Chapter 68: Chapter 68

Cadence decided to take the stairs rather than the elevator. Though she was heartbroken and overwhelmed with despair, she was also extremely pissed and flying down each flight, she felt more and more rage welling up inside of her. By the time she reached the bottom floor, she was ready to take her frustration out on the appropriate party--just as soon as she found him.

Luckily, she wouldn't have to look too far. She flung open the exterior door to see Christian leaning against his motorcycle nearby, the expression on his face letting her know that he was fully aware of what Aaron wanted to talk to her about, that he likely had been before she even left the coffee shop. "You son of a bitch!" she yelled, as she flew at him, both hands balled into fists

He threw up his arms in a defensive stance. "Cadence, wait, please! I can explain!"

She stopped short of punching him in the face, though it was all she could do to control her anger. "Start talking!" she demanded, folding her arms across her chest to keep from assaulting him.

"Okay, okay," he replied, his hands still up. He had to know she could do some real damage if she wanted to. "First of all, I'm so sorry. I should have never recorded that. I didn't mean for anyone to ever see it!"

"Well, someone did," she replied, straining against the urge to pull her arms out and take a swing.

"I know, I know," he agreed, backing around his bike and taking a few steps away from her. She followed. "And I should have never showed it to anyone either, but I thought she could help. I forgot--I forgot about her power of persuasion, and I didn't realize she was tricking me."

"What? Who the hell are you talking about?" Cadence asked. She was certain that Christian must have given the recording to Aaron in an attempt to get Cadence to come back to him, to cry on his shoulder. Although, now that she stopped to consider, that really didn't make much sense. Obviously, that would only make her mad at Christian if Aaron were to mention precisely what he was mad at her about. So, it wasn't him who had given the recording to Aaron. It had to be..., "Eliza!" she shouted, the realization hitting her all at once.

"Cadence, I'm so sorry!" Christian said, pleadingly. "Please, forgive me."

But by the time he finished, she was off, sprinting at full speed toward the apartment building. She pushed the door open with such force, it bent back against the wall and left an indentation in the drywall. Not bothering to wait for the elevator, she flew up the few flights of stairs to Eliza's floor and bounded down the hallway to her so-called-friend’s apartment. Though it was tempting to rip the door off of the hinges, she decided to try the old-fashioned way first and banged her first against the wood hard enough to shake the entire hallway. "Eliza!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, praying the woman was inside and that she’d answer so that Cadence could take the rage building within her out on Eliza’s smarmy face.

Cadence could hear her coming before she got there, despite the repercussions of the wall still rattling around her. Eliza wisely left the chain on the door. Not that that would stop her. "Cadence," she said, a slight smirk on her face. "Whatever brings you here, friend?"

"I'm going to kill you!" Cadence growled, her eyes piercing through the small space between the door and the wall.

"Is something the matter?" Eliza asked, a lilt of sarcasm in her voice.

"Don't pretend that you don't know."

"Are you accusing me of something?"

"Open the goddamn door."

"I don't think you're in any state to have a discussion right now," Eliza replied. "Are you upset? Did Aaron break up with you again?"

"I know you did this," Cadence said, holding back the temptation to knock the door in.

"What? You think I'm the one who made out with another guy and lied to Aaron about it?" Eliza asked, the false sweetness dripping off of her voice like honey. "No, sweetheart, I would never do that. I know better than to cheat on Aaron."

"You know that's not what happened!" Cadence countered, her voice as even as she could make it.

"It's all in the eye of the beholder, friend," Eliza replied, a curt smile on her face.

Though Cadence was aware that Eliza was using that word--friend--sarcastically, each time she said it, Cadence felt the knife jab deeper into her back. "We were friends, Eliza. I thought we were friends. Why the hell would you do this to me?" She could hardly stand to look at the woman’s face, the act of betrayal stung so sharply.

Cadence expected these questions to draw upon her compassion, but they didn't seem to. "Look, sweetheart, I am your friend. But I'm Aaron's friend, too. I'm not saying I did anything, but if you did something you shouldn't have, and he found out, then you get what you deserve."

Feeling the tears stinging her eyes again, Cadence realized she was either going to have to leave--or she would end up crying in front of Eliza, something she wasn't willing to do. "You are going to regret this one day," she said quietly.

"Maybe," Eliza admitted. Then, with a sly smile pulling at the corner of her mouth she added, "but not today."

Cadence turned to walk away, but before she got too far, she whirled back around and continued to make her point. "We are done. You and I are no longer friends. I don't work with you anymore. If there’s a hunt I’m supposed to go on, you’re not there. If I find out you’re going, I’m out. Never again, got it?"

"Merry Christmas, Cadence," Eliza replied, slamming the door.

***

Back in her apartment, Cadence oscillated between rage and uncontrollable crying. Christian had tried to contact her several times on the IAC, but she ignored him. He was the last person she wanted to talk to. Well, second to last.

