My Twin Flame

by C C Simeon

  “Apparently, there are people who need some things from you today, so I won’t bother you with the project much in the morning. I might just need you later this afternoon. I’ve set up a meeting with the client, and I need you to be there, as well. We’re going over some color schemes. I told Fran to redirect any calls to Joy from tomorrow onward. I’d like your full focus on this project.” Only then did Hunter look at Joy. “That all right with you?”

  Joy didn’t say anything, merely nodded. They were interrupted when his phone rang with a generic tone. He pulled it out of his pocket and sighed, pressing a button to decline.

  “Good, then it’s settled.” Hunter turned on his heels to walk away, then froze and turned back around. “I chose yellow for the walls, think that’s okay? I think the place needs a little bit of a mood lift. The gray is so...” He paused for a moment, as if contemplating which word to use. “Dreary.”

  Amelia smiled. “I think that’s perfect.”

  He smiled and walked away. Amelia felt Joy’s breath in her ear. She shivered.

  “Hey, isn’t yellow your favorite color?”

  Amelia’s grin grew even bigger, but she didn’t respond. Indeed, yellow was her favorite color. And the only way he would have known that was if he had listened to her the night before. He’d actually listened—a trait so rare in today’s day and age that it made Amelia’s stomach turn. At that moment, she knew exactly what she wanted. She just had to figure out how to get it without Hilton getting involved.

  Chapter 7: Casual Affair

  Hayden listened to the phone ring on the other end of the line, followed by a voicemail greeting. She sighed. There was nothing she hated more than being ignored. She had been calling him all morning, but she wasn’t getting through. Something was up, and Hayden had a good idea of what it was.

  She hated thinking about it. She hated the idea of even accusing him of anything, but she couldn’t help it. It was a woman’s instinct to know exactly when something was not quite right. A woman had the ability to tell when their child was faking it or actually had a cough, they knew when things weren’t going to work out the way they planned. A woman knew many, many things. But one thing that came with being a detective, and not a woman, was the ability to tell when your husband was lying to you.

  Hayden sat in her car across the street from her husband’s office building, trying to tell herself that there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary going on. He was merely in meetings all day and couldn’t answer his phone. But what if it was an emergency? What if there was actually something terribly wrong and Hayden needed his help? She wondered if he would feel guilty if he found her murdered in their home, her phone in her hand with his number being the last one that she’d called. She knew it was a grim mindset to have, but with everything going on, she was feeling suspicious of everything and anything.

  She was probably being silly about it. She hoped she was.

  But she couldn’t fight the gnawing feeling in her stomach, that annoying voice in the back of her head that told her there was more than met the eye. Hayden didn’t have any proof, of course, but had a gut feeling, and whenever she had one of those, she knew she was onto something. She had learned to trust her gut in the career she was in. Her gut was usually spot on, even when she wished it wasn’t.

  She watched the window that belonged to his office. She didn’t see any movement, no naked women pressed against the glass as he forgot about his wife completely, no hookers entering or leaving the building, nothing. There was nothing suspicious, but then again… There were no people coming and leaving, which meant that there were no meetings going on. Skype meetings, then?

  Hayden shook her head, annoyed with herself. As if she didn’t have enough on her plate. All she had to go on was the fact that he worked a lot. That was it. By that logic, he should have suspected her of cheating, as well. Hayden was the one who spent most nights working late. She was the one who had come home after working with Warren the previous night to find her husband already fast asleep in their bed. She was the one who stalked around at night, looking for murderers and neglecting her family.

  Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was up. Perhaps she was just feeling guilty. Perhaps she wanted to catch him doing something that he wasn’t supposed to, so she felt less guilty about the time she spent at work.

  Was she being stupid? Maybe. Was she being irrational? No doubt. Was she wasting her time trying to catch her husband in the act when she could have been solving a murder case? Absolutely. She didn’t care, though. She told herself that she had to be sure. She had to be certain that he was being faithful, and then she could focus on her work. Or, she might find a new obsession, then.

  Anything not to deal with the impossible serial killer that had been baptized as the Midnight Butcher.

  Hayden sat up in her seat, taking one last sip of her Starbucks as she saw her husband leave the building, a brunette trailing behind him. They didn’t seem like anything more than colleagues, but why would colleagues leave the office in broad daylight? It was suspicious, and when Hunter opened the door for the woman, Hayden’s heart dropped. He gave the brunette a smile that Hayden hadn’t seen in years and years. It was a smile that had made her knees weak, once upon a time—and based on the look on the woman’s face, the smile had the exact same effect on her. The detective gulped, tears stinging her eyes. She wiped them away frantically.

  She still had no proof. She couldn’t say that he was cheating on her for certain. They didn’t kiss, they didn’t flirt. It was a friendship, she knew, but a dark part of her mind kept telling her that it was not platonic. There was more going on than met the eye. She found it difficult to admit that, if she didn’t know him and she had just seen the two of them in the mall, she would have thought of them as an absolute power couple. They seemed perfect for each other.

