Color Her Red (5 page)

“I really wish you had answered the phone.” His voice breaks
again and as I look up to study his expression his eyes show me that he is in painful agony.  I don’t answer him.  I stare at him through the tears in my eyes. 

“If I had known what they were going to air, I would have p
aid them a fortune not to, whatever they would have wanted.”  His voice is low and full of regret. 

Just because he wishes it never got out doesn’t mean a damn thing.  Is he only sorry that I found out this way?  Does he wish he had told me in person?
  I fill with repulsion, pushing my sadness to the pit of my stomach.  I can’t look at him anymore.  I move my enraged gaze to the ground as my breathing quickens once again. 

He glances down at his hands
; “ Elizabeth from PR said they got it right before they went on.”  He sounds so distressed.  “They wanted to be the first to report it,” he mutters with a mix of anguish, regret, and disgust. 

I can’t acknowledge him just yet.  There were photographs and he hasn’t said anything about who that woman is.  I bite my tongue
to keep from yelling at him.  I’m not ready to ask him about her.  He looks desperate.  He will tell me whatever I want to hear. 

In my drunken state, I’m weak watching him.  I’
ll believe anything that comes out of his mouth and I am frantically trying to remain strong.  I’ll listen to what he has to say… in the voicemails. 

“I haven’t listened to them yet.”  I manage to speak
somewhat calmly, although the words are drenched with repulsion, and I have to immediately bite my lip to refrain from saying anything else.  I finally rub the tears from my eyes and off my chin with my still-shaking hand.

“Emma I-” He starts to speak but I cut him off
by throwing my hand in the air. 

“I’ll listen to them.  I don’t want to hear anything from you right now.”  I point a weak trembling finger at him.  My voi
ce breaks as I scoff, “I can’t even look at you.” 

He drops his head back to the ground but keeps his hurt puppy dog gaze on me.  I move my eyes to Kate.  She imme
diately looks down at her hands as though she may turn to stone if her eyes met mine.  I hold down the vile uprising in my stomach and try once again to calm myself. 

I
’m barely able to stand up and reach the coffee table.  I stare down at my phone, the device that may lead me to end my marriage, and reluctantly hit voicemail.  I put it on speakerphone so they can hear.  They both sit up.  Kate looks at the phone, curious and scared.  Thomas looks slightly relieved but still so fraught; his eyebrows are furrowed and his mouth is in the most pathetic pout.

“Baby, I hope I’
m getting to you before these damn reports come out on the news.  I just talked to PR…” there’s hesitation in his voice, “they said photos were leaked of me with another woman.”  My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach.  He continues, “These must be old photos, I haven’t seen them yet, but Baby I love you and I’ve never cheated on you.  Don’t watch the news please.  I love you.  Please call me when you get this…  I love you.”  His voice sounds so anxious and pleading. 

Kate starts to speak but I hold up my hand to stop her.  Thomas starts to move towards me and I do the same with him.  I want to listen to the other voicem
ail, after he saw the photos, when he knew what the evidence was.

I hit play on the second voicemail, “Baby please call me.  I just watched the news clip.  I know this looks bad.  Those photos were taken a long time ago.” 

The overwhelming feeling of sadness and a bit of relief washes over me as I let out an enormous breath.  That’s what I needed to hear.  My heart drops away from my throat allowing me to breathe.  He was with that woman. Yes, there are photos of it, but it was a long time ago. 

The voicemail continues.  “Please call me.  I’m working with PR to release a comment now.  Ple
ase let me know that you’re okay.  It was a long time ago, I never cheated on you.  I love you.” 

Why had they surfaced just now and who leaked them?  What about the reports that we split?
My curiosity and anger are stronger than my reprieve. 

Before I can s
ay anything, Thomas’ voice interrupts my thoughts.  “Those pictures were taken a long time ago, Emma.  She’s no one.  I’ve never cheated on you.”  He looks up at me with tears in his eyes. 

“Who
is
she?”  I ask desperately trying to calm myself; it’s not working though. 

“Her name is Lillian.”  He says her name with disgust.  “She’s no one.  Just someone I use to fuck.  Before I met you.”  He glances at me and
hesitantly walks closer.  His response makes my body sicken.  I grab my stomach, feeling my insides warp and twist violently.

“I don’t know why they were released; I don’t know who is responsible.”  My heart races and twists into a tortured knot as I listen to him.  I’ve never seen him like this. 
He is begging me. 
“I will find out and I will fix everything.  I will make everything right again.  I promise.  Please forgive me Emma.” 

“What about the other mistresses?  And the reports that we ended our marriage?”  I sneer at him.  My anger is unrelenting.

“I have no fucking clue.  All of this is as much of a shock to me as it is to you.”  Tears start running down his face, “I would never cheat on you,
ever;
I love you.”  His soft blue eyes pierce through me pleading for me to forgive him. 

“Emma, I could never do a thing like that to you.”  He reaches for my hand and I hesitantly allow him to pull me closer to him. “I mean that with everything in me.  I love you and I will do everything and anything to keep you mine forever.” 

I look
into his calm blue eyes willing myself to believe him as he wraps his arms around my waist, but my sight is jerked away.  In the window, past Kate, I can see her shadowy ghostly figure, standing in the grass next to the driveway, staring at us. 

The woman in the photo is outside Kate’s house. 

Chapter 3

The eerie image of the woman staring at us from the cold dark outside sends a freezing chill down my spine.  The bits of relief that I had reluctantly accepted creep out of my body as I stare back in disbelief and stumble away from the safety of Thomas’ arms. 

What the fuck is she doing here? 

I blink and the figure is gone.  A chill spreads through my body and my expression hardens.  I am too disconcerted, and possibly too drunk, to comprehend what I have just seen or what I think I saw. 
Did I really see her?

