CHAPTER SIX
AARON
I followed Robyn to the bathroom and saw her once again vomiting into the toilet. She’d gone completely pale and her hands were trembling before she ran into the bathroom. It seemed to be happening often and when you coupled that with the fact that she’d been just a little off in her moods lately and really emotional, I started to think maybe she was pregnant. It surprised me, but I would have thought that I’d freak out just at the thought. I wasn’t freaking out though. I was worried about her, but I was thinking of all of the scenarios in my head that went along with being a father. None of it frightened me any longer. I was kind of hoping that I was right.
I decided to just ask her outright. When I did, she looked up at me with wide eyes and then she started laughing like a crazy person. She laughed until she had tears streaming down her face and then she said, “Oh God, I’m so sorry!” She started sobbing. I got down on my knees next to her and tried to take her in my arms but she pushed me back. “No, don’t be nice,” she said. I was thoroughly confused.
“Baby, I’m not mad. I’m actually happy…”
“Oh God! I’m not pregnant, Aaron.” She turned back to the toilet and began heaving again. I didn’t know what to do. When she finished I helped her up and over to the sink.
“Can you take the bread out of the oven for me, please? I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Are you okay?”
“No,” she said. “But, I will finally tell you why. I just need a minute.” I was hesitant to leave her. She looked terrible all of a sudden. I started to argue but she said, “Aaron, please!” I left her there and went out to the kitchen. I took the bread out and turned off the oven. Then I poured us both another glass of wine. Realizing that wasn’t going to help, I poured the wine out and got a cold bottle of water out of the refrigerator for her. I waited, restlessly for about fifteen minutes before she came out at last.
“Baby, I’m so worried about you,” I told her.
She sat down and said, “I know, I’m so sorry.” Robyn took a deep breath and said, “What I’m about to tell you is going to be shocking and upsetting… and I promise you I will tell you everything. I’m going to ask you to let me get through it though before you ask any questions. I’ll answer them all, but after I get through this, okay?”
She was really scaring me, but I was definitely willing to listen. I nodded and said, “Of course. You can tell me anything.”
She swallowed hard like her mouth was dry and then she said, “Please don’t let them put Hayley in jail.” I started to say something and she held up her hand to stop me. Tears were quietly streaming down her face as she talked. My heart was breaking for her, but I kept my mouth shut. “I need to start at the beginning,” she said, dragging a hand through her hair. “When my parents died, I had just finished High School. I had decided to get a job in New York to help fund my College tuition and was paying rent and utilities
on my own apartment. I found out after they died that they were in debt. I never knew they were… but anyways, that’s not the point. The point is that after I buried them and sold their house and paid their bills… I had nothing. I lost my job because of the anxiety attacks; I lost my apartment because I couldn’t afford to pay my bills… I didn’t know what to do and the two people I would normally have turned to were gone. I was alone. A friend of mine at work told me about her aunt. She said that her aunt had gotten into some financial troubles and she had found a strange but effective way to get out of it. She said there were men who needed a wife so that they could stay in the country…”
I was beginning to feel sick to my stomach myself. I wasn’t sure where she was going with this, but I could tell that is was going nowhere good. I had to force myself to stay quiet. I was tempted to stop her there… I didn’t want to hear anything bad about her, even if it was a bad decision that she made. But I kept my mouth shut and I waited for it.
“I met with a man from Russia. His name is Igor Razinsky. I married him four weeks later. I was paid fifteen thousand dollars. I used that money to pay off all of my parents’ bills and my student loans and then I came here to start my life over. I was never supposed to see him again.”
“But you did?” The wheels were turning in my head now. There had to be a reason she was telling me this now. He must have shown back up, and from what I know about these things, he was demanding something from her.
She nodded. “The night of the party when I told you I was sick. He stopped me on my way out to get air that night, blind-sided me. He told me he needed money and if I didn’t get it for him he would go to you and prove we were still married. He said he would talk to the media… sell his story…”
I couldn’t sit still any longer. I pushed away from the table and stood up. I knew now in my gut what she was about to tell me, but I still didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to believe it.
“How much money did he want?” I asked her.
Sobbing, Robyn looked up at me and said, “Seventy-five thousand dollars. I spent two weeks embezzling it. I gave it to him and he gave me the marriage certificate. I planned on paying it back, I swear I did…”
“Why Robyn? Why would you steal from me… not just me, my stockholders, instead of just asking me for the money?”
“I was so afraid. I was sick for three days. I didn’t know what to do at first. I convinced myself that you would think I was only with you for the money and I swear that’s not it… Oh God Aaron, I’m so afraid of losing you. I don’t know… I don’t…” She was crying so hard that she was gasping for breath. She could hardly speak but she went on to say, “I don’t expect your forgiveness… I know that I’ve screwed up too badly! Please call right now and make sure that Hayley doesn’t spend a second in jail! Oh God! What have I done? I’ll go to jail, I should… I deserve to… But then that sullies your reputation still! Oh God!” She had herself wrapped in a bear hug and she was rocking back and forth. I was just standing there, looking at her.
Finally I said, “You’re such a smart woman. I can’t believe how stupid you’ve been about this.” Maybe I should have phrased that better. All that statement did was release another torrent of sobs and tears. She needed to hear this though, so I went on, “This man is not going to go away. People who will resort to blackmail and strong-arming someone… they will not just easily fade into the sunset. He’ll be back and he’ll want more.”
Between hiccups and sobs Robyn said, “He gave me the marriage certificate, the original one…”
I felt like my head was going to explode. “Dear God, Robyn! Do you think that’s the only record of it. Use your head! It’s on record with the state and the county that you were married in. All he has to do is show his I.D. to get another original copy. Hell, it’s public record, anyone can pull a copy offline.”
She started crying again. I didn’t know if I wanted to hug her or throttle her. I was shocked that she would resort to stealing, that she would risk jail to keep from having to come to me. What did I seem like to her? Was I some kind of tyrant? I would have been annoyed that she hadn’t told me all of this before, yes. But, I would have helped her… we could have done it right… Damn! I needed to call off the investigators and start the process of re-instating Hayley… poor thing.
My thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of a telephone. Robyn looked at me like she expected it to be mine. I shrugged, mine was in the car. She looked over at the counter where hers was laying, it was silent. She got up and went into the living room and I followed her. The ringing was getting louder. She reached for a parcel sitting on a table by the door. That was what was ringing. It stopped and before Robyn got the parcel opened, it started again. When she pulled it out she put it to her ear and said, “Hello?” Then she pressed the speaker button and I heard a strong male voice with a Russian accent.
“Hi babe, it’s me.”
“Igor, what do you want? We’re finished with each other.”
“I’m sorry babe. I need a little more cash.”
“No! I gave you all you’re going to get!”