The Hidden Life (9 page)

“Effie still has my key or I would’ve let myself in, and it’s time to wake up. We have a problem,” I responded gruffly. My eyes cut over toward the staircase, then shifted back to her. Stewing inside, I had to remind myself not to blow up at her. Even though she was technically to blame, I didn’t want to make her feel like she had done something wrong. After all, I’m the one who encouraged her to pursue the man she was enamored with. “Where is Oliver? Is he still here?”

Tilting her chin to the side, she pinched her brows together in a concerned V. “W-what?” I demanded. “What are you talking about, Seth? What’s going on? What problem?”

I grimaced as I unzipped my coat, hating myself for being the one who had to show her what all of the world was seeing. Pulling out the stack of papers, I tossed them on the middle of the coffee table and pointed at the incriminating color photograph staring back at us.

“That’s what I’m talking about, Monroe. That’s the fucking problem!” I shouted.

For several long seconds she stood there, her eyes pointed toward the papers, but unable to comprehend what she was looking at. Then, she broke. Full-out shakes and collapsing to her knees, mouth and eyes wide open.

“Baby girl, I know you’re upset, but I need you to gather yourself right now,” I soothed, dropping down next to her and wrapping her up in a supportive hug. “We’ve got a shitload of damage control to do right now. I take it you haven’t heard from Colin?”

She pushed her palms against my chest, shaking her head vehemently as her glossy eyes remained locked on mine. I couldn’t imagine what was going on in her mind right then, but I knew I had to do everything in power to keep her coherent and responsive. A shut-down, closed-off Monroe wasn’t going to be any help.

“Monroe, stay with me.” I wiggled my fingers in front of my face, hoping for some kind of response, either verbal or physical. “Colin hasn’t tried to call that you know of?”

Finally, she found her voice. “No, I was going to get a new phone this morning,” she whispered, crossing her arms over her chest while gently rocking back and forth. “We were at the hospital all day yesterday, so I didn’t get a chance to replace the one I broke.”

“Where’s Oliver? Still here?” I asked, keeping her talking.

“I’m right here.” Oliver announced, his tone thick with both concern and annoyance. As soon as he saw Monroe, he flew across the floor to her side. “What in the hell’s going on? Why is she hysteric-” His voice fell to a whisper. “Holy shit.”

I moved to allow Oliver my spot next to Monroe, in which he swiftly lifted her into his lap and cradled her against him. I hurt for both of them, wishing more than anything this would all go away.

But it wouldn’t.

“Holy shit is right,” I agreed with a sigh. “I went for a run first thing this morning and saw those outside the first newsstand I passed. When you check your phone, you’ll see I tried calling you, but I figured you guys were passed out cold after yesterday, so I sprinted straight back home and headed over here.”

Neither of them said anything, and though I figured the shock would take a while to wear off, we didn’t have a while. Acting fast was key. And someone needed to take the lead. By process of elimination, I became it.

“Okay, guys, we’ve got three separate issues we need to deal with,” I explained. “I’m assuming you haven’t told Colin?”

Oliver held up a hand and shook his head. “Hold on, man. I know we’ve got a lot to talk about, but give us a minute or two to catch our breath.”

Again, my instinct told me to not waste time, to make prompt decisions and to move swiftly, but when I got a glimpse of Monroe’s detached, heartbroken eyes, I couldn’t bring it in me to interrupt Oliver from his attempts to calm and comfort her. I would’ve done the same thing for Colin had the roles been reversed.

“I was waiting until the end of the season so I didn’t add to the stress of everything else he had going on with you guys and then the injury,” Monroe suddenly peered up at me through her watery eyes and answered my previous question. “After he came back from Miami, he practically moved into the team facility, and now they just keep winning, prolonging it.”

I lifted my hands in surrender and offered an understanding smile. “You don’t need to explain anything to me, Roe. I get why you haven’t, and you also know how I feel about the whole situation. I just needed to know what level of pissed-offness we’re gonna be dealing with when he gets home… which is at what time exactly?”

“I think the team plane is scheduled to land early this afternoon, around one or two.”

Pacing the floor, I rubbed my hands rapidly up and down my face. “Right, okay then. So back to the three issues. First is dealing with an enraged, completely irrational, ready-to-turn-into-the-Incredible-Hulk Colin when he gets home. Second, we need to figure out how someone was able to get that picture from your backyard. We can call the security monitoring service and get the video feed from last night. If you know about what time this was taken, that’ll help. It can’t undo the damage that’s been done, but if you can identify who took it and have evidence he was trespassing, you can press charges.”

“What’s the third?” Monroe asked.

“Figuring out how to get him out of here with the media already camped out in the front,” I replied, tipping my head toward Oliver.

“In the front?!” Monroe yelled at the same time Oliver declared emphatically, “I’m not going anywhere!”

I stopped pacing mid-stride and scowled at both of them. “Yes, out front,” I snapped. “What did you expect? Your face is plastered on the front page of every daily in print and on every news channel you turn to, locally and nationally.”

“But
—
” she attempted to argue, but I quickly cut her off.

“No
but
anything!” I whisper-shouted. “This is a huge fucking story, Monroe. Your husband is the starting quarterback for one of the teams in the upcoming Super Bowl, and last night, while he was off busy winning the city an AFC Championship, you were banging your coworker in your house, using a sick kid as an excuse to stay here with your lover. The whole story is right here.” I snatched one of the papers from the table and lifted it in the air, pointing at the printed words beneath their picture. “Somehow, they knew all of it… about JoJo and everything. They’re going to massacre both of you, your families. Mending Hearts is going to be called into question. I know you’re in shock right now, but I need you to realize how serious this is.”

