I Get A Kick Out of You

Chapter 13

This is weird, she thought as she sat and stared at her phone. She was in the process of finishing up her novel when the phone kept ringing. The line would go dead before she could even get a word out. She figured it was some prank calls, but those usually stop after the second or third time.

The phone has rang over six times.

Deciding it was some persistent prank callers, she let it go and continued with her novel. It only took her an hour or so to finish it and send it off to her editor. She was now finally free until she got the go ahead to publish another!

She has a tradition whenever she finishes up a book. She has a bottle of very expensive champagne stashed away in a mini fridge in her office. She keeps one chilled glass and a bag of dark chocolate bars in the tiny freezer it has. She takes them out, puts a couple of the chocolate bars in a glass bowl, and then pours herself a glass of the champagne.

This was something she always does alone. She used to wait until Joel got home and they would celebrate together, but that died off when he started coming home later and later from work. So, she continues celebrating her accomplishments by herself. On the rare occasion that Ethan is home when she finishes, he'll celebrate with her, but with sparkling cider instead.

After pouring herself the glass of bubbly, she took a bite of the frozen chocolate and smiled. Just as she was about to put the glass to her lips...the phone started ringing again. She glared at it for a moment, wondering if she should even try answering it.

Letting her head rule her, she decided to pick it up. She didn't even try to say anything because she rendered it useless. The line would probably just go dead anyways. However, this time, it didn't. It was still silent, though.

Just as she was about to say something, a feminine voice asked, "Joel? Joel, I'm sorry I'm calling you at home, but you're not answering your cell. Look, I called and hung up a few times because I was so afraid of talking to you, but...but there's something I have to tell you. I know you said your wife typically goes to pick up your son about now, which is why I'm calling. Look, I'll be at our usual spot in an hour. Please meet me there, please. I already texted you the details in case you need them. Are you there? Hello?"

Cassie quickly hung up the phone and felt tears stinging her eyes. Who was that and why in the hell does she know that she picks up Ethan around this time? She was about to pick up her phone to call Joel, but...for some reason she didn't. Instead, she slowly made her way into his office.

She booted up his computer and went to his messenger app. His phone is linked up to his computer, so he can get his text messages on here. She's never done this—has never even thought of doing this—but something in her was telling her to!

She opened up the application and took a deep breath. The first thing that popped up was an address and a time. There weren't any previous messages from this woman—who's name saved was Cindy—and that, somehow, made Cassie feel a little better. Still, she was curious and something was eating at her to go to this address at that time.

Part of her was saying it was nothing, but the other part was saying it was all of her suspicions coming true. She's always suspected that Joel was cheating, there was just never any proof or any real reason he's given her (besides staying late after work).

She tried so hard to fight herself from going, but before she knew it, she texted Ben and asked if he could pick up Ethan. He quickly responded with an 'Of course!' and a question of when he should drop Ethan off at the house. She couldn't answer that yet.

So, she took off with the address in her navigation system and her hands tight on the steering wheel. She knew she was about to make herself feel like an idiot. This was going to end up being nothing. So what was driving her to do this?