A/N: Well hello guys, I know its been a while since I wrote. A lot of things have been happening with me getting ready to go back to school Monday and applying to colleges. But I'm back and we are gonna get this train crazy and rolling. Did you guys see summerslam last night, I caught it on a live stream( the price of ppv's are too much for my taste) and I liked it, some slow parts but I liked it. Before I start I wanted to give you an update on my other story, Need You in My Arms. Put it on hiatus earlier in the year because I felt that no one except maybe four or five people truly cared about it. But I realize that writing these stories should fun and I shouldn't write to get a lot of reviews…though that would be nice. But I got an inbox from tdelpolito and he wanted more so my news is the latest chapter of Need you in My Arms is coming SOON! Oh, and thanks to Katie Woo for reviewing. One I gotta tell you I read your stories and they are the bomb (quick plug!) and two, no Barbra and Evan are not Kelly Kelly and Evan Bourne. At first their names were going to be Amanda and Howard, but I wanted a change. Anyways, let's get to the story…things are going to get interesting.
Chapter 3: The Breakdown
Things had been going fine with her and Adam since she got back from all those meeting with Barbra. It's been about a week and a half and everything seems exactly the way that it used to be. Adam was so kind and loving that Angel almost questioned why the hell she was skeptical of him in the first place. Her family must have gotten everything messed up. People make mistakes, ya know. But She still did her weekly banking "ritual" with Evan, just to be sure everything was on the up and up.
Angel laid content in bed watching the latest episode of SNL when she heard a small beep throughout the room. She noticed it was Adam's phone and was about to grab it when he intercepted it. She hardly noticed he had come in the room and after a few seconds he laid his phone on the nightstand before proceeding to go to the bathroom to take a shower. Angel initially shrugged it off and went back to watching the show. But a few minutes later she glanced over to find that cellphone still there just tempting her. She tried to focus, but as the minutes ticked by the fact that Adam's blasted phone was right there staring at her. She glanced back at the bathroom door and heard the shower going off full force. Knowing her husband Angel knew that he would take a long shower whenever he was home. So she gave into the temptation and grabbed the phone quickly but not before memorizing where Adam had placed it.
Angel quickly broke the code to his phone and all the access she needed was right at her disposal. She tapped on his messages and searched for the inbox. It turns out the last message he got was from a girl named Hazel. She told him that she missed him to which he said he missed her too. That set off a instant red flag…she knew that friends could say things like that to one another but something just seemed very off about the way that that was all said. Then they went off into a mini convo but what caught angel's eye was when she asked him to meet him at the Tavern tomorrow at 3. She had a feeling something was up and went fully on her gut instinct. She exited out of the phone and placed it right back where she found it. She then reached for her own phone and preceded to text Barbra this newly found lead. Let's see if she can figure out what is happening.
She tried to rack her mind around if she knew a Hazel and she swore she didn't. She was ready to scream when she felt some steam come through her bringing the young woman back to reality. Shit. Adam's in the next room and if angel was smart she would play her cards right and continue the dumb wife act. Barbra texted back a half hour later telling me that she was free for tomorrow and would go to the place and record the whole encounter. That made Angel feel a little better and she tried to relax though hard at first she eventually dozed off into a peaceful slumber.
It was 3:15 p.m. when Barbra pulled up to the Tavern. She wanted to come slightly late as to make herself seem inconspicuous. She didn't know Adam or the girl he was with but it would seem odd to get there before them and leave after them. She sent a quick text to Angel letting her know that she was there and the plan was a go. She was parked across the street and walked slowly trying to scope the outside crowd to see if she could find her target. Long behold there he was and he was with….well she'll be damned. He was with Hazel Taylor…a girl Barbra had gone to college with. Small world. They hadn't been best friends but they had talked to one another nonetheless. This might make the plan go easier than expected. Now normally Barbra would go stake out on the inside of the restaurant but maybe the fact that she knew the girl might work to her advantage. She flipped down her sunglasses and crossed the street before being met by the hostess. Barbra asked her for a seat outside and she sat me about to tables away from the pair. Barbra took off her sunglasses and made sure to be facing Hazel so if she were to look over she would notice my face. The waiter came rather quickly and so she ordered an apple martini and a chicken salad. As the order was being given in Hazel looked up and looked a Barbra for a second. A sign of recognition clear on her face.
After the waiter left Hazel saw Barbra put her bags down and head towards the bathroom. She turned back to be met with Adam's concerned eyes. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"No…I just…I think I know that woman who just went to the bathroom," she said with slight worry on her face.
Adam didn't comprehend why she was so worried about everything. "Okay, but that doesn't explain…"
"Adam do you know anyone by the name of Barbra Mitchell?" He assumed that that was the other woman's name. He racked his name for a minute before coming up with nothing. He shook his head and she calmed down a little.
