Glimmers (15 page)

From the hall, I hear Elliott rattle some plates together. He rounds the corner and places them into the sink. He leans against the center island and crosses his arms tightly to his chest. He stares at me for another second before finally asking, “What’s going on with you, Paige? I’m really beginning to worry. First, you’re cooking these fantastic meals, and now you look different, good, but different. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I just don’t understand the reason.”

“So I’m wearing my hair down. It’s not a big deal. I want to look good for my husband. Is there anything wrong with that?” I ask, while drying my hands on a dishtowel, and in the sexiest way I can manage, fling it back on the counter.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” he says, as I am sauntering in his direction. I pause and tilt my head so my hair caresses my shoulder. I run my hands up his chest and wrap them around his neck. His embrace tightens and his mouth is mere inches away from mine. I can barely hear him whisper, “Why don’t you cancel on Hailey?”

“Ewww Mom, Dad do you mind? I have company here,” Liam declares as he and his new girlfriend, Maggie, prance through the kitchen.

Wait a minute, are they holding hands? They’re giggling about something Liam has just whispered into her long blonde hair. She looks at him adoringly before leaving the room. Puppy love, I remember it well.

Elliott and I grin, while slowly moving apart, and I return to my left-over food, packing it in plastic containers. I’m feeling kind of tingly and giddy. Wait a minute, would that be because of the wine or my husband? Not that I don’t still adore Elliott, I do. I guess after having two children, our love life went from spicy to lightly-seasoned.

I submerge my hands back into the sink and watch the water stream down and over the dirty dishes, bubbles dancing and bobbing along. How calming.

Elliott is watching me. I don’t even have to turn around to know he is looking back and forth between my almost empty wineglass and the back of my head.

“I’ll agree to drop this for now, as long as you promise to let me help you,” he says.

“All right, but please stop worrying. I’m sure I’m just out of sorts. You know, wedding stress and all,” I say, searching under the sink for an S.O.S. pad.

“Except this isn’t
your
wedding. It’s Hailey’s. You shouldn’t be stressed over your sister’s wedding.”

“You have a good point there, but you know how much I’ve been helping her. She needs me. Now, where is it? It’s a mess under here; I really must get rid of some of this stuff.”

“What are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for something to get this bit of food off the casserole dish,” I reply, shoving bottles of cleaner around the cabinet. “Ah, here it is.”

I lather up my S.O.S. pad and scour the edges of a pan.

Elliott approaches me from behind and wraps his arms playfully around my body, squeezing me tight. I feel immobilized! After all, my hands are covered in soapy bubbles! I need to rinse my hands before I can hug him . . . except, maybe I don’t have to. Strange, I find I am able to stop doing dishes and relax into his chest, bubbles and all.

“This is nice, you’re not pushing me away to dry your hands,” he says, nibbling on my neck and making me laugh.

“Who knew I was capable of something so spontaneous.”

“Spontaneous, sounds interesting. What’d I miss?” inquires Hailey, rounding the corner. “Oh, am I interrupting a moment?”

“Don’t worry about it. You didn’t interrupt anything we can’t pick up again later,” Elliott says and releases me.

“We’ll just have to see about that,” I say, as he swiftly hugs Hailey and leaves the room.

“So Liam has himself a little girlfriend? I just met her in the hall. She’s a cutie,” Hailey says, peering over to my empty glass of wine and sticking out her lower lip. “I’m hurt. You started without me. And here I brought this bottle for us to share.”

“Hailey, the way I feel tonight, I may need to open that one too.”

“Rough day?” she asks and reaches into the cupboard for a glass.

“You have no idea.”

“Well then, let me help you,” she says and pours red nectar into both our glasses.

“Thanks,” I say and watch as Hailey starts looking around the kitchen with her nose in the air.

“It smells yummy in here! Oh, did you hire a personal chef for tonight? What’s the occasion?” she asks, still sniffing about.

“Funny one, but no. It may surprise you to hear, I am quite an accomplish cook. Don’t look so shocked,” I say. “There’s plenty of food left. Or let me guess, you probably ate something on your way over, as usual.”

“Yes, I did. No offense, but you’re not exactly the best cook,” she says, dragging a stool up to the counter top. “But, that smells so good I may actually have to try it.”

“All right, and then you will have to eat your words,” I say and pull out the containers of food.

“Paige, I really appreciate your helping me with all of the wedding plans. I hope it hasn’t been too much of a burden,” she pauses, looking almost sad. “I can’t believe how strenuous it is to plan a wedding.”

“Well, you know how I like to shop,” I say. “I hope you’re happy with
everything
on the big day. I mean, I hope you aren’t just going along with what I want for you. Just trying to do what is sensible. By the way, aren’t you curious about your ring?”

“Of course, I am! Where is it?”

“Here,” I say, handing her the powder blue bag.

“Great, I’ll try it on in a bit,” Hailey says and shovels some food into her mouth.

Another glass of wine down, and I am still watching Hailey scarf food. She won’t look me in the eyes or even speak, for that matter.

After clearing her second heaping plate of leftovers, we make ourselves comfortable in the living room. This is uncomfortable. I’m still not sure what to say to her about my latest vision. This is more difficult than I had imagined. I mean, we’re close. Normally I can discuss just about anything with her, but how am I supposed to ask her if she’s having an affair? I guess I could hint around and try to have her 'fess up.

Finally, I come up with something to say, “The strangest thing happened to me today, and I’m not sure how to shake it off.”

“You are acting a little different. What happened?” Hailey inquires.

“Well, you can’t get upset by what you hear. Okay?”

“You can’t upset me
that
easily. Let me have it,” she says, swirling wine around in her glass.

“I’m just wondering . . . that is, something has recently come to my attention,” I pause, feeling a lot like a chicken.

