Chapter Thirty-One
Vivienne
I turned and looked over my shoulder as we drove away, staring at Everett as he stood on the pavement, looking shocked and hurt. And I was crying now; even though I knew he was a cheater, it had been really hard to leave him, to walk out like that. Part of me had wanted to simply forgive him, to let it all go, to just forget about it and jump into his arms... but I knew that I couldn't live like that, not now that I knew what he had done. This had hurt, but it was something that I had to do.
“Thank you, Angie,” I said. “I really appreciate this. I honestly do. You're such a good friend.”
“Aw, there's no need to thank me, Vivienne,” she said. “I'm sure you'd do the same thing for me. Now come on, I've got a bottle or two of red wine at home. That'll help you to feel better, I'm sure. And you're the owner of your daycare, right? Why don't you call them and say that you won’t be coming in tomorrow morning? You don't need the stress of work on top of all of this.”
I thought about that for a while and figured that it might be good to take a little time off work. After all, Graciela could be trusted to run the place on her own for one day.
“Alright, sure, I'll do that,” I said. “Let's just have a good time tonight, and then I can at least forget for a little while about what's happened.”
“Good decision,” she commented with a smile.
I called up Graciela and let her know that I wouldn't be coming to work the next day, and she seemed fine with that. After a few minutes, we arrived at Angie's apartment building. She drove into the parking lot and parked, and then we took an elevator up to the fourth floor, where she lived. Her apartment was nice and cozy, and was tastefully decorated with very modern, minimalist furniture and trappings.
“This is a lovely little place you've got here,” I remarked.
“It is quite nice, huh?” she said. “Glad you like it. Make yourself comfortable; I'll get the wine. You want some snacks too? I've got some crackers, cheese, and hummus, always good with wine.”
“That sounds good,” I said. “I'll just go to the bathroom first.”
“Sure,” she said. “First door on your right.”
I went to the bathroom, and when I came out, she'd put two glasses of red wine and a plate of snacks on the coffee table by the sofa.
“Come, have a seat,” she said. “That's your glass there; I’ve already drunk from the other one.”
I sat down and took my glass of wine.
“Try the crackers and hummus,” she suggested. “That hummus has hardly any fat, by the way, just in case you're worried about your waistline.”
I chuckled. “Good to know, thanks.” I took a cracker and tried it with some hummus. “Mm, this is good!” I announced.
“It is, right?” she replied with a laugh. “Now try some with this Camembert. This cheese is amazing, I'm telling ya.”
I tried some and was instantly impressed. “Wow. That really is good, I have to say.”
“Have a sip of wine; it enhances the flavor.”
I took a sip and found that the wine tasted a little weird. It was good quality, I could tell that much, but something was definitely off about it.
“It's nice,” I said. “But it has a slightly weird aftertaste. Do you find that?”
She took another sip of her wine. “No,” she said. “Maybe it was the cheese. Drink some more to cleanse your palette. Maybe that’ll help.”
“Alright,” I said, and took another sip. It definitely tasted weird, and I said so.
“Well, I don't know, Vivienne. I buy this brand all the time, and it always tastes good to me.”
Then my head started to spin – not just in a mild, “I'm a bit tipsy way,” but in a “I'm going to pass out in seconds” way. I felt a powerful heaviness pressing down on me, and my limbs became weak and jelly like.
“Angie, I... what's happening... I...” I tried to say, but my words came out in an unintelligible slur.
And that is the last thing I remember before I blacked out.
***
I awoke the next day with a pounding headache, feeling as if I'd been hit by a bus, not to mention extremely confused. I looked around and couldn’t figure out where the heck I was or what was going on. When the fog cleared, I studied my surroundings and found that I was in a room I had never seen before. I tried to get up, but that’s when I learned I was bound fast, with my ankles and wrists tied to the bedposts so that I couldn't move.
“A-A-Angie?” I stammered. “Wh-what's going on?”
Then the door opened, and Angie walked in.
“Good afternoon, Vivienne,” she said. “How are you feeling?”
“I'm uh... I feel pretty terrible. Afternoon? But...”
“Yeah, you've been out for 16 hours now. I was starting to worry that you were in coma... But thankfully, you're awake now.”
“Why... why have I been out for 16 hours?”
“That's because I laced your wine with some very hardcore sedatives. There was enough in there to knock a horse out.”
“But... why? Why did you do that?” I asked, very confused. “And... why am I tied to the bed?”
She laughed coldly.
“Why, so you can't go anywhere, you idiot!”
“But... why?”
“Because my business partner wants to see you.”
“Your business partner?”
“Yes. He and I are making a lovely profit. And speak of the devil, here he is now!”
Angie stepped aside, and my blood ran cold.
“Hello, Alicia,” Simon said, smiling wickedly.