Chapter 4

A man goes over to start up a conversation, asking Louisa who she is waiting for. Louisa points at the couple who are walking towards her. Feeling embarrassed, the man mutters a few words and walks off. 

"Hey, girl, you look perfect; you could be a heartbreak." Christa walks to Louisa’s side and hugs her; Lewis sits on the chair opposite the dining table.

"Thank you, Christa. Good to see you, Lewis." Louisa has captivated the room with her sexy, body-conscious dress that enhances her amazing curves; Christa finds that Louisa is stared at and ogled. 

Without a word, Lewis shows no inclination to talk. Lewis gestures with a wave of his hand and turns his head to look at the ocean. 

The two girls chat about such trivia as their favorite kinds of dresses and make-up, then they spend half an hour talking gossip about their friends while Lewis sits quietly and plays with his phone. 

Christa was warming up the conversation, preparing for an onslaught. Otherwise, why should she arrange dinner for them? 

They serve the food on polished tables with mats. Dining with the very one she used to love as a husband, a friend? But who betrayed her and hurt her most would drive her mad. It is better worth digging deep into the mess.

When Lewis cuts his raw beef steak, Christa can hardly wait to try it. She used to think the steak was raw and too rough to eat. But the blood juice sharpens her appetite right now.

"Honey, can I have a taste of your steak? It looks delicious." Christa speaks with unwonted enthusiasm.

"Really? Let me cut it into small pieces for you." Lewis pauses and continues his action.

Christa doesn’t wait. She takes a big part of the steak and puts it into her mouth. Imagine how surprised Lewis and Louisa are right now. They stare at her with wide eyes.

She doesn’t know what is matter to her! That is a stupid thing to do. She begins to talk at once: "Sorry, I was being frivolous. Louisa, did you see Lewis a lot at the hospital?"

"Not much; we are not in the same division." Louisa takes a quick peek at Lewis. 

"Is he popular among nurses? Do you think that I need to keep an eye on him?"

"Christa, I knew nothing beyond a few random facts that everyone in the hospital knew that Lewis was no longer available. You are quite famous there. You visited him every day. Take it easy. You got to give the guy some space."

They are all a touch uneasy, Christa thinks. Something unspoken hung in the air between them. Christa excuses herself to the bathroom to get some fresh air, leaving her phone with a sound recording running at the table.

Louisa and Christa had happily grown up in the neighborhood for almost twenty years, going to school together and eventually becoming an item. Both of them were 23 years old, and Lewis was four years older than Christa.

Louisa had gone to Greenwish hospital a month earlier than Lewis; she went there after graduating from nursery school last year. Lewis was an intern during his Ph.D. at Greenwish and got his Medical Doctor Degree this year. 

Christa went to the hospital to visit Lewis a lot because he was always too busy to come to their dating; it was her first year at grad school.

Few people in the hospital knew that Lewis’ family owned the hospital. He had always been against swanking about his family business, but Louisa knew.

Christa told her - it was the first time that Louisa told Christa that she was applying for a nursing job at Greenwish; Christa asked Lewis to help her. Memories of the past filled her mind to the exclusion of all else. 

Christa stays a little longer on the balcony. It has been clear to her that Lewis and Louisa should have more time to sort things out. 

Christa texted her phone before, and the quality of the recording on her phone was quite exceptional. She is a non-smoking fitness, but lilting a cigarette and perches on the corner sounds good.

The nights and cold weather are closing in. 

Suddenly, it seems to her that her life is a dream, her death, her husband and best friend’s betrayal, and she would awake in the morning and will be back again at home.

She tries to clear the confusion that is fogging her brain. There follows a long period of confusion and muddling. Tears are running down her cheeks; she wipes them and clears herself up. Christa takes a deep breath and was ready to walk back to the dining table. 

Being sentimental about the past wouldn’t do any good to her; she needs to fight back to save herself. Someone is approaching; he is studying and observing regularities in her behavior. He was supposed to show up on the cover of a fashion magazine.

"Christa, did you shift? Your scent is fresh." The man standing in his presence knew her name. He smells different from others. Christa swore she’d seen him before, but she didn’t know his name.