As the time that she was supposed to go on her date with Aaron came and went, the tears became even more overwhelming, and she wished she had gone home. At least if she were at her parent’s house the traditional Christmas Eve routine would do something to distract her. In the solace of her own quiet apartment, she had nothing to occupy her mind.

She knew she could procure a car--possibly a plane--and make her way back to Shenandoah. But there she'd have to face her mother, who would try her best not to say how she had been right all along, but it would be hard for her to do so. As much as going home might help, there was really only one other thing she could think of that would keep her mind off of the events that had transpired. Finally, at about 8:00, she decided to see exactly how fast rumors could fly and contacted Elliott. "Hey, you got room for one more on that hunt tonight?"

"Always," he replied. "But don't you have plans tonight, kid?"

So he didn't know. "Not anymore," she responded. "Can I come with you?"

"Of course. But what happened?"

"I don't want to tell you," she replied, afraid he might get mad.

"Cadence... if you don't tell me, he will. Whose side do you want me to hear first?"

She pondered his position. "Meet me somewhere?"

"Bar downstairs?"

"I'm only 19."

"I'm not."

Elliott was already seated at the bar when she entered. There was no one standing at the door checking IDs, which made her feel a bit better. She sat down on the barstool next to him and ordered a Dr. Pepper. He finished off whatever was in his glass, clearly not soda, and gestured for the bartender to bring him another. "What's up, kid?" he asked, not really turning to face her.

Cadence let out a deep sigh and buried her head in her arms, which were folded on the bar. The bartender brought their drinks before she actually answered. "I screwed up, I guess," she admitted.

"Whatcha do?"

"I kissed Christian," she replied.

Elliott put his glass down on the counter with a little more force then he intended. "What?" he asked, finally looking at her. "When? Today?"

"No!" Cadence replied, leaning away from him a little. "No. The night I killed Henry." Under her breath she added, "No, not tonight. I wouldn't cheat on him."

"What?" Elliott said, not sure he heard her right. "The night you killed Henry? But that was weeks ago."

"I know."

"And you weren't even dating then. He broke up with you."

"I KNOW!" she agreed, shrugging.

"I don't understand..."Elliott said, shaking his head and taking another drink. "So, he found out that you kissed Christian a few weeks ago, and he broke up with you?"

"Yes!" she nodded.

"But... why?"

She let out a deep sigh. "He says I lied to him."

Elliott looked puzzled again. "Say what?"

"I mean, technically, I guess he's right, but I just didn't tell him because it didn't matter. It meant nothing. Christian is a nice guy, but I'm not interested in him, not like that."

There was a long pause while Elliott said nothing. Finally, he shook his head and said, "Dumbass."

Cadence was confused. "Me?" she said quietly, though she wouldn't disagree if he was talking about her.

"No," he replied emphatically. "It sounds to me like you didn't do anything wrong, kid. I mean, I should be hearing his side, too, I would think," he muttered, not sure why he hadn't actually heard his side yet, "but that seems like a pretty stupid reason to break up with someone."

"Thank you!" Cadence said, downing the rest of her drink, wishing it were something stronger. But she decided not to ask for any alcohol, even though this guy might serve her, since she was going on a hunt.

After another long silence, Elliott asked, "How did he find out?"

"Christian recorded it, apparently," Cadence explained.

"What? Psycho."

"Right? And then he showed it to Eliza for some disgusting reason."

"Eliza?" Elliott asked, a look of terror on his face.

Cadence nodded.

"Please tell me... Lord Jesus... he's not over there now is he?"

Though it was a bit hard to follow, Cadence was certain he meant Aaron, not Christian. "I have no idea. I went over there and confronted her, and she laughed in my face. I'm done with her," she replied, really wishing she had some alcohol now.

"For the love of all that's Holy..." Elliott muttered. He was very quiet for the next few moments and Cadence assumed he was on the IAC. Finally, he said quietly, "He's not answering."

"Guess that's your answer," she replied, reaching across him, grabbing his drink, and downing it.

* * *

Aaron wasn't exactly sure how he had ended up in Eliza's apartment. He was even less sure how he had ended up in Eliza's bed. After Cadence had left his office, he was so overcome with emotion; it had taken him some time to gain enough composure to even contemplate leaving. By then, Eliza had contacted him, crying, saying Cadence had threatened her life. The next thing he knew, he was at her door. And then she had somehow managed to work her magic, and here he was, listening to the sounds of her shallow breaths as she slept.

He had turned his IAC off almost two hours ago. He knew Elliott was getting ready to lead a hunt in the next few hours, and he needed to turn it back on. But somehow he knew that his best friend would know what he had done, and he simply didn't want to answer those questions--not right now. Nevertheless, every minute that he had the IAC off, catastrophe could strike, and he was compelled to at least turn the newsfeed back on and find out if he had missed anything.

After checking the headlines and seeing nothing major had gone wrong, he glanced down at Eliza, curled up beside him. The smile she had on her face looked more like a smirk than anything else, and he couldn't help but wonder if, perhaps, it wasn't only the pleasure of being with him that had her grinning.