The Ex's Confession

by L. C. Davenport

  Rebecca looked at Cassie suspiciously. “When did you talk to Faye?”

  “Yesterday afternoon. She wanted to know what your hot plans for this evening were.”

  “You didn’t tell her the party was at Elliot’s, did you?”

  Cassie looked at her with an affronted expression. “Of course not,” she said indignantly. “I said we were going to a party next door, and that there would be a lot of hot eligible men there. She got really excited and offered to send us to the spa.”

  At least she didn’t know about Elliot, Rebecca thought. She wasn’t sure why, but she wanted to keep Faye in the dark about her current situation. “Thanks,” she said dryly. “I appreciate that.”

  “I thought you would,” Cassie returned cheerfully.

  “I highly doubt there will be any hot, eligible men there, anyway.”

  “Yes there will.” Cassie seemed surprised that Rebecca didn’t already know this. “I talked with Nicole yesterday. They invited most of the complex, and you know those guys up on the fourth floor are cute. And straight.”

  Rebecca laughed. “Maybe it won’t be so bad,” she admitted. “Are you going to let me see what you bought yesterday, or am I going to have to sneak around behind your back?”

  “Not until the last minute.” Cassie had a wicked look on her face. “I want it to be a surprise.”

  Which meant, Rebecca knew, that it was probably short, low, or backless–or all three. “I told you all the necessary parts had to be covered.”

  “You worry too much,” Cassie said airily. “Don’t be concerned. You’ll be covered.”

  ***

  That evening Rebecca looked at herself in the mirror and didn’t recognize the person staring back at her. The other girl looked tall and slender, her hair pulled up on her head with a few strands slightly curling around her face. The black dress she wore was short, but not short enough to show off things she would rather not expose to the general public. While the neckline was lower than she might have chosen herself, it wasn’t terribly immodest. It was, however, tight.

  “I think you bought this dress a size too small,” she called down the hall to Cassie. Michael had been ready for half an hour and was watching television.

  Cassie walked down the hall, putting on her earrings as she came. When she turned into the doorway of Rebecca’s room, she stopped and looked at her sister, obviously pleased with her handiwork.

  “It’s actually a size too big,” she said critically, “but I didn’t think you’d go for it any shorter. It’s supposed to be a little tight. Can you breathe?”

  Rebecca tried to take a deep breath. “Kind of.”

  Cassie smiled. “Good enough. Come on, it’s time to make your grand entrance.”

  Rebecca let Cassie pull her down the hallway. When they made it to the family room, Michael stood up, looked at the two women in front of him, and gave a long wolf whistle. “I’m the luckiest guy on the planet tonight,” he said to his wife, “because I have the privilege of escorting the world’s most beautiful women to a party.” He paused thoughtfully. “I hope there’s dancing.”

  Rebecca laughed at Cassie’s appalled expression. “He is an accomplished dancer,” Rebecca agreed, and hugged her sister. “Thanks for everything,” she whispered in Cassie’s ear. “I can’t believe how pretty I feel.”

  “You are pretty.” Then Cassie smirked at her. “You should listen to me more often,” she said. “I just hope I’m there when Elliot gets his first look at you.”

  The party was already in full swing when they arrived at the door and let themselves in. There must be at least fifty people in this apartment, Rebecca thought. Elliot and Nicole, she supposed, certainly knew how to attract a crowd.

  Rebecca was standing at the edge of the throng when she spotted Elliot across the room. He was talking with Nicole, but he did not look like he was enjoying himself. She said something in his ear and he gestured toward another room. Nicole pouted and disappeared. Then he looked up, across the room, and right at Rebecca.

  For the rest of her life, Rebecca would remember the look on Elliot’s face as he gazed, transfixed, through the crowd of people jostling each other on a makeshift dance floor. He looked almost as though it was the first time he had ever seen her properly, and he didn’t know how to behave. Someone spoke to him and he answered, his eyes never leaving Rebecca.

  “Do I know you from somewhere?”

  The voice sounded far away.

  “Excuse me, do I know you from somewhere?”

