Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. No copyright infringement is intended. ©2024
Thank you to Mel C and SassyNoles!
Thank you for the great reviews, favorites, and follows. I appreciate you all continuing on this ride with me. I promised you all a bumpy ride and that's exactly what you're going to get. LOL
And… here we go…
Chapter 22: Somebody I Used to Know
Esme
"I'm really proud of Edward, Es." Carlisle grinned waving Edward's business plan in his hand. "This is better than some of the so-called professional ones I've read." He opened the folder again and flipped through the pages.
It wasn't like we didn't think Edward didn't have it him—he just needed to realize he did. We had never been the type of parents to push our children into careers that we thought were good for them—we've always wanted to encourage them in whatever they chose. It was hard to watch our son aimlessly walk through the dark.
That was the thing about parenting: there's really no manual. Sometimes we miss the mark, hoping to recover quickly without leaving permanent damage.
"I'm proud of our entrepreneur too." I cocked my head to the side, smiling. "He's shown his potential since he was a little boy. Remember his little greeting card business and how he took the time to draw the design on the front of every card?"
"Yeah. I remember when he brought his first few samples to us and asked for our opinions." Carlisle nodded in agreement. "Then he took them to school the next day and came home with several orders for Valentine's Day." He chuckled.
"Oh, my goodness, I definitely remember that." I placed my hand over my heart. "I stayed up half the night helping him. We were both tired the following day, but it was worth it to see him committed even at eleven years old."
Carlisle's smile grew brighter. He'd always doted on all of our kids. "I have to admit, he'd lost his way for a little while and that's to be expected, what teenager or young adult hasn't, God only knows the mess I did—" he quickly shook his head, as if trying to shake a memory away— "but I turned out okay and I know Edward will too." He laid the folder on the coffee table in front of him.
My husband wasn't seeing himself clearly at all. He turned out to be much more than okay. I couldn't have asked for a better husband or father for our children.
"Sweetheart, you've always been a great example to our children." I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
He turned to face me and cupped my face with his hand. "I couldn't have done it without you, Es. You're my rock." He captured my lips with his in promise for more to come. He pulled away with lustful eyes. "Wanna turn in early tonight?"
I bit my lip, quickly stood up, and grabbed his hand.
Over thirty-five years of marriage and he still had me feigning for him.
CCCCCCCCC
"Es, baby, will you please turn on the TV? I'd like to catch the rebroadcast of the news. Aro's going to be on there talking about a new software we created," Carlisle said from the bed.
"Okay, honey, give me a second," I replied from the bathroom, drying my wet hair with the towel. I walked out of our en suite bathroom over to the mantel above the fireplace and picked up the remote. "Here you go, sweetheart." I leaned down and pecked his lips, handing him the clicker.
Our lovemaking started in our bed and continued when we took a shower together. Just because Carlisle was fifty-nine years old didn't mean a thing. He was still in shape with muscular arms and a six-pack. He was built like the baseball player Michael Lorenzen.
"Thanks, love." He ran his hand down my back, settling on my behind, and gently squeezed it, smirking.
I snorted a laugh and shook my head. "I'm going to grab some grapes and cheese out of the refrigerator. Did you want anything?"
"Grapes and cheese are fine with me." He nodded while he turned on the television. "Oh, will you please bring me some water, too?"
"Sure."
I covered my sage green, lacey romper with the matching rope and walked down the stairs to the kitchen.
I rinsed off a few bushels of red grapes, grabbed some white cheddar cheese out of the refrigerator drawer, and put it all on a plate. I'd headed for the stairs when I realized I had forgotten Carlisle's water.
"Esme!" Carlisle yelled out loudly, with urgency.
I accidentally dropped the glass water bottle caught off guard by the way Carlisle called my name.
"Shit." I looked down at the green shards around my feet, unsure which way to step without cutting myself.
Carlisle raced down the steps. "Baby, what happened? Are you okay?" I nodded as he rounded on me, looked at the shattered glass, and took the platter of grapes and cheese, setting it on the counter. "Hold on." He held up his index finger. He came back with gym shoes on his feet, with the broom and dustpan in his hand. As he started to sweep, I stood on my tiptoes, trying to stay out of the way.
Before I could move, he picked me up bridal style and set me down on the couch. "Sorry for starling you." He leaned down and kissed me on the nose.
I sighed and ran my fingers through my partially wet hair. "What was so important anyway?"
"Kathy was on the news."
"Really?" I smiled. She was always a part of some type of after-school project for children. I wasn't in the least bit surprised. "What kind of program has she started now?"
Carlisle slowly shook his head with a stern expression. "It's not good, Es."