"Why would you care if I knew her?"
"Because…well given our situation we can't really run into people you might know. Actually I don't care if you don't know her its your wife I'm worried about."
He nodded in understanding. He knew that by now he was in a bind and it was getting harder and harder to get himself out of the situation. But at the moment everything was fine and he was convinced that Angel didn't know who that woman was because they know all the same people. "Honey, its fine. She probably won't. Why don't you invite your friend to have lunch with us."
She smiled, "Really"
He nodded and she got up to head to the bathroom. She turned around and mouthed be right back. She walked inside towards the back of the restaurant where the bathrooms were located. When she entered she looked up and smiled seeing Barbie right in front of her washing her hands. She walked up and leaned against the sink. "Well..well…well its been a while."
Barbra turned and smiled, it certainly had been a while since college. "It certainly has been…come here," She said with her arms wide open for a hug, "so I would love to talk but its weird catching up in the bathroom." Hazel nodded and after drying their hands the two girls were off. Hazel offered for Barbra to sit with her and Barbra agreed. But little did she know that a devious grin grew wide on her face. Barbra went to her waiter and told him about the table change. He said it was ok so the two were off.
Hazel reached the table first and grabbed Barbra's purse and a chair and brought it over. Barbra was walking slowly getting to the table. One would think that after years in this business that one would get comfortable in this situation, but she still gets nervous just like she did on the first day. Plus she is never in a situation where she comes into direct contact with her target. That is some dangerous territory. But I guess she felt like being risky today.
Adam stood up and smiled. He was very tall, much taller than he looked on tv, "Hi, I'm Adam."
Well Barbra can definitely see why Angel wanted him, or why Hazel wanted him for that matter. The man was a looker. And he gave off the feeling that he was a genuinely good person. But then that brings up the question of why would he be in this situation. She had a theory given that she knew Hazel, but didn't want to jump to anything. She pushed all the thoughts in her mind and smiled extending her hand which Adam shook, "Barbra, nice to meet you." She smiled and they all sat down.
The three began to talk for a few minutes, but Barbra mostly stayed quiet. Her recorder was on and she wanted to make sure it heard everything. As the food came Hazel began to notice how quiet her friend was. She figured she was nervous. Barbra was always the shy one of the two, so Hazel turned to her and got her involved in the conversation, "So what brings you here today?"
"Oh nothing I'm on my lunch hour just trying to get something in my system relax, catch up on the news," she said coolly. It wasn't like she was lying. It was 90% true except she wasn't on her lunch hour and she was here to see if these two are total sluts.
Hazel expected that to come out of her mouth. Last time she checked Barbra got a job at a newspaper , and knowing how passionate Barbra is it was to be expected. What a nerd! She thought. But Hazel feigned surprised saying, "That's cool…Still doing journalism?"
"Kind of, Actually I started my own investigation company a few years back. So I guess its more hands on then written," Barbra said. Hazel nodded. But that wasn't what Barbra cared about. When she said her occupation she noticeably saw Adam get nervous out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't going to point it out but she could tell that he had been nervous. He wasn't really that talkative for the rest of lunch. It was almost like he was in his own world. Poor kid.
Hazel smiled at the other woman. She seemed interested in the prospect of her friend being an investigator and wanted to get the details on everything. Hazel was always one to gossip and loved it when she got dirt on someone else, "Wow, so look at you then. Well spill what case are you working on now?"
Barbra smiled. Of course she would ask that. The nosy bitch. It was getting a little harder to keep cool. Barbra used to talk to Hazel in college and that's all. She knew exactly what she was about and knew that she would want to get an upper hand on other people by any means. "Well I can't disclose those types of things. But maybe I'll tell you one day," she said as everyone at the table laughed. Barbra knew she wouldn't have to tell her though, or Adam for that matter. She'll know when shit hits the fan. "Anyways enough about me, you told me you wanted to live in LA. What brings you to Tampa?"
"Well I got this awesome job at the DA's office that I couldn't refuse," she said smiling brightly. She was of course extremely proud of herself and all of her "accomplishments".
But she needed proof to suspect something was going on. Barbra figured she would turn up the heat and find out what these two really are. A spoken confession. If she got one then she knew that this investigation will be a general success, and its just getting started. So she asked the question that she knew would get her an answer. Feigning both happiness and confusion she asked, "Nice…so what are you guys, coworkers?"
Adam looked nervous and ate some food to avoid answering her question. Hazel, however, had no shame in her game and admitted proudly, "Uhh no. were sort of dating. Plus Adam's a wrestler."
