《Hired To Love》Chapter Eighteen

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For the next week, I felt Bennett tip-toeing around me. He woke up in the morning before me and rushed off to work before I could greet him and he came home later than me, heading straight into his room before I could even speak his name. Even when we finally made it back to my old apartment so we could clean up, he stood aside by the door and watched silently as Sebastian, Ariana, and I packed my things into boxes and trash bags.

I shivered just thinking about my apartment. It didn't feel right anymore. It didn't feel like home anymore. Which was all the more reason to be grateful to Bennett for letting me stay here.

Which was all the more reason for me to find an apartment quickly and get out if I was making him uncomfortable.

Annoyed, I slammed a coffee cup into the sink a little harder than I'd meant to. Ariana jumped from beside me, letting out a startled squeak. "Sorry," I apologized sheepishly.

"Things still awkward between you and Bennett?" she guessed.

"I don't know. I can't even talk to him. I thought things were okay, but now I don't know."

"Maybe he's just really busy with work," she offered.

It was possible, but if Bennett had so much free time before this week, where did all this work come from? It felt more to me like he just wanted out of the house.

She suddenly gasped. "Oh yeah! Did you ever get to McKellan's?"

I turned toward her. "No, I forgot. What did you say Wilson said again?"

"He said he had something to show you. I think it might be something from the security cameras."

My chest suddenly felt tight. "Why? We've already seen the footage of my brother leaving the place. Did he find something new? Is it important?"

Ariana shook her head, arms crossed over her chest. "I'm not sure. He wouldn't tell me about it. I think you should go see him."

"I'll go today after work." I couldn't believe I'd forgotten about going back to McKellan's. It'd been over a week already. Was he still waiting for me? Did he still have the video?

After that, work passed by very slowly. My fingers kept twitching and I felt a heavy weight in my chest. I couldn't almost hear the clock ticking every second. The minute we closed the shop I tossed off my apron and clocked out, urging Ariana out the door so we could lock it.

"Let me come with you," she said.

"Okay," I agreed. Maybe I'd feel more at ease with her. "I'll drive though. Might as well use up some miles on this beast while I still have a chance."

Ariana and I both looked at the rental car Bennett had given me. It was a Dodge Charger; sleek, black, and beautiful. This way I could drive myself around and park it at Bennett's house. I loved my clunker, but it was best to leave it here in the parking lot for now.

McKellan's pub and bar was located in the downtown area. Since it was a Friday evening, the place was packed by the time we arrived. Boisterous shouting by a bunch of men playing pool greeted us as we entered. Huge T.Vs were blaring sports or the news or even Parks and Rec. I grimaced. While this wasn't the place for me, my brother fit in here fine. Ariana on the other hand, I wasn't sure. She came here all the time though.

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Wilson was behind the bar, speaking to the bartender. I went up to him and smiled, waving a bit. "Hi Wilson. It's been awhile."

"Welcome back, Ariana. And Henley. I was starting to think you weren't coming," he said, raising his voice slightly to speak over the noise.

"Sorry. It's been a hectic week. And month."

He nodded sympathetically. "Have you heard from your brother yet?"

"Not lately, why?"

"I think he's on to something. Let's go into my office so we can talk better."

Ariana and I exchanged surprised looks and we followed Wilson into the much quieter room of his office. He took a seat at his desk and Ariana and I sat on the opposite side in the leather chairs. I sat straight up, trying to keep my breathing even.

"What's that video you want to show me?" I asked.

"It's the same video as before. The one where we see your brother leaving and entering the parking lot."

"What about it?"

"Well, your brother's new lawyer requested the footage to take a look at it and he pointed out something we hadn't picked up on before. I don't know why we didn't notice."

My brother had hired a new lawyer? I remembered he'd said he'd wanted to, but I didn't know he actually went through with it. Still, I leaned forward in my seat, feeling my heart pound against my chest. "What? Is it something that can prove his innocence?"

Wilson's lips curved down a little. "I can't say for sure. I haven't been told anything. I just thought I'd show you the tape and see if you could recognize anything. Let me pull it up."

