Chapter One
“Hello, my name is Aria, and I’ll be your server this evening. Can I get you started with something to drink? It’s happy hour right now, so all tall drafts are just $2.” She tipped her head toward the nearest customer, hoping she’d be better able to hear him when he ordered, and the soft locks of hair that hung nearest her face tickled her chin. Aria brushed her bouncy brown curls back away from her face and leaned in toward her customer. She narrowed her warm brown eyes at the couple as she tried to listen closely to their wishes. Having locked in their drink order, as well as their request for an appetizer, she coasted away from them and back across to the other side of the restaurant.
Aria bustled from one table to the next, clearing dishes, refilling water glasses, and grinning at patrons as they finished their meals and left for the evening. Her happy smile didn’t leave her face all afternoon, and it stayed fixed in place throughout the entire night shift as well. Aria was elated. She had many reasons to be full of joy, and she normally went about her days with a sunny disposition, but on this night, pleasantness practically radiated from her perky smile.
“Someone’s awfully pleased with themselves,” Joan Comiskey commented as Aria whipped around the corner, pausing at the expo line to wait for her table’s order. At age 36, Joan was a full ten years older than Aria, but she had the spunk and verve of a much younger woman. Her blond hair, which was highlighted with deep tones of “super sad blue” this week, was slung into a messy ponytail and secured with a smattering of blue, white, and silver ribbons. Her fashionable horn-rimmed glasses magnified her dark brown eyes, and when she saw Aria come skipping into the kitchen area, she smiled pleasantly at her friend.
“I’ll just say it,” Aria breathed excitedly. “I’m in a fantastic mood.” She tilted her smile up toward Joan, and the two women shared a giggle.
“Well then, what’s the good word? Did you get a big tip? Was it from that table of guys who just left? I knew I should have taken that one,” Joan said grudgingly, giving Aria a wry smile.
“My tips are fine…they’ve been pretty normal actually. And nothing special has happened today…yet,” Aria replied, widening her brown eyes at Joan and making a silly face.
“Okay,” Joan said, drawing out the word slowly. “So, you’re in a good mood now because you’ve got big plans later?”
“Exactly,” Aria replied, winking at Joan mischievously. Aria put her hands on her slim hips and stood on her tiptoes so she could get a better look at the work that was being done in the kitchen. She knew she could only wait about a minute or two more for the food to be ready before she had to head back out and check on her customers.
“Don’t keep me in suspense,” Joan scolded Aria lightly. “What’s the big news? Is Landen going to propose tonight?”
Aria barked a light laugh. “Hardly. I love the man, but I don’t think he’s ready for marriage yet.”
“Okay,” Joan said, adjusting her glasses on the bridge of her nose. “Then what is it?”
Aria leaned in toward Joan and lowered her voice to a secretive whisper. “As soon as my shift is done, some friends are meeting at the apartment. We’re throwing Landen a surprise birthday party!” She danced up and down on the balls of her feet just thinking about how shocked he would be when he opened the door and found all his friends and family waiting there for him.
“He’s turning 30, right?” Joan questioned, now sharing a bright smile with Aria.
Aria nodded. “His thirtieth birthday isn’t until next Tuesday, but since I wanted this to be a surprise, I thought we should have the party tonight.”
“And he thinks you’re working late?” Joan prompted.
Aria grinned broadly. “Yes. That’s all part of the plan. I told him I was working a double shift today. I guess technically I am, since I’ve been here most of the day, but once I finish with this one last table, I’m out the door.”
“Do you think he’ll be surprised?” Joan asked, nudging Aria with her elbow in a conspiratorial way.
“I’m counting on it,” Aria replied, and the smile that had been on her face all night deepened.
***
Aria closed out all her receipts, swept up the floor, and finished her shift at the restaurant in record time. She practically skipped all the way home, thinking that she would just have time to shower and pull the vanilla cake out of the refrigerator before Landen’s guests started arriving. She raced up the stairs to the apartment she and Landen shared and unlocked the door swiftly. As she walked into the small apartment, Aria kicked off her black, no-slip work sneakers and yanked the red sweatshirt she’d been wearing off over her head. She tossed it on the edge of the couch that was near the door, but as she did, something caught her eye. It was Landen’s jacket, the blue and grey one he’d bought last spring before they went on a weekend-long camping trip. Landen loved that jacket, and when the weather was cool or rainy, he always wore it. As there was a nip in the air tonight, Aria would have expected him to take it with him, but here it was, draped over the back of their beige couch.
Aria swiveled her head from side to side, surveying the tiny living space. The laptop computer they shared sat with the screen open in the corner on a desk they had purchased together from a discount shop two years ago, right after they first started dating. The television, which was directly across from the couch, sat mute, the screen blank. The only other thing in the living room was a coffee table that had once belonged to Aria’s great-aunt. Landen clearly wasn’t in the living room, and she said a quick prayer that he had just left his jacket behind accidentally. She wanted this surprise party to go off without a hitch, but if he were here, that would ruin everything.
As Aria headed back toward the bedroom, she ducked her head into the kitchen space. She dropped her purse and other personal belongings on the counter. Even though it was dark, she wanted to make sure he wasn’t in there, rooting around in the refrigerator. She didn’t want him to spot the cake she’d purchased specially from the bakery down the street. Satisfied he wasn’t in the kitchen, Aria continued walking down the hall toward their bedroom. She thought she heard a noise coming from behind the closed door, but that couldn’t be. If Landen were home, this door would be swung wide open. Since the apartment was so small, Landen always left the doors open because he wanted to make the space feel like it was bigger.
