Love comes knocking

Disappeared millions?

I quickly pulled my face together, thinking that Luke had to be joking with me. I had never known of any extra dollars in my bank account; let alone millions of them!

“Ha ha,” I answered Luke, “you almost got me there. Million dollars!” I snorted to show that I had understood the joke.

Christine shifted uneasily in her chair and exchanged yet another knowing look with Luke. She looked at me intensely and said with a very serious tone in her voice: “You should listen to Luke, Sally.”

Luke cleared his voice and spoke again: ”Listen, Sally, I only found out by chance a couple of months ago and both Christine and me figured you knew. We thought you just didn’t like to talk about your personal finances.”

I glared at Luke as he continued: “When your mom died, she left some money that your dad invested. The investment was going really well, so that should be quite a chunk of money. And then there was the life insurance for your dad…”

“The what?”

“The insurance policy that would have been paid out to you…”

The room was spinning and I needed to get out. I stood up so abruptly that my chair fell over. Christine stood up, too, and put her hand gently on my shoulder. “Are you OK? Can I get you anything?”

She was so kind, but I felt like a mess. “I think I should talk to Carl.” I realized we had more to discuss than I thought.

“Maybe you should wait until tomorrow? It’s been a long day.” Christine’s soft voice produced a very reasonable suggestion.

“And maybe you should see a lawyer,” was the suggestion from Luke.

“Umm… can’t you be my lawyer?”

“Well, inheritance and divorce settlements are not really my specialities. I deal in corporate law, but I can give you a little guidance. And I’ll help you find someone good to represent you if need be.”

My attention was caught by his first sentence. “Divorce? I’m not married!”

“No, but…”

Luke never got to explain himself as Christine interrupted us: “Maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. Maybe there were no million dollars or maybe the money is sitting safely in an account somewhere. Let’s all get some rest and we’ll start fresh tomorrow.”

Part of me wanted Christine to be right; maybe everything was just a misunderstanding . But I was also really hurt by seeing Carl in bed with another woman and I wanted him to suffer. For now, I smiled at Christine and helped her clear the table.

The table was soon clean and the dirty plates in the dishwasher. We chatted a bit about this and that, but we were all tired. I went to my room, drew a bath and tried to relax. But too many things were swirling around in my head and I could not stop my mind from trying to connect all the dots of today.

Carl was clearly cheating on me, but how long had this been going on? Maybe it was just a one time story? I wasn’t sure what would be worse: To have walked in on his one-night-stand or to witness his long-term girlfriend in my bed. Whatever the story was, I needed an explanation.

And the money? If there had been any money, Carl would know where it was. He would never steal that kind of values from me. Or would he?

I sighed as I got out of the bath and dried off. I brushed my teeth, put on a shirt that Christine had found for me, and went to bed. I checked my phone and could see more missed calls from Carl. I texted him: Need rest. Will call tmrw.

The reply came instantly:Great to hear from u. So worried. Love you XX. I fought the urge to reply and put away the phone.

I wish I could say that I slept all night, but my mind was too full for any rest. I kept tossing and turning all night, trying to make up my mind and decide whether I was more angry or sad.

Christine woke me up the next morning with a gentle knock on the door. She brought a big mug of coffee and a change of clothes, and I was not sure which I needed the most.

“Did you get any sleep?” She did not do a good job of hiding how anxious she was for me. Her voice sounded thin and it looked like she hadn’t gotten much sleep, either.

“Amm…well…no, virtually no sleep for me,” I confessed.

“Have you decided what to do with Carl?”

“I will ask him to meet me at neutral ground. I just want to speak to him,” I almost whispered. I felt so weak, but needed to stay strong for now.

Christine nodded and left the room, leaving the coffee mug in my hands and the change of clothes on the bed.

I forced myself out of bed and into the shower. The warm water felt so nice against my skin and I only turned the shower off as the water started to go cold.

I dressed in the white t-shirt and jeans that Christine had found for me. The sizes were a bit off, but it would have to be good enough for now.

I grabbed my phone and went into the kitchen. It smelled divine; fresh coffee mixed with toast and orange juice. I wasn’t really hungry, but knew I had to eat something. So I found some yoghurt to go with my second mug of coffee.

Luke raised an eyebrow as he looked at my breakfast choices. “Not a big eater?”

Christine intervened on my behalf. “How could she be hungry after yesterday?”

Luke got up and kissed her goodbye as he had to leave for work. He hurried out the door as Christine finished her toast.

“Will you help me compose a message for Carl?” I had no clue what to write to him.

“Well, why don’t you just choose a time and place to meet,” was Christine’s response.

Need to chat. The Corner Coffee at 11? My hands were shaking as I typed.

Can’t wait to see you! The reply came promptly. I sighed. So now I only had three hours to figure out how to speak with him.