Unsure of what else to do, I pulled out my cellphone from the back pocket of my jeans and called Hannah.
“Hello?” she greeted on the second dial tone.
“Hey, it’s me.”
“What happened?” she asked, immediately concerned. Hannah was really good at picking up on subtle emotional cues. “Lara, what’s wrong?”
“Do you remember that guy I was talking to you about?”
“It’s kind of hard to forget a name like Charles Hill. Why? Did that bastard do something to you? I swear to God, I’ll fly home right now and kick his ass if he–”
“No, Hannah, it’s nothing like that. Well, actually, I don’t know.”
“What? You’re not making any sense.”
“I saw him and his ex-wife, Sandy Hill.”
“The Sandy Hill?”
“You know her?”
“And you don’t? She’s only the biggest name in the horror genre. Right under Stephen King, of course. I didn’t know they were married, I just thought it was a coincidence they had the same last name. It’s kind of common. Like Hank Hill.”
“From King of the Hill?”
“Exactly!”
“Anyways,” I stressed, “I saw them together.”
“So?”
“I don’t know. You should have seen them. It was like he forgot all about me.”
“I’m sure you’re just reading into things, Lara.”
“I just– How long has this been going on, you know? I don’t know if this is the first time they’ve met up, or if this has been going on behind my back since the start.”
“Have you tried talking to him about it?”
“Well, no, but I–”
“Girl, you can’t jump to conclusions like that. I’m sure he has a perfectly reasonable explanation. When are you supposed to see him next?”
“Soon. Probably later tonight. I promised his daughter I’d stop by to help bake cookies for her daycare’s bake sale.”
“Then ask him then. You don’t know unless you ask, right? Maybe you’re being crazy about it. I mean, who knows? Maybe they’re talking about something to do with their daughter. Joint custody is messy work. I bet you it’s all in your head.”
I exhaled slowly. “Yeah, okay. You’re right.”
“I know,” Hannah giggled. “I always tend to be. I don’t mean to just ditch you, but I’ve got an advanced Spanish class in fifteen minutes. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks for listening. You’re the best.”
I promptly hung up the phone and stuffed my cell back into my pocket, moving to pull a couple sheets of paper towel from the dispenser drilled just beside the bathroom mirror. After dabbing my face and eyes dry and took a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves. Hannah was right. Maybe I was just being crazy. Chuck didn’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d go behind my back like that. And it wasn’t like we were an exclusive pair. We hadn’t even had that talk yet. So I made myself a silent promise that the next time I saw Chuck, I’d ask before jumping to any of my own conclusions. I just hoped that the anxiety eating a hole into my chest didn’t kill me first.
12
Chuck