Alyson begins telling him about what happened the night of Evan's dinner party, how she came to the assumption that Kelly being his mistress, how everything unfolded, Rick getting shot, finding out about Kelly's pregnancy - everything.
"Both of them denied everything but at that point, I was over it. I knew that if I stayed, I was going to lose it. The crazy thing is, two months later and I still don't know who's telling the truth and who's lying. I haven't talked to either of them, they haven't called or even texted. It's like our friendship meant nothing."
"Well, maybe they're just afraid to face you," suggested Joseph.
"I don't know."
"Have you tried to reach out to them?"
"Well, no but I figure, if there was really nothing going and they cared about me, they would have fought for me. It's probably stupid to think like that."
"No, it's not. They were the ones in question, they should have argued their case a little better. Telling someone their crazy is not how you deal with a situation like that."
Alyson sighs, holding her face in her hands.
"And then I slapped Kelly which I feel so bad about. That's not who I am, and if I knew she was pregnant I would have controlled myself."
"What do you think about her being pregnant?"
Alyson let her hands fall from her face, "I think, if I was right about her and Evan, then . . ." she gulped, swallowing the tears that were welling up.
This was the aspect of the situation she avoided because out of all the things Evan has put her through, this would be the worse.
"You don't have to say it," Joseph reached over and took her hand.
She closed her eyes, intertwining her fingers with his, "the worse part is, I don't think Rick knows about what happened. He's been texting me frequently to make sure I'm okay but he hasn't asked me about the situation."
"That's . . . suspicious," Joseph was honest.
"I know," Alyson agreed.
"So, how is Rick doing? Who shot him anyway?"
"Just this perp he and his team had been looking for. They went in to get him, he was waiting with a gun and Rick took the hit."
"Hm, but he's good?"
"Oh yeah, Rick is already back in the field where he belongs."
Their waiter comes over to the table, causing them to pull away from each other, having not realized how long they were holding hands. He clears the table, makes sure they don't need anything and leaves them to talk.
"Now, there's something I want to know about you," Alyson clasped her hands together.
"Shoot," Joseph sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.
"What happened between you and Evan? Why does he hate you so much?"
Joseph let out a long sigh, shaking his head, just thinking about the past.
Chapter Seventeen
Start from the beginning
