A second chance at love: Chapter Four💗💗💗💗
Tune in as the story of love and deceit begins to unfold. One chapter at a time.
Four
Letting Nash back into her life was the best decision that Jillian had ever made. Her happiness was restored and she was floating on cloud nine. They spent every chance they had together. Jillian was healed and already back to work in full swing. The meeting that was postponed had been rescheduled while she was out. With the help of Trish, Mr. Nelson handled all the arrangements and made the meeting a complete success.
Working diligently to catch up, Jillian managed to sneak a call to Nash in between incoming calls and running errands for Mr. Nelson. Updating new client information on the computer, she looked up when she heard the office door open. A beautiful blonde woman, about her age, sauntered into the office and looked distastefully at Jillian. Taking a long look at the woman’s features, Jillian noticed that she was quite thin and the coat she was wearing did nothing to hide her lanky figure. There was no mistaking that she was well educated and came from a family of status. Based on the way she was dressed and the way she stood, Jillian knew she was a snob.
Giving her attention to the woman, Jillian asked curiously, “Can I help you?”
At first, the woman didn’t say a word. Only after looking around the office did she remove her cashmere glove and hold out her hand. “My name is Danielle Colton. I’m Nash Colton’s wife.”
Jillian’s chest tightened and she was having a hard time digesting what the woman just said. Nash told her that he had been married once, but divorced her when he graduated from Cornell. This couldn’t be happening. Releasing her hand, Jillian lifted her chin and said, “Don’t you mean ex-wife?”
“I know who you are, Jillian Steel, and whatever Nash has told you, I assure you we are still married.” Jillian listened to what Danielle was saying, but she didn’t have to like it or her. “I have to apologize for my husband’s indiscretions. He has had his fun, and by the look on your face has also kept that bit of information from you.”
“He told me he divorced you. I know him. He wouldn’t have lied about that. What kind of game are you playing, Ms. Colton?”
“I can assure you this is not a game. My husband overlooked one small detail. A person has to be competent in order for a signature to be binding.”
Her statement confused Jillian. Resisting the urge to flatten this bitch, Jillian asked, “What are you talking about?”
“As a woman, I’m sure you can understand the effect the thought of losing the only man you ever loved can have on your mental state.” Danielle presumed.
“Are you saying that the divorce wasn’t legal and you weren’t of sound mind when you signed it?”
“I have to give Nash credit. At least he chose a woman with brains.”
Falling to her chair, Jillian was dumbfounded. How could this be happening to her? As Jillian teetered on the edge of losing it. Danielle slipped her glove back on her bony hand and left her to her thoughts.
The day had been one of the worst days of Jillian’s life. She tried hard to concentrate on the things that she needed to get done, but her mind kept going back to what Danielle shared with her. After several trips to the bathroom to collect herself so she could finish the day, Jillian decided that the only way she would get through this was to find out for herself if what Danielle said was true.
Holding back her tears, she pulled up Nash’s contact information and waited for him to answer. She knew that he had a full day, but hoped that she would catch him between surgeries. When the call went to voicemail, she juggled whether or not to leave him a message, Ending the call, she thought it was best not to. As upset as she was, she didn’t want Nash to be upset too. It was best to confront him about this in person. As soon as he saw that she had called, he would call her back.
Placing her phone in her purse, she took one last look at herself in the mirror before heading back to her desk. There was an hour left to go before she was off, Certainly, she could find something to do to occupy her time and get her mind off of what happened.
Even though it wasn’t part of her job description, she decided to clean the employee lounge to keep her mind on something other than Nash. She would also be able to avoid the rest of her co-workers, namely Sue, who would know that something was wrong the minute she saw her. Stuffing her purse in her drawer, she headed to the lounge. Hoping to find it empty, Jillian was disappointed when the one person she needed to avoid was sitting at the table having a heated discussion with someone. Sue wasn’t the kind of person to get upset with anyone. She good-hearted and never yelled at anyone, but whoever was on the other end was getting an earful.
Beginning with the coffee pot, Jillian took it apart so that she could thoroughly clean it. She tried hard not to eavesdrop on Sue’s conversation but based on what she could hear, it sounded like she was having relationship problems of her own. When she heard Sue say goodbye through sobbing, Jillian stopped what she was doing to comfort her friend. Walking over to the table where Sue was seated, she sat in the chair next to her friend.
