The Missing Piece

EDDIE

“She got what was coming to her, Grandma,” I said. “I already explained my situation with Lydia with her, yet she still chose to make a scene in public for that matter. If she’d kept the fact that she was my fiancee a secret as it had been, no one would have cause to attack her.”

In the background, I heard shuffling. “Let me speak with him,” my grandfather Dennis Quinn said and soon, he was breathing into the phone.

“Eddie,” he said firmly. “Don’t try to test my patience. Did you forget that we had an agreement with the family of that girl? You’ve been with her for three years! She is your fiancée and that makes it your duty to stand by her.”

“Grandpa –” I began but he cut me off with a hiss.

“Come to the family estate for dinner tonight. And bring your fiancée with you.”

He didn’t wait for a reply before hanging up. I didn’t even realize I had stopped in my driveway until the call ended. I sat there for a moment, my fingers drumming distractedly on the steering wheel.

I thought of Adrienne. I’d sent her messages earlier but she was yet to reply to them. What was she playing at? I knew that these was one of those trucks of hers. Another way to get attention from me and it was getting on my nerve.

Couldn’t she just see it? I could never love her.

Frustrated, I hit the call button, listening to it as it rang for a while before she finally picked up. “Are you busy?” I asked as soon as the call connected.

“Is there any reason you’re calling me, Eddie?” she responded dryly.

I ran a hand over my face, finally feeling exhaustion settle deep in my bones. “Why did you pick a fight with Lydia today? I already explained everything about my relationship with you. She’s carrying my child and –”

“You invited me to that event, Eddie,” she cut in. “But does it even matter? Your dear Lydia was the one who picked a fight with me, but of course, she’s the saint now.”

“Adrienne, don’t lie to me,” I snapped, irritation clouding my voice. “I know you hate Lydia. You will do anything to humiliate her.”

But Adrienne laughed. A quiet sound that got under my skin for some reason. I saw red, my fingers gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. I was seething with anger, but my grandfather’s words still echoed in my head.

Heaving a sigh, I tried to let the anger fall away. “You need to come with me to the Quinn’s family estate tonight.” I said finally.

“I’m busy,” came her reply a moment later. There was a firmness in her voice that surprised me. Was she serious right now? Was there ever a time that Adrienne refused me? I dismissed it immediately. She was doing this to make me feel bad and it wasn’t going to work.

“It’s my grandfather’s order,” I said and the next thing I heard was the dial of the beep tone. She’d hung up. I stared at the screen in astonishment. It had probably been a mistake, I told myself. Adrienne would never hang up on me on purpose.

But when I called again, she didn’t pick up.

The anger I felt before returned like wildfire. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I looked up at the house, seething. She had to be inside waiting for me if she was playing these games, then it meant she knew I’d come to demand answers soon.

I chuckled dryly, trying to quell the anger inside me as I stepped out of the car and began walking straight into the villa home. She should have returned home after the gala drama. After all, I couldn’t put it past her to stay away from me for too long.

But the house was dark when I stepped inside. I frowned. “Adrienne,” I called out firmly, moving to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water I didn’t even know I needed. Once I’d drunk to my satisfaction, I tried again but there was no response.

A thought rose in my mind that I could be the only one at home, that maybe Adrienne never returned here s I thought but I quickly pushed the thought aside. Adrienne had proven many times in the past that she couldn’t live without me for more than a few days.

Once she realized my attention was waning – not that I ever showed any interest whatsoever in her – she’d start looking for ways to make me notice her again. Of course, they never worked, except show me how terribly desperate she was.

But today, it finally dawned on me that maybe she wasn’t playing games. Or maybe she was. Usually, on the days she was expecting me home, I'd find her curled up on the sofa, a book slipping from her hand with the TV low in the background – half asleep while waiting for me.

Today, there was nothing like that.

When I turned on the light and looked at the sofa, only emptiness and silence met me. A shadow of an emotion flickered in my heart. I flicked on every light, searched every room, but there was no sign of Adrienne.

She wasn’t home, she’d nit used the unlimited black card I gave her to check into any hotel. And now, she wants answering her phone. Where on earth was she? And how far was she willing to take this?

I chuckled again. This was how she going to act? Throwing a fit over a separation that wasn’t ven official. We both knew that although the person I loved was Lydia, I couldn’t be with her. My grandparents would never allow that.

Still, she was throwing a fit.

I was going to let her, I concluded. My relationship with Lydia was only temporary for now – at least, as long as my grandparents were still alive – Adrienne was my official fiancée and soon to be wife, that wouldn’t change.

I crashed into the bed, rubbing my temples as I felt the beginning of a headache coming on. I walked into the closet, only then did I notice that she’d moved all of her clothes leaving only the ones I bought for her.

What was the meaning of this?

I didn’t want to feel that our shared space – although I never spent much time here – felt colder than it was. If this was how she wanted to go with things, then I wouldn’t fight her. In the end, she was going to come crawling back. She always did.

With that thought in mind, I jumped into the shower, hoping the water could calm my fraying nerves but it didn’t help. All I could think about was what happened between us the other day. The feel of her body on my skin.

Although I’d been upset, it still felt good. She felt good and now that I was calm enough to think about it, I realized it had been her first time. Had I been too rough? I stiffened. I shouldn’t have done what I did but even now, I didn’t regret it.

I wanted more. I wanted her.

I shoved the thought away and tried to think of something else, but all that I could think of was her.