“No, same here,” he said. “I left a message. I hope she’s okay.” He looked worried.
“I’m sure she is,” I told him to reassure him. The truth was, I wasn’t sure that she was. I was a little concerned about her myself. After Gary went back to his station I went to Max’s office.
I knocked and he said, “Yeah!” It was a growl and I knew right away that he wasn’t having a good morning. I pushed open the door and he motioned me in with his hand. He was on the phone with someone and it seemed to be making him even grouchier. I sat in the chair opposite his desk and waited. “Get me that account information today!” he growled into the phone, before hanging up. He looked at me then and ran his hand through his hair.
“Having a bad day already, Max?”
“You could say that, yeah. What can I do for you, Robyn?”
“I was wondering about Hayley. She got called upstairs yesterday morning and she never came back to work. Do you know what happened?”
He sighed heavily and said, “Aaron didn’t talk to you about it?”
“No, is she okay?”
“Yeah, physically as far as I know, she’s fine. It’s an internal investigation that she’s involved in, but that’s really all I can say. You’ll have to talk to Aaron if you want to know what it’s about exactly.”
“Okay, I’ll do that,” I said. I was a little put off that Max was treating me like any other employee rather than a supervisor that was on equal footing with him.
He must have been able to tell because as I got up to leave he said, “Hey Robyn, you know that I trust you a hundred percent, and I’m sure that Aaron does too. This is just a really delicate situation so I’d rather you heard it from him.”
“Sure Max, thank you.” I went back to my own office more confused about what was going on than I was before I spoke to Max. I picked up the phone and called Aaron’s office. Janice answered the phone. “Hi Janice, it’s Robyn. I was looking for Aaron.” Janice told me not too long ago that she’d never seen Aaron so happy as he has been since he and I had been together. She had been very warm and friendly to me since then.
“Hi Robyn! I’m sorry sweetie, Aaron’s out all day today. He said he would be unreachable by phone unless it’s an emergency.”
“Oh shoot, okay.”
“Are you okay, honey?”
“Yeah, thanks Janice, I’m fine. We have plans tonight, I’ll just talk to him then.”
The rest of the day seemed to pass slowly. Max was locked in his office all day on the phone and poor Gary looked depressed every time I saw him. I didn’t know what was going on with Hayley but I was getting the feeling it wasn’t good. I was relieved when five o’clock rolled around. Aaron was supposed to be at my place by seven, I was making dinner for us.
I went home and got the lasagna ready to put in the oven. I’d gotten a pasta maker from Nadine for Christmas and this would be my first time trying it out. It looked pretty good when I had it all layered and ready to cook. Aaron arrived right on time with a bottle of red wine and a small bouquet of flowers.
“They’re beautiful! What’s the occasion?”
He kissed me and smiled, “I just adore you, that’s an everyday occasion.”
I put the flowers in water and took the lasagna out of the oven. Aaron joined me in the kitchen and poured us each a glass of wine as I got the garlic bread ready to put in. I slid the bread in the oven and then I said, “Oh! I almost forgot. I wanted to ask you about Hayley. She was called up your way yesterday and never came back. Max was in a foul mood today and he wouldn’t tell me what was going on. Can you tell me what’s up? I’m worried about her.”
“She’s a friend of yours?” he asked, taking a seat at the table.
“Yeah, we got to know each other in college. I recommended her for the job. What happened, Aaron?”
I took my wine and sat down next to him at the little table. He looked distressed as he said, “She was taken in for questioning. There is money missing from your department, a lot of it. Some of the expenditures that were made look like fronts to siphon money. They were made on a card that only Max, you and your intern have access to.”
I started shaking and I’m sure my face went pale. My palms felt sweaty and my stomach began to churn all at once. I could taste bile in the back of my throat.
“What’s going to happen to her?”
He took a sip of his wine and said, “Well, she definitely won’t work for us any longer. Depending on how the investigation turns out and what the court findings are, there’s a strong probability she will do some jail time over it.”
I almost didn’t feel it coming until it was too late. I covered my mouth with my hand and ran to the bathroom. This afternoon’s lunch, only partially digested, came out. When I looked up, Aaron was standing in the doorway looking at me.
“Robyn? I have to ask you something.” He looked really serious and I tried to brace myself for it, but I didn’t think it was even possible. I just nodded and he said, “Are you pregnant?”
~
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!”