I grasped my knees with my hands, eyes trained on the computer screen. Once the familiar video was pulled up, Ariana scooted closer to the monitor. I followed suit, eyes searching. I spotted my brother immediately. Unlike me, his hair was dark brown and shaggy. He wore a black button up that night and a dark pair of jeans. You could make it out well on the camera.

"We were so focused on your brother while watching this, we didn't look at the surroundings. Look at the corner here." He tapped on the bottom, left side of the monitor. "Does he look familiar?"

I moved my facer closer to the screen, staring at the stranger he'd pointed to. His back was to the camera, but he looked a lot like... "Oh my God."

"Oh my God," Ariana repeated, apparently coming to the same realization I had.

"I keep thinking. How could we have missed this?" Wilson said. "How did no one notice?"

I stared at the screen, my mouth open. The person with his back to the camera... he looked just like my brother from behind. He wore almost the same outfit— black shirt, dark jeans. His hair was shaggy and dark. Even their builds were the same. It was almost a spitting replica. The only difference I could note was that this man was wearing two gold watches on the same wrist. My brother never wore watches.

Ariana's hand gripped mine and I turned to her, seeing her eyes starting to water. "What if this is who actually stole the car and crashed it? What if it wasn't your brother?"

My eyes roamed back to the monitor screen. I couldn't pull my gaze away from the back of that stranger's head. It almost felt familiar. Was it because he had the same appearance as my brother? Or was it something else? Was it someone I knew?

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Suddenly I sucked in a deep breath of air and realized I'd stopped breathing. Ariana chewed on her fingernails, a habit I'd been trying to get her to break. But I couldn't scold her now.

"How did no one notice?" I managed to get out. "How did no one notice this guy looks just like my brother? And who wears two watches on the same wrist?" The anger came fast. My chest heaved and I balled my hands into tight fists, my fingernails digging into my skin.

Wilson shook his head. "I have no clue. So many people have looked over this footage. Maybe we were searching for something that wasn't so obvious, everyone overlooked it?"

I felt sick. I'd seen this tape over twenty times. How could I have not noticed this before? How had my brother's lawyer not noticed? It didn't make sense.

"Henley, calm down. Now we have something to work with. Your brother's new lawyer seems to know what he's doing," Ariana spoke gently.

She was right. This was more than we ever had before. Letting out a shaky breath, I slumped back into my seat. This was something new. Maybe my brother was innocent. Maybe my brother was innocent. "I can't believe he didn't tell me this right away."

"I think they're trying to keep this quiet," Wilson said. "He told me not to mention it to anyone but you. I feel something fishy might be happening here."

The back of the stranger's head stood out on the video. I couldn't shake the strange feeling I was having. I felt like I knew that person. I didn't know how, but somewhere inside me I knew he seemed familiar.

Suddenly the door to the bar burst open and an employee with an ashen face stuck his head in. "Sorry for interrupting, Sir, but some dude flipped over the pool table."

Wilson groaned. "Again?"

"Again?" I said. Now even more than before, I couldn't imagine tiny little Ariana hanging out in a place like this. But definitely my brother.

"Sorry guys, I have to get out there. If anything new develops, I'll let you know," he said, standing up from his chair.

Ariana and I followed suit, saying our goodbyes. As we were headed back to my car, my phone started ringing. Bennett's name flashed on the screen. "Hello?"

"Are you home?"

"I'm not at your place yet, no. Why?"

"Please head back now. Henry will be there shortly and one of us needs to be there."

"And you can't?"

"I'm busier than you."

I pursed my lips. "Oh, are you?"

"Please just meet him here. I have to go."

"Wait a second! Who's Henry? Bennett? Bennett!" I pulled my phone away from my face, seeing he'd disconnected the call. I ground my teeth together. He'd barely spoken to me all week, and this is what I'd gotten?

Ariana grinned a bit. "It's like true love."

"I don't think you should want to beat the crap out of the person you love."

"Huh. That's very true."

"Anyway, I guess I have to head back to the house and meet this guy Henry, or whatever. Let's head back to the shop."

The ride back to Coffee House was quiet. Both of us were probably consumed by our thoughts. I know I was. My brother was spending time in jail when he should've been drinking at McKellan's with his friends. If it turned out he'd been innocent all along... my hands clenched on the steering wheel.

