"Grace!" Nadia waved her arm as she tried to get Grace's attention from across the street.
It had been a strange few days. She hadn't seen Grace since that time at her apartment and she'd been out on sick leave at work. She was honestly a little bit concerned. Grace hadn't been working their for very long and if she kept calling in, she'd end up getting herself fired.
What was stranger still was that she'd spotted her in the city by complete coincidence but when she tried getting a hold of her in North Town, it seemed near impossible. Nadia looked left and right before running across the street, ignoring that she wasn't at a crosswalk. She had quite a bit on her mind lately and worrying about Grace wasn't helping.
Nadia hardly slept the last few days, the guilt was getting to her. She realized that she had let her shock cloud her judgement and she never should have let Luke know what she saw... what she thought she saw. She'd messed up, BIG TIME. What she needed to do was go over to Luke's house and explain what it was she saw and give Echo a chance to clear things up. The more she thought about it, the less likely it seemed that Echo would do something like that. She'd realized immediately she'd over reacted but Luke wasn't answering his phone and although she'd been to his house a couple of times, he was never there.
Short of going to his office, she wasn't sure what to do but she was sure she needed to fix this.
"Hey... Grace!" She called out again, noting how she continued to walk in the opposite direction. Nadia moved quickly, trying to catch up but there was a lot of people crowding the streets. She wasn't surprised, tomorrow was Christmas eve and everyone was doing their last minute shopping.
"Grace..." Nadia said with a sigh, watching as she disappeared around the corner. "Damn it."
Nadia turned, running into the door of the corner store, cutting across the store to the door on the opposite end. She smiled, noting how Grace stood just outside the opposite door.
"Gotcha..." Nadia muttered to herself as she moved to the push the door open but she stopped. Nadia watched as Grace turned, speaking to a man in a dark suit. There really wasn't anything too unusual about the scene except that Nadia had never seen the man before... had she?
She had a strange feeling like she'd seen him before...
"Excuse me."
Nadia stepped back as an older woman pushed the door open. She followed her out the door, deciding she needed to talk to Grace and make sure she was alright but the moment she stepped out... it was to find that both Grace and the mystery man were gone.
---
"What the fuck are you doing here?"
Luke didn't get up from his spot by the fireplace. He was sitting quietly, the room illuminated by nothing but the fire that was burning brightly in front of him. In his hand, a glass that was less than half full with an amber liquid that now seemed to dance with the light from the fire.
He was completely caught up in it, replaying the scene from earlier over and over in his head. He'd been sitting here when she walked out, bag over her shoulder, only hesitating for a second as she passed him by. She seemed like she would stop and ask him again to come with her, but instead she kept moving, leaving the house without so much as a goodbye. He hadn't expected her to ask him again, although a party of him wanted her too. It was so fucking confusing.
One part of him was glad she left, that she had enough pride not to beg but another part of him was angry. He was hurt that she'd gone. She was his wife, after all, her place was here... with him. Of course at the moment, he wasn't sure he could look at her. Every time he caught a glimpse of those beautiful lips he picture them smiling and pouting for someone else. It drove him crazy. And she had the nerve to act so innocent, act so hurt.
He thought about confronting her but he was scared. Scared that he would say something and she wouldn't deny it. He felt something tightening in his chest as he thought of it. He thought of their wedding, the dancing, the kissing, they way they snuck away to the terrace for a moment alone. Then it occurred to him- that moment when he'd walked out to find her in his arms. It hadn't dawned on him then, the way Marco had hastily pushed her away was so telling. He'd foolishly trusted in them both and now, Marco had the audacity to be standing in his foyer.
"I'm going tomorrow afternoon, as ordered." Marco said.
"So shouldn't you be packing?" Luke asked.
"It's not that complicated to pack." Marco said. "I came to check if you were feeling better but I can see you're still in a mood."
"What mood did you expect me to be in?" Luke muttered, his grip tightening on the glass. He turned to look at Marco, who stood smugly as if judging him.
"How much have you had to drink?" Marco said, taking the glass from his hand. "Luke what the hell are you doing?"
Luke stood and walked back to his bar cart, pouring himself another drink and completely ignoring Marco.
"Hey!" Marco said, losing his patience and grabbing Luke's arm but Luke snapped, throwing the glass he'd been holding and smashing it on the ground. Marco slowly backed away.
"What the hell is going on?" Marco asked. "First you change our plan from one moment to the next, then you act like an idiot."
"What's going on?" Luke asked. "Are you fucking kidding me? Why don't you tell me?"
"What?" Marco responded.
"25 years." Luke sneered. "25 years we've known each other, I've trusted you, trusted every word you told me. You... you were like my brother."
"Luke, what are you talking about?" Marco asked.
"I'm talking about you and Echo." Luke finally spat, making Marco grow pale. Luke immediately recognized the guilt. "Right. There."
Marco gulped.
"I don't know what to tell you." Marco replied.
"Don't fucking say a word." Luke said, "Consider yourself lucky that I'm being generous for now."
"Luke... I..." Marco began to say but Luke angrily cut him off.
"That's my fucking wife." Luke said, "You fucking piece of shit."
Luke snapped, swinging his arm as hard as he could, his fist hitting Marco's jaw with a solid blow. Marco took a few steps back, his hand coming up to soothe the sore spot. His fingers came to his lips... blood. Luke had never hit him before but before he could fully recover from the blow, a second knocked him back and hit the floor.