"What do you mean?" I frowned.
"Here, let me turn on the TV so you can hear for yourself." He grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. He flipped through a few channels until he settled on ABC 7 Chicago 24/7. "They're running it again." He turned the volume up as he stood next to me.
"Libertyville College Preparatory High School's Vice Principal, Katherine Davis has been arrested for allegedly having sexual relationships with several students. It has been reported that the parents of some of these students notified Principal Nicholas Goodwin, along with superintendent Victor Tate before going to the Libertyville Police."
I gasped, holding my stomach as cameras and reporters swarmed around her barking one question after the other, with microphones in her face, as the police officers walked her out of the school in handcuffs.
The school campus looked like a mess with parents rushing their children to their cars, while some stood in crowds hollering obscenities.
The anchorwoman continued. "According to Detective Hank Stone, there have been several male minors that have come forward, even showing proof of contact via social media from Ms. Davis."
The screen switched to a tall guy who appeared to be in his late fifties, with salt and pepper hair, in his uniform, behind a podium with other officers around him. He raised his hand to stop the plethora of questions from the reporters. "As you know Libertyville has a crime rate of 8.1% which is below the average of 22.7%. We are a small town, more like family, where everyone knows each other." He frowned, pointing to himself. "I want you to know I take personal offense to this type of behavior, especially when it comes to our kids. We have prided ourselves on making this a safe place for our children, and as long as I am the chief, it will continue to be. We have two of our best detectives on the case, Rachel Adams and Hank Stone." He paused briefly and looked over at who I assumed were the two individuals he just mentioned. "This precedent takes allegations like this seriously, so please know that we will do everything within our power and that is legal to bring resolution to this matter as quickly as possible." He waved his hand to the crowd and walked away.
One of my hands clenched the arm of the couch while the other continued to hold my stomach. I had a glassy stare as the reporter moved on to the next story as if it were nothing.
Of course, it was just another hot story to them but to me, it was devastation.
Katherine Davis and I first met in our freshmen year at Lewis University, in undergrad psychology. Since it seemed like we kept picking some of the same classes, we introduced ourselves and had been friends all through undergrad.
When she chose education for grad school and I chose optometry, we didn't see each other as much. But when our busy study schedules allowed, we met at one of the local restaurants near the campus.
"Carlisle?" I finally looked up at him. "I—I don't—I'm at a loss of words." I stumbled over my sentence.
He sat down next to me, putting his arm around my shoulder, and pulled me closer to him. "Now you see why I called your name the way I did. I was beyond shocked when I first saw it. Do you think it's true, Es?" His eyebrows raised with concern.
I cleared my throat which was suddenly dry. "It can't be. I've known her for forty years. This has to be some kind of mistake, right?"
"I don't know. It's not looking too good for her." He shrugged one shoulder. "They must have some pretty solid evidence for them to arrest her."
I didn't know the law to that degree but obviously, whatever they had, it was substantial enough for them to walk her out while school was in session.
"I guess you're right." I nodded in agreement. "But if it is true—" I rubbed my forehead and shook my head. "Oh my God, those children." I briefly covered my mouth with the palm of my hand.
"Yeah, that's the hardest part." Carlisle gently rubbed my shoulder. "I'm sure the parents are angry, as they should be. I'd be if that happened to one of our kids, but those children are the ones that have it the worst."
"Why would someone want to do something like that to a child? You have adults that give themselves away willingly, every day." I waved my hands. "Kathy is a nice-looking woman. I'm sure she could have any man she wanted." I stared at nothing and shook my head. "I just don't understand."
"Love, you wouldn't understand it because you don't think like that. Plus, we're not sure if it's true or not. For all we know, a pissed-off student trumped up a lie because they failed a class or something." Carlisle kissed me on the cheek. "I'm going to finish cleaning up the glass then head to bed. Are you coming?" He stood up and walked toward the kitchen.
He had a good point, especially with how advanced technology was but ruining her career over something as trivial as a possible failed grade seemed a bit extreme to me.
"I'll be up shortly." I turned my head, looking for my purse. "Honey, have you seen my purse?"
"It's on the console table in the foyer."
"Okay, thanks." I stood and padded to the foyer.
My purse was exactly where I'd left it when I arrived home. It had been one appointment after the other all day at the eye shop that I was barely able to take lunch. The first thing I did was kick my shoes off and drop everything in my hand, including my purse.
I dug my phone out and continued down the hallway to my office.
I closed the door behind me and scrolled through my contacts and clicked on her name. The phone rang three times before she finally answered.
"Hello?" Her tone was just above a whisper.