After dropping Ariana off, I went straight back to Bennett's. There was an unfamiliar car parked in the driveway. I parked next to it and cautiously walked to the front door, afraid of who would be waiting.

A young man in a black suit that looked a little too big for him was standing on the front steps. He had a tool case in one hand and a medium sized cardboard box in the other. His head was down and his back faced me. I didn't think he heard me approaching so I cleared my throat.

He jumped, letting out a frightened sound. Turning around, he lifted the tool case up defensively. Curly black hair framed his face and he squinted at me, his eyes crunching up behind think, black glasses.

"You must be Henley," he said, relaxing his posture. "Sorry, you surprised me."

I smiled. "Sorry. I'm Henley. You must be Henry."

"Yes. Nice to meet you. I'm Mr. Calloway's secretary. And assistant."

I immediately felt pity for this poor man. "I'm so sorry."

My response caught him off guard and he froze up. Then he laughed bashfully. "It's not really a bad job. Sometimes."

I grinned at him. "It's hard to be near him sometimes, I can't even imagine working for him. Why are you here?"

He held up the toolbox in his hand. "He wants me to install new locks while his mother is away."

"New locks?"

"I believe it is so his mother cannot come in without his permission again. It was never a problem before, but I think Mr. Calloway is thinking about you. Meeting with Mrs. Calloway isn't something most people want to do."

I could definitely agree with that. "So he's making you change the locks? He can't do it?"

"Well, since he personally requested me to do it, I don't mind."

Bennett was going through all this trouble just so his mom couldn't meet me randomly again? Or rather, Bennett was making Henry go through the trouble, but the point remained.

"Do you want some help?" I asked, feeling a little like it was my fault he had to do this.

His eyes widened. "No! I'll be fine by myself. I think Bennett— oops, sorry— Mr. Calloway just wanted you to be around so I can tell you the passcode."

He was putting in an electrical lock? Was this guy a jack of all trades or something? "I'll help you. I don't know much, but just tell me what to do. I'll be bored anyway."

"If you insist, I'll take your help. I'm just watching a YouTube video on how to do it anyway. Maybe a second pair of hands would be useful."

"A YouTube video?" Suddenly I was feeling more nervous about this. But it was too late to take back my word.

Since it was dark out, the only light we had to work with was the floodlights in the back and the main light in the front. Fortunately, there was only two doors in Bennett's house and the video on YouTube was surprisingly helpful, even with all the electric jargon.

"How long have you been working for Bennett?" I asked Henry.

"For Bennett alone, only a couple years. But I've been with the company for about seven years. I used to be Mrs. Calloway's secretary."

I whistled lowly. "That sucks."

He hesitated, as if not wanting to speak bad about her. "It's gotten better," he admitted.

"Do you like it?"

"I prefer Bennett over his mother."

"Why did you switch?"

"Bennett asked me to work for him after he was forced into the position of the next CEO."

I frowned a little. "He was forced?"

"Yes. He had no choice after Lee—" He abruptly shut his mouth, his eyes widening.

My ears perked up. "Lee? What about Lee?"

"Please don't mention I spoke of him."

"I won't," I promised. Was Bennett's brother supposed to take over the company? Bennett hadn't wanted to?

"Henley."

"Yeah?"

"I hope you can help him."

"Who?"

"Bennett." Henry put down the drill he was using, his face turning somber. "I think he can't get over Lee. He doesn't show it, but I know he's struggling. I know he didn't want his life to become like this. Please help him move on. If he's letting you stay in this house, it means he's finally letting someone in again. I think you can help him out of whatever is holding him back. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

I tilted my head to the side a little. "Kind of?"

"He's stuck because of what happened to Lee. I'm sure Lee's bedroom is the same as it was while he was still here. Please help Bennett find his freedom."

Help Bennett find his freedom? From what? The serious look on Henry's face made my heart heavy. I couldn't imagine losing Brandon and I couldn't imagine how Bennett felt when he lost his brother. Just what was Bennett's life actually like? And how could I help him?

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