He stood quickly, jumping to his feet and immediately rushing at Luke and knocking him to the ground. He hadn't meant to do it but after all these years, it was his instinct to fight back when attacked. Luke grunted as he hit the ground, but he pushed back.
The two men scrambled around, grabbing each other by their collars and trying to get the best of each other. While Marco was a larger man and of stronger build, Luke was faster and angrier, and so the blows were coming in harder.
"Oh my god... what are you doing?!" Adelia shrieked loudly as she jumped onto Luke's back, trying to pull him off of Marco. "STOP!!!"
Luke stood, trying to get Adelia off his back but she clung to him tightly, screaming as he stood to his full height.
"Luke... stop it!" She yelled again, losing her grip and dropping down to her feet. "You have to STOP!"
Adelia jumped in front of Marco before Luke could attack again, this time extending her arms and blocking the way.
"Move." Luke said, his fist clenched but she shook her head.
"NO!" Adelia said. "I won't."
"He's right, Adelia. Move." Marco said, "This is between us."
"I don't know what this is but it's ending... now" Adelia said.
"Adelia, I won't ask you again." Luke replied.
"Good, because I'm not moving." Adelia said firmly. "What the hell is going on?"
"Watch your mouth." Luke said but she frowned.
"Oh please, you were just saying a lot worse." Adelia said. "Will you please tell me what's going on?"
"It's none of your business." Luke replied.
"It is when I'm trying to get some sleep and you two are making all this racket. I don't know about you two, but I have nowhere else to go. It's Christmas... and you two... you're supposed to be friends." Adelia said.
"I AM his friend." Marco said.
"FRIEND?" Luke reacted. "Friend? And tell me, does a friend do what you did with my WIFE?"
Adelia's eyes widened. She turned, slowly, to face Marco in surprise.
"What did you do with his wife?" Adelia said, shaking her head as she spoke. "No, Echo? Echo would never."
"You barely know her, what do you know about what she would or wouldn't do?" Luke hissed.
"I know that Echo wouldn't do that." Adelia said.
"Luke what the hell are you talking about?" Marco asked angrily. "Echo and I... we never..."
"Don't you fucking lie to me." Luke said, about to leap forward but Adelia put both hands forward pushing him back.
"Can you tell me exactly what you're insinuating? Because I can guarantee that Echo wouldn't cheat on you." Adelia said.
"No you can't." He replied.
"I'd bet my hands." Adelia said.
"It was written all over your face, Marco. Deny it, I dare you to deny it." Luke said. "Deny that you have feelings for her."
Marco was quiet and Adelia lowered her arms wearily. She knew he couldn't. She knew it was impossible to do. It was obvious to anyone who knew Marco well and she had known Marco all her life. He'd fallen in love with Echo. But to jump from that to the idea that Echo and Marco would ever betray Luke...
"It's true." Marco admitted and Adelia cringed. She'd hoped he would lie. She had really hoped he would make things more simple by lying but of course he wouldn't. Marco never lied to Luke.
"I'll kill you." Luke said quietly.
"But I've never done anything. Echo is your wife, she's in love with you." Marco said, "And you're my friend."
"And I'm supposed to just accept that?" Luke asked.
"What makes you think anything's happened?" Adelia said, trying to find some sense or reason in all this. It was ridiculous, she was 15 years old and somehow still managed to be the only person in the room who was using her head.
"Ask Nadia." Luke said, turning on his heel and walking towards the fireplace.
"Nadia?" Adelia repeated, raising her brow. "What does Nadia have to do with this?"
"She saw them." Luke said.
"Like hell she did... how could she see something that never happened?" Marco asked angrily.
"Are you calling her a liar?" Luke asked. "Nadia never lies."
"Nadia hasn't been here in a while, and Echo hasn't gone out without me." Adelia said. "She has to be confused."
"Two nights ago." Luke said, turning to look directly at Marco again. "Two nights ago in the garden. The same fucking garden where I married her and you were my best man."
Adelia was confused. Two nights ago? Had Marco come back again after she went to her room?
"Nothing happened, Luke. You have to get your head out of your ass and try to understand that." Marco said.
"You have to fucking stop talking to me that way and remember who I am." Luke said, beginning to step towards Marco again but Adelia brought her arms up.
"No, stop." Adelia said. "I don't believe it either. Luke, there's no way. If Nadia thinks she saw something, she must be confused."
"How would you know???" Luke asked.
"I'm always with Echo." Adelia stated.
"And when you're not?" He hissed. Marco stepped forward, gently nudging Adelia aside.
"You don't deserve her." Marco said, making both Adelia and Luke turn to him in surprise.
"I'm sorry- what?" Luke asked.
"If you don't understand by now, if you can't see what she's done to be here with you, how she changed her life, the way she dresses, how much she has risked... that girl is as straightforward as they come. She has shown you in too many ways just how much she cares for you. I always suspected that she was too good for this world, but you- you just don't deserve her." Marco said and then shook his head, moving towards the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" Luke asked.
"I have a flight tomorrow." Marco said, but he wasn't heading home. He was going to find Nadia and figure out what the hell she thought she saw, and he was going to fix this before it got any worse.