Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 77220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
I frowned, puzzled. “No, nothing out of the ordinary. What do you mean by ‘weird’?”
“Oh. Just not his usual self, you know. At first I thought it was the new software he was working on. You know how intense he gets with his projects. But when he finished that job, he was still on edge all the time…”
He allowed his words to fade away and I felt raw panic take hold of me. Whatever was going on with Max was more serious than I thought. How had I not noticed any signs? I thought back to when I’d seen him two days ago. We had hung out in my apartment, and he’d seemed his normal self. We finished a big tub of ice cream whilst watching four episodes of Billions back-to-back, then we played a video game until something I did triggered him, and he carried me off to bed like some marauding caveman. The things he did with my body showed him to be very normal. He left after breakfast, smiling at my reminder of my birthday dinner.
I stood abruptly. “Let’s go.”
Robert left a few bills on the table and led me out. A million thoughts raced through my head as we headed to the Stein-Bart Innovative Software office. The dashboard read a little past nine, and though I was doubtful that Max would have gone back to the office at this time, it did not hurt to start by ruling that option out. If he was not there, I would go to his apartment next. I would not stop until I found him. It cut me to the core to think that he was in some kind of trouble and had kept it from me. Ever since we’d been seeing each other, one of the things I had been truly happy about was how open we were with each other. And now to find that he had been hiding something from me just did not sit right with me.
I was out of the car before Robert could attempt to assist me. I rushed to the entrance and waited impatiently for him to punch in the security code to let us into the building. He nodded to the night watchman and we went into the elevator. I stared at the panel as we rose up the floors. At the fourth floor the doors swished open and Robert walked ahead of me down the corridor to the room where Max had his office. There was no light within. Robert switched on the light and the room illuminated. I must have been hoping to find him here, because my stomach flipped to find his chair empty.
“Damn. He’s not here. Let’s check his desk to see if there’s anything there that could give us a clue. A name. A number. Something.”
As I stood over him, anxious and full of dread, Robert began to open the drawers and look through the papers. Nothing seemed out of place as everything was neatly arranged, as was Max’s style. Everything except –
Robert reached for a blue folder that seemed to have been hastily shoved underneath a pile of papers in the bottom drawer. As he opened it, I felt my knees grow weak. I groped for the chair as spots swam before my eyes. I blinked several times. I had to be dreaming. Robert snapped the file shut and tried to put the file back into the drawer, but I snatched it off him.
“Don’t, Savannah,” Robert implored.
I completely ignored him. With shaking hands I went through the pictures inside the file.
I looked up at him, tears blurring my vision. “Max is cheating on me.”
“Max loves you.”
I tossed the pictures onto the desk bitterly. “Sure, he loves me.”
Robert stared at the pictures speechlessly. He looked just as shocked as me. The images of Max naked in bed with another woman were seared on my brain. They had looked as though they had just finished making love as his hair had that tousled look which I was all too familiar with.
“Damn! Max! What have you gotten yourself into, my friend? But now it all makes sense.”
I looked at Robert sharply. My voice was raspy with hurt and anger. “What makes sense?”
He looked at me with that strange expression from the bar once more, before he dropped his gaze. “It would be better to hear it from Max himself, Savannah. It’s not my place-”
In a flash I leaned forward across the desk. I saw the surprise in Robert’s eyes as I grabbed his tie and yanked him towards me.
“Max is not here to tell me what the hell is going on,” I snarled looking into his eyes, “so you had better start talking. Now, which part of this shitshow makes sense to you?” I bit out the last bit through gritted teeth.