"I am sorry. Who are you?" Christa speaks in a loud, rather unfriendly voice. She does his best to remain calm, but there is a distinct edge to her voice. Christa has no idea why she can feel her anger all day. 

"Evan Moffy. We were in the same school." Evan smiles.

"Nice to meet you. I have to go; catch up to you later." Christa says with reluctance.

"If there’s any problem you can ring me, here is my number." He gives her a note.

Christa tries and gets rid of the stranger, so she takes the note and put it in her purse. 

It seemed that Lewis and Louisa had unpleasantly exchanged words. Louisa looks terrible, not as stunning as earlier. Lewis’s face is ghastly white, but when he sees Christa coming, his face softens; he manages to produce a dim, watery smile.

Mission accomplished- Christa taps her phone and finds the recorder has recorded the conversation between Louisa and Lewis. It feels like video spy cameras are being used in public places; she trembles at the thought.

While it pleases Christa that her effort is bound to be rewarded, Lewis seems a bit subdued. He excuses himself so the ladies could have some girl time; Christa couldn’t be happier about his leaving.

The ladies start their party in the cocktail lounge on the second floor. It is a perfect place with a wide variety of her favorite beverages and snacks for casual conversation with friends or simply unwinding after a hectic day.

"Louisa, Lewis said he had seen you in the hotel around midnight last night. You promised you would stay at home. Why are you here?"

"I came to get Peter Clinton; he always had a thing for you. I worry about he would make a fool of himself by coming here when I didn’t find him at home last night."

Peter Clinton was Louisa’s older brother; he was two years older than Louisa. Growing up with him was not pleasant; he was the kind of freak who was determined to live by his own rules. But he had loved Christa; he had been, accordingly, sweet to Christa.

What Louisa didn’t know was that Christa ran into Peter the other day at the mall; Peter told her that he would not go to the wedding, and he offered his blessing. For that reason, Christa doesn’t believe Louisa now. Louisa senses that Christa does not believe her, so she changes the subject.

"Christa, would you please tell me why you want me to leave the hotel and stay home for the night? You sound serious by then."

"Do you remember Cornelius Longman? He is a notorious guy for his Neanderthal attitude to women."

"The best man?"

"He started a bet in the morning that he would take one of the bridesmaids at the wedding. I am afraid that the poor girl would be you. You know how sexy you are, so I told you to go home to stay away from him. I could not let him devour my precious Louisa; you deserve better."

Louisa acts like she believes the booshit. No more words. There is a link between them. However, both have their axe to grind, and both of them plan that takes the opposite party’s vigor to fish for more information unexpectedly.

It is very late; the exciting nightlife shall begin; some of the gentlemen come over, offering drinks with them. Christa shows her ring to get rid of them, but she is pretty sure it is her cue to say goodbye because Louisa has all dressed up for the night.

She stumbles back to her room where Lewis is sitting on the sofa playing video games on the TV; Christa sits by his side for a while, and then she walks to the bathroom around 11 pm; she has to listen to their talk on the recorder.

She locks the bathroom door and sits on the toilet, leaving the tap running so Lewis couldn’t hear her in the room; she carries the mood to put it on.

"So, what is it like to be married?" 

"Why are you here today? What game are you playing, Louisa?"

"I was disappointed to find out that you had left like that last night, so I came to check up on you. Do you know that Christa asked me if I was sleeping with you yesterday? She was so cute; it’s not even close to being true."

"What did you say?"

"It was funny to see the look on your stupid face. I told the truth. Of course, I had never had sex with you. Yet the question isn’t whether you are cheating on Christa, but rather, why she had a suspicion about you or me. She said that she got a phone call that someone told her you are sleeping with one of her friends."

"That’s unreal…" As the sound of Lewis gets louder, it becomes more distorted and fuzzy-sounding.

"Aren’t you curious as to how that’s possible?"

"Is that Christa’s phone? She left it again; how forgetful of her. Maybe I could look into the number to find out. The recorder was running…"

Listening to the scratchy recording, she recognizes Louisa and Lewis immediately. There is no sound in the remaining recorder. She changed her passport phone yesterday. Did Lewis unlock her new passport? 

It is clear that they know her phone is recording their conversation, but the recording hasn’t been erased, which caused more questions.

Their performance is perfection.