  Somehow Rebecca’s attention snapped away from Elliot and to the person standing a little too closely beside her. She had never seen him before, and she didn’t hesitate to tell him.

  “I’m Theo Filmore. Didn’t I go out with you once?”

  Theo Filmore, Theo Filmore. Rebecca tried to remember where she’d heard that name before. “Oh, I remember now,” she said, relieved. “I went on a blind date with you once. It was quite a few years ago, if I recall correctly. I’m Rebecca Done.”

  “Of course!” Theo put his hand out to shake hers, holding on a little too long for comfort. His eyes traveled up and down her body appreciatively. “I just can’t think why I never called you back. I’m sure I would have wanted to get to know you better.”

  Rebecca tried to smile. “I’m sure you would have,” she said, trying to subtly pull her hand from his grasp. “If you’ll excuse me–”

  “There you are.” Elliot’s voice came from directly behind her, and his hand was abruptly on her waist. “I’ve been looking all over for you. I believe you promised me a dance.”

  His hand was warm through the thin fabric of her dress. Rebecca smiled distractedly at Theo. “I’m glad we saw each other again,” he said ruefully. “Maybe I’ll have better luck next time.”

  Steering her toward the dance floor, Elliot said in a low voice, “Who was that guy? I don’t know who invited him. He looked like he wanted to eat you.”

  Rebecca shivered. “An unfortunate blind date. Faye set us up before college, and I gave him the wrong phone number in case he wanted to go out again.” She paused. “Thanks for the rescue. You don’t have to dance with me if you don’t want to.”

  Elliot shot her a strange look. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to.” Then he pulled her closer than he had in a long time and started swaying to the music.

  I could get used to this, Rebecca thought in a daze. It felt so natural to be in his arms again. She shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts. I shouldn’t get used to this. Elliot is dating Nicole… They threw this party together. I should go and help in the kitchen. Or something… I should not be here, dancing with Elliot.

  Over Elliot’s shoulder she could see Cassie, a smug expression on her face. Rebecca rolled her eyes at her sister. “You’re going to be frozen that way,” Cassie mouthed. Then her smug expression turned horrified. Rebecca followed her gaze to the middle of the dance floor only to see Michael, his jacket off, starting to dance.

  “Oh, no,” she muttered under her breath. “Elliot, you’ve got to stop Mick. He’s about to embarrass himself.”

  Elliot looked at her for a moment. It appeared that his mind had been miles away. “What?” he said dumbly.

  “It’s Mick. Get him off the dance floor or Cassie will kill him!”

  Elliot looked over his shoulder without letting Rebecca loose. “Right,” he said, and started to dance them over to Michael, who was starting to draw some attention. “Michael!” he said just loud enough for the people closest to him to hear. “I need your help in the kitchen.”

  Michael blinked at him for a second. “Sure,” he said before bowing to his curious audience and leaving the room.

  Elliot shot a wistful glance at Rebecca. “I’m sorry,” he said, “but since I told him I needed him in the kitchen I should probably go there too.”

  Rebecca took her hand off his shoulder. “That’s all right,” she said. “I’ll come too. Cassie may need someone to back her up.”


  Elliot grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd. When they reached the edge of the room, Rebecca tugged her hand back. Elliot let go quickly, as if he now realized what he was doing and regretted his actions.

  When they arrived at the kitchen, Cassie and Michael were already there. Cassie was hissing like a cat and Michael was standing as though he disagreed with what his wife was saying.

  “I like to dance,” he protested. “It’s fun. And just because you won’t dance with me doesn’t mean I can’t do it without you.”

  “Ah, Mick is in residence tonight,” Rebecca said softly to Elliot.

  He turned to her abruptly. “Why do you keep calling him that? Even his own sisters call him Michael.”

  Hearing this, Michael walked over to them. Still ignoring his wife, he grinned at Rebecca. “Yeah, Rebecca. Why do you call me Mick?”

  Rebecca could feel herself blushing. “The first time we met I was at a club with a blind date,” she said, catching Elliot’s suspicious look. “No, not with that idiot out there. I’ve been on more blind dates than every single woman in Illinois put together. It was someone else. We were dancing–”

  “If you can call that dancing,” Michael interrupted.

