Coming Home (28 page)

I had completely forgotten the sex talk she wanted to have. I
wished I had remembered before then so I could have discussed it with someone
else. It was lame, but I needed advice on how to give sex advice to a fifteen-year-old.

“Are you going to back out on me now?”

I turned to Ashley. “I believe I told you that I would think
about it, but never agreed to actually discuss anything.”

“Come on, Rebecca. Don’t go all adult on me now. I need you.”
Ashley’s whining actually helped to put everything in perspective for me.

I put my arm around her and pulled her close. “You’re not ready
to have sex, so there’s nothing to discuss.” I turned her to the photos. “Now,
tell me about these pictures I haven’t heard about yet.”

Ashley grumbled a little at first, but soon got into discussing
the photos. She even went and pulled out a few albums to look through more. I
loved all the old pictures when Ashley was a toddler. She was adorable and I
could have looked at them all day. I just might have since there wasn’t
anything else to do.

“Here, this one is my favorite.” Ashley handed me a picture of
her, Matt and Vicki. She was sitting between them, and they each were looking
at her as if she was the most important thing in the world. I could see why it
was her favorite.

“How old were you?”

“Two, I think.”

I looked at it for a moment and then got up to go back to the
wall. I looked at the picture where Vicki looked the happiest and back to the
one in my hand. Vicki said Ashley was two in the picture on the wall, and
Ashley said she was two in the picture I was holding. They looked similar, but
it wasn’t the same child.

“What’s wrong?” Ashley kept looking at me and back to the wall.

I pointed to the photo Vicki and I discussed and looked at
Ashley. “Vicki said you were two in that picture, but you look different in
this picture.”

“Oh, well I might have gotten my age wrong.” Ashley tried to take
the picture back.

“What’s going on?” Vicki walked in the room. She saw the picture
I had in my hand and knew what I just figured out. “Ashley, why don’t you go up
and call Heather for a bit?”

“Mom . . .”

“Go, baby. It’s okay.” Vicki kissed her and sent her upstairs.
Then she turned to me. “Have a seat.”

I crossed my arms. “I’d rather stand.”

“Have it your way.” Vicki sat and fidgeted a little before
talking. “First, I never lied to you. You asked how old she was in the photo
and I answered, but didn’t say it was Ashley.”

I sat down in the chair next to Vicki. I could tell this was hard
for her and needed to soften my attitude. “Who is it?”

“She was our first daughter, Avery.”

I thought back to when we sat in my childhood bedroom and I told
her my doll’s name was Avery. Vicki’s demeanor changed drastically after that.
I never would have told her my doll’s name had I known it was the name of a
child she obviously lost. It explained why Vicki was so emotional and why the
loss of her parents hit her really hard. She’d already had to suffer much more
loss than anyone should have to.

I covered her hand with mine. “I’m sorry, Vicki. I never would
have expected you to correct my assumption that night.”

“It took six years after we lost her for Matt to convince me to
have another child.” Vicki wiped her eyes. “I love Avery so much, but I know
now I have to let her go. Actually, that party the other night was to celebrate
her birthday.”

“Oh.” It finally sank in why Matt thought it would be a tough day
for Vicki and why he was in such a foul mood. “Oh, that’s why Matt was . . .”

“An asshole.” Vicki finished my sentence and smiled. “Yes, he
wasn’t sure celebrating with everyone was a good idea. I thought it actually
went pretty well.”

“It was a great party, Vicki. I think it’s great for you to
celebrate her.” I looked back up to the picture. “I think it’s great you have
her on the wall, too.”

Vicki looked up to the picture. “Yeah, it was hard at first to
pass it every day. There were also days I would just stand and cry looking at
it, but I smile when I see it now.” Vicki shifted a little. “I just wish I had
seen the effect it had on Ashley before.”

“What do you mean? I think Ashley’s great.”

“Thank you, but you heard her. She said she wished she was
enough. I don’t ever want her to think she was a replacement for Avery. Matt
and I wanted a lot of children. I just couldn’t take the risk of losing them,
too.”

“I’m sure she understands. I mean you guys had a long talk that
night after I left, right?”

