Murder was the Case they Gave Me

Chapter 5

"Come on, you have to eat, Emma," Adrianna said. "I know that you're upset and worried, but you need to eat for the baby."

"I can't, I'm so worried I think I'm just going to throw it all up again," I said.

"Stress is not good for the baby," she said. "I know it sounds insensitive, but you just have to stop worrying about Eli because you have to start thinking about the baby."

"He's missing, and he's scared and hurt and I'm scared and I don't know what to do," I said. "I'm worried for him, I just want him to come back home."

"We know that, we all want that," she said. "Come on, maybe a movie will help to calm you down a bit."

I nodded, and she turned on the tv.

"Henry is gonna come over later and he's gonna bring a puzzle or something," Adrianna said. "Something to help keep your mind off things. You have to try not to stress because of the baby."

I tried to watch tv but I just couldn't pay attention. I just kept thinking about Eli the whole time. I reached up, gently feeling my ring. I had put my engagement ring on a chain around my neck because soon it wouldn't fit on my finger.

Eli and I have gone so far since we first met all those years ago. It was funny the first time we met, he was so nervous and cute.

"You're like a little hermit crab," Adrianna said with a roll of her eyes. "Come on, let's go out and have some fun."

"Fine, but only one drink," I agreed. "I have that meeting with the art director in the morning and I really don't wanna be hungover for it."

My best friend grinned and got out of the car. I followed her into the bar, ready to have some fun for my twenty-first birthday. Celebrating my birthday wasn't always my favorite thing to do but twenty-one is a big one. Adrianna insisted on going out, she wanted to celebrate with me. She was bigger on partying.

"No hard liquors," I said as she hurried off to the bar.

She came back with two beer bottles and a bright smile. God, that bright smile was only going to get me into trouble and I knew it. I was still feeling self-conscious in the little black dress Adrianna had picked out for me.

"Maybe we'll meet some cute boys here," she said. "You never know."

"I plan on meeting no one," I stated.

"Come on, don't be such a grudge," Adrianna complained. "Emma, you're twenty-one and you need to celebrate that. You're finally legally allowed to drink."

I sighed, biting my lip.

"You're going to mess up your lipstick, stop that," she said.

It thankfully wasn't busy here, but people were still bustling around and the band was setting up on the stage. A poster on the wall told me they were called Unholy Exorcism. Adrianna flipped her hair, sighing as she looked at me.

"I know you don't like celebrating your birthday," she said. "So, why don't we celebrate that art thing you did? What did you do again?"

"I painted a mural for an elementary school," I said. "It's really not that big of a deal or anything. I don't think it's worth celebrating."

She smiled, seeming to ignore me as she held up her glass and I simply sighed and clinked mine against hers.

"What do you think about that guy? Is he cute?" Adrianna asked.

I looked over my shoulder at some man standing by a table. He was tall and well-built with sandy blond hair that looked almost brown in the dim lights of the bar.