Page 22 of Nothing to Lose: Lost Trilogy: Part 1
The truth could not be any farther than that. I had a total of two boyfriends before Steve. One was in my junior year of high school. We never made it to senior year, nor did we ever get past third base. Which is probably why he dumped me as fast as he wooed me.
My second boyfriend happened in my first year in college. I was so ready to get rid of my virginity, desperate really, I wouldn’t have cared who took it. I was ready to make a sign,Please save me and break my hymen.
Needless to say, we did not last. And it was my fault this time. He was into me, but I wasn’t into him. I regretted it later after we broke up when I saw him walking around campus with his new girlfriend. He was being so nice and attentive, I almost marched up to snatch him back. But, reality was that I was not in love with him.
I wanted to be in love.
And that brought me to Steve’s doorstep. He messed with my head in a big way with his romantic dinners and thoughtful gifts. I fell for it all.
Now, we are two years later, and I am not sure about anything anymore.
Steve is still being, well, Steve. He is nice and attentive. But he is also somehow removed, and I can sense that, no matter how hard he’s trying to fake it.
The fact that I just saw him with his assistant is playing a huge part in this weird scenario I am building in my head. That’s what I’m doing, I try to convince myself. I am making up stories so that I can justify this weird feeling I have lately when I am around Steve.
“Home, sweet home,” Becca sing songs from the passenger side when the sign for Sunny comes into view. “I’m so happy we don’t have another shift like this for a few days,” she confesses.
“I know. We should celebrate! Go out for drinks!”
That seems to be my go-to for everything. I always call for celebratory drinks. In fact, I need to lay off the alcohol for a while. I am gaining weight, and I don’t like it.
I’ve always had curves, but for the last year, they’ve been a little rounder than they used to be. The last time Steve had a work event he needed me to attend with him, he commented on that. I’ve been self conscious about it ever since.
“Yes,” Becca agrees with me now. “We’ll go for drinks, and I’ll tell you all about my plans to go to Texas, okay? I’m probably going to need a ride to or from the airport.”
“No problem at all,” I assure her, then off she goes.
With a huge sigh, I enjoy the quiet time until I make it to my house. I always seem to overdo it with my talking when I am around others, as if it is always my responsibility to keep people entertained.
My cell phone starts ringing just as I am walking into my living room.
“Emily Stewart?” a stranger’s voice asks when I answer the call.
“This is she,” I cautiously confirm. I have no idea who this is.
“I am Jeremy Phelps,” he introduces himself like he could hear my hesitation. “I am an attorney from out in Texas. I am calling you on behalf of your mother’s estate.”
“My mother’s estate? What estate?”
My mother’s been dead for two years. Whatever money she had was split between her favorite charitable organizations, and the rest was given to me. Steve fought with me over it quite a bit actually. He thought I should’ve asked for more. How can you ask for more if that’s all that was left?
“Mrs. Alice Stewart’s father passed away recently,” Mr. Phelps informs me in a very proper manner. “He was preceded in death by his wife, Mrs. Alice Stewart’s mother. Their will stated that all their assets should go into a trust for their daughter. Seeing that Mrs. Alice Stewart has also passed, the trust is to go to any surviving children she may have. That would be you.”
I almost drop the phone to the ground.
“But my mother died two years ago,” I explain in a shaky voice. “How can they have had everything going to her now?”
“Miss Stewart,” the attorney starts explaining calmly, “the will was put in place twenty-five years ago. It was never amended with any other instructions.”
“So what does that mean for me?” I don’t understand what’s happening.
“It means that you are about to inherit quite a bit of money. In order for that to happen, we will need you to come to Texas to sign all the appropriate legal paperwork, which in turn will make you the owner of the trust.”
I am utterly and completely speechless.
“Miss Stewart, are you still there?”
“Uh, yeah, yeah, I’m here,” I tell the attorney.