  “All right, I was dancing and the guy I was with was trying to get his hands on my rear when I spotted Mick here on the dance floor. He was by himself, naturally–”

  “Since no one else would dance with him,” interjected Cassie.

  “–And he was doing a really… creative impression of Mick Jagger. At least that’s what I thought he was doing.”

  “I was,” Michael said.

  “Sure,” Cassie muttered.

  “I spotted Rebecca here having a bit of trouble with her date, and offered to take her home. She was desperate enough to agree, and grateful enough for my daring rescue that she agreed to go out with me the next weekend. We spent almost every weekend after that together for what, a year?”

  Rebecca nodded.

  “And then I proposed, and it all ended.”

  Elliot’s face grew pale. “How did you end up married to Cassie?” Elliot asked quietly.

  “I moped around for a while, and then, a few years later, I met Cassie at that same bar. It must be my lucky bar,” he told Cassie, picking up her hand. “I didn’t realize they were sisters until she gave me her address. With Cassie it was love at first sight. With Rebecca, it was more a relief from boredom at first sight.”

  Cassie kissed him on the cheek. “Come on, lover boy,” she said fondly. “Let’s go find Elliot’s pool table. You can show me how to play.”

  When they were gone, Elliot stared at Rebecca in horror for a second, then turned on his heel and left the room.

  An hour or so later, Rebecca was ready to leave. The old, glowering Elliot was back. Every time she turned around he was staring at her, with a grimace of disgust. What have I done now? she wondered. She was just making her way to the door when someone caught her elbow.

  “Hey, hot stuff.”

  She whirled around to snap at the man. “Whoa,” Scott said, raising his hands to protect himself. “I meant that in a good, platonic sort of way.” Jen grinned at her from behind him.

  “Sorry.” Rebecca knew she should feel terrible for wanting to bite her friend’s head off, but if one more guy tried something tonight, she was not going to be responsible for her actions.

  “You look amazing,” Jen said, a touch of awe in her voice. “We were just at your apartment and heard all the noise, so I figured you’d be where the action was.”

  Rebecca smiled wanly at them. “I was just leaving,” she said. “Let’s go back to Cassie’s.”

  Jen grabbed her arm and marched her to the door. “Excellent idea. Scott wanted to talk to you, anyway.” When they were safely in Cassie’s apartment, Jen turned to her friend. “What’s up with lover boy back there? He was looking at you like you’d killed his favorite puppy.”

  “I don’t know,” Rebecca said, weary of the whole business. “And I don’t care. Sit down and I’ll get you something to drink.”

  After everyone was comfortably seated around the table, and Rebecca’s shoes had been kicked into the corner, Scott placed a folder on the table and pushed it across to Rebecca. “Do you know what your father has been purchasing lately?”

  Rebecca opened the folder and scanned the contents. It was a detailed list of all the places William had shopped over the last year. The list was surprisingly long, even for William’s taste for acquiring new things. “I have a list of everything that was in the house when it went up for auction,” she said, slowly leafing through the pages. “Why? Did anything look strange to you?”

  Scott leaned over and grabbed the top several pages. “A few,” he admitted. “Has anyone in your family been to Tahiti recently? Or purchased an Audi?”

  Tahiti? “I’m sure I would have heard if they had,” she said. “Faye would know, and she usually finds trips like that amusing. This is the first I’ve heard of a vacation anywhere. But there could have been an Audi in the garage. I can’t remember.” She paused, her forehead wrinkling in thought. “Do you think someone has gained access to William’s money?”

  “That would explain how so much money disappeared so quickly,” Scott said. “Do you mind if I make a copy of that list you were talking about? I wouldn’t mind comparing the two lists to see if there were any obvious inconsistencies.”

  “I’ll get it for you now,” Rebecca said, standing up. “I won’t be a minute.”

  When she returned a few minutes later, she found Jen and Scott locked in a rather passionate embrace. “Please,” she protested. “I know you’re still newly-weds, but can you do that in your own home?”

