by Amy Vansant
“She got ‘mugged’,” Emily said, making air quotes. “But strangely, her wallet was stolen and not her brand new expensive purse.”
So, the plan to keep silent is going well...
“What kind of purse?” asked Nicole.
“Marc Jacobs, I think.”
“Really?” Nicole slapped Garrett in the stomach with the back of her hand.
“What the hell?” said Garrett.
“You never buy me expensive handbags,” she said.
Garrett held his stomach and glared at Nicole. “Ow.”
“So, he took the wallet but not the expensive handbag...that is pretty suspicious,” said Nicole, ignoring Garrett. “And that totally sounds like Greta. Sebastian doesn’t know she’s faking?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Emily looked over and saw Sebastian making his way back towards them. “And maybe she’s not making it up. I don’t know. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Emily felt a knot tighten in her stomach. She shouldn’t have said anything about Greta to Sebastian’s family. She knew if he found out, he wouldn’t appreciate the violation of his privacy. In addition, she wasn’t supposed to know about the robbery. She only knew thanks to her snooping.
Oh, what a tangled web...
Emily watched Sebastian approach with impending doom. Behind him, the front door opened.
Greta hobbled in.
The blood drained from Emily’s face. Her skin felt cold and prickly.
“Hole. Lee. Shit,” said Garrett.
“What is she doing here?” asked Nicole.
Nicole looked like she was about to run across the room and attack Greta. Emily made a mental note never to piss-off Nicole.
Sebastian’s brows knitted with confusion as he surveyed the expressions of the people awaiting his return.
“What?” he asked.
He follow their gazes, turning to look behind him.
“What the—”
Sebastian handed Emily both drinks and strode toward Greta.
Greta closed the door behind her, struggling with her crutches. Sebastian’s mother intercepted her. Greta smiled, handing Sebastian’s mother the gift she’d brought for his niece. She motioned to her knee brace. Greta sat her expensive purse on the entry table and steadied herself on her crutches as she talked, wincing with pain.
Emily felt like an interloper. She felt like a fly on the wall, watching the party as it might have been, had she not come into Sebastian’s life.
“She is really pushin’ it,” said Garrett. He clapped Emily on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. Mom can’t stand her. She won’t let her stay.”
Garrett’s words meant nothing. Sebastian needed to tell Greta to leave. It concerned Emily that Garrett had put the onus on his mother. Didn’t he think Sebastian would tell Greta to leave?
Greta spotted Sebastian’s approach. She smiled. Her gaze drifted past him and settled upon Emily. Her mood visibly darkened.
There was no question as to whether Greta knew about Emily’s presence in Sebastian’s life anymore.
Sebastian leaned to whisper something in Greta’s ear. She recoiled as if shocked. Sebastian shook his head and gently guided Greta into a one-eighty-degree turn. He opened the front door and ushered the hobbling girl outside.
“She forgot her purse,” said Nicole, nodding towards the table where Greta’s handbag sat perched.
Garrett’s eyes lit, a huge grin growing across his mug.
“Hey, Croix,” Garrett barked into the yard.
A little girl with dark, curly locks bounded to the edge of the porch and stared up at Garrett through the banister slats.
“Do you remember Miss Greta?” asked Garrett.
The girl nodded. She looked at Emily.
“Hi,” she said.
Nope. Close but no cigar.
“Come up here,” said Garrett.
Croix ran around the porch and up the stairs to her father. He picked her up and held her against his side with one hand.
“You see that purse over there on the table just inside the door?” he said, pointing toward the foyer. “The green one?”
“Orange. It’s orange. He’s color-blind,” Nicole explained to Emily. “So is Sebby.”
“The orange one?” Garrett echoed to his daughter.
Croix nodded.
“Okay, listen to me,” said Garrett, crouching down. “I want you to go get that bag and take it out front, but come back this way and go around the house to go out front. Got it? You’re going out front, but not out the front door. Understand? When you get out front, show Miss Greta that you have her bag. But, no matter what you do, don’t give it back to her. Okay? And don’t let her catch you. If she comes after you, run away, okay? It’s a game. Keep away.”
