They all nodded their heads as the cell in his pocket went off and a harsh look went across his face as he noticed the caller id.
“I’m going back to work,” he said putting his cell back in his pocket. “I will check on Calida regularly, but,” he inserted seeing Wilma’s began to protest, “I will wait until the funeral before I approach her.”
Jake had to ask, “What are you going to do about Sophie?”
An evil look crossed Edric’s face as he told them, “I think for the moment I will continue playing along with Sophie and her game. Right now, she has plans to go to Hawaii and thinks she’s going to talk me into going with her. I’m also betting that when she is released today she is going to persuade me to allow her to stay at my house.”
“So she can intercept any information you may hear about Calida if it is possible,” Wilma guessed shrewdly getting a nod from Edric.
“Ms. Welsh will be discreet, but Sophie knows that she isn’t liked by Ms. Welsh so she’ll be watchful of what she does,” Edric told them as the cell in his pocket went off again.
He ignored it as he continued chatting with them before he excused himself and after a another long look at the door to Calida’s room, he left the floor using the stairs as anger and rage rushed through him along with sadness and anguish at what he and Calida had lost.
Once in his car and heading back to the office, he called Mariah, “If Sophie calls, tell her…”
Mariah immediately interrupted him as she confirmed, “She has twice, but I informed her that you had an unscheduled meeting that suddenly popped up with board members and you’ve been detained.”
“You’re the best, Mariah,” he praised on a laugh.
“Tomas tells me the same thing, but I don’t think you two mean it in the same way,” Mariah said laughingly. “Besides, something tells me that when you say that to another person it has the same meaning that I like hearing from Tomas, but from my boss, it’s a highly appreciated compliment.”
Edric chuckled as he informed her that he would be back in the office in about ten minutes before he ended the call.
As he told her, ten minutes later he walked into the office and Mariah glanced up from the phone as she rolled her eyes and said, “Sophie, you’re in luck as Ric just walked through the door.”
“Patch her through to my office, Mariah,” he told her calmly although she wondered why his eyes flared bright green in anger as he walked into his office and she patched through the call.
He didn’t close the door behind him as he picked up the phone and Mariah listened in without being subtle about it.
“Sophie,” Edric said as he answered the call, “I told you that I was going to be busy for the next few days if I want to clear up any work before my vacation.”
“I know, but I missed you and I needed to hear your voice,” Sophie told him in a soft voice.
“You will see me later, Sophie,” he responded opening a file that was lying on his desk and beginning to read through it.
“The doctor informed me that I will be released later this afternoon,” Sophie told him, and he could hear the slight hesitation as he waited for what he sure was to come. “Since I had planned to go on vacation by now I gave my servants the week off so there is no one home to stay with me.”
Edric heard the unasked question in her voice and he smiled in satisfaction at how well he read her this time. “I have an extra room as you know and Ms. Welsh will be there to look after you while I’m working so you are more than welcomed to stay at my house until I leave for my vacation.”
He said it slowly as if thinking out loud and Sophie’s smug note of excitement told him that he achieved it.
“Oh, thank you, Ric,” she gushed over the phone.
“I have to get back to work, but I will call Ms. Welsh and have her prepare a bedroom for you,” he told her only to stop when Sophie suggested in a lightly seductive voice, “I’ll be lonely so maybe I could share your room with you, Ric.”
He didn’t respond to her comment as Mariah chose to intervene seeing the deadly look cross her boss’s face at whatever he heard from Sophie unaware that Sophie took his silence as a go ahead to do what she wanted.
“Thank you,” Edric breathed out as he hung up the phone and Mariah walked over to the desk knowing that she couldn’t wait to find out what happened.
“Did you get to see Calida,” she asked only to still at the look of anguish followed by rage crossing Edric’s face.
“Yes and no,” he told her grimly, “and unfortunately, it is something that I don’t want to discuss at the moment, Mariah, please.”
She nodded her head as he turned his attention to the file and she quietly walked out of the room leaving the door open as she sat back down behind her desk. She had a feeling that whatever her boss had learned since he left hadn’t been what he was expecting as her phone rung and she picked it up going to work.
Around five as she was packing up to leave, Edric came out of the office when Tomas walked out of the elevator greeting him.
“I’m sorry if I was a little short this afternoon, Mariah, but…” Edric began before he sighed and told them what he learned after going over to see Calida’s friends and supporters.
“Oh no,” Mariah said her hand going up to her mouth her eyes wide in shock as Tomas shook his head.
“I promised Wilma that I wouldn’t approach Calida until the funeral,” he told them a hard light entering his eyes. “And starting today, Sophie will be residing at my house.”
“Ric,” Tomas echoed his tone cold, but Edric merely gave him a harsh look.
“I don’t plan on falling into her trap, but I need her to believe it because as long as she believes it then she won’t be able to interfere in my plans,” Edric told them.
“Mariah get in touch with Wilma and see if she has any information on what type of wedding Calida was thinking of,” Edric told Mariah who nodded her head. “Tomas…”
“I’ll take care of the company while you work behind the scenes getting ready for your vacation away from it,” Tomas assured him as Edric smiled giving him a sharp nod.