As Aria put her hand on the faux brass doorknob and gave it a quick turn, her pulse quickened. She couldn’t be quite certain what caused this to happen, but she just felt like something was off here, and it made her nervous. She inched the door open slowly, thinking that if for some reason Landen was in bed already, she didn’t want to disturb him. If he were sick, for instance, she didn’t want to barge in here and startle him. She heard another sound, and this time it seemed almost like a thumping noise. Aria perked her ears up, waiting for it to be repeated one more time, but it didn’t.
Enough with the theatrics, Aria scolded herself internally. She finished turning the doorknob and swung open the bedroom door at once. Aria gave a funny little snort then. She flipped on the light switch and saw that the bed was empty. It was a rumpled mess, per usual, the light blue and mint green sheets and blankets tossed from one end of the mattress to the other. She never made the bed when she left the apartment because she always got up earlier than Landen, having to rush to class or to take a shift at the restaurant. When he finally decided to roll out of bed, he could never be bothered to fix the sheets and blankets because he said that it didn’t make sense. They were just going to hop back in them and mess them up again in a few hours. Aria blew out a breath of hot air, and then she bent over to start peeling off her socks.
Just as she was about to unbutton her white, long-sleeved work shirt, the thumping sound she’d thought she heard out in the hallway startled her as it sounded again. Aria turned slowly toward the en-suite bathroom. The door was shut, and that made Aria furrow her eyebrows. He must be in there, Aria thought, shaking her head at her own jumpiness. She moved across the small bedroom space and quickly flung open the door to the bathroom. The shower was running, and the mirror that stood just over the sink was completely fogged.
“Landen!” Aria shouted, wanting to make sure he could hear her over the sound of the running water.
“Aria,” Landen gasped, and she could immediately hear a tremor of terror in his voice.
“Yeah,” she replied, poking her head further into the room. “It’s me. Everything okay in there?”
“Everything’s fine,” Landen squeaked, his voice taking on an unnaturally high pitch. “What are you doing home so early? I thought you were going to be at the restaurant till late.”
Aria left the bathroom door ajar, and she wandered back out of the confined space. The steam was making it awfully hot in there. She sat on the edge of the bed and unbuttoned her white shirt, tossing it aside. “Yeah,” she shouted back through the open doorway. “I was supposed to work the double, but I decided to come home early.”
“Aria,” Landen said, pulling the shower curtain back just far enough so he could peek his head around it. His long strands of red hair hung limply to the sides of his cheeks, and his green eyes looked dismayed. “I wish you hadn’t done that.”
“Done what?” She questioned, looking around the room. “You didn’t want me to come home early…or you didn’t want me to leave the shower door open? Sorry…” She said, hopping up from the bed and stretching her hand out toward the open door. “I should have known leaving it open would let in a draft.” The odd thumping noise that had alarmed Aria so much before repeated itself now, and Aria felt astonishment steal over her.
She looked at Landen quizzically, his head still hanging out of the shower stall, and she could see that his face had turned the deepest shade of red. The freckles that normally covered his nose and cheeks nearly disappeared; he was flushed so thoroughly.
“Landen…” Aria said slowly, leaning back into the bathroom and looking around. “What’s going on here?”
Before he could answer, the shower curtain rippled, and that caught Aria’s attention. She took a small step forward, and when she squinted at the almost translucent material, she could make out the silhouette of a second person. Her mouth sprung open, and a hand flew to cover it.
“Aria,” Landen said quickly, reaching out toward the towel rack. He plucked the white cotton towel from it and stepped from the shower, wrapping the cloth around his waist. He left the shower running though, and Aria felt a fire ignite in the pit of her stomach.
“There’s someone in there with you,” Aria hissed, lowering her hand from her mouth. For just a moment, Landen looked confused, as though he wasn’t quite sure if another person had been in the shower with him, and then his deep green eyes lowered in dismay. He dropped his head and shook out the wet, limp locks.
“You don’t understand, Aria,” he began, but Aria refused to listen to his excuses. She snatched her white blouse from the bed, and as she raced from the bedroom, she hastily pulled it back on. Her fingers were trembling, so that made the task more challenging. When she got to the front door, she slid her feet back into her work shoes and snatched the red sweatshirt she had discarded earlier off the back of the couch.
“Aria, wait,” Landen called out. He was following her every footstep, dripping water in his wake.
“No,” Aria said stoutly, shaking her head. “You’re right. Whatever was happening in there, I don’t understand. And I don’t want to, either.”
“Aria, please,” Landen pleaded. He kept one hand locked around the towel firmly, but he stretched out his other hand toward her. “Let me explain.”
A small part of Aria’s mind wanted her to accept his proffered hand. She could stand here for a few minutes and let him explain to her why she had just found him in their shower with another woman. But another part of her, the larger, more logical part, knew that no amount of softly spoken words or clear-cut explanations would ever make her feel better about finding Landen in such a provocative situation. She’d caught him cheating, and she wasn’t going to stand here while he tried to explain it away.
Instead of reaching out for Landen’s hand, Aria grabbed her purse off the kitchen countertop where she had dropped it just moments before. She walked to the front door, opened it, and then turned to look once more at Landen’s distressed face. “I don’t need or want your explanations.” She started to shut the door, but then remembered something suddenly. “Your friends will be arriving in a half hour for a surprise party. Happy 30th birthday.” With that, she pulled the door closed behind her, and tears, hot and angry, began to stream down her face.