chapter 2

Relationships always include friends in common and we were no exception. After she left, I didn't hear from her. I texted her and e-mailed her, but never got a response. My head was whirling, as I wondered what could have happened. After two months, one of her girlfriends told me that she'd heard from Taylor. She was enjoying her new job in Hartford. And living with Tony. She had never gone to Orlando and never intended to. She had lied to me. Not just a single lie. But a string of lies to convince me that she was taking a job in Orlando and keep me from suspecting that she was going back to Tony.

Now, two years later, here she was standing in front of me. I had a swirl of emotions. Anger, pain and confusion. Plus, all the memories of the good times that we once had. It had taken me months to even begin getting over what she had done. I had dated some, but never really found a connection. But two years after she had left, I had felt like I was more or less on an even keel. Seeing her standing there turned my world upside down and inside out.

"Aren't you going to invite me in, Brad?" I hesitated. I thought about slamming the door in her face, and I thought about the satisfaction that would give me. But I was also curious. What could she possibly have to say after what she had done? How could she possibly explain? There was only one way to find out.
"Okay, Taylor. Come in." I was trying very hard to appear cool and collected. Inside, I was churning.

She sat on my small office sofa, and I returned to my office chair. "I thought about you a lot, Brad," she said. "I hope you aren't too mad at me."
"Mad at you, Taylor? You lied to me, big time. You let me think we might have a future together when you were really going back to Tony. I had to find out from one of your friends that you went to Hartford, not Orlando. Yeah, I'm mad. Bet your ass I am."

She lowered her head and began to cry softly. I'd seen her cry before, and I knew that she could cry whenever it suited her. I was determined not to weaken. I waited for her to finish her tears. After a few minutes she took out a tissue and dried her eyes. "I had to come back to you, Brad. I couldn't stay away."
"I'm not buying it, Taylor. You wouldn't be here unless you wanted something. Why don't you try a little honesty for a change? Or you can just head back to Hartford. And Tony."

"I can't go back to Hartford. And I sure can't go back to Tony." She took a deep breath and told me her story.

She had indeed moved to Hartford to be with Tony, and he had gotten her an entry level accounting position in the same firm he worked for. He was a senior accountant, with a nice office and a lot of responsibility. They lived together, of course, and he told her a lot of things about how the firm was structured that would help her. He made a few jokes about how easy it would be to siphon off some of that money for themselves, but she didn't suspect he was serious. Not at first, anyway. As she learned more, she took a greater interest in the various accounts, including the ones that Tony was responsible for. Eventually, she realized that he was indeed siphoning off money to a special numbered account. She was also smart enough to know that the firm kept records of all electronic moves that everyone made, including her. If Tony ever got caught, they would find out that she knew what he had been doing, and she would end up in jail, too. So she turned him in. And she testified against him. It turned out that he had actually embezzled millions, and ended up with a 20 year sentence, no parole for ten years. Just before he was arrested, Tony told her that he would kill her for what she had done. She believed him.

When Tony went to prison, Taylor breathed a sigh of relief. Then her nightmare started. Tony escaped from prison. She was reading about it on line when she got an anonymous text. "I'll find you and I'll kill you, then I'll disappear forever." She believed it. The money he had stolen had never been recovered, and it wouldn't be hard for someone like Tony to put it where he could get to it and use it to stay free.

Taylor had quickly packed, and left Hartford. She left her phone behind, as she knew he could trace her if she kept it. She went to the one place that Tony wouldn't expect her to go. To me. Well, I hadn't expected it either.