Façade

Chapter 17

To go or not to go, that is the question. Emily weighed up her options. On the one hand, she had a (somewhat) stable relationship with her husband, Daniel, who was jaw-droppingly gorgeous and loved her in spite of anything and everything she'd done and put him through. They had a history. They'd always been there for each other, and they wanted a family together.

On the other hand, there was the acquired taste of the rugged Aiden Mathis. There was latent chemistry between them, sure, but that's all it really was, passion. An overwhelming desire, but the morning after the night before, there wasn't anything real. No companionship. No stability. No real loyalty. He was loyal when it suited him, and then he flew off to greener pastures elsewhere. Their history was indeed longer, but it was twisted, Emily had memories of him leaving her alone, abandoning her, like most everyone in her childhood. There were feelings for him, deep inside, that she had to admit would never go away, but he knocked her out with chloroform and pressured her into leaving her husband?! That just wasn't right.

She had decided. She wouldn't go. She also wasn't going to tell Daniel about it. That, she thought was the obvious choice.

As she stepped inside the elevator, she pondered a question that had been a hinderance to her since her last encounter with Aiden. 'Why now?' she wondered if maybe he had seen one if the numerous newspaper articles concerning her and her husband's recent string of unfortunate events. Maybe he'd been biding his time until he thought things were going south with Daniel to make his move.

She stalked into the bedroom, trying not to wake Daniel, only to find that he was sitting up in bed, reading. He looked up to her and asked, 'Where were you, Ems? You're never out running for that long.' Emily considered lying, but after recent events, thought better of it, 'Don't get mad' she said, in a small voice. 'Don't give me reason to' replied a harshly-voiced Daniel. 'Well' she continued 'Aiden, knocked me out with chloroform, and asked me to run away with him. He even gave me a plane ticket! Daniel, I'm worried about him, I think he may have gone a little nuts after I broke things off with him.' Daniel looked concerned, as he asked 'Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?' However, his concern quickly transformed into anger as it registered in his mind that Aiden had made a pass at his wife 'Are you saying he asked you to leave me? For him? Surely, you told him he was nuts, right?' 'Well, she replied, confused about what to say 'he shoved a plane ticket into my hand... I needed to leave.' Daniel scoffed in reply 'You don't want to be with any man who buys a plane ticket, instead of a plane!'

That did it. That set Emily off. She burst into roars of anger 'What do you mean by that?! Are you saying that he's not good enough for me?! I loved him. I loved him very much. And now he's hurting. And you insult him like that?!' with that last score to Aiden's self-confidence, Emily stormed upstairs. On her way up, to twist the knife, she added, 'You never know, I might just accept his offer.' Daniel hung his head and shook it.

A laptop sat on metal bench to which Victoria Grayson was handcuffed. She still had an air of grace and poise about her - even in a prison-issued orange jumpsuit. To her left, sat Conrad Grayson, dressed in a black suit, a white shirt, and a bright, red tie. He stared at the screen, as Victoria smiled wickedly as she addressed the figure in front of her and Conrad. 'Well done. Everything is going just as we planned, Mr. Mathis.'

© Sarah Egan 2013 - 2014 This story is subject to copyright and may not be copied or reproduced without the express permission of the author.