“Yes, but you know how well teenagers listen.” Vicki looked at me
and chuckled. “Maybe you don’t. Trust me, they don’t listen.”

I thought Ashley was going to kill me for what I was about to do,
but I thought Vicki would rather be the one to discuss sex with her daughter
than have her employee do it. Plus, it got me out of it. “Um, I may know
something she would really listen to you about.”

Vicki perked up. “What’s that?”

~*~

I couldn’t believe how excited I was to go back to
work. It was just nice to have everything back to normal. Okay, maybe things weren’t
quite back to normal yet since I had to have an escort to go anywhere, but
going back to work was at least a step in the right direction. The bigger
direction I wanted to go into now though was for coffee.

Vicki moved me up to her office with her since we worked closely
together anyway. It was easier to work in the same office, and her office was
way nicer than mine, but her office was also so very far from the coffee. I don’t
think Mandy liked having me this close all the time, either.

“How’s your arm?” Vicki must have taken my daydreaming of
caffeine as a sign that my arm hurt.

“It’s getting better. I was just wishing your office was closer
to the cafeteria for some coffee.”

Matt popped in at that moment. “I could use something, too. I’ll
go down with you.”

Vicki rolled her eyes. “You could always use something.”

“Come on, Rebecca.” With a pretend whisper, Matt turned to me.
“She’s cranky because she’s hungry, but won’t admit it.” Matt turned to Vicki.
“Can I get you anything?”

“A husband without an attitude, but I don’t think they make men
in that model.” Vicki tried to suppress a smirk.

“Oh, maybe for your birthday.” Matt ushered me out the door.

It was fun to see them fight for the last word. They do that a
lot. There wasn’t a lot of playfulness at the beginning with Vicki still
grieving the loss of her parents. It was something they also tried to limit at
work. Since living with them I’d seen a lot more of their personalities and
love for each other. I only hoped Ryan and I could love each other as much as
it was clear these two did.

As Matt and I made our way down to the coffee that I was starting
to get impatient over, he was stopped every few feet by people wanting approval
for this or advice on that. I wished I had gone with Vicki. Everyone says hi to
her, but she only dealt with the ad department, so she wasn’t stopped as often.

We finally got to the line for the coffee and Matt was pulled
away again. “I’m standing in line with or without you, Matt. This babysitting
is a little ridiculous anyway.”

“Please don’t fight me on this, Rebecca.”

“I can take over if you need to be somewhere, Matt.” Charlie came
to my rescue.

“That would be great, Charlie. Thanks.” Matt turned to me. “Get
me something that would drive Vicki crazy.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “Never
mind. I’ll get it myself before I head back up. I forgot you’re on her side.”

I turned to Charlie when Matt went to solve another crisis.
“Thanks, Charlie. You are a lifesaver.”

He pointed to his security badge. “That’s my job.” He leaned in a
little. “I have more footage to show you when you have some extra time.”

When I was having difficulty with my card working, I had spent a
lot of time in the security office getting new cards. Charlie and I became fast
friends over watching our very own co-workers in the world’s best blooper reel.
People often tripped over nonexistent bumps in the halls, spilled or dropped
whatever they were carrying, or my personal favorite, walked into doors while
looking at their phones.

“Oh, I bet you’ve got some good ones.” I looked at my watch.
“I’ve got time if the line moves quickly enough. Do you have time now?”

Charlie smiled. “Oh, for this, I’ll make time.”

That sounded promising. We finally made it through the line and
hurried to his office with coffee in hand. He pulled up a second chair to the
monitors for me, and I sat to watch him cue the video. He stopped and turned to
me.

The concern in his eyes startled me. “You know I’m your friend,
right?”

“Of course.” I tried to think of something I may have done to
make him doubt that. “Is something wrong?”

“I’ve been struggling with whether I should show you this or not
since she’s your friend, but I think you have the right to know.”

I turned to the monitor as he started the video. Stacy lifted her
skirt and removed her underwear before lying down on the conference room table.
My mouth fell open. I looked at the date in the corner, and it was while I was
recovering at my parents. She never told me she had sex in the office. I
started smiling and looked away from Stacy’s private moment until the guy moved
into view.