“I may need to get Matt involved because if all else fails, I will have to kidnap Calida so we can actually talk without any interruptions,” Edric revealed to them.
“You can’t do that,” Mariah stated on a gasp as Tomas laughed wrapping an arm around her waist.
“I would if the positions were reversed and we were in their situation,” Tomas told her kissing her cheek before she turned a glare onto him.
“Calida won’t like it,” Mariah informed them angrily as she struggled in Tomas’s hold and Edric nodded his head in agreement.
“And I’m hoping that her anger will keep her mind preoccupied instead of thinking about what we lost,” Edric told them his voice slightly raspy before he cleared his throat.
He glanced at his watch before he grimaced and said, “I’m going to pick up Sophie from the hospital now” and started for the elevator before he stopped briefly. “Tomas, why don’t you stay over at Mariah’s apartment for the next few days?”
Mariah gasped as Tomas said, “That’s what I’ve been doing anyway so that’s no hardship on my part. How about you, my love?”
Mariah glared at him and Edric left them as she began to argue with Tomas, and Edric smiled with envy as the elevator doors closed on them.
He arrived at the hospital twenty minutes later and forcing himself to be calm, he headed inside going up to the fourth floor first to check on Calida before going back down to Sophie’s room.
He knocked on the door as he heard her rushed tones telling him that she was on the phone with someone before she called out “come in.”
He opened the door to see she was ready dressed in a designer outfit and heels her hair hanging to her waist with glossy curls as she turned to him with a smile.
“Ric, excellent timing, for the nurse said she was going to get my discharge sheet from the desk,” she told him mumbli
ng something about how slow she was being and so on as Edric walked over to her.
Sophie threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately before she pulled away asking a little breathlessly, “Did you contact Ms. Welsh?”
He smiled and pulled away glad when the nurse walked in a second later with Sophie’s discharge papers in which she tried to go over with Sophie, but Sophie merely said that she would read it when she got home.
She didn’t notice Edric’s raised eyebrows at her phrase but he didn’t comment as he picked up the case on the bed wondering why she had such a large case for a hospital stay before he smiled at the nurse and thanked her in a charming voice.
Sophie narrowed her eyes at them as the nurse blushed under his words and she grabbed Edric’s arm telling him sharply, “We need to get going, Ric, I’m hungry.”
“I’m sure Ms. Welsh has something waiting for us,” he told her giving the nurse one last smile before they headed out, and he saw the scowl that crossed Sophie’s face at his words but she didn’t make a sound as he escorted her to his car.
As they head out of the parking lot, she sighed, “I can’t wait to go home and relax.”
Edric nodded his head absently as he thought about the things that needed to be done before he went on vacation the following week.
“Ric,” she said softly as he pulled into his driveway and turned off the engine.
He glanced over at her with green eyes that were hooded and although she wondered what he was hiding beneath that hooded gaze, she smiled and leaned forward running a manicured finger down the front of his chest.
“Maybe you would like to join me on my vacation,” she suggested in a soft seductive voice peeking up from her eyelashes. “The doctor thought a few days away to get rid of my stress from my encounter with Jeffrey was a good idea when I told him about the vacation I had planned so I thought you would like to join…”
She let the sentence die off as she let her hand travel lower but Edric stopped her hand before it reached below his waist and bought it up to his mouth kissing her hand softly before telling her, “Let me think about it, Sophie.”
She smiled with excitement as Edric gave her back her hand and reached out to open his door climbing out before Sophie could say another word.
Satisfied with his response even though it wasn’t the affirmative she wanted, she wasn’t deterred and knew sooner, or later, that Edric would succumb to her charms.
Edric’s eyes were hard as he climbed out of the car shutting the door before he walked around and helped Sophie before reaching in the backseat to grab her bag.
“Ms. Welsh,” he called out once they entered the house Sophie holding on to his arms when Ms. Welsh hurried out of the kitchen.
“Yes, Edric,” she said a slight frown on her face as she noticed Sophie.
“Sophie will be staying with us for a few days while she recovers from her ordeal,” Edric told her as he handed Ms. Welsh the bag. “Can you take her up to her room?”
Ms. Welsh didn’t blink as she nodded her head and taking the bag said politely, “If you would follow me, Miss Jenkins.”
She started up the stairs and Edric smiled as he told Sophie, “I have some work to do in my office so go and relax in your room until dinner.”
Sophie smiled as Edric nodded his head and squeezed her arm lightly before he turned heading for his office, and Sophie’s smile widened in smugness as she walked slowly over to the stairs where Ms. Welsh had waited for her.
“Don’t bother putting me in a guest bedroom,” Sophie told her as she started up the stairs. “Ric has already said that I would be sharing his bedroom.”
Ms. Welsh stared at her in shock before she hurried after her and began, “Miss Jenkins…” as they reached Edric’s bedroom door.
After pushing open the door and taking a quick look around, Sophie smiled commenting “Beautiful although the curtains will have to go and I will need a vanity over there,” she pointed to the other side of the room.
She walked into the bathroom as Ms. Welsh stood in the doorway her body stiff with anger as she heard Sophie say, “I think a Jacuzzi would be better for in here which I’m sure that Ric will enjoy.”
