Chapter 13
While sweeping under the living room couch, Violet came across a set of keys.
It was Jeremy’s. The sight of them nearly brought tears to her eyes because in a flash she was remembering the night he had dropped them.
He had taken her out for dinner and they had come home in a frenzied rush unable to keep their hands off of each other.
They barely made it through the door before tumbling on to the couch, limbs tangling, clothes flying off.
She had heard the clink of his keys hitting the floor; they must have slid under the couch somehow.
With a heavy sigh, she placed the keys on the dining table and decided she would stop by his office later that evening when Anna would be gone for the day. The last thing she wanted was to have a conversation with her or get sympathy looks.
Tanya was busy watching Frozen for what seemed like the hundredth time while Debra was in the kitchen making them mac and cheese, when Violet went out to run her quick errand. Debra took one look at her and raised her eyebrows, “Quick errand huh. Girl, that better not mean what I think it means.”
“I’m just going to drop off his keys! He left them here last time he was here.”
“No hanky panky, no matter how much your vagina might be screaming for it.”
“Deb! Tanya’s in the next room!”
Debra waved the spoon she was using to mix the cheese in the air and shooed Violet out of the kitchen, “Yeah, yeah, now go and give him back his keys. Take as long as you need to, hun, I don’t have anywhere else to be.”
“Thank you again for coming over on such short notice, you’re a lifesaver.”
“Yeah yeah,” Debra muttered going back to the task at hand.
It took Violet just over thirty minutes to get to the clinic downtown where Jeremy had his offices.
Instead of going into the main clinic area, she went up directly to the third floor.
The desk in the reception area was deserted, Anna had gone home for the day, Jeremy’s office was just down the hall and she could see the light was on in his office, clearly he was still in the office.
Fighting back an overwhelming urge to go and see him, she resolutely started to head towards Anna’s desk with the intention of leaving a short note with the set of keys.
But the soft murmur of voices drew her back towards his office.
She tiptoed down the hall quietly, making sure she was well out of view.
The glass wall had blinds on it, which made it difficult to see clearly but she saw two shadowy forms. The tall form she recognized as Jeremy, and the other silhouette looked like a woman.
A patient probably but the sound of the girlish voice was too low and intimate for it to be a patient.
Violet’s heart began to flutter uncomfortably as a cold feeling settled into the pit of her stomach; she wished she could get closer and hear what they were saying but to do so would mean revealing her presence.
A breathy, sensual laugh escaped the office and Violet recognized it immediately, she now knew who was in the office with Jeremy this late in the evening.
The stunning girl with the gorgeous face and killer body, Venetia.
Violet knew she should leave, she should put the keys on Anna’s desk with the note and leave but her legs refused to function and she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the scene unfolding in front of her.
In wrapped fascination, she watched as the female shadow stepped closer to Jeremy’s shadow, slim hands went up and entwining themselves around his neck pulling his head down into a kiss.
Large breasts thrust up and pressed themselves against his body, the two shadows blended into one.
Feeling sick to her stomach, Violet stepped away from the torturing sight, choking back a cry of despair.
All of a sudden, Jeremy’s actions over the past week made perfect sense.
His silence, the way he had just dropped out of her life with a bullshit excuse of needing to focus on his career and not make any more mistakes.
What a load of bullcrap, she thought, when the real reason was Venetia.
She knew why he had chosen her, Venetia was the kind of girl he should be with, they came from similar backgrounds and understood each other’s worlds, whereas she would never fit into it at all.
But what hurt was the lie, why couldn’t he have told her the truth?
That he was better matched with Venetia than with her?
And why couldn’t he have figured it out sooner instead of breaking her heart once she was already in love with him? How could he have done this to Tanya?
Unable to contain her disappointment and anger any more she whirled around and rushed towards the elevator, the pain of his betrayal was so great she felt like the walls were closing in on her and she couldn’t breathe.
In her haste to escape, the keys slipped out of her hands.
The clanking sound of metal hitting the marble floors echoed loudly through the area.
“Arghh…” she choked off the rest of the word desperately hoping that somehow Jeremy and Venetia were so wrapped up in each other they hadn’t heard the key or her.
Grabbing the key off the floor, she dashed towards Anna’s desk as quietly as she could.
From down the hall, she heard the murmur of voices again, she heard Jeremy’s voice call out, “Anna?”
Deciding she didn’t have time to leave a note, Violet jabbed the down arrow on the elevator hoping it wouldn’t take too long to appear.
The elevator whirred to life and began its slow descent upwards, the seconds seemed to trickle by in excruciating slowness.
She heard Jeremy’s footsteps in the hall and pressed the button again, knowing it wouldn’t really make a difference.
And then to her great relief, the elevator grinded to a stop and the doors opened smoothly, she popped inside just as she heard Jeremy’s shocked voice, “Vy?!”
As she turned to press the button on the panel, her scornful eyes connected with Jeremy’s before looking behind him to where Venetia stood with a smug smile on her face.
She managed to hold on to the tears, which threatened to flow until she was safely back in her car once more.
She started the engine and calmly drove herself home, concentrating all her attention on the road ahead, deliberately refusing to think of anything else.
The phone calls from Jeremy started to arrive soon after.
Violet looked down at the caller ID, feeling utter disgust. Resolutely she pressed the decline button each time it rang until she was finally forced to turn her phone off.
Jeremy was the last person she wanted to hear from.
No doubt he had a packet of lies ready to force down her throat.
The light in the living room was on; Debra must have heard her because the door opened just as she was inserting the key into the lock.
“Violet!” Debra greeted her with a slight concern, “Is everything okay? Did you drop it off?”
“Yes, I did. Everything’s fine.” Violet replied vaguely, too tired to go into the story now. She entered her home relishing the comfortable, homey feeling of the small bungalow.
“Okay well, Tanya’s in bed asleep already.”
Motherly concern overshadowed her immediate pain and she hurried to Tanya’s room, “Already? She usually puts up a struggle going to bed so early on a Saturday night.”
“Oh no no, she’s fine.” Debra hastened to assure her as Violet opened the door to Tanya’s room, “We spent a few hours at the park and I think that tired her out.”
True to Debra’s words, Tanya was fast asleep, curled up in a tight little ball, the blankets tucked around her warmly.
Violet kissed her petal-like cheek, unconsciously listening for something to be wrong but Tanya’s even breathing assured her everything was all right.
Feeling immensely relieved, she gave Debra a warm smile.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to be the crazy mother.
I hope she didn’t fuss too much with her supper? ”
“No, she ate well, she’s fine Violet, don’t worry.” Debra smiled at her kindly and squeezed her hand in reassurance. “Sometimes kids get tired doing kid-like things, you know. She’s a tough little girl and she’s recovering well.”
“Thank you, Deb, want me to drop you off at home?”
“You look pretty tuckered out yourself, Violet, so don’t worry about it.
I’m going to walk home.”Sensing that Violet was about to protest, Debra held up a hand, “I insist, it’s a really nice night out and it will take me less than ten minutes, so why don’t you call it an early night. I’ll show myself out.”
Feeling too emotionally spent to argue with the indomitable Debra, Violet agreed and hugged her friend goodbye, thinking for the hundredth time how grateful and lucky she was to have someone like Debra in her life.
As she headed to her bedroom to change into a pair of shorts and a tank top, she heard the front door close and the lock click into place.
Without bothering to wash her face or braid her hair, she crawled into bed after checking in on Tanya once more and resisted the urge to gather the warm bundle into her arms. Burying her head into her pillow, she allowed herself to release the flood of tears.
Bitter, angry, lonely tears drenched her pillow before she fell into a dreamless sleep.