  Hayden’s heart sank when she looked closer at him opening the driver’s side door with his left hand. There was no glint as it moved and the sun hit it.

  He wasn’t wearing his wedding ring.

  Chapter 8: Confrontation

  Hayden waited for Hunter to come home that night. She didn’t bother with dinner; she couldn’t think about eating. She was sick to her stomach just imagining Hunter with that brunette, sick from remembering how well they were suited for each other by looks alone. She didn’t have to hear them talking to know that they got along well. She’d seen the two of them. Hunter got along with everyone, and the brunette seemed just as easy to get along with. There was something between them, and Hayden knew she wasn’t seeing things. Sure, she was a little paranoid with a serial killer on the loose, but surely it didn’t make her stupid enough to see things that weren’t there.

  Hayden left Levi with her mother for the night, saying that she and Hunter were having a date night. She was only half lying. She and Hunter did have a date, but it was a date that was going to end much differently than their dates used to when they were in university.

  She was seated on the living room couch when she heard the key turn in the front door. He stepped through, that immaculate gray suit pressed to perfection. She wished he was as much of a perfectionist at being a husband as he was about his wardrobe. It made her so angry.

  Hunter froze when he saw her, dropping his suitcase at the door and taking off his blazer. With a furrow of his brow, he stepped closer to her, tossing the jacket over a chair. She wanted to chuck a cushion at him for acting so innocent.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, looking around the house. “Where’s Levi?”

  “I took him to my mother’s for the night,” was all she said, sitting back and sinking into the pillows behind her back.

  Hunter narrowed his eyes. “Rebecca was probably excited to have him.”

  “Are you cheating on me?” Hayden asked, getting straight to the point. Hunter’s eyebrows shot up, confusion written all over his face. The question seemed to catch him off-guard.

  “Excuse me?” His
voice was calm and even.

  Hayden knew he was trying to make sense of the situation. She didn’t back down and she stood up, knowing that she was at a disadvantage being seated. She’d learned this when interviewing suspects. She had to be at eye level with them. “You heard me. Are you cheating on me?”

  “Why would you think that?”

  Hayden didn’t like the slight laugh in his voice. Was he honestly confused about this? He knew exactly what she was talking about. She knew he knew. The question was just how long he was going to keep up this act. “Answer my question,” she said.

  “No, Hayden,” he said, visibly annoyed. As if he was in total disbelief. Because he couldn’t figure out how she knew, or because he honestly didn’t know how she could think that of him? The detective didn’t know. And for the first time, she was questioning her assumption. “I am not cheating on you. What has gotten into you?”

  Hayden didn’t back down. She needed answers. She needed to know exactly what was going on. “I saw you with her today—the brunette.”

  Hunter huffed laugh of disbelief, shaking his head. “Amelia?”

  “Don’t say her name,” Hayden hissed. She didn’t want to hear the name of the woman who was screwing her husband, the father of her child.

  “You stalked me? You actually stalked me, Hayden? What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “You didn’t answer my calls,” she defended herself. “I drove to your office to check on you, and I saw the two of you. I saw you opening the door for her, smiling that smile of yours.”

  “She is an employee, Hayden.” His voice rose now for the first time since she’d brought it up. She could tell she was getting on his nerves. “We are working together on that project for Jeff and his wife.”

  “If she’s only an employee, why did you leave the office with her in the middle of the day?”

  “To go see Jeff. Do you hear yourself right now? If you made the effort of following me all the way, you would have seen us meeting with Jeff at his restaurant. If you were as thorough with this investigation as you are with your actual job, you have realized that you are absolutely crazy. And if I were to cheat on you, it would be at night when you’re at work, obsessing over the damn serial killer.” Hunter’s arms were flailing now.

  “That’s not fair.” Hayden took a step back.

  “And accusing me of cheating with no actual proof is? Grow up, Hayden. I have a job and I work with women all day. You are a detective. There are about as few women in your department as there are men in my company. So, stop this nonsense. I can’t deal with you when you are being irrational. I can’t believe you followed me.”

  “You’ve been so aloof…” she started, tears stinging her eyes. Was it possible that she was actually wrong? “And you didn’t wear your wedding ring.”

  “I’ve been aloof? Hayden, when is the last time we had dinner together as a family without your work getting in the way? When was the last time we had a proper conversation that didn’t end with the bloody killer? You can’t remember either, can you? That’s what I thought. Maybe you should look at yourself before making up nonsense about other people. It’s below you to be this childish. And where the ring is concerned,” he went on, holding out his hand with no ring on his finger, “I don’t wear my ring because if I did, people would know I was married, and I’d have to drag you to the company events that I know you hate so much.”

  “Hunter,” Hayden started. Yes, she hated the events. She’d always complained about having to go to them at his previous work. She even hated going to the events at the department and always came up with an excuse not to go. Was he right? Was she the guilty one?

  “No, Hayden,” he said, picking up his blazer again, then reaching for his keys.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To a hotel. I can’t deal with your drama right now and I have a meeting in the morning. Maybe, when I come home tomorrow night, you won’t be a total bitch. I honestly can’t believe you would think I was cheating on you while you have been behaving just as suspiciously as I have.” Hunter shook his head, hurt flashing in his eyes.

