CHAPTER THREE
I woke up to the ringing of the phone. I was in a fog and didn’t realize exactly where I was until the phone stopped ringing and Meredith was leaving me a message.
“Charlie, it’s Meredith. Call me back if you can.”
I slowly rolled over on my bed and lifted the covers so I could reach the phone sitting on my nightstand. I dialed her back and waited.
“Hi Charlie, I’m sorry to call so late but I just now said goodbye to our last guests.”
“What time is it,” I asked sleepily. I had gone to bed so early and rambled through the house intermittently so I wasn’t really sure what time it was.
“It’s almost two a.m. What happened?” She was certainly curious. I never missed a dinner party unless under duress.
“I can’t even begin to explain. Can you come over?” I didn’t want to be alone any longer and now that I was awake, I didn’t think I could go back to sleep.
“Oh Hon, you are upset. I will be right over, give me about thirty minutes to put away some things and I will be there.”
“Thanks Meredith.” I hung up the phone and decided I had better get some clothes on. I dressed in my warm sweats and Chicago Bears T-shirt. Jarod hated the outfit which is why I wore it. I no longer would do what would or wouldn’t make Jarod happy.
Meredith and I had known each other since high school. She was Valedictorian and I was Home Coming queen. Our lives were linked some way for years and we still relied on one another for many things. We went to college together and met our husbands while working on our degrees. She had done something with her degree, political science. She works for Harley Battenson, Rep.; he’s the Governor of Vermont, our beloved state. I had gone into marketing but was working for Porter at Mead Advertising and not really getting my name out there like I wanted. At the moment I didn’t even know what I wanted.
Leo Yochum, Meredith’s husband, was a lawyer. He worked in the same building with my lawyer, Stanley Meyer but I didn’t feel comfortable asking our friend to be in the middle of our marital problem so I hadn’t asked Leo to represent me. I had only been to Mr. Meyer’s office once so I hadn’t seen Leo. I hadn’t even told Meredith about seeing a lawyer yet. I only hoped it wouldn’t affect our relationship. I wouldn’t do anything to cause a problem between her and me.
The doorbell rang and I knew who it was. Meredith quickly walked through the door and locked it behind her. Our community was safe yet there was no use it taking chances.
“Come on in. I will make us some tea,” I said as I walked into the long hallway leading to the large kitchen.
“So what did Jarod do this time? I could tell he didn’t want to come to dinner tonight. I spoke to him earlier in the day.”
“You spoke to Jarod, when?” I hadn’t even spoken to him during the day and I had texted him several times with no response.
“I called the house around noon. I didn’t think you worked today so I called you here.” Meredith knew my usual schedule. I work every other Friday but this Friday was different.
“I wasn’t supposed to work but Porter wanted us to work on the Click account. We have an appointment to present our marketing suggestions on Wednesday or Thursday.”
“Yea, that’s what Jarod told me.”
“So Jarod was here at noon, huh? It makes me wonder if she was here all that time.”