“Emma, what is it?”  Thomas
pulls me back to him with a look of concern searching for my eyes, but I push away from him and stare blankly back at the now vacant bit of lawn, searching for evidence that I did not imagine her. 

“She’s outside.  I saw her.”  The words escape my lips.  Thomas grabs my arms and forces me
to look at him; his blue eyes burn into me.  I have to look away.  My breathing immediately picks up.  His apologetic, collected demeanor has vanished, replaced by worry and anger.

Kate immediately turns around to face the window.

My mind starts racing. 
That lying bastard!  He really is cheating on me, and the slut bitch came to watch him.  He probably told her he was ending it with me.
  My body begins to shake with anger, so much rage that I’m paralyzed. 

“Who did you see?”
He grabs my chin and I vehemently whip my head around pulling away from his grasp.

“Tell me now.  Who did you see?”  His voice is forceful and demanding
as his eyes search the empty yard, with a firm grasp on my upper arm.

I can hardly think, let alone talk.  I don’t know her name.  She’s the woman in the photo, ganglier looking and angry, she looked pissed.  It’s dark outside, but I know it was her, glaring at us.  Remembering the imag
e makes my body tremble.  My mouth is parted but the words can’t come out. 
The woman you were photographed with.  The woman you were kissing.
I just can’t say the words.  My stomach heaves and my body starts sweating. 
Oh God, not now!  I don’t want to throw up.

“I don’t see anyone.
  There’s no one out there.”  His gaze leaves the window and turns to me, searching for the answer.  His eyes are serious and intense.  He grabs both of my arms, pulling me towards him, gentle enough not to cause pain but forceful.  He whispers in a pacified tone, “Did you see the woman in the pictures?  Was it her?”

I nod and a “yes” creeps out of my throat without my conscious permission.  Finally it’s out, my
tense body pushes away from his grasp.

He
hesitantly releases me and the concern grows deeper on his face.  “Kate, your back door,” he is speaking to her calmly as he strides hurriedly to the front door locking it, “is it locked?”  Without waiting for a response he starts moving towards her kitchen through the back room.  I stand motionless and confused but drenched in anger.

She calls out to him,
“Yes, it’s always locked.”  Kate moves to the kitchen but doesn’t enter.  She just leans in, waiting for him to respond.

“Thomas, what is she doing here?”  I
call out for him in a weak yet pissed voice, but he doesn’t answer.  Alone in the living room I become conscious of the overwhelming feeling of anxiety suffocating me.

“You were fucking lying to me.  You prick.”  My voice is so low that I know he can’t possibly hear me.  The anger is brewing inside me but still there is some other feeling.  His reaction doesn’t quite add up.  I am too drunk to completely grasp what is going on.  I desperately need to sober up. 

Thomas returns quickly from the great room and grabs Kate’s arm hard.  “We’re leaving now.” 

“But-” Kate attempts to protest as she frantically grabs her purse.
 

He reaches for my ar
m and I violently smack him across the face.

“You fucking liar!”  I smack him again, so hard that he has a bright red imprint on his jaw.  My hand burns and the pain races through my trembling
body.  “You’re cheating on me.”

“Emma,” his face is bitter and pissed, but h
is eyes are full of grief, “I’ve never cheated on you.  We don’t have time for this.  We’re leaving.”  He grabs me by the wrist unforgivingly pulling me towards the door and again I push back. 

“N
ow!” He yells and forcefully jerks the two of us to the door, hurling it open in a swift motion. 

“What the fuck is going on Thomas?”  There is a mixture of confusion, anger, and fear in her voice.

“If you aren’t cheating on me, why the fuck is she here?”  My voice is shaky as I sneer at him, but I try to be forceful. 

He doesn’t return a response
or release my arm.  His face is serious and I smack him again, this time with a closed fist.  I hear a low irritated groan in his throat as he grabs me by my waist hurling me over his shoulder.  I throw my fists at him and scream for him to put me down, but he doesn’t stop.  He forces me out of the house and to his car. 

“
Fuck you!” I yell as he drags me to the car. 

“Emma, listen to me.  She’
s dangerous.  Get in the damn car and knock it the fuck off.”  He’s pissed; he has never talked to me like that.  It takes me a moment to gauge what he said.  His eyes warn me that I better listen to him, but I’m so confused I don’t know what to do. 

He moves deftly around the car
as I slowly open the door. 
Dangerous? 
I glance cautiously around the yard where I saw the ghostly figure just moments ago and pray to God she still isn’t here.  I look frantically, trying to calm my breathing; there’s no one here.

“I can drive myself.” Kate a
ngrily attempts to protest with a scowl on her face.

“No!  Get in the damn car!
”  Thomas’ voice is demanding and we are so shocked and frightened that our bodies do as they are told. My breathing quickens and the unwelcomed tears return. 
Dangerous?

As Thomas puts t
he key into the ignition, I glance past the lawn and I see her; the sight stills my body.  She’s in the large bay window, inside Kate’s house watching us, a dark scowl across her face.  I inhale quick as her unkind eyes meet my gaze. My anger is replaced by fear. 
We left because he’s afraid of her… because she’s dangerous. 
I’m instantly immobilized.  I hear Kate gasp and the woman’s gaze moves to the rear of the car.  Confused and terror stricken, we watch the house and the woman disappear from sight as Thomas speeds down the deserted street. 

THOMAS DIALS HIS PHONE as we pull out of the neighborhood, completely ignoring our horror.  “Michael, call Paul
now, she’s at Kate’s house.”  Michael is his assistant.
I feel my body trembling, most definitely due to a combination of the cold and my terror.  Thomas looks at me guardedly as he speaks, “She must have followed me there. …  Take care of it…  What are the hotel details?”