Barbra smiled. Jackpot! She stuck to the act and acted surprised, "Ohh yeah, I knew your face looked somewhat familiar." Adam gave her a weak smile before looking back down at the food. The rest of the lunch was pretty uneventful. But to her it was a success amd would help her when getting new leads. But she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the man, he seemed nice and somewhat ridden with guilt. But if anything she felt worse for Angel who is going to be devastated when she finds out about this.
It has been a few weeks into the investigation. Barbra knew she had them caught from jump street, but she always needed evidence. Sitting in front of her were different tapes, images, as well as the audio from lunch about a month ago. That has to be sufficient evidence if you had it. She reached for an unmarked folder and carefully placed the evidence inside so it can be sealed away and placed it under the tab of Copeland.
Now here came the difficult part. She knew that she had to call Angel sooner or later to let her know of her findings. But it was pretty difficult. That was one thing about being a private investigator…most of the time your giving bad news and its difficult to be placed in the position where you have to be the one to deliver the bad news. That was the stress that came with the job though. But this case seemed somewhat different. Through phone calls and check up meetings Barbra found herself growing close to Angel. She was sweet and you can see that she how much she genuinely loved her husband and was hurt that he would try to hurt her. Despite meeting on rough circumstances the girl seemed nice enough that maybe they could pursue a friendship afterwards . But for now its time to separate professional and personal, though in a business like this it is hard to do.
She reached for the phone and was nervous as I rang. It felt like forever that the phone was ringing. God, will this girl ever pick up. But she didn't her phone went straight to voicemail. Barbra hung up and decided to text her would be best. Hey girl, I got some news for you. Next week is really an investigation week so I have no real appointments, but I need you to come in ASAP .Well there it goes, sent. Barbra breathed a sigh that was mixed in with both relief and worry. She worked in this business long enough to know that these things never turn out well.
Angel walked up to the office building two days later. She would have got there earlier, but she had business to handle at the bank. Angel was all calm, cool, and collected…that was until she reached Barbra's office. She knocked on the door a few times before Barbra answered it with a sad smile on her face. This made Angel a little nervous, the sadness of the older woman spread through the room like a disease and quickly crept up on Angel. Barbra was able to muster up a small smile and said, "Hi Angel, Nice to see you again."
Angel nodded and gave Barbra a big hug. She wanted Barbra to feel comfort in knowing everything was alright…but she also was trying to tell herself the same thing. Barbra pointed to the chair. As Angel walked she felt her feet getting heavier. She could hear a loud banging and realized that it was her heart pounding against her chest. But her eyes told a whole different story. They looked completely calm as if nothing could faze her….well we all know that that is certainly far from the truth.
Barbra took one calming breath, "So, I'm assuming you know why you're here," Angel just nodded before she continued, "Well I'll be honest I have been dreading this conversation. But I have composed through all of my evidence and made it into one slideshow/video. If you can direct your attention towards the monitor. Angel was frozen in her spot and refused to look at the screen to her left. She wanted to know but deep down she knew that if she doesn't watch she can continue to tell herself that nothing is going on and they can keep up. She felt a hand come gently on her shoulder and looked over to see Barbra giving her a supportive smile. You have to do this Angel. How long can you live a lie? With one shaky breath she turned to the screen and would come to look at what will be the demise of her relationship.
Angel stared blankly as she heard audio from the Tavern, images of them kissing and hugging. Angel soildered through the video staring at the screen with an emotionless expression. Barbra could barely take any more of it and knew she got her point across, so she turned off the screen before the video can inflict anymore damage into the girl. Angel just sat there not moving, barely blinking. Barbra knelt in front of her and just stared at the woman and rubbed her thumb against her knuckles showing her support. "Hun, I'm sorry that you had to see all of that. I don't know how he could be such an idiot. But from the time we watched them they were never alone or at the other's house so the possibility of them sleeping together in the time we watched them is zero to none. Still it is clear that they have some form of a romantic relationship and that is wrong. I'm so sorry you had to find out this way,"
Angel blocked everything out. She heard Barbra's words but at this moment they meant nothing to her. She could only see black. One solidary tear fell down her face. This was all real and there is nothing that she can do to possibly stop it. Barbra pulled her in for the tightest hug ever, but Angel hardly felt it. It was all too real. Why? Why was all she could think of. She leant into Barbra's hug and began shaking as tears spilled from her eyes. She allowed herself to get emotional and it showed. After all these years her relationship has gotten to a point where everything has fallen apart and she doesn't even know if she should go on with it. Angel couldn't believe that at 25 years old she got her first heartbreak by the man she thought loved her the most.
So did you like it? Hopefully so, enjoy RAW tonight! Remember Read, Review, and recommend this to your friends. Enjoy and until next time!