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“Oh, they’re not that many of us. There’s me, Jessica, Stacey, and Ralph.”
“You were all at the meeting that day.”
“Yes, we were.” Mark was busy speaking to an acquaintance next to me while I carried on the conversation with the young man, who gave me food for thought.
If he was here on a business meeting, how did he end up with just him and Jessica? And what the hell was the hug about? I was beginning to feel like that eyes wide shut movie that I have yet to understand. Nothing seemed to fit, and I was back to square one.
But there were those messages and the fact that she was living in one of our buildings. Something was not adding up. I waited until Mark was engrossed in conversation with a couple of his colleagues to excuse myself under the pretense of going to the restroom and made my way across the room in her direction, giving her the perfect excuse to approach me.
I hid my smile when I saw her out the corner of my eye make a beeline in my direction as I carried on to the restroom. Since I don’t use public restrooms, I was standing in front of the mirror fixing my makeup when she walked in.
She seemed startled to see me standing there but quickly plastered a smile on her face when she saw me watching her in the mirror. “Jessica, right? I’m so sorry we haven’t had a chance to talk this evening. How are you liking the company?”
“Oh, it’s great; I couldn’t have asked for better.”
“That’s good. And the area? How are you settling in?”
“Oh, I’m still looking for an apartment, but with the prices and everything, it’s a bit hectic right now.”
“Surely we’re paying you enough to afford a nice place? Do I need to have a talk with my husband?” I laughed jokingly.
“Oh no, no, it’s fine. I’m sure I’ll find a place soon.”
“Okay, so where are you staying in the meantime? Don’t tell me you’re in one of those long-term hotels. Those things are ghastly.”
“Oh no, I’m staying with friends in the meantime.”
“Oh, that’s good then. Well, enjoy the rest of the evening.” She lied about where she was staying, and as a new hire, our company does have a policy of putting them up, which is not something to lie about, though that particular building has never been used for that purpose.
“Excuse me!” She headed into one of the stalls, and five seconds later, the phone in my purse vibrated. I had the clone on vibrate while mine was set to ring, so I knew it was hers. I walked to the last stall furthest away from her and opened the phone.
Mark?: Where are you?
Jessica: In the restroom, I just ran into the wife.
Mark?: Did you run into her, or did you follow her in there? I told you not to make any stupid moves. One wrong move and this whole thing will blow up in our face.
Jessica: Don’t be so nervous. Besides, the evening is a bust. I haven’t found an opening.
Mark?: Just get out of there.
Jessica: Fine, I think she’s gone anyway.
* * *
What the hellam I reading here anyway? Why is it so confusing? I sat there staring down at the phone until something jogged my mind. There was something strange, but what was it? No way. Don’t rush to conclusions, Britt; lots of people use out-of-town area codes on their phones these days.
I pulled my phone out of my evening purse with my heart racing and turned it on. I went to the recent calls, and there it was. What the hell is going on?
CHAPTER7
That night at home, I was a bit distracted but not too distracted for sex. I put my man to sleep, then put on my thinking cap and started piecing shit together. I’m an old hand at this stuff at this point, so there wasn’t much to it.
I now had a pretty good idea who owned the other phone, and it wasn’t my husband, but there was definitely something going on with him in the middle. Now, I have to figure out the game plan. There was just one problem: whatever the plan was, it had caused me distress and almost cost me my marriage.
But there was still so much that didn’t make sense. For instance, how did Jack know that I was going to be in that area on that day? There was no way for him to have known but more importantly, why did she hug Mark?
I reread the texts going back to the first day. Then, I had to research how to find deleted or older messages on her phone that occurred before it was cloned. I was up all night working on it after rereading the manual again.
