Heart of Stone

Leather Handbag

That night, Eloise returned home alone, exhausted beyond measure. Violet had gone home with her father, exhausted as well but in a better countenance than when they'd arrived at the hospital. Luna had greeted her excitedly, and she collapsed down onto the floor and hugged her furry friend as hot tears ran down her cheeks.

Never in her life was she ever going to escape the oily tendrils of her family's reach. It left a toxic smear on everything it touched, including her, and she was never able to wash it off. It was permanently inked on her skin like an invisible tattoo, and she would never be able to get rid of it, no matter how hard she tried.

She forced herself to her feet and into a hot shower. Afterwards, her limbs felt as heavy as lead, and she dragged herself down the hallway and into her bedroom with Luna at her heels. She fell into her bed and climbed under the covers, the dog jumping up onto it with her. She threw her arm around Luna as she got comfortable and within moments she was in a hard sleep.

Alexander sat at the desk in his office bright and early the next morning, despite having been out late. Before him sat a black leather handbag. He studied it intently, his eyes roving over all the details of it. The braided straps, the rectangular shape, the gold strips on the corners. As he studied it, he contemplated what to do next, or even how to feel, because as much as he wanted to, he couldn't go back and undo what he had accidentally seen last night.

After seeing LouLou and Violet off, he had returned to the lounge. It was only when he slid back into the booth with Sebastian that he noticed LouLou had forgotten her handbag that she carried with her most places she went. He'd kept it safe for the rest of the time that he had spent there chatting with Seb, and when he left, he made sure to take it with him. He would return it to LouLou the next opportunity he had.

When he got into his vehicle, he'd placed it on the passenger seat. At one point, he'd had to brake a little harder than he'd wanted to, and her bag went tumbling off the seat. Its contents had spilled out onto the floor, and he'd left it like that until he pulled into the driveway of his small home. When he'd parked, he'd leaned over and pulled her bag back up onto the seat. He'd reached down and began to pick up its contents which consisted of a random assortment of things such as drawing pencils, lip gloss, a pack of gum, mascara, a wallet, a few pieces of candy, a bottle of perfume, and a piece of paper. He'd picked up the paper last and had paused when his eye caught at the logo at the top of the page.

It was the logo of the bank he used for his wife's bank account, and he'd felt as if he should just put it back into her bag without looking. He hadn't wanted to invade her privacy, but something had drawn his eyes down the paper. It was a bank statement, and although he couldn't remember the account number off the top of his head, what he saw struck him frozen to the spot. The letter had been addressed to Eloise Winter.

So now he sat, with that letter inside the leather bag in front of him, running on very little sleep, his thoughts a dark racing whirlwind. The feeling of his phone buzzing in his pocket broke his reverie and he slipped it out to find Gabriel's name displayed across the front. Without hesitation, he answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Alex. Do you have a minute?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah, what is it?" Alexander asked with disdain.

"Well, you're in a chipper mood this morning." Gabriel said sarcastically.

"Gabriel, just get to the point." Alexander said.

"Wait, tell me first what has you sounding so disgruntled." Gabriel said seriously.

Alexander sighed heavily.