Twice The Trouble Book 2 of 2: Twice The Love

Chapter 62: Second Crack

Lucas

"What?!" I barked into the phone as I furiously paced around my living room. "How is HR working on new recruitment? I can't believe this had to happen when.. alright, make sure the list of new applicants are credible and trustworthy. I'll inspect their resumes this weekend."

"Why not tomorrow, sir?"

"I have other plans," I said before disconnecting the call and throwing my phone onto the sofa.

Tomorrow would be my fifth month-anniversary with Sophia, but how come I didn't feel as excited as I did on the first four anniversaries?

Because my girlfriend has been lying to me.

I decided to kill some time on the internet. I sat behind my work desk and spent a few hours playing online games before actually wrestling down a pile of business assignments I needed to finish.

A million years later, after saving several files and documents to my flash drive, I proceeded to check my emails. Noting that I had two dozen new messages, I clicked on the Inbox.

Most of it was spam, and I elected to delete those messages without reading them. I nearly erased the last message, which lacked a subject heading, but thought better of it and found myself staring at the screen as soon as the message appeared.

My mouth went dry, and I couldn't turn away. Nor, suddenly, could I breathe. It was a simple message, and the blinking cursor seemed to taunt me:

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOUR GIRLFRIEND ISN'T CHEATING ON YOU?

I knocked back my swivel chair as I rose from the desk, still focused on the message. Of course she's not cheating on me! I wanted to scream. I know because I know!

Yes, the message seemed to ask, you say you know. But how do you know?

My mind raced for the answers. Because I love Sophia and she loves me. Because she made me feel like the most important person in her world every time we were together. Because she was undeniably the most faithful human being I ever met and she had no reason to lie.

Right?

Had I been anyone else, had my history been different, had I known Sophia for years, the answer would have been obvious; but.

That was the thing about life. There was always a but.

I shook the thought away, focusing on the message, trying to gain control of my emotions. There was no need to get worked up over this, I told myself firmly,even if the message not only was offensive, but bordered on.. evil. That was how I viewed it. Evil. What kind of person would write such a thing? And for what reason? Because he or she thought it was funny? Because he or she wanted to start an argument between me and Sophia? Because...

I went blank for an instant, fumbling, my mind racing, knowing the answer but not wanting to admit it.

Because..

Because, the little voice in my head finally answered, whoever sent it knew that deep down, there was an instant when you wondered, too?

No, I suddenly thought,that was a lie. I knew Sophia would never cheat on me.

Except, of course, this wasn't the first time a woman made a fool out of you, the little voice reminded me.

In a flash, it all came rushing back--being abandoned by my mother when I was eight, getting dragged into a superficial relationship with a supermodel who only used me for publicity and leaving me in the end for her career, obtaining my first real friend in grade school, who, along with a big group of new friends in high school, turned her back on me and left me all alone like the previous women in my life did without batting an eye.

That day I lost everything--my mother, my friends--had been one of the most devastating of my life. Until that point, I always assumed I'd meet someone new--a friend or another chance at love, perhaps--and after I graduated high school, I felt a cage closing up around my heart. I didn't play the field like my brother, Bryce started doing when he turned thirteen.

I thought my case was a hopeless one--until I met Sophia. The first time I saw her, she was alone and she looked depressed. But the closer I got to knowing the kind, intelligent brunette,the more I saw myself in her: She was afraid but determined, fragile but patient. Like me, she was in a state where she couldn't bring herself to completely trust the people around her. But that emotional wariness didn't dissuade her from staying true to her heart and herself.

The message continued to taunt me. Who sent the message? And, I wondered again, why?

Months of training at D.L.R. Enterprises taught me quite a bit about the internet, and though the sender used an address I didn't recognize, I knew that all emails could eventually be traced. With a bit of persistence and the right phone calls to a few contacts  I'd made over the weeks, I could trace the email back to the server and, from there, to the computer from which it had originated.

I noticed the message had arrived less than twenty minutes earlier, right around the time I was leaving D.L.R. Enterprises.

But for the nth time, the question was Why? Why would someone send it?

If it hadn't been meant as a prank, the only conceivable reason to send the email was to cause trouble between me and Sophia. But again, who would do that?

Sophia's other guy? a small voice whispered, suddenly making me remember Liam and Sophia holding hands.

I shook my head. Liam and Sophia? I'd gone over that a thousand times, and it simply wasn't possible. It was ridiculous to even consider it.

Except that it does explain the email, the voice whispered again.

No, I thought, this time more adamantly. Sophia wasn't like that. Sophia wasn't dating someone else. Sophia wasn't even seeing someone else. And Liam wasn't the kind of man to write an email. He would have confronted me in person.

I pressed the button to delete the email. When the screen flashed the confirmation, however, my finger seemed to freeze. Did I really want to delete it now, without finding out who sent it?

No, I decided, I wanted to know. It would take some time, but I'd find out and speak to whoever sent it, make the culprit see how tasteless it was. And if it was Liam.. Well, not only would I confront him, but there was no doubt that Sophia would give him a piece of her mind as well.

I nodded. Oh, I'd find out who did it, all right. I saved the message, with the intent to begin the search immediately. And once I learned something, Sophia would be the first to know.