humiliating . Nodding she conceded. "Alright, let's go."
    Five minutes later Nikki sat in the car with Grant, impatiently awaiting his explanation. How could he not know he was married? Did he just forget? How does one forget a detail like that, especially when they consider proposing to someone else? She had so many emotions rushing through her, her head felt as though it were spinning. Nikki thought she was going to cry so she grabbed onto the one emotion that wouldn't have her breaking down in tears and ran with it.
    "You had better have a damned good explanation for it!" she fumed, glaring at him from the passenger seat of her Lotus.
    Grant sighed loudly. "Well, Nikki, I was married."
    Without giving it any thought, Nikki slugged his shoulder - hard.
    "Ouch! Nikki, what the fuck!" Frowning, Grant rubbed his t-shirt clad shoulder.
    "So, didn't you think that would have been some information I'd have liked to have known, before now?"
    He sighed again. "Well, no. Not really."
    Not really! The anger within her bubbled and she slugged him a second time, nailing his shoulder in the exact spot as the first one.
    "Ouch! Nikki, will you calm down a minute, please . Look. It's complicated. It wasn't a real marriage."
    "How in the hell could it not be a real marriage, according to the state of Virginia it sure is real. And still legitimate, Grant!"
    "Without getting into details..."
    "Of course - no details. I never get details about anything in your life!" Nikki interrupted.
    Choosing to ignore her interruption he continued. "The woman is Diana Williams. She was my partner for a case a few years ago. It was critical that everything looked as official as possible, in order to pull off what needed to be done, so we got married, all official like in Virginia. Once the case was finished, I signed the divorce papers and then the agency sent them to Diana to sign and make it an official divorce. I haven't seen her since the assignment was completed, over two years ago. The divorce should have been taken care of as soon as the case was complete. The agency assured me it was taken care of. So what we'll do is this... We go home, I'll contact the agency, and we'll get this all straightened out. It's nothing to worry about, sweetie."
    Reaching across the seat, Grant attempted to caress her cheek with the back of his hand, but she edged herself away.
    "Nikki, please..." the sound of his voice and the look in his eyes both coaxed her to be reasonable. She wanted to be reasonable, but reasonable didn't seem to be in her at that moment.
    "Did you fuck her?" She didn't know why the question came out, but there it was, jealousy personified over a woman of