It looked like Ryan. It couldn’t be Ryan, but it sure looked like
him in every way possible. It was his suit, his watch, his . . . everything. My
heart refused to believe it because I couldn’t see his face. My head was
thinking of different ways to kill him and Stacy because the rest of it sure
looked like him. My heart gave in and broke.

I knew Ryan was starting to come around where Stacy was
concerned. I thought it was for my benefit as well as Ben’s. How could she do
this to Ben? How could they both do this to me? I needed to find out.

I stood up to leave and Charlie grabbed my hand. “Wait. Let me
take this off before I walk you back.”

“No.” I walked out and ran to Ryan’s office. Halfway there I ran
into Vicki.

“What’s wrong, Rebecca?” I tried to keep running and she grabbed
me. “What is it? You are so pale. What happened?”

“Ryan. Stacy.”

I started crying and Vicki ushered me up to her office holding me
the entire way. I think she thought I was going to either bolt to Ryan’s or
collapse without her support. I have to admit that I didn’t know which way it
would have gone, but one of those two things would have happened the second she
let go.

The look on Mandy’s face when Vicki walked me by told me I wasn’t
hiding my despair as much as I had hoped to. I was sure Ryan would hear any
minute that I was distraught and come running. I was glad to have him come to
me since Vicki wouldn’t let me go, but I didn’t know the first thing about what
to say to him.

“Rebecca, are you implying that Ryan and Stacy are sleeping
together?” All I could do was nod. “I really don’t believe that. Why do you?”

“I saw them.”

“You saw them having sex?”

“The video.”

“Rebecca, you’re not making any sense. You saw them having sex on
a video?” I nodded again. “Okay, when was this video taken?”

“After the fire when I was at mom’s.”

Vicki sat there silently for a few minutes thinking. “I still
don’t believe it.”

Stacy opened the door. “What’s wrong? It’s all over down there
that something happened.” She looked at me. “Did someone hurt you?”

I surprised myself with my calm voice. “Why did you do it,
Stacy?”

She looked at me puzzled. “Do what?”

“You could have had any man and probably have, but why did you
have to sleep with him, too?” I was no longer calm as I stood to face Stacy.
Vicki quickly stood between us.

“That’s low, Rebecca. You know I’m not sleeping around anymore.”
She looked at Vicki and back to me. “Could we have this conversation when we’re
alone?”

“Oh, I don’t think you want to do that.” Vicki started shaking
her head. “I won’t hold anything said here against either of you, but I’m not
leaving.”

Stacy closed her eyes and sighed. “Fine. What is this all about?
Someone needs to tell me what’s going on.”

Ryan and Matt walked in at that moment and Ryan looked me over.
“Are you hurt?”

I just stood there looking at the two people that had possibly
hurt me more than the lunatic that tried to kill me or the parents that never
wanted me. And they kept looking at me. Matt just looked at everyone and was
growing impatient. I could tell Vicki wanted to say something, but I was thankful
she allowed me to handle it.

“You two have gotten quite friendly since I’ve been gone.” As
soon as I addressed Ryan and Stacy, Matt slowly walked to Vicki.

Ryan looked puzzled. “Rebecca, we were getting friendly before
you left.”

“Ryan.” Vicki shook her head.

“I don’t know how else to say it, so I’ll just say it.” I paused,
hoping one of them would realize I found out and relieve me of the painful
sentence I was forced to say. “I saw the video of the conference room last
week.”

“Conference room?” Ryan and Matt both asked at the same time.

The blood drained from Stacy’s face, and she looked around to
everyone and settled back on me. “Rebecca, could we talk about this in
private.”

“So you don’t deny it.” I started shaking my head. “I thought I’d
have received a little resistance from you. You’re supposed to be my friend.”

“I am your friend, and I’m hurt you think I would do that to you,
but it wasn’t Ryan.” She stepped forward and whispered. “Please, let’s talk
about this in private. You’re going to get me fired.”

At first, Vicki was too engrossed in making sure I was okay to
get the connection to what I told her before they showed up and the conference
room comment I just made. It was obvious when she finally made the connection.
“The conference room? You two had sex in the conference room? At least tell me
it wasn’t during working hours.”