Once that guy is gone, things are much less stressful. Calvin invites Officer Davis in to sit at the table, and I recount a seriously edited version of what happened last night. I keep everything that happened in front of Lance accurate so our stories match, but obviously I can’t tell him what happened after that.
I get nervous when we get to that part, but this officer isn’t pushy. He steps gently around asking what happened after the assailant shoved me in the car, then tells me that DNA evidence could potentially lead them to the culprit.
The only DNA evidence they would get off me is Calvin’s. Which is fitting because he is the culprit in all of this.
Obviously, I can’t say that.
I consider it for the faintest glimmer of a second. I know it would be a little tricky considering I was asleep at his apartment when the police arrived. It’s not lost on me that if I tried to actually explain Calvin Cutler’s role in my life and all the villainous shit he is currently responsible for doing, I’m the one who would come off sounding like an unhinged psycho.
In the end, I don’t tell on Calvin. I know the opportunity sort of presented itself with cops literally showing up at his apartment when I have his DNA all over my body, but I haven’t had time to think it through and I think doing it impulsively would be the wrong move. Once I open that box, I don’t think it can be shut again, so if I’m going to open it, I need to be sure.
And he has all that crap on Charity.
I still can’t believe that. Some part of me thinks maybe it isn’t real, that somehow he fabricated all of it to use against me because surely Charity wouldn’t do that to Tyler. Yeah, I saw her flirting with the bartender, but it was harmless.
I don’t know how to ask, though. It’s not like I can say, “Hey, by the way, I know this is a crazy question and I’m sorry, but some rich guy is trying to blackmail me into living with him with ‘proof’ that you cheated on Tyler the night before your wedding… That’s crazy, right? That definitely didn’t happen… right?”
Calvin proves an unlikely savior, stepping in when Officer Davis is waiting for me to offer up DNA evidence to help them catch their guy and telling him I’ve had a very rough night and he thinks I’ve been through enough today. Playing the concerned, supportive boyfriend, he pretends to check with me. I nod my agreement because I just want the cops to leave.
As he’s walking the officer out, I overhear Calvin telling him that any DNA evidence there might have been is likely gone now, and that I don’t wish to deal with that very private experience legally. Officer Davis advises against that, telling him we can always decide not to file charges, but if we change our minds later and want to, this is the only time to collect the evidence. Of course, Calvin is immovable on the matter.
I’m sitting alone at the table when he walks back in. A soft blanket is wrapped around me like a cocoon, but it can’t protect me from the icky grime of what I just overheard.
Calvin stops by the table and gazes down at me. “Are you all right?”
His tone is cool and detached though his words express polite concern. It doesn’t feel fake like his performance in front of the cops, more a routine question he reminds himself to ask me. I don’t think he’s accustomed to checking on the wellbeing of others.
“I guess,” I answer, because honestly I’m not sure how I feel. “You realize you implied to the cop just now that I was raped last night after I was hauled out of that alley?”
The expression on his face doesn’t change, but he reaches a hand toward me and casually caresses my cheek. “Weren’t you?”
My jaw falls open as I stare up at him, appalled at how casually he says that.
He drops his hand and walks around the counter. “I don’t typically have a prepared breakfast, so I don’t have Chef Ryan coming today, but going forward I can ask that he stop over and prepare us breakfast if you’d like. I can even have him prepare lunches for you like he did at your place so you don’t have to worry about that and you can focus on your work or Marie or whatever else you’d rather spend your time on.”
“How can you just… say that so flippantly?”
He looks back at me, a frown creasing his brow. “Scheduling Chef Ryan isn’t a big deal, Hallie. It only makes sense to outsource tasks like that so you can spend your time on more important things. You don’t see me working the mail room at my company, do you? Of course not. That would be a waste of my talents.”