Ms. Welsh forced back the words that came to her throat as Sophie came out of the bathroom seeing her standing there ordered, “Well go unpack my clothes and anything left over from Calida’s stay here, get rid of as I’m sure Ric won’t want to see them anymore than I do.”
Ms. Welsh marched over to the dresser stopping abruptly when she noticed that the small trinkets Calida had on the dresser where gone and she dropped the bag opening the dresser noticing that her side of the dresser was empty also.
Sophie laughed as she walked over noting the empty drawers and said with a touch of smugness, “I guess Ric was anxious to get rid of her.”
Ms. Welsh glanced at her briefly before she unpacked the bag while Sophie walked around the room and after she was done, Ms. Welsh walked out of the room without a backward glance.
She headed straight down stairs to Edric’s office and without knocking walked inside as Edric glanced up with narrowed eyes.
“Yes, Ms. Welsh,” he said a pen in his hand and paperwork on his desk.
“What is going, Edric, because that woman,” Ms. Welsh began angrily before she stopped and took a couple of deep breathes before starting again. “Sophie has taken up residence in your, and Calida’s bedroom, and all of Calida’s things are gone. If you had wanted to remove them then I would’ve done it.”
Edric closed his eyes running a hand across the bridge of his nose as he told her wearily, “I didn’t remove Calida’s things from our room, Ms. Welsh. I’m guessing that Calida did that before she left the house.”
“But…” Ms. Welsh began shaking her head not understanding what was going on.
“Ms. Welsh, it is a long and complicated story, and one I rather not go into right now with Sophie in the house, but I promise you that I will tell you everything,” he promised her. “Right now, I’m trying to do some work as I’m taking my vacation next week and going up to the house in the mountains.”
“I hope you are not taking that woman,” Ms. Welsh said with a dignified sniff.
“Be assured that the only woman going with me will be Calida,” Edric told her watching a satisfied gleam enter her eyes. “As for the room, let Sophie stay in there to avoid a hassle but before Calida returns I want the bedroom redone with new furniture and a new bed including mattress.”
Ms. Welsh smiled as she nodded her head before apologizing for interrupting his work and as she reached the door, Edric called out to her, “While we are gone, Ms. Welsh, I want you to help Mariah and Wilma get everything prepared.”
“Prepared for what?” Ms. Welsh asked in confusion her head turning to stare at him, but Edric only smiled as his cell rung and he reached forward to answer it.
As he said ‘hello’ Ms. Welsh let herself out of the office and with a single nod of excitement she went back to the kitchen to get ready for dinner.
“Hi Mariah is there a problem,” Edric asked when Ms. Welsh closed the door behind her as he picked up his pen again.
“No, I talked with Wilma per your request and she will be meeting me tomorrow with the information that Calida had collected concerning the wedding,” Mariah told him. “But the main reason I was calling is because I found something out that I think you should know.”
“What is it,” Edric asked absently.
“Tomas and I were wondering about the pictures of you and Sophie, so I did some searching,” Mariah told him. “I discovered that Sophie hired a PI about a month ago but he was originally hired to follow Calida around. After Sophie returned from her trip to see you, she paid him in full and then told him she no longer needed his services although she had learned where Calida was staying at that time.”
Edric thought about what Mariah was telling as she continued, “Also around the same time of her return, Sophie’s cell had more than ten miss
ed calls from Jeffrey. I’m guessing that Sophie promised to give him Calida’s address once she learned it.”
Edric leaned back in his seat as he agreed before asking, “How did you get access of Sophie’s cell information?”
Mariah grimaced as she told him, “I called the service and told them that someone stole my phone and I recently got it back but I wanted to know if any calls were made within the time it was gone.”
“They actually bought that story,” Edric asked in surprise, and Mariah chuckled although she didn’t’ go into detail on what she said to get the information.
“You know what, I don’t want to know at the moment,” Edric told her running a hand through his hair. “Good work though Mariah.”
She said hesitantly, “Umm Ric when I was speaking to Wilma about the wedding, she told me something that I think you should know.”
“What about,” Edric said a frown coming to his face.
“It seems that not too long after you left while Calida was looking into ideas for the wedding, Sophie cornered her in a café they had gone to for lunch. Wilma wasn’t sure about everything that was said between the two but she did hear Sophie mention something about an engagement ring after Sophie mentioned a charming necklace that you had bought her,” Mariah informed him.
Edric scowled as he said, “Sophie found Calida’s necklace which I made the point of telling her that it was my fiancées.”
He thought he heard Mariah mutter, “I knew that there was a reason I didn’t like her.”
Edric wasn’t going to comment that his secretary hadn’t liked Sophie as she believed that Sophie was hitting on Tomas.
“Is everything almost ready, Mariah, concerning my vacation,” Edric asked as he decided to change the topic.
“Everything is going good, and Wilma said to tell you that she arranged to have Jeffrey’s funeral at the end of next week,” Mariah told him, and he nodded his head telling her to move his vacation back another week.
“Already done, sir,” Mariah said in a smug voice.
Past Sins Revisited Page 32
