"Are you coming? We're going to be late," Andrew called to Amanda as they were going out the front door on their way to work.
"I'm coming. I'm coming," Amanda grumbled as she gave her hair one last pat. She frowned at herself in the mirror. She had really liked the style at first, now it just reminded her of the trip to the stylist and how it had gone wrong.
"I should have known better," she said, more to herself than Andrew as she met her husband at the door. "I always knew there was something suspicious about her. I can't believe I fell for her trick."
"I still don't believe it," Andrew said. "I don't believe Vanessa would have run off and left you stuck there with the bill and no way to get home. That's not like her. Are you sure . . ."
"Yes, I'm sure," Amanda snapped before he could finish his thought. They'd already gone over this the night before. "I was there, remember? I had to call you to pick me up and bring the money to pay the spa. What other explanation could there be?"
"I don't know." Andrew sighed as he stepped out the door. "And I don't have time to come up with one now. We're going to be late."
As Andrew and Amanda walked outside, they noticed a car pull into the driveway.
"Alma, what are you doing here?" Amanda asked, surprised to see her sister here at this time of day. "We were just about to leave."
"I know. I was hoping I'd catch you before you left. Have you seen Vanessa?"
"I wish! Do you know what that woman did? She invited me out for a spa treatment, spent the whole day with me, pretending she wanted to have a better relationship, then she took off without me. She didn't say one word, she just ran off, leaving me stranded and with a huge bill to pay. If I knew where she was now, I'd give her a piece of my mind . . ."
"Oh," Alma said. Her face darkened with concern. "Vanessa didn't come home last night. She hasn't called. I called her apartment and there was no answer and I checked with her agent and she's not on the job either. I was hoping she'd said something to you."
"No," Amanda simply answered, but she was suddenly filled with dread and had a sickly feeling in her stomach.
"When did you see her last? What happened yesterday?"
Amanda spoke slowly, frantically trying to think back in as much detail as possible. "She just went out to the car to get something and when she didn't come back after a few minutes, I went out to check on her and I saw her car peeling out of the driveway."
"Did you see Vanessa driving?" Andrew asked.
"I thought she was . . . but now that I think about it, I didn't really see who was driving, no."
"I think we need to go to the police."
Lucy closed her eyes, still feeling Justin's body against hers, the warmth of his skin, his breath on her neck, and his lips against hers. She could see his face so close to hers as if he was still there in front of her. She could picture his expression, his eyes half-closed as he leaned in to kiss her again.
She kept replaying the night before in her mind, not wanting it to slip away from her. She knew she should feel guilty about what had happened. It was still cheating on her husband, even if he had abandoned her, but she didn't feel remorseful about it at all. Everything about it had just seemed right.
Lucy was startled from her daydream by the sound of the front door opening. She was about to stand up and see who was there when she saw Craig through the doorway. Momentarily stunned, she didn't move and instead lowered her weight onto the sofa.
"Hey babe, I'm home."
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