Flatline - Murder | Mystery | Intrigue

Chapter 6

Emile 

The Gods did not favor me after all, Kimberly couldn’t have chosen a worse time. I had tried to be patient with her, but I just couldn’t stand to be with her anymore. I took her by the arm and moved her out of the coffee shop, toward the parking lot where the driver was waiting. 

“I haven’t slept with you in months,” I seethed. 

“Yes, two months exactly. I am nine weeks pregnant,” she stammered. 

“I want a paternity test, and I want you out of my life. If the baby is mine, and we both know that’s a big if, I will make sure he or she is taken care of, but you and I are over.” 

I should have ended it as soon as I caught her cheating, with one of my club staff members no less, but somehow she had convinced me that she loved me and that it was a simple lapse in judgement, never to be repeated. I tried, but my intense attraction to Kay showed me that I was no longer emotionally available to Kimberly. 

“What? But baby, you said you would give me another chance! Is it because of that b***h?” she spat venomously, her contorted features suddenly mirroring her ugly personality. How had I never seen it before when it was so glaringly obvious now? Her too short, too tight dress suddenly looked exactly as it was meant, cheap, easy, a far cry from a certain classy lady.

I had thought myself smart enough to avoid the shallow, power hungry type, clearly her game was quite strong. I was such a fool, but no more. I wouldn’t waste another moment on this sly, pretentious woman. 

“That’s enough!” I thundered. “You don’t get to talk about her! This is all on you, you couldn’t even have a decent conversation about this in private, instead you had to make a scene and embarrass everyone!” I scolded. “If you want to know the truth I am the one pursuing her, she had no idea you even existed,” I growled. “You have until the end of the week to get out of my house.” I got into the car and told the driver to go to the office, leaving her standing there. 

I needed to calm down and figure out how I was going to redeem myself with Kay. I could tell she was attracted to me, but wanted to keep her distance. I wanted her and this would just make it so much harder. I would find a way. I kept seeing the look in her eyes as she left. Gone were those beautiful, expressive eyes, instead they were closed, shut down, vacant. I sighed deeply, what a way to start the day.

*_*

Kay

Work was relatively uneventful compared to the morning drama thankfully. I had managed to get through quite a bit of it once I’d decided to forget about Emile and focus on what was important. After getting Seth settled at home in the evening, I headed off to the dojo, a little physical effort would do me good. 

The parking lot was full, so I parked around the back. I stopped at the door, took a deep breath and shook off all my worries and uncertainty before bowing and stepping into the dojo. I greeted everyone, enjoying the smiles and warmth that was always present. They were family and this was my sanctuary, a place where I could focus on one thing only. 

The class was grueling, a punishing pace, just what I needed. I struggled at times, but managed to keep up for the most part. Training this hard wasn’t easy when you were my age and had a desk job, I had to work that much harder to keep fit. We headed into sparring practice and Carl, my usual partner, was still full of energy. He was nearly two meters tall and 15 years my junior so it was to be expected. His reach was longer so I went in for a close fight, but since it was in the danger zone I had to be quick to avoid getting nailed. 

I moved to the side as much as possible, leg muscles burning with the effort. Avoiding his fists as much as possible and staying close enough so he couldn’t kick, I kicked out and he pulled his knee up to block me. I wasn’t focused enough and banged my toes into his knee, pain radiated into my foot and my bladder wanted to let go. I forced myself to breathe and keep my head up, moving on the ball of my foot now, trying to wiggle my toes and assess the damage while still avoiding punches.  

Finally the class ended, leaving me completely out of breath, with a sore foot and my body a proper sweaty mess. 

“Kay, may I have a word with you before you go?” Peter asked. Wondering what it was about, I nodded and headed off the main floor to the lockers, Peter slowly followed. 

“What’s up?” I asked warily, still trying to catch my breath. 

“Are you ok?” he asked. My breath hitched as I looked into his eyes. It wasn’t unusual for him to check up on me, he had been doing so for years. What was unusual was the tender expression on his face, taking his caring attitude to a different level. 

“I am, thanks. Why?” I asked, confusion plain to see in my expression. How did he know I was upset about something? Even though I tried, I couldn’t shake the anger and, if I were being honest, the disappointment Emile had caused. It wasn’t often that I was so attracted to someone. I had to admit, just looking at him had me trembling. My imagination and dreams hadn’t helped either. 

His hand came up to my face and tucked some stray hair behind my ear, I was shocked at such an intimate gesture. He leaned in and kissed me hard, passionately, his hands gripped my waist fiercely. I stiffened, not expecting it at all. He felt my reaction and ended the kiss, but hugged my rigid body to him tightly. He nuzzled my neck and took a deep breath. 

“I’m sorry,” he gently whispered into my ear. Then he turned around and without another word, he left. 

I just stood there for another few minutes. I felt totally blindsided, my mind trying to wrap itself around what had just happened. I couldn’t understand his behavior and once, long ago, I would have been over the moon at his kiss. I had no idea how I felt about it now. I exhaled and my shoulders slumped. I decided I would try to figure it out later, grabbed my stuff and headed to my car. 

I parked in the driveway, genuinely glad to be home, unlocked the door and headed to my room when I heard some giggling coming from the living room. Who could that be, I wondered. I made my way there and found a pretty young thing straddling Seth on the couch, top half off and making out. I froze for a second, definitely not expecting that, but he was sixteen and I should have realized that it would happen sooner or later. I cleared my throat and they both jumped up.

“Good evening,” I said, my face an emotionless mask. 

“Err, hi Aunt Kay,” Seth mumbled sheepishly. “This is Tamara,” he introduced. Tamara didn’t even have the decency to be embarrassed; I disliked her instantly. 

“Hi Mrs Maloney, it’s nice to meet you,” Tamara smirked. I c*cked an eyebrow and stared at her hard. 

“Nice to meet you too,” I said, clearly lying. “Seth please make sure Tamara gets home safely.” He nodded and turned to her. 

“Let’s go Tamara, I’ll get you an Uber,” he said as I walked away. 

Seth seemed to be on the path of destruction, did that girl have something to do with it? I made up my mind to tackle it head on as soon as possible. 

This day had really kicked my a*s, why did it always have to come in threes? I headed to my bathroom, I needed to soak my aching muscles and use the peaceful environment to process all the craziness.