I Do, Don't I?

Chapter Sixteen

I paced back and forth as I waited for the phone to reopen after plugging it to a charger that I also found inside the bag.

     Did I see that photo right?

     No, I must've been mistaken...

     But I know what I saw...

     Impossible.  I must've not seen it very well because the phone has shut down all so suddenly...

     Out of the corner of my eye, the phone flashed its Blackberry logo, a sign that the phone has finally powered on.  I rushed to it lying on the bedside table and waited for a little bit more longer until it was ready for me to use.

     I breathed all the courage I could muster and went back to the last photo I saw.

     And it was still there.

     What I saw was still there.

     It wasn't a mistake.

     I don't know if I should ask Jude about the photo of me kissing Mr. Dawson's cheek and he grinning happily at the camera.

     Of course you shouldn't ask Jude, Rachel!  That would be dumb and it could ruin your marriage.

     I pressed my thumb on the buttons leading me to the inbox.  Hmm...okay, let's start from the very beginning.

     From Jude.

     Looks like this was sent during work hours.

Update on Dawson's land. -Jude

    I moved on to the next message.

Won't be home tonight.  Business meeting in Paris.  Be back before the sun comes up.  -Jude

     The rest of the messages were from Jude, co-workers and a few from mom.  There were a bunch of unread messages from three months ago, before the accident.

     Most of them were from Jude.  I ignored his messages and left them unread.  I'm sure they were all common everyday-texts that people receive.  I was about to move on to the voice messages if Mr. Dawson's name wasn't one of the unread messages.

     Feeling the pulse throb all over my body, I opened his message.  Sent on the night of the accident.

See you soon.  -John

     I exhaled in slight relief.  It must've only been about his land we'd be seeing each other for.

     But...where was I headed to on the night of the accident?  Was it to the discussion John and I were supposed to meet for?

     I was about to proceed to the overflowing voice mails when I heard Jude's voice coming up the stairs.

     "Chelly!  I'm home!"

     Damn it.

     Immediately, I pulled the charger out and threw all the other contents of the bag inside a random purse on the closet floor.  I ran back to the bedside table and pushed the gold bag back where I found it.

     "Hello, darling," Jude said, standing by the doorway.

     I smiled back.  "How's your day?"

     Smart move, Rachel.