  Jen pulled away, not looking contrite at all. “Just wait until you get married,” she said. “You and Elliot will be all over each other every time I turn around, and I’ll remind you of this conversation.”

  Rebecca shook her head. “I’m not marrying Elliot.”

  “We’ll see.” Jen got up from Scott’s lap and pulled him to his feet. “We’ll take your not-so-subtle hint and take the action home.”

  “I’ll call you if I come up with anything else,” Scott called over his shoulder.

  Picking her shoes off the floor, Rebecca walked through the apartment. She wasn’t going back to the party; she’d had enough of Elliot’s glares for one night. But she wasn’t tired. After throwing her shoes in her bedroom, she wandered down the hall and opened the balcony doors.

  She left the lights off and breathed deeply. The night air was warm and muggy, just as it should be. Michigan was humid by some estimations, but not when compared to Chicago. She had missed the smell of the city, and the feel of it on her skin. She sat in one of Cassie and Michael’s teak lounge chairs and prepared to relax.

  Then she heard voices. It was so clear that for a moment she thought Elliot had come into the apartment looking for her. But when she turned around, there was no one there.

  “Are you enjoying yourself?”

  “I guess,” came Nicole’s petulant reply, “but I don’t see why you won’t dance with me. You danced with Rebecca, and she’s not half as pretty as I am.”

  Rebecca looked around the corner of the balcony. She could barely see two figures on the next balcony over, framed by the light coming from Elliot’s apartment. She knew she should go back inside, but if she moved, she knew they would see her. Maybe they’d go away soon.

  “That’s a matter of opinion,” she heard Elliot mutter.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.” There was a long pause. Rebecca could see Elliot leaning on the railing, gazing out at the city. “When did Michael and Rebecca date?” he asked.

  “Rebecca and Michael? Oh, that was years ago,” Nicole said in a dismissive tone.

  “How long ago?” Elliot was being strangely insistent.

  Rebecca could almost hear Nicole thinking. “Um… four years ago? Or maybe it was five. It was before she left for college.”
r />   “I see.” Elliot paused again. Then, still facing away from Nicole, he asked, “Why didn’t she marry him? I know he asked.”

  “How would I know? I’ve never understood Rebecca. Why would any woman in her right mind choose to leave her family and go off to college, anyway? Especially, somewhere so cold. It doesn’t make any sense. I would have thought she’d go somewhere local, if she had to go to college at all.”

  Elliot completely ignored this. “Was Faye involved?”

  “May? No, I think they met in the fall. Maybe October.”

  Rebecca could hear Elliot take a deep breath. He held it for a long time. “No, not May. I meant was Faye Webb, Rebecca’s and Cassie’s aunt, the reason Rebecca didn’t marry Michael?”

  Nicole laughed. “You must think I’m so silly!” she cried, hopping from her chair to stand next to him. “That Faye. She always seems to be meddling in Rebecca’s affairs, doesn’t she? I don’t know, though, about Michael. He seemed pretty cut up about it for a while, but he got over it. He dated around for a few years until he met Cassie. Then he just seemed to forget Rebecca was ever more than a friend.”

  Elliot moved away slightly. “So there was no awkwardness when Cassie and Michael got married?”

  Nicole sidled closer. “How would I know?” she asked playfully. “One day they were dating, and the next day they were married. I guess Michael took her to the justice of the peace and convinced her to get married on the spot. An elopement, you know,” she added, as though she didn’t think Elliot understood what she was trying to say. “It was very romantic.”

  “Maybe that’s what I should have done,” Elliot muttered.

  Nicole must not have heard, or understood, because she kept talking. “We were kind of pulling for Rebecca to change her mind,” she said. “Even though they weren’t dating they stayed friends. Haley and I always thought she’d be a better wife for Michael than Cassie is. Don’t get me wrong,” she said hastily when Elliot looked at her, “we like Cassie all right. Rebecca is just… calmer. And not so needy.”

  That was funny coming from Nicole, Rebecca thought. She’s a fine one to judge someone on their needy factor. She snorted before she could stop herself. She held her breath, hoping they hadn’t heard her.