Cruel Trust

Thirty-Five

The next week went by and was uneventful. Andrew wasn't exaggerating; he took me to work every single day, and at 3:30 every afternoon, he was waiting for me in the parking lot. I asked him how he was getting out of the office early every day, and he told me not to worry about it. I suspected he was skipping lunch every day so he could get out in time to pick me up.

It wasn't until the first week in May that things started happening again. In two days, I got three texts, all from different blocked numbers. But they said nothing threatening or overly suspicious. One said, "Hello," another said, "How are you?" and the last one I received said, "I miss you."

It was the last one that bothered me, and when I turned them over to Detective Sherman, he said he'd look into it, but there probably wouldn't be much he could do since the numbers were blocked.

I focused all my attention on getting ready for our trip and our wedding. I had so much vacation time saved up from all my years at DCS, and I was able to take three weeks off. So I only had a few more days of work to get through, and then Andrew could stop scheduling his entire day around me. I had gotten him to back off just a little bit and at least let me go wedding dress shopping alone.

So much had been going on, I hadn't even had time to find my perfect dress. I had been to look a couple times and saw a few dresses I liked, but I hadn't yet said "yes" to any of them. One reason I had been putting it off is that I didn't know who was going to come with me. My Aunt Rose couldn't get away from work since she's already taking off for the trip down to PCB, I didn't feel like I could ask Roberta since we weren't super close, and then there was Julia...I knew if I asked, she'd come with me, but I just didn't know if I wanted to go there with her yet. I hadn't even decided for sure if I wanted her to come to the wedding. I knew I needed to give her an answer soon, but I just wasn't ready. Andrew told me that the decision was mine to make and he would support me either way, which I appreciated, but it didn't make this any easier.

I wanted someone to tell me what to do. Because I don't forgive her... not yet. And I don't trust her. Do I want someone I am still so hurt by at the single most important event in my life to date? It just didn't feel right. But going alone to get my wedding dress? That felt even worse.

I sighed and picked up my phone.

When I pulled up in front of a bridal boutique on Friday afternoon, Julia's Civic sat in front of the store and she was standing on the sidewalk.

Did I make the right decision? Should I have just come alone?

But I didn't have time to think because I had to get out of the car, or she'd be wondering why I was just sitting there. I opened my door and hopped down, slinging my bag over my shoulder.

"Hey, Julia," I greeted her, giving her an awkward one-armed hug.

"Hey, Charlotte," she responded, leaning into me.