After hours

Chapter Nineteen

Three weeks later and the door was pulled open.

"Come in! Come in!" She said warmly moving to the side to welcome us. I was stricken with how beautiful she was. I had seen pictures in his office and caught a glimpse of her every now and then bringing Daniel dinner late into the evening as I was leaving, but here up close she had so much life to her. She was radiant. She was friendly. She was bubbly! She was his wife.

When I tried to walk past her she grabbed my hands. "You must be Ryan!" I glanced to Daniel and then back to her nervously. "I've heard so much about you, I feel like I already know you!" She laughed and then pulled me into a hug. The most uncomfortable hug of my life. I gave Daniel a desperate look, but when we pulled apart I made sure to have a big smile on my face. She kept a hold of my hands though.

"I've heard a lot about you too!" I admitted.

"Good things I hope!" She laughed and looked to Daniel playfully. "I'm surprised he even remembers he has a wife sometimes with as much as he works!" She glanced down suddenly and her eyes lit up. "Oh, what a gorgeous ring!"

I gave Daniel a suddenly frantic look but he had his back turned and was already moving into the house with everyone else.

"Uh, thank you." I muttered feeling my face turning a number of different shades. Was this the moment she would tell me Daniel had bought her one just like it once upon a time? Would she tell me she had a ring just like that but it had gone missing? Was she going to ask me where I had gotten it?

She released me and ushered me in. Relief poured through every pore on my body. "Oh come in, come in. I'm so excited to have you here!"

I couldn't get over the irony of our outfit choices and the differences in our looks. She wore white, innocent and pure. With her short blond hair and blues eyes just a smidgen too big she looked insanely innocent and dare I say even adorable. She was good, and I, in my little red dress, was the villain. The dark one, evil, mysterious. My dark eyes buried a thousand secrets behind them. The devil. Coming tonight was a mistake.

"I made Daniel's favorite for the occasion. It's a real crowd pleaser, and he always requests it after sealing a deal! I know he didn't sign anything new but I figured this was about as special as any occasion!" I felt several waves of jealousy course through me. Not only did I have no clue what Daniel's 'favorite' was, but I couldn't cook either. I had my favorite pizza place as one of my favorites on my phone, before my own mother even, and all of the delivery boys knew me by name. Instant macaroni and microwave dinners were what I considered 'cooking.'

"I'm sure it's divine." I said following them into the house. I didn't even know who I was anymore. Someone who used words like divine in real life conversations apparently.

"Would you like me to show you around?" Daniel asked.

"No." I said flatly.

Victoria gave me a concerned look.

"It's lovely. I'm just-" I glanced at Daniel and back to her. "I think I may be coming down with something. I'm actually not feeling very well all of the sudden."

"Oh, no, that's too bad." Victoria said sincerely putting her hand on my shoulder. She was so nice, so sweet, so hard to hate. I wanted to rip the damn hand right off. She turned to Daniel quickly. "Danny," Danny? "They all came together, why don't you give Ryan a ride home?"

Daniel shrugged. "Ryan?"

I looked into the house. The living room looked cozy. Everyone else was sitting, drinking and laughing seated on the vibrant orange couches, accented with blue and yellow pillows. The whole house, from what I could see, was done in bright colors, pictures of flowers and oceans lined that walls. It seemed like one of the happiest places on the planet. "I can take a cab." I said feeling legitimately sick now.