It was almost 5 pm when they got back to the shore and docked the boat. They got into Ethan's car and zoomed off. Ethan dropped Sarah off two blocks from the company building. He drove away alone, while Sarah took a cab back to the office.
At the employee's car park, she saw her minivan parked in her usual spot. She could tell Felix had fixed it. Reaching into her handbag, she brought out her phone to call him. There were a couple of missed calls from him already. She called him back, and just as she thought, he had already repaired the car.
Sarah thanked him and promised to send him a check for the repairs. Just as she was about to hang up, Felix told her to hang on, saying there was something he felt she should know.
"What is it, Felix?" Sarah asked hurriedly. She didn't want to get home late again.
"Well, I may be wrong, but I think someone in your company may be coming for you," Felix said in a wary voice.
"How do you mean?" Sarah asked, dropping her handbag on the roof of her minivan.
"Your car's electrical system was intentionally vandalized, that was why you were unable to start it. And from what I know about your place of work, the parking lot looks safe. Only someone who works in your company could have been able to access and vandalize your car without the security noticing."
"Are you sure about this?" Probbed Sarah.
"Yes ma'am." Replied Felix. "I'd be careful from now on, if I were you, Mrs Dean, because whoever did it, sure knows their onions."
"Thanks for the heads up, Felix, I appreciate it," Sarah said, ending the call before Felix could say goodbye.
Leaning on her minivan, Sarah tried to make sense of what Felix just told her. Beads of sweat emerged on her face, as she wondered who at Beau Frank Cosmetics, could be so mischievous. Her eyes glittered as the obvious answer dawned on her.
Lucy.
"How desperate could this bitch be?" Sarah mused as she hurried to the reception to retrieve her car key.
She thought briefly about informing Ethan of Lucy's threats and actions but shelved the idea. Her relationship with Ethan was still not defined and she didn't want to scare him away.
***
When Sarah got home, she met Edward and Amy in the living room. Edward was nursing a bottle of beer in front of the TV, while Amy sat at a corner painting the picture of a giraffe she had drawn. Amy ran to hug her mother. Edward didn't flinch. He was still not talking to her.
"Have you been drinking mommy?" Amy asked innocently, as she perceived the smell of alcohol from her mother's breath.
"Yes, honey, but it was only a little," Sarah said.
"But why Mom?" Amy asked, looking worried.
"Oh, it's nothing to worry about honey, someone in mommy's office celebrated her birthday at work today, and I had a tiny glass of champagne," Lied Sarah.
"Alright Mom," Amy replied and cheered up.
Edward continued to act like he was engrossed with the program on TV, but he was listening intently to their conversation. He found Sarah's birthday party excuse a little bit phony but said nothing.
With Amy in tow, Sarah went into her room and changed into a t-shirt and jeans shorts. Returning downstairs, she set out to prepare dinner for her family. As she cooked, thoughts of Ethan and the surreal time they had shared on the Night Angel, kept on creeping into her mind. She felt like giving Ethan a call, but she cautioned herself. Edward was at home, and Amy was trailing her around. She knew she couldn't do that now.
When she was done cooking, she set the table and went to the living room to invite Edward to dinner. Not that he cared about eating together as a family, but still for the sake of their daughter Sarah went.
"Dinner is ready, Edward, do you mind joining us at the dining table?" Sarah asked gently, trying to sound as friendly as possible.
Edward looked at Sarah disdainfully for a minute, before rising from the couch he had been sitting on. Picking up his car key from the kitchen counter, Edward walked out of the house without uttering a word.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Sarah returned to the dining table and had dinner alone with her daughter. Afterward, she helped Amy with her assignments. She noticed her performance in school was dropping.
Tired from the day's activities, Amy dosed off while watching cartoons. Sarah carried the little angel to her room and tucked her in bed.
Finally, alone, Sarah went to retrieve her phone from her handbag. She was about to give Ethan a call when a text message appeared on her phone. It was from him.
Ethan: "Hey beautiful, are you free to talk?"
Sarah's face lit up with a smile as she read and reread the message. She fiddled with her phone's keypad for a while, drafting and redrafting her reply. She finally hit the send button when she was satisfied with what she had written.
Sarah: "Hi Prince Charming, I'm free to talk. I Have been thinking about you since I got home."
After a few seconds of waiting, her phone buzzed again. Sitting down at the dining table, Sarah opened the message.
They continued to trade texts for almost two hours, talking generally about everything and nothing in particular. Then out of nowhere, Ethan asked Sarah a question she wasn't ready for.
Ethan: "I'll be traveling next week to China for a series of business meetings. I want you to come along with me."
Stunned, Sarah was at a loss for words. She didn't know how to respond. On one hand, she wanted to spend more time with Ethan and she found the idea of a getaway appealing. But she also had Amy to worry about. Besides what was she going to tell Edward?
Sarah: "I'd love to, but unfortunately, I can't. My daughter and my husband, what do I tell them? Edward can't take proper care of our daughter."
Ethan: "It's not up for discussion. It's official, you're coming with me. Make your arrangements sweetheart. We're gonna have FUN."
***
Lucy was just about to start eating dinner when the duplicate phone Wesley gave her buzzed and came to live. She has been tracking Sarah's phone conversations so far, but nothing useful has come up. She had missed the call between Sarah and Felix earlier that day, as she was driving when the call happened.
Looking at the screen she saw Ethan's message to Sarah which read: "Hey beautiful are you free to talk?"
"Beautiful… beautiful?!!!" Repeated Lucy, in total unbelief. "Was Ethan out of his mind? How could he refer to a married woman who is older than him as beautiful?"
Still fuming, Lucy put away the bowl of salad she was nibbling on for dinner and settled on a couch to follow Ethan and Sarah's conversation. She was enraged that Ethan was sleeping with Sarah but his texting with her was driving her nuts.
As Ethan and Sarah continued to exchange texts, Lucy decided to put a call through to Ethan, to break off their conversation. The call went through but was immediately cut off by Ethan. Lucy could not believe it. She was his assistant for crying out loud.
She was already angry with Ethan for not picking up her call, but when she saw Ethan's message inviting Sarah to travel to China with him, she blew a fuse and lost control of herself.
Tossing the phone aside, Lucy began to tear her apartment apart in rage. She broke plates, smashed the television, scattered the chairs in the living room and tore the drapes as well. She continued to vent her wrath on the apartment until she was almost out of breath. Then she sat on the floor and cried like a child.
Arrangement or no arrangement, she didn't think it was fair for Ethan to treat her like this. True he had met her at a club where she had been a stripper, fancied her and offered her the official position of personal assistant as well as the unofficial position of bedmate. The pay and fringe benefits were great and Lucy went for it. But now her feelings for Ethan were overriding her.
Finding her way to the bathroom, Lucy splashed water on her face and tried to compose herself. Lucy wiped her face with a towel and looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. All she saw was rage.
"This is not a time to cry," Lucy replied to herself over and over again, as she regained control of herself. She knew she had to do something fast.
Sitting on the edge of her bed, Lucy brainstormed. After about thirty minutes of crafting and discarding ideas, she finally struck gold. She knew this plan would work, but she needed to act fast.