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Chapter 22

Chapter 22

 

            “Just pull the stuff out!” screeched Liz as Stacie was trying to open the envelope.  As she was opening the top of it and sticking her hand inside, Nick’s cell phone rang, causing her to drop the envelope.  Everyone but Stacie looked at Nick, not paying attention to the fallen item.  As she bent down to pick it up, she noticed some of the contents had spilled out of it.  She gasped at the half of a picture that was peeking out of the envelope, and quickly stuffed it back inside and scooped the envelope up from the floor before anyone noticed.  Oh my God, this is bad, really, really bad! 

 

            “Hello?” Nick said into the phone.  He talked for a few minutes with a puzzled look on his face, and then flipped his phone shut and sat down in the chair.  “That was Antoinette,” he explained before anyone asked, knowing they were expecting him to share.  “She said that she just got a fax from Trevor and it was all the gala information.  He told her to take over the planning because he couldn’t deal with it right now.”

 

            Stacie and Liz exchanged troubled glances, each one wondering what he was up to now. 

 

            “Who’s Antoinette?” a raspy voice asked, causing everyone to jump a little and look back at Caryss. 

 

            “Hey baby,” said Nick affectionately as he walked over to her bedside and kissed her gently on the forehead.  “How are you feeling?”

 

            “Like I got hit by a Mack truck actually, but I’ll be okay,” she said with a weak smile.  I have to brave and strong so I can help them stop Trevor.  Without me, they won’t be able to catch him.  “So who’s Antoinette?”

 

            “She’s the director of the organization.  She is the person that usually handles the planning of events, but Trevor was so hell bent on doing it himself this time so she backed down.  She’s really great; you’ll like her a lot,” explained Nick and he stroked Caryss’s hair. 

 

            “I’m so glad you’re awake sweetie, we were just about to look in the envelope and it wouldn’t have been right to do it without you,” said Liz as she bent down and kissed Caryss on the cheek.  “And I’m glad you’re okay.  I’m so sorry about what happened.”

 

            “Lizzie, it’s not your fault,” responded Caryss with a smile.  She looked past Liz to Stacie and raised her eyebrows at her.  “Let’s see what’s in the envelope.”

 

            Stacie looked like a deer caught in headlights.  She had seen only a piece of what was in the envelope, but she knew that she could not show it to her friend just yet, it would break her heart and she wasn’t ready to do that.  “Nick, I need to talk to you in the hallway for a second,” she said with a stern voice.  “We’ll look in the envelope when we get back.”  She stood up and motioned for Nick to follow her.  She didn’t know what else was in that envelope, but she knew there was enough to do some serious damage.  Trevor really outdid himself this time.  If he was planning on Caryss running to him for comfort, his plan probably would have worked. 

                       

            As they walked out of the room and into the quiet hallway, Nick turned to Stacie and asked her what was going on. 

           

            “When the envelope fell on the floor, part of a picture slipped out.”  She peered into the envelope and pulled out the photograph.  She handed it to him and then looked through the rest of the photos, pulling out several more with the same motif.  She handed those to Nick as he gasped and disgust built up inside her.  “Can you explain these?” she asked coldly, not believing that he would hurt her best friend this way. 

 

            “I, I, we, um,” Nick stammered, trying to find his words but only succeeding in losing his footing.  He staggered and fell against the wall behind him, all the color draining from his face and his hands trembling like a child’s after being caught with a hand in the cookie jar.  For a moment she felt bad for him, knowing this was hurting him as much as it would hurt Caryss, but as he opened to mouth to speak again, her sympathy turned to incomprehension and she waited for the explanation he was surly trying to create in his head. 

 

            “I don’t know who that is,” he said solemnly, avoiding eye contact with Stacie. 

 

            “That’s great Nick, when was this?”  He didn’t answer her right away, and she took that as a sign that it wasn’t before he had met Caryss.  “Within the past three weeks?” she asked, disdain rolling off every word.  He shook his head back and forth in disbelief. 

 

            “I have no idea, I swear to God.  That looks like the night when Caryss and I were on the beach at my house, but that’s not Caryss in the picture!”

 

            “You really don’t know who this is or when it was taken?” Stacie asked, completely disorientated. 

 

            “No, I have no clue who that woman is, and I can say for damn sure that this wasn’t taken since I’ve been with Caryss.  Even if they were pictures of a one-night stand or something I don’t see how that would hurt Caryss, she’s going to know it wasn’t recently.  But I don’t ever remember being on the beach with anyone else like that but Caryss.”  He stood there, his shoulders hunched over, shaking his head in confusion. 

 

            “Then I guess we don’t have anything to worry about,” she said callously as she grabbed the photos from his hand.  He better be telling the truth, because if he had the nerve to cheat on Caryss when they’ve only been together for three weeks, I’m going to chop his jewels off!  As she was putting the pictures back into the envelope, she noticed there were several pictures she didn’t see before still in there.  She pulled them out and let out a horrified shriek. 

           

            “What?” asked Nick frantically as he looked at Stacie with bewilderment.  She handed him the pictures, staring straight ahead in a trance-like state.  “Oh my God,” he whispered as he flipped through the photographs.  “This is you and me, and Liz and me, and Laurie and me, but none of this ever happened!  All these pictures are of me and Caryss, but someone photo shopped her out and you guys in; this is unbelievable!” 

 

            “Did Trevor honestly think Caryss would be stupid enough to fall for this?” Stacie asked, the shock and dismay in her voice evident.  “I mean seriously, she knows me better than that; I would never kiss her boyfriend!”

 

            “Not even if he was as hot as me?” Nick asked playfully, inching closer to her. 

 

            “That’s so not funny right now,” she said with a smirk.

 

            “But it would be funny, at a different time, right?” They both started laughing and walked back into the hospital room to show everyone the outrageous photos.  They passed the ridiculous photos around, everyone getting a good chuckle out of them; that is until Caryss got a hold of the pictures of Nick and “the girl” on the beach.  At first she didn’t notice it, but after looking at them for a few minutes, she realized something wasn’t right. 

 

            “Those aren’t the clothes you were wearing the night we were on the beach together,” she said quietly, trying very hard to stay calm and not jump to conclusions.  The other pictures were obviously tampered with, so in all probability, these ones were too, but it didn’t make any sense. 

 

            “What do you mean?” asked Stacie, her suspicions about Nick rising yet again. 

 

            “In all the other pictures, he is wearing the same clothes and it’s obvious that it was photo shopped, but in these pictures, his clothes are different.”  She stopped for a minute, taking a few deep breaths before looking Nick square in the eyes.  Her eyes pleaded with his, begging for the truth.  “Did this really happen Nick?” she finally asked, tears filling her eyes and her voice cracking a little at the end.  Everyone in the room stared at him, their eyes burning into him like detectives interrogating a suspect.  He swallowed hard, trying to find the right words to explain himself.