Placing her hand on her shoulder, Jillian asked sympathetically, “Sue, are you okay?”
When Sue looked up at her, she could tell she wasn’t okay at all. Based on how hard she was crying, something awful must have happened, putting her dilemma with Danielle Colton to shame.
Wiping away her tears, Sue admitted hysterically, “I don’t know what I’m going to do. Malcomb took everything I had worked so hard for and just left. My neighbor called to tell me that she saw him load everything.”
Malcomb was Sue’s boyfriend, who she met six months ago. Jillian had warned her that it was much too early in their relationship to ask him to move in with her. It didn’t matter. Sue was in love and trusted him completely. Jillian felt so bad for her and wanted to do something for her.
“You’re staying with me. We are going to go to the police and file a report against him. He will not get away with this.” Jillian said confidently. She knew that sooner or later Malcomb would get caught and Sue would get her things back.
Making sure that the door to the office was locked, Jillian left with her friend. She didn’t think that Sue should drive, especially considering the emotional state that she was in. Jillian was also an emotional wreck, but at least she didn’t feel as hopeless as her friend did. More than anything, after shedding enough tears to fill a bathtub, her emotions flipped from hurt to anger. Now, she had to be strong for both of them. Men were voodoo, at least one of them was.
Reaching her apartment, Jillian parked her car in the space closest to the front entrance. The wind was picking up and there were a few flakes coming down. As they headed to the door, Jillian didn’t remember there being snow in the forecast. Then again, the local weatherman very seldom got the weather right.
As she was pulling open the door, Jillian’s phone began to ring. Struggling to find her phone in her purse, she handed Sue her apartment key. Seeing that it was Nash calling, she focused on her friend and ignored the call. The last thing that Jillian wanted was to add more drama to the mix.
As they entered Jillian’s apartment, once again her phone began to ring. Looking down at the screen, she could see that it was Nash calling back. Just as she was about to ignore the call, Sue suggested, “You should probably answer that. I don’t think they are going to give up.”
Swiping the screen, Jillian knew she needed to keep this short and sweet without explaining to Nash why she had called him. Signaling to her friend to pour them each a glass of wine, Jillian headed back to her room so that she could take the call in private.
Closing the door, she said, “Hello.”
“Hey, sweetheart. Sorry, I missed your call,” Nash replied. “I hope it wasn’t too important.”
“We need to talk, but right now is not a good time. My friend Sue, from work, is dealing with some stuff and she needs me. I’ll call you later.” Jillian couldn’t have been more direct.
“Wait… what do we need to talk about?” Nash asked.
“I don’t want to discuss it on the phone. This is something that needs to be discussed in person. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Before Nash could persuade her to tell him what was going on, Jillian hung up the phone and attached it to her charger that was on the nightstand beside her bed. She knew that Nash wouldn’t give up, but for now, he would need to wait until tomorrow for her to explain. Turning off the volume on her phone, she left her room, closing the door behind her.
Two glasses of wine later, Jillian finally convinced Sue that she needed to swallow her pride and talk to the police about what happened. The last thing Sue wanted was to admit that she was taken by a con man, but after visiting with the police, she learned she wasn’t the only one that Malcomb had done this to. Unfortunately for Sue, the woman ended up dropping the charges, which allowed Malcomb to do it again. Jillian thought later she might have been a little harsh when she told Sue that she would never forgive her if she ever dropped the charges as the other woman had.
It was well after midnight by the time the officers left. The consensus was to wait until Sue went back to her place to gather a list of everything that Malcomb had taken before filing an official charge against him. With the weekend beginning, at least Sue would have the time she needed to document everything that Malcomb had taken. According to the officers, the higher the value of items missing the worse, the charge would be.
As Jillian got ready for bed after making sure that Sue had everything she needed, she couldn’t help but look at her phone to see if she had missed any calls. There was only one call she was curious about and that was from Nash. Surprised and disappointed, she saw he had only called the one time. Maybe he took to heart what Jillian had said about wanting to talk to him in person. There wasn’t even a text waiting for her in her message box. It might have been the wine messing with her emotions, but all she could think about was him and letting him know how she felt. She sent him a quick message letting him know how much she missed him.
Jillian and Nash’s story continues. Watch for the final chapter.
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