Croix grinned and shook her head, eager to get started.
Garrett stood.
“Go get it!” he said.
Croix ran to get the bag.
“Fetches better than a dog,” he said, taking a sip of his beer.
“Garrett!” said Nicole, slapping his arm.
“You girls go upstairs to the bedroom,” said Garrett. “I’ll tell Sebastian I need him and get him inside, so Greta thinks no one is watching her. Then we’ll see how hard she tries to get the bag when Croix shows up with it.”
“Oh my god, that’s brilliant,” said Nicole.
“You’re kind of an evil genius,” said Emily.
Garrett beamed. “You have no idea,” he said, winking.
Croix ran back out to the porch, the bag clutched in her tiny hands. She stopped to pick up a naked Barbie doll, and put it in the bag. She ran past Emily and downstairs to the yard.
Nicole shrieked with giggles. “Follow me!” she said, grabbing Emily’s arm.
Nicole dragged Emily through the kitchen toward the stairs, the two vodka drinks in Emily’s hands sloshing with every step. Emily put one drink down on the kitchen counter as they passed and the second on a glass table in the foyer. The two bounded up the stairs to the second floor. Below them, Emily could hear Garrett open the front door and called for Sebastian.
When Emily and Nicole pressed their faces against the bedroom window, they saw Garrett, Sebastian and Greta on the front porch below. Sebastian waved Garrett away, but Garrett grabbed his arm and tugged on him, insistent. Finally, Sebastian threw up his hands, said something stern to Greta, and followed Garrett inside.
A moment later, Croix ran into view holding the large orange bag. It was bigger than her head, but she held it aloft like a prized trophy. She stood at the bottom of the front porch and taunted Greta, shaking her tiny tush as she danced.
Greta motioned to her to bring the bag.
Nicole opened the window to hear Greta. The windowpane groaned and cracked, and Greta glanced up toward the sound. Emily and Greta dove away from the window, Nicole splashing beer on her chest as she fell onto her bed. She laughed hysterically, unable to catch her breath.
Nicole covered her mouth with her hand to quiet herself, her eyes squinty with laughter. Emily crept toward the window and peered down.
Croix shook her booty in Greta’s direction, the bag held high. Greta called to the girl, pointing at Croix and then to herself, demanding the return of the bag.
Tiring, Croix walked back and forth across the yard, dragging the bag through the grass.
Emily heard Greta’s horrified screech. Nicole jumped off the bed and ran to the window.
A single phrase ran repeatedly through Emily’s head.
This is insane.
Croix turned the bag over and shook the contents onto the grass. The Barbie fell out, followed by a set of keys and a wallet.
Greta glanced toward the front door. In a huff, she set her crutches against the railing and lunged down the stairs toward Croix, who squealed with excitement and ran. Greta sprinted twenty feet before she grabbed Croix by the arm and yanked the handbag away from her. She held it high in the air as Croix jumped to retrieve it. Greta scolded
the girl, shaking her finger in her face. Finally, Croix gave up and ran toward the backyard. Greta dropped to her knees and gathered the items that had fallen from the purse. She looked around and sprinted back to her crutches, bounding the porch steps two at a time.
“No way!” yelped Nicole. “Her knee is totally fine!”
“I knew it!” said Emily.
“She ran after Croix like Jackie Join-her whatsherface. Ooh, let’s go tell Sebastian!”
“Oh no, wait!” said Emily grabbing for Nicole’s arm, but Nicole easily dodged her and headed for the stairs.
Emily ran after Nicole, unsure whether telling Sebastian would cast her in the loveliest light. She hadn’t been at Garrett and Nicole’s house for more than an hour before becoming an accomplice in a sting operation.
Nicole stopped dead at the bottom of the stairs, and Emily plowed into the back of her. Nicole grabbed the handrail to support Emily’s weight and keep from falling. Garrett, still standing at the bottom of the stairs beside Sebastian, looked at them. Sebastian opened the front door and stepped outside to rejoin Greta. A flash of confusion had crossed his face when he noticed Nicole and Emily crash at the bottom of the stairs, but he didn’t stop to ask questions.
