door dinged open, I took a deep breath and walked to the big oak finished desk where Mrs. Elizabeth sat, answering phones. She was an older woman, in her late fifties. I’d only been to Tim’s office a couple of times, but from what I’d gathered she was a very sweet lady.
“No, I’m sorry. He’s not in today. I can take a message for you if you’d like,” Elizabeth said to whomever she was talking to on the phone and gave me a warm smile. She looked down at her note pad and jotted a few things down. “Okay, I have it down for you. Is there anything else I can do for you? You’re welcome. Have a good day.”
She hung up the phone and brought her eyes back to me. “What can I do for you today, dear?” she asked sweetly.
I gave her a bright smile, trying to hide my nervousness. “I’m just here to see Tim. Is he busy?”
She looked at me confused then down to her computer. Clicking her mouse a few times, she furrowed her brow and then turned back to me, shaking her head. “Let me call his office to check. I don’t remember seeing him come through,” she stated as she picked up her phone.
I watched as she picked up the receiver and held it to her ear. A few moments later, she was hanging it up. “It doesn’t seem like he’s in today.” She looked at me with a small smile.
A heavy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach, but I kept the smile on my face. “Oh, could you try the meeting room. I know he likes to work in there from time to time. I was trying to surprise him since I hadn’t seen him all week,” I explained honestly.
“Sure, hun, just a second,” she said with a small smile as she dialed the meeting room, but a few moments later, she hung up, shaking her head again. “No one is answering there, either.”
I could feel my cheeks flush at my embarrassment. “Oh, he probably hasn’t made it in from the afternoon meeting with his dad then. Maybe it ended up taking longer than he expected,” I said while giving her another bright smile, not wanting her to see how distraught I was. “I’ll just give him a call on his cell.”
She looked at me confused. “The client meeting with Mr. Stanley was last night. He and Stacey left at five yesterday to meet the clients. Unless there was something scheduled today I don’t know about.” She clicked away on her computer looking for something as the lump in my throat started to get bigger. Stacey was his dad’s assistant. So many things were flowing through my mind. I had that feeling in the pit of my stomach, the one when you don’t want to believe something is true, but deep down you know it is.
“It’s okay,” I told her, interrupting her clicking frenzy. “It was just my mistake. I must have heard him wrong. I’ll just give him a call.” I smiled reassuringly. “Sorry for bothering you,” I said as her phone started ringing with incoming calls. I turned from the desk as she resumed her job, feeling like my world was falling apart.
Inside the elevator, I pulled out my phone and stared at it. There was only one way to find out if he was lying to me. It still didn’t prove he was cheating on me, but it was just another nail in the coffin of our relationship.
As soon as the elevator door opened, I walked to an unoccupied bench against the wall, furthest away from the doors, and dialed Tim’s number. I didn’t want to pace around while I talked to him because I knew my voice would waver. I needed to sit and calm my nerves.
“Hello,” he finally answered after the fourth ring.
“Hey,” I said, smiling to myself. I was trying to act as normal as possible. “Did I catch you at a bad time?” I asked as I started chewing on my bottom lip.
He let out a sigh. “No, it’s okay. I need to take a break anyway. What’s up?”
“Um…I was calling to tell you I had to work tonight. So I won’t be home until late.”
“Oh, okay. That’s fine, babe. I told you earlier it was going to be another late night for me, too.” He
Benjamin Blech, Roy Doliner