Page 18 of Tell Me the Truth

The shower water travels over my body and it feels as if the water is washing away the heaviness I am feeling. I comb my fingers through my wet hair. Imagining that I am washing the events of the past three days off my body, out of my mind, and pushing them down the drain.

I find myself gritting my teeth while in the shower. I am contemplating what I am going to do to put out the slow-moving gossip fire that Ellis Brent has caused at my company and with the public.

Ellis has been calling, leaving voice messages, and texting me all day. He has left text after text asking me to let him explain and to give him a chance.Give him a chance to tell me even more lies. Humphhh.

He had two days to tell me who he was.OK, I get it. What he told me was the truth. But what he omitted was basically lying to me. No matter how you justify it, they were all lies.How could he?

The thought of being in the same space with him reignites the pain of knowing that our time together was all a lie. Shame is a cruel bully, stomping on the ashes of what I had hoped we might have been. It has also been harassing me because I was falling for him.

Even though I had managed to convince some of the board members that it was all a misunderstanding, a few of them had looked at me like I was irresponsible. It was hard to shake off the feeling of that embarrassment. It’s still difficult to shake off that feeling.

I am also wondering what I am going to do to put out the fire that Ellis Brent started within me.It’s been so long since I had been with someone. It was nice to have the fire fueled again. But really, he means nothing to me. Move on.

After my shower, I walk downstairs to my kitchen and open the wine refrigerator.Feels like a Petite night. I pull out a 2018 Petite Sirah, open the bottle, and take a grateful whiff of the cork.

Ellis isn’t important. He’s now in my past. I think to myself. However, I realize that even if I’m not ready to speak with him yet, I know I’ll want to see him eventually.Even if it’s just to tear out his eyeballs and smash them into the concrete.

I have just poured myself a hefty glass of wine when my phone, which is sitting on the kitchen counter, vibrates and plays a familiar ringtone. Without having to look, I know it is Tracey, my assistant. I also know something must be wrong for her to be calling me at 8:00 at night. My mind briefly sifts through some possibilities for what could be happening, but I don’t delay in picking up my phone and answering.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, cutting right to it. I take a sip of wine. The distant sound of a siren can be heard in the background. Tracey’s voice is quivering, afraid.

“The lab … I did what I could … I’m sorry … fire everywhere.” She takes gasps between her words. “It started out of nowhere. Everything’s lost!”

“How did this happen? Are you alright? Is anyone hurt?” I ask. “There are special vents installed for this exact purpose. The sprinklers I had installed were supposed to be sensitive to even a matchstick.”

“I don’t know,” she replies. “But you had better get over here as soon as you can.”

“Are you alright?” I ask her again. I am hoping with everything in me that no one is hurt or worse. I hear a man in the background asking Tracey to take her statement. She tells me she is fine before she ends the call abruptly.

I stare at the freshly filled glass of wine on the kitchen counter.Dammit. On a night that I needed you the most. I grab a bit of plastic wrap, cover my wine glass, and recork the wine. This small action of preserving my glass of wine for later leaves me with a slight sense of satisfaction.

Before leaving, I change into a sweatshirt and sweatpants and grab my keys on the way out.

When I arrive at the Seth BioTech office building, there are two fire trucks parked outside, along with seven or eight other fire and police vehicles, and an ambulance. This vehicle causes me some alarm.I hope no one is hurt.

I park my car near the first responder who looks like he might be in charge. He is talking to someone on the phone and another person seems to be on some sort of tablet, providing him with information. Lance is also standing next to him, looking upset.

While I walk over to them, I look over at the Seth Biotech building to see if I can spot the damage. I can make out the part of the building that burned on the fifth floor. The lab.Thankfully, the damage didn’t spread more than that floor because of the safety measures that I had installed.I look around to search for Tracey but get first to the man who appears to be in charge.

“Hello, I’m Alexandra Seth. This is my company.” I reach my hand out to shake hands. He stretches his right hand out to me, so I clasp mine with his, feeling the coarseness of his palm.

“Hello Ms. Seth. I’m Captain Price with the Sacramento Fire Department.” He shakes my hand and reads the look on my face.

“There are no deaths, and Mr. Tyson here has confirmed that all employees have been accounted for. If that’s what you’re worried about.” He places one hand in his pocket and uses the other to point up to where the fire broke out. “Your assistant pulled the fire alarm as soon as she noticed the fire. Gave everyone a chance to evacuate the building.”

While there are no injuries or casualties, my gut feeling is still telling me that something about this isn’t right.To have a fire start in my fireproof lab the same day my research moves on to clinical trials and photographs of me and Ellis Brent surface online. I don’t believe this is all a coincidence. Or an accident.

“Captain Price. Lance. Where is Tracey, my assistant?” I am still looking around for her but haven’t yet located her.

Captain Price steps back and spreads his arm out towards one of the fire trucks. “She’s right this way, Ms. Seth.”

I walk with Captain Price around the fire truck and am relieved to see Tracey sitting beside it, covered with a warm blanket.

“Hey, are you hurt?” Instinctively, I lean over and give Tracey a hug. There is a hint of hesitation from her, but it is my guess that it’s because we’ve never hugged before. We’ve been working closely in the lab for 4 years together and are with one another more than we’re not. But we’ve never had a reason to hug.

Tracey tips the glasses on her nose and nodsyes. As tears start to form in her eyes, I tell her, “I hear you’re alright. To me, that’s all that is important. I’m so relieved you’re okay. You pulled the fire alarm, didn’t you? It’s because of you that no one else was injured, or worse!”

Poor Tracey seems to be in shock, I assess, as she is just able to sniffle and nod in response. “Don’t worry about anything Tracey. You’re safe and just take all the time here that you need. I’m just going to step over there with Captain Price to see if he has any details that he can tell me.”

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