Want to Know a Secret? (14)

I hate this woman. I really do.

“Look,” I say, “I just want to talk to him for a minute. That’s all.”

“As I said…” She smiles up at me. “Elliot is very busy right now. I’m sure he’ll contact you when he has a free moment.”

I’ve had enough of this. I move to the side of the desk, planning to blow past her, right into Elliot’s office. But before I can reach the door, she jumps out of her seat, quick as a flash, and steps in front of me, blocking the door.

“I’m afraid you can’t go in there.” Her eyes meet mine. “As I said, he’s busy.”

I hold her gaze. Brianna is about my height, although I’ve got at least ten pounds on her. I wonder if I could knock her out of the way. For a moment, I’m tempted to try.

Brianna folds her arms across her chest. “Should I have somebody escort you out of the building?”

Great, she’s going to call security to boot me out of here. I take a step back and jab at my phone one more time to call my husband. Again, the phone goes to voicemail, only this time immediately. I take a shaky breath.

Then the message appears on my screen:



So sorry. Forgot about meeting during lunch. Will make it up to you.



I look up at Brianna, who still has that smile plastered on her face. I truly don’t care for this woman.

Call me as soon as you can, I type into my phone.

“Would you like that Friday lunch appointment?” Brianna bats her heavily mascaraed eyelashes at me. “You should book it now, while it’s still free.”

I don’t even answer her. I do an about-face and leave the office before I burst into tears.

I don’t even bother with the elevator this time. I go straight for the stairs. At this point, who cares if I’m sweaty? It will be hours before I see Elliot. I’ll probably be in bed by then. All I want is to go home and take a nice hot shower, then binge-watch some series on Netflix. Or maybe I’ll bake something. That always helps me relax.

I wish I could talk to somebody about this. I can’t tell Julie. She won’t get it. She’s married to a lawyer too, but she takes her husband’s long hours as a given. She would never consider traipsing out to his office for lunch. Frankly, sometimes I think she likes the fact that he’s not around much. I might feel that way too if I were married to Keith.

At times like these, I wish I could talk to my mother. It’s like a deep ache inside my chest. Unfortunately, my mother developed early Alzheimer’s several years ago. Right now she’s a resident at Shady Oaks nursing home, and having a meaningful conversation would be out of the question.

She barely knows who I am anymore. But every night, the staff of her nursing home plays one of my videos for her. That’s why I always end my episodes by saying, “Good night, Mom.” I want to make sure my mother still remembers who I am.

Sometimes I feel really alone.

But it doesn’t matter. I’ll get through this on my own. I just want to go home.

When I get downstairs, my phone buzzes in my purse. My heart leaps in my chest—maybe Elliot’s meeting got canceled and he wants to have lunch after all. Take that, gorgeous young secretary.

But when I pull out my phone, I see another blocked number has left me a text message:



Too bad you don’t know the secret to making your husband happy. Unlike Courtney Burns.



I stare at my phone, my mouth hanging open in disbelief. I look around the parking lot, trying to figure out if somebody is watching me. Did somebody see my husband reject me during my attempt to have lunch with him?

But the parking lot is empty except for me. There’s nobody around. And as opposed to the message yesterday, it’s obvious what the intent of this one was. I look up at the window to my husband’s office, wondering if Brianna could have been the one to send the text. Is it possible she’s the one torturing me?

But how would Brianna know about Courtney? That’s the distant past. It’s over. Nobody knows. Just me and Elliot. Well, and one other person.

Words can’t hurt you, I try to tell myself. I wish I could believe it.





Chapter 8


Dear parents,

For those of you who will be supporting your child’s school by attending the PTA meeting tonight, please arrive promptly at 6 PM. Stragglers are very disruptive to the meeting. For this reason, the doors to the library will be locked at 6:01.

Julie




Elliot lets out a low whistle when I come into the kitchen dressed in a long-sleeved chiffon dress that I paid far too much for last month. “Wow, April,” he says. “Are you sure you’re just going to a PTA meeting?”

I roll my eyes, but he does have a point. I dress better for PTA meetings than I do for pretty much anything else in my life, even my videos. After all, the image I’m trying to portray on Sweet Secrets is that of a wholesome housewife. But the dress code for these PTA meetings just keeps getting stricter and stricter. We’re all trying to live up to Julie’s standard.

Bobby looks up from his bowl of macaroni and cheese that Elliot made for him. Elliot can only make Kraft macaroni and cheese and frozen chicken nuggets. That’s it. But to be fair, those are Bobby’s two favorite foods.

“You look pretty, Mom,” Bobby comments.