“What? Come on, spit it out.”

The wine in her glass is swirling around a bit too high for my liking, and it’s going to spill on my floor. Is she as nervous as I am? I take another sip of liquid courage and fill my lungs with fresh air. Suddenly, I know exactly how to find out if she is having an affair.

“Um, I met someone recently. He said you knew each other. His name was Julian,” I say in a garbled mess of words. She’ll never buy it. I’m terrible at lying.

Now, I’m familiar with the phrase, ‘white as a ghost.’ Except, I’ve never seen someone's color fade like that, as if her very life is being drained.

“I do know him. He’s one of my most recent clients. I’m designing the interiors for his restaurant,” she responds and looks away, as if trying to connect the dots.

She basically just confirmed I’m on to something here, but how much of my vision is true. I’m actually pretty good at this detective work. I’ll find out the truth, yet.

I’m considering what to say next, tapping my fingers on my knee. When finally, I come up with, “He’s a very good looking guy, and the girl he was with was nice.”

Suddenly, Hailey’s face flares red! Yes, I’ve finally managed to get a reaction, except now I feel a twinge of guilt.

Before I am able to take back what I’ve just said, Hailey blurts, “He was with another woman? When did you say the two of you met?”

“Just the other day . . . I had lunch with a friend . . . and Julian was there,” I say, and watch as Hailey stomps back and forth. I’m not sure if she wants to scream or cry or perhaps both. Maybe I wouldn’t be such a great detective; this isn’t fun anymore. Actually, I feel terrible. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine!” she says with a shudder. She then looks down at her watch. “I’m fine. I probably need to head home.”

“Is there anything you’d like to tell me?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she says, and I’m about to confess everything, when she snaps, “Where were you? How did you two meet? I mean, why did you two start talking in the first place?”

“Why do you care so much?”

“I don’t care about Julian! I’m engaged to Derek, remember!”

“Ha, that’s never stopped you before.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Let’s see, I recall a pattern in your dating history. You always seem to think the grass is greener and quickly move on to someone else,” I snap.

“That’s not fair! Derek isn’t a random boyfriend. Have you forgotten he and I are engaged right now?”

“I'm not the one who has forgotten. I remember every time you send me on another one of your stupid errands! And what exactly do you mean by
right now
?"

Hailey looks down towards the floor. She stands up and moves across the room. She reaches for the front door, and I notice her hand shaking.

“Thanks a lot, Paige. I guess I can always count on you to say it like you see it,” she whispers.

What have I done? This wasn’t how things were supposed to turn out! That was not what I meant to say! I feel terrible simply looking at her. It’s pretty obvious I didn’t handle this well.

“Wait a minute!” I holler. Hailey turns around and looks in my direction. “Don’t leave like this. I need to explain.”

Begrudgingly, she returns to the door and freezes on the front step. There’s an invisible barrier between us.

“Look, I don’t know why I said those things. Will you please come back inside, so we can talk?” I ask hopefully.

Without speaking, she skirts around me and sits awkwardly on the edge of a chair. I sit across from her and restart my story . . . my real story.

“I didn’t actually meet Julian. I made it up so I could see how you felt about him,” I say and watch as surprise washes over her already confused face.

“What! I don’t understand. Why would you do that?” she asks, shaking her head.

How am I supposed to explain what I’ve seen? What I’ve “experienced” through Hailey’s eyes.

I start by telling her about my visions with Delilah. Although it’s unbelievable, I explain what I saw and heard.

And then, I describe what I witnessed through my second vision.

“Paige, you're crazy! That is horrible! How could you do such a thing! Are you actually telling me, you were living inside my head and saw me with Julian?”

“Actually, I wasn’t literally in your head. I suppose I lived in a memory. Perhaps, it was projected from the ring. I don’t know how it works exactly. I can only speculate,” I explain.

“That is just weird. I’m not sure what to make of this. First, you feed me a bunch of lies. Second, you attack me for cheating on Derek; which by-the-way I’m not admitting to doing. Third, you inform me you are having visions, one of which involves you flying into my engagement ring and seeing a memory of mine. You have to admit, it sounds pretty farfetched. In fact, how can I be so sure you’re not just making up this story about having visions? For a normally honest person, you are a pretty convincing liar.”

“Ouch, I guess I deserve that, and I suppose all of this sounds completely unlikely. I’m asking you to open your mind to the possibility I’m telling you the truth. I didn’t want to observe your life. Believe me, I wish I hadn’t. I would rather not know you’re cheating on Derek.”

“Oh, so, we’re back to accusations again! I thought this was about you and your little mental episodes!” she fires at me.

“Hey, wait a minute here! I just explained to you, I’m having visions and this is how you react? And whether or not you care to admit you’re having an affair…let’s face it, we both know you are! So just cut the innocent act! I know what I saw!” I fire back. "And for the record, cheating emotionally is even worse than cheating physically."

Hailey stares down at her restless hands. “Paige, I’m not sure how to respond. I need to figure things out.”

She heads for the door, and as if in a dream, floats away. One last time, she turns towards me. Her eyes are hollow, ghost-like, and she says in a haunting tone, “Just for the record, you didn’t really see Julian with another woman?”

“No, only you.”

With that, Hailey is gone. I am frozen. This can’t really be happening. Between my big mouth and crazy visions, I’m making a terrible mess of things. I’m not exactly sure why I’m so upset with her. I can’t help feeling stung by her betrayal. After all, I’m her sister. She should be able to confide in me, especially something of this magnitude.

I just shared with her the biggest secret of my life! I have superpowers (at least that’s what I’ve decided to call them). And how does Hailey react? By accusing me of lying! Just because I made up that whopper earlier doesn’t mean I’m a serial liar.