  Hayden felt her heart tighten a bit. He was right. He was absolutely right. “And why haven’t you confronted me about it yet?”

  Hunter turned around when he reached the door, nostrils flaring. “Because I actually trust my partner. It’s more than you can say.”

  ***

  Hunter was pissed at Hayden. He was so angry that he was considering going back into the house and telling her exactly where she could stick the marriage. He knew it would have been irrational, so instead he got into his car and sat there for a while, resting his forehead on the wheel. He couldn’t believe she would accuse him of such a thing, but then again, she had seen him with Amelia. Amelia was far from unattractive. In fact, she was probably one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. But just because she was pretty, just because they were working together, did not mean that they were sleeping together.

  That didn’t mean he hadn’t thought about it, though. There was something about Amelia that drove him crazy. Sure, all those years they’d been working together, he’d known how beautiful she was, but once they’d actually started spending time together, once he had gotten to know her and she’d started speaking about things that she was passionate about… It made her so much more than a pretty face.

  He would have lied if he said the ring he refused to wear to work wasn’t a good thing where Amelia was concerned. It meant he could be himself around her. He could be as flirty as he wanted, as honest and as open. There were no sideways glances between the two of them. No whispers. It was merely two single coworkers, collaborating. It was nice. That was why he did it. He hated having to watch what he said.

  Deciding that it was better to leave for the night than to go back into the house and continue fighting with his wife, Hunter put his keys in the ignition and started his car. It was a good thing he’d had Fran pick up his dry cleaning that day. He didn’t know where he was going to go. He didn’t know for how long he was going to leave home, either. All he knew was that he had to get away for a while to clear his head.

  Levi… Hunter looked back at the house, thinking of his little boy. Did he really want to be the bad dad that disappeared for a couple of nights? Of course, he didn’t, but perhaps leaving for a bit was better than fighting all the time. He wasn’t in the house, anyway—he was at his grandmother’s house because his mother had decided that she was going to be crazy.

  Hunter shook his head and sighed. He didn’t want Levi in a house with parents who constantly fought. That was no way to grow up. Rather they spend some time apart than force their child to witness his parents yelling at each other.

  So, Hunter pulled out of his driveway and turned onto the street, leaving his wife behind. But instead of wondering how they could patch things up, he was considering what it would have been like to actually walk out.

  He was thinking of Amelia instead of Hayden, and that part made Hunter feel like a traitor

  Chapter 9: Teamwork

  Amelia would be lying if she said that she didn’t enjoy spending time with Hunter. It didn’t matter what was going on between them or what Hilton told her, being with him was a hoot and she wanted to soak in every second of it before it was taken away from her. Amelia tried not to think about Hilton and when he would call in that favor of his. She was dreading it, and it seemed like not thinking about it was the best way to go.

  They sat in the conference room, papers covering every single surface of the giant table. It was controlled chaos, though. Kind of like Amelia’s home. To the untrained eye, it looked like a mess, but she knew exactly where everything was.

  The rest of the office reeked of paint and everyone was starting to get headaches from it. Hunter had sent them all home earlier, but not really having anywhere else to work and with Amelia not wanting to invite him to her home just yet as she didn’t know who was listening there, they’d settled on the unpainted con
ference room. Apparently, it was next on the list to get painted, which meant she didn’t know where they were going to meet up after.

  It was around their fifth hour of going over the same concept when Hunter leaned back in his chair, knotting his fingers together behind his head. He stretched and closed his eyes. Amelia took the time to admire his strong jawline and chiseled cheekbones. He had a slight stubble, but not too much to make him look scruffy.

  If Amelia didn’t know any better, she would have said he was wearing the same suit as the day before, but she knew that men were weird. They owned multiple copies of the exact same outfit. Hunter was far too polished to wear the same thing twice in a row. At least, Amelia thought he was. But this past week, he had been looking a little on the scruffy side, and it was weird. Amelia took a deep breath and tossed her pencil into the table.

  “If I see another color swatch, I am going to hang myself,” Hunter said, his eyes still closed. Amelia was inclined to agree with him.

  They had gone through a hundred of them, none the customer actually liked. It was becoming increasingly obvious that the customer was going to be a Karen from hell. Even Hunter, who was friends with the customer, had mentioned the same thing earlier that day when they’d presented a nearly complete concept to the customer, who had declined it without a second glance.

  “I need a drink.”

  “Agreed,” Amelia nodded.

  “Let’s go, then,” Hunter said, looking at her with one eye still closed. He didn’t even seem like he was joking.

  He had bags under his eyes, those eyes of his that were usually bright, and the sparkle in them was duller for some reason. It seemed as if the life was drained out of them. Amelia didn’t ask what the matter was. She didn’t want to overstep, so instead she’d ignored it and figured he would tell her if he wanted her to know.

  Amelia laughed. “Honestly, I’d rather stay sober at work. My boss can be a real pain in the ass if he wants to be.”