"Eliana, wake up, girl, it's me."
"Esme?" She cleared her throat. "What's wrong?"
"Nothi—"
"Did something happen to the kids or Carlisle?"
"No, Eli. Everyone is fine."
"What about your grandchildren?"
"Everyone is fine," I repeated, chuckling.
"So, nothing is wrong?" She sounded more like herself now.
"No. I've said that already, girl." I rolled my eyes.
"Okay." She paused. "Do you realize it's after ten o'clock?"
"Yes."
"And there's no emergency?"
"Nope." I popped the p.
"Esme Michelle Cullen, have you lost your mind? You know I'm in bed by eight."
I sighed. I knew we were almost sixty, but damn, she went to bed too early.
"Yeah, yeah, I know but I wanted to check if you saw the news."
"Didn't I just tell you I've been in bed since eight, so how would I have seen the news? Plus, you know I don't look at that depressing mess anyway. So, wait a minute you, called me to ask if I watched the news? Girl—"
"They arrested Kathy," I blurted out, cutting off her rant.
"Who? What?"
"They arrested Katherine. It was on the news. Turn it on so you can see it."
"Oh, my—for what?" She tsked. "I don't feel like getting out of my bed to get the remote."
"Get the damn remote, Eli," I fussed back.
"Okay, okay. Give me a sec." I heard ruffling. "What channel?"
"Seven."
"There, the news is on now, but I may have missed it. Are you going to tell me what she got arrested for?"
"For allegedly having sexual relationships with several high school students." I lowered my head as I ran my fingers through my hair.
She snorted a laugh.
"Eli, this is not funny." I paced behind my desk.
"I know it's not, but I've always told you there was something about her that I didn't like."
"You have, but it's never been anything like this." I plopped down in the chair.
"You're right, but she always seemed just so… fake."
It was my turn to snort out a laugh. "Eli, how can you say that when you barely spoke with her anytime we were together? You weren't the friendliest with her either."
"To be fair, Esme, you're the one that's always giving people the benefit of the doubt when they don't deserve it." She chuckled.
"But I've known her for years, Eli." My knee bounced.
"You knew the college Katherine. It had been years since the two of you had spoken before she moved back to Chicago. And come to think of it, did she tell why she left that private high school on the Upper East Side in Manhattan? What was the name again?"
"The Dalton School." I sighed heavily.
"That's it. Think about it for a minute, Esme. Why would you leave a prestigious school like that to come to be a vice principal at Libertyville? Don't get me wrong, Libertyville is a good school, but it's not on the same level as Dalton and I'm sure she took a serious pay cut, too."
As much as I wanted to dismiss what Eliana said and assume Kathy's innocence, I couldn't ignore some key points she brought up. Kathy never explained why she really left New York.
When we were in undergrad her teaching in New York was all she talked about. She wanted to leave Chicago for the Big Apple and never look back.
And even if things didn't work out at that school, there were a million other schools there she could've worked at.
I rubbed my bottom lip, putting my optimism to the side for the moment, trying to remember what Katherine said about New York. But nothing came. When I initially asked her, she brushed over it, never really answering the question. At the time, it didn't seem like a big deal, but now…
"Esme, are you still there?" Eliana pulled me out of my reverie.
"Yeah, I'm here. I was just thinking." I pulled the phone away from my ear to look at the time. "It's almost eleven o'clock, so I'll let you go back to sleep. Thanks for listening. I'm sorry I woke you."
"Es, you know I don't care about that. I just wanted to give you a hard time," she teased. "Get some rest. Let's do lunch tomorrow."
"I'll pick you up from the boutique at noon." I smiled.
"It's a date. Good night."
"Good night." I ended the call.
As tired as I was from my busy day, I wasn't sure if sleep was going to claim me anytime soon because of the many questions that swirled around in my head.
A/N: This note is a little different than my norm. One of our lovely author's Deb Drotuno Rotuno could use a helping hand. She has been hospitalized and is currently unable to work. Like many of us, she doesn't get paid if she doesn't work.
A group of kind-hearted authors decided to create a group on FB called Deb's Auction, to auction off books, Twilight Themed cups, greeting cards, beta work/prereading, one shots, outtakes, future takes, a new story, etc. There are a lot of lovely things that have been donated.
The auction goes live at 9:00am EST, Saturday February 17, 2024. You may donate by bidding on an item (s). You also have the option donate without bidding or you can do both.
If you have any questions, please reach out to any of the administrators: Pamela Lorraine, Cheryl Sunshine Edmonds, or Jenny Rarden.
Let's show Deb how much we love and appreciate her!