Chapter 11

Chapter 11

“What?” I asked, taking a half-step back from Bob.

“I was just thinking about when we separated three months

ago,

how you

held back

tears,” Bob said with an unnerving grin.

My cheeks flushed as anger flooded me.

“What’s your point?” I hissed.

Bob stepped closer to me, and I moved back again. He reached forward and gently touched me on the forearm.

“I was just thinking that maybe we shouldn’t haven’t closed that door…entirely,” he said. He ran his hand to my upper arm. “Maybe we could be more than friends.”

My jaw dropped. He wanted to be friends with benefits?! I resisted the urge to slap him.

“You’re about to get married,” I snapped. “Show some self-respect.”

“Come on, it’s just S**-‘

“Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t sleep with disgusting people.”

“You-

99

I raised my finger within a few centimeters of his face, effectively cutting him off midsentence.

“Not another word,” I said through clenched teeth. “Your fiancée is about to return in her wedding dress, and we don’t want her to hear anything about this, do we?”

The muscles in Bob’s n*eck tightened, and his eyes flashed.

“Watch yourself,” he growled.

A chill ran up my spine.

“He’s dangerous,” Sue warned me.

**

The fitting did not take long. The dress fit Lisa almost perfectly. It would require only a few minor adjustments to let it accentuate her curves well while allowing her to breathe.

After Bob and Lisa left, I let Terri go out to lunch while I stayed in with a sack lunch and to make a couple phone calls. I sat in the employee lounge, far from the dresses and everything else expensive, with my Tupperware filled with mac and cheese.

I picked up my phone and called Lily.

“Hey, girl,” Lily said as her image appeared on the screen.

“Hey to you, too. How’s the honeymoon going?”

“It’s fantastic. The spa is so rejuvenating.”

“And how is your husband enjoying it?”

Lily laughed.

“Believe it or not, he loves it, too. He probably won’t admit it, but he does, especially the sauna and massages.”

“Well, I promise not to let on that I know his little secret,” I replied. “And what about the little one budding in you?”

Lily redirected the phone to point the camera at her belly bump. She rubbed it with the loving hand of a devoted mother.

“I think the calming atmosphere has been very positive for their development. In fact, I was hoping…”

I waited for her to say something else, but after a moment, I worried that the video feed had frozen.

“Lily? Are you still there?”

“Sorry, I’m just a little hesitant to ask you this,” she said as she moved the camera back up to her face. “I was just hoping to extend our honeymoon, if you don’t mind looking after the business for a while longer.”

I grinned, happy that Lily trusted me enough that she would consider extending her honeymoon with me in charge of her business.

“Of course, I don’t mind at all,” I said, trying to tame my excitement.

“Crystal, I’m so sorry to burden you with the company’s affairs….”

“Don’t worry! You just have a pleasant trip.”

Even with all the work involved in running Ever After Weddings, I loved my job and found it invigorating. It was much better than all that time spent in prison, and I hadn’t felt this level of satisfaction since the business I had started with Bob. Besides, it was Lily who had given me this opportunity when no one else would take a chance on me; I would do anything for her.

“Thank you so much,” Lily gushed. “Well, I better let you get back to it.”

“Yeah, I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

“Bye.”

After hanging up with Lily, I decided to make a quick call to Tom the guard. I had been keeping up on the lives of my former fellow inmates through him and other friendly guards. It had been over two weeks since I had last heard from them, so I thought I should check in and make sure the girls were doing all right.

Hoping that he’d be able to pick up despite the time, I made the call.

“Hello?” Tom’s voice answered somewhat gruffly.

“Hi, Tom. It’s Crystal.”

“Hi, Crystal. Do you need something?”

“No, nothing in particular. I was just hoping to check in on the girls, see what’s going on.”

There was a long pause.

“Tom?”

“Everyone’s fine. Just fine. Nothing has really changed here in the past couple weeks.”

Tom sighed.

“Listen, Crystal, this is hard for me to say, but you should forget about the years. Start anew. It’s what’s best for everyb*dy.”

past few

I put down my forkful of mac and cheese and swallowed against the hard knot in my throat.

“What are you saying?”

I…we won’t be in touch anymore, and we won’t be answering your calls anymore.”

I couldn’t hold back the tears that trickled down my cheeks. I dabbed at them lightly with a napkin, but I knew that I’d have to reapply my makeup before I could deal with any clients.

How could I forget about the past few years? I knew that I should just start a new life, but I had been robbed of those years and an entire business by a man who had claimed to love me. Now, I was just supposed to forget about all of that and serve him with a smile while he leered at me?

“Why does Bob get to tr ample all over me?” I asked suddenly. “Why does he get to use me and toss me aside and still find happiness, but I can’t drag him into the abyss, where he belongs?”

Tom did not answer for a moment, as though taken aback by my outburst, then he sighed.

“Because before punishing Bob, you would punish yourself for a long time.”

I hesitated.

“I’m sorry, Crystal,” Tom continued. “Goodbye.”

I sniffled and dabbed at my tears again.

“Goodbye, Tom.”

**

That night, I closed the store by myself, as always. Terri had gone home a couple hours earlier, but I stayed later to organize the dresses and go through our binders to ensure that all our projects were on track.

Andrew hadn’t made an appearance that evening, but I assumed that he was just too busy to come by. I couldn’t say that I wasn’t disappointed. It was the perfect way to end the perfect day.

I double-checked the lock before stuffing the keys in my purse. Then I froze. The hairs on the back of my n*eck raised; something did not smell right.

I shook my head and told myself that I was just being silly because it was starting to get dark. I couldn’t let something like that get to me.

Just as I turned to get to my car, a masculine hand grabbed my arm and started to drag me into a narrow alley nearby.

“What are you doing? Who are you? Let

go

of me!”

I screamed and fought back desperately, but the man’s grip on me was strong. No one was around to hear me.