“Did it work?” Garrett asked.
“Oh, she is totally faking,” said Nicole. “She ran after Croix.”
Emily took a step back to keep from leaning her full weight on Nicole’s back.
“I don’t know if it is such a great idea to tell him about all this,” she said.
“We’ll keep you out of it,” said Nicole.
Emily opened her mouth to protest, but Nicole took the last few steps to join Garrett. The two of them stepped out front. Emily moved to the landing and lingered just inside the door, which remained cracked open. She peered through and saw Greta at the bottom of the stairs, wobbling as if it was painful to touch her toe to the ground.
“How’s your knee there, Greta?” asked Nicole.
“Hey, Nicole, how are you?” said Greta, her voice laced with sugar. “I got mugged! Did Sebastian tell you?”
“Like how you just mugged my daughter?”
Sebastian looked at Nicole.
“What are you talking about?”
Greta’s face grew ashen. She stared at Nicole, set her jaw and began hobbling down the steps.
“I can’t stay,” she said. “I wanted to drop off Croix’s gift. I bought it before I was dumped, but there’s no reason why Croix should suffer.”
“She ran after Croix,” said Nicole.
“Who?” said Sebastian. “What are you talking about?”
“Greta!” said Nicole. “Garrett told Croix to play keep away with Miss Greta’s bag and she was awesome.”
“Was she?” asked Garrett. “She’s pretty fast...”
“Oh Garrett, she was amazing,” said Nicole. “She danced at the bottom of the stairs, teasing, then she dragged it across the lawn...”
“She dragged her bag?” asked Sebastian. “You can’t let Croix drag that around, it was really expensive!”
“Sebastian!” screamed Nicole. “You’re missing the point! Greta ran after Croix to get the bag. We set her up to prove her leg wasn’t really hurt and she fell for it.”
“It was my idea,” said Garrett, slapping his chest.
“Why would you think she was faking?” asked Sebastian.
Emily froze, praying Sebastian wouldn’t turn his head slightly to the left and spot her lurking just inside.
“If she was mugged wouldn’t they have taken her fancy purse and not just the wallet inside?” said Nicole. “Don’t you think that’s a little suspicious?”
“Yeah,” said Garrett.
“Greta, is that true?” Sebastian asked.
Half way down the walkway, Greta paused. She turned back to look at the three on the porch.
“It is,” she said, a sob in her voice. “I did run after Croix. I had to, but now my knee is ten times worse and I need to go home and get my pain meds!”
Greta crutched her way to her car.
Emily watched her go. She watched Greta get into her car.
Her black car.
Emily stepped into the doorway and opened the door wider, staring at the car. The car that peeled away from the creepy house had been dark and the silver emblem was the same. The logo hadn’t registered the night at Teddy’s house, but now that she saw it again, Emily was certain it matched.
It looked like she wasn’t the only stalker in town.
Sebastian turned towards the house and met eyes with Emily. She stared back at him, unsure of what to say.
“Let’s go back in,” said Garrett.
Garrett led the way and Nicole and Sebastian followed.
“Shit!” said Nicole looking at Emily. “We didn’t think to video it.”
Emily tried to smile and failed. The excitement of catching Greta had faded into anxiety. She could feel Sebastian’s tension and his gaze upon her. Nicole and Garrett left to prepare the birthday cake for serving and left Sebastian and Emily alone in the front living room. Emily watched them go, feeling helpless. She wanted to run and hide behind them.
“Did you see it?” asked Sebastian.
“What?”
“Did you see Greta run after Croix?”
Emily nodded. “Yes. Nicole and I were watching from upstairs.”
The muscles in Sebastian’s jaw clenched.
“You guys have to let me do this my way.”
Emily felt ashamed, but another emotion fought its way past her embarrassment and claimed ringside seats to her confrontation with Sebastian.
Anger.