I shifted my attention to Oliver and shook my head, doing my best to control my growing frustration. “I know you want to stay with her. I can see that you love her and you don’t want her to face this shit alone, but you can’t help her here. She’s gotta do this with Colin, however they decide to approach it. You need to alert your family of what’s about to happen, because now that they have your name, it won’t take them long to start staking out your place too. Take them on a vacation or something, the farther away the better, and do it fast.”

“I appreciate the advice, and I’m sure you know a lot more about this stuff than I do, but I’m not leaving her,” Oliver asserted like a good man should have, holding Monroe close to him. “I’ll tell my family to leave, fine, but I’m not going anywhere. I knew the risks before I fell in love with her.”

I trudged over to the couch and plopped down, pinning them both with a solemn stare. “Listen to me, Oliver, man. Please,” I beseeched. “I’m not sure what all you know about her and Colin’s relationship, but obviously you know it’s not a marriage in the normal sense, ‘cause you’d be a real fucking asshole if you thought it was and you were sleeping with some guy’s wife. And I’m pretty sure you’re not a real fucking asshole, because Monroe wouldn’t like you if you were, and I have a pretty good inkling she loves you as much as you love her. So with all that being said, I’m interested in keeping you alive for my girl Monroe’s sake here, but I can promise you, if you are in this house when Colin gets home, he will kill you. He may not mean to. He probably just wants to hurt you really,
really
bad, but he’s a strong motherfucker, and if he gets his hands on you, you’re a dead man. And then, I’m gonna have four issues to worry about instead of just three, and I really don’t feel like adding murder to the list today. So for the sake of everyone involved, please allow me to somehow sneak you out of this house and then get your ass on a plane to Mexico, or Puerto Rico, or where-the-fuck-ever as quickly as possible. It’s the only way any of this has any chance of working out. Please trust me.”

Turning to face Monroe, Oliver cradled her face in his hands and rested his forehead against his. “Monroe, what do you want me to do? I don’t want to leave your side, but I’ll do whatever you want.”

A sharp pain shot through my chest as I watched them
—
vulnerable, scared, completely in love. I longed to be loved in return like that, with someone who would take on the world for me.

“I’m so sorry, Ollie, but Seth’s right,” Monroe whispered through her snivels. “I need to talk to Colin one-on-one. He deserves that from me.”

“That’s fine. Talk to him without me, but don’t ask me to leave the city. I need to be here for you,” he pleaded.

Monroe smiled a sad smile, then leaned forward to kiss him softly. “I want you here. You know I do. But me asking you to stay is selfish, and I can’t do that. I won’t.”

“Don’t do
this
!” he hissed. “We knew this wasn’t gonna be easy, and the first roadblock we hit, you just want to send me packing? I thought we were in this together?”

Wanting to give them a few moments of privacy, I stood and moved off to the side, not that it kept me from hearing their entire heartbreaking exchange.

“We are! And I’m not sending you packing! At least not permanently!” Monroe insisted as the tears fell freely from her big green eyes. “Please, Oliver, I’m begging you not to make this harder than it already is. Setting aside the incomprehensible level of mortification I feel, and focus on the fact that the entire world currently thinks I used a little girl
— who is
still lying in a hospital bed fighting for her life
—
as a pretext to stay home and be a cheating slut behind my husband’s back. That doesn’t even take into account the fallout Allison and Mending Hearts is going to have because of this, and don’t forget about your staff and kids at the Chicago house. I’m sure it won’t be long before they hear you referred to as a home-wrecker, among a slew of other nasty things, on TV or see it on social media. And when they start talking bad about you, I’m gonna lose it…” She feathered her thumb over his cheek. “This isn’t just a roadblock, baby. There’s a mountain range sitting in front of us, and right now, we need to focus on meeting on the other side.”

Oliver reluctantly pushed up to his feet, defeat and devastation washed over his face. “All right, if that’s what you want, I’ll go.” He looked over his shoulder at me and nodded. “Let me get my shoes and stuff from upstairs. Just tell me what to do.”

Less than a half hour later, I’d derived a less-than-fail-proof plan to sneak Oliver out undetected, and after they said their goodbyes with a single kiss and “I love you,” he and I slipped out the back door and over the back fence. Little did I know that would be the easiest part of my day.

“My heart constantly

weighs upon me with the

draining notion that I

am not enough for the

people around me.

I am terrified that they

will want more than I

could ever imagine

giving them.”

-Christopher Poindexter

Seth

AFTER DROPPING OLIVER
off at the airport, I hightailed it back to Monroe, returning through the backdoor just the way I had earlier. It appeared that she hadn’t moved from the floor where I’d left her, although the papers were strewn across the hardwood floor in a disheveled mess. Scooping her up off the ground, I carried her up the stairs to her third-floor master suite and carefully lowered her onto the bed, my eyes searching hers.

“Roe baby, I’m gonna call Colin now, okay?”

She didn’t respond, so I kept talking.

“They’re three hours behind us, and I’m sure he was up late last night after the game, so chances are he’s still sleeping. He needs to know what’s waiting for him so he can be prepared with a statement,” I explained, my voice gentle, compassionate.

Again no response.

Sighing, I grabbed my phone and called Colin for the second time in as many days, and as much as it pained me to hear his voice, my bruised heart was trivial in the scope of the huge issue surrounding me.

“Hello? Seth?” Colin rasped, half-asleep.

“Hey, sorry to wake you up. I know it’s early there.” My voice didn’t sound right; it was forced, fake.

“No problem,” he responded, sounding a little more alert. “Is everything okay with Monroe? Did something happen to JoJo?”

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the message I needed to deliver. “JoJo is stable the last I heard,” Pausing, I inhaled a deep breath and blew it out before adding, “but we’ve got a problem, man.”