“Are you going to spend forever letting her manipulate you?”
Sebastian gaped. “What?”
“I know you feel sorry for her, but she’s taking advantage of you.”
Sebastian pursed his lips, staring at her for what felt like an hour. He took slow, controlled breaths, his teeth gritted.
“I’m not getting into this here,” he said.
Voices in the kitchen sang ‘Happy Birthday.’ Sebastian walked towards the voices. Emily followed. She lipped the words, her voice tight in her throat as she fought back tears of frustration.
Sebastian planned to spend the night at his brother’s house. He excused himself to go to the bathroom and Emily gathered her things to leave.
“Where you going?” asked Nicole.
“I’m going home.”
“I’m going to go, too,” said Mariska, appearing beside them. “Emily it was so nice to meet you.”
“Oh, it was nice to meet you, Mrs. Krzyzanowski,” she said.
Too bad, we’ll never meet again.
Mariska gave Emily a bear hug and she hugged her back. She’d never met such a cuddly woman. She wanted to melt into her, sobbing.
Sebastian returned.
“See ya, Ma,” he said, hugging his mother.
Emily stood next to his mother, keys in her hand.
“See you, Em,” he said. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. He glanced at his mother and stepped back.
“I’ll walk out with you, Mrs. Krzyzanowski,” said Emily.
“Oh, call me Mariska,” said Sebastian’s mother, grabbing her bag from the front table.
“I’ll give you a call tomorrow,” said Sebastian as Emily opened the front door.
Emily nodded and shut the door.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The last of the party guests left and Sebastian sat on his brother’s back patio, nursing a vodka and soda. Garrett filled a fire pit with enough wood to create a supernova.
“It’s a fire pit, not the world’s deadliest game of Jenga,” muttered Sebastian.
Garret stuck his tongue out and attempted to balance one last stick against the kindling teepee he had created.
“Dude,” he said, stepping away and surveying his work. “You have to admit. That is impressive.”
Sebastian sighed.
Garrett jogged to th
e back deck and snatched a plastic yellow bottle from beside the grill. Returning, he squeezed the bottle, dousing the fire pit with a relentless stream of lighter fluid.
“How have you lived this long?” asked Sebastian, standing and taking a few steps back as Garrett pulled out his lighter. “At least throw a match at it from a safe distance; don’t use a lighter.”
Wincing, Garrett flicked the lighter and stretched his arm as far as he could reach toward the kindling. With a terrifying whoosh! the teepee transformed into a towering inferno. Garrett jumped back, holding his hand in front of him like the Heisman trophy, studying his forearm.
“I singed all the hair off my arm!” he said.
“Shocker,” said Sebastian, returning to his seat. “I’m going to have to sit in the neighbor’s yard to keep from roasting,” he said, backing his chair six feet from the blaze.
Garrett grabbed a bottle of beer from a cooler and sat beside Sebastian.
“What was up with the purse thing?” asked Sebastian. “That wasn’t cool.”
“Pfft, she deserved it. She’s a liar, and we proved it.”
Garrett pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered one to Sebastian, who declined.
“I’m trying to quit,” said Sebastian.
“No shit,” said Garrett, putting the cigarette between his lips. “Good for you.”
Sebastian threw an ice cube in the fire where it sizzled and disappeared. He stared, saying nothing for several minutes.
“I just don’t understand what you were trying to accomplish,” he said, unable to drop the topic. “Greta shouldn’t have come, but I was handling that.”
“She faked an injury to rope-a-dope you back into her bed. Her knee isn’t even hurt. That was all a ploy to get you away from Emily.”
“What would even make you think that?”
“Uh...” Garrett took a long gulp from his beer.
Sebastian waited for him to answer. Garrett pulled the beer from his lips and picked up a stick lying beside his chair. He poked the fire.
“Gar!” said Sebastian.
“Hmm?”
“I asked you a question!”
“Oh,” said Garrett, poking the fire with greater fervor. “Sorry. What did you say?”
“I said, what made you even think that Greta was lying?”
