Page 78 of Aperture

I need to leave. I rattle off some excuse that I don’t even remember and rush out the front door, leaving a confused and concerned Sarah behind me.

My hands are shaking so badly by the time I get in my car that I’m barely able to dial his number and it takes me a couple attempts.

“This is Wyatt. Leave a message.” The second I hear the beep, I start rushing out the words in a panic while pulling out of Sarah’s driveway.

“Wyatt. He did it. He fucking did it. You were right. He has an entire past we didn’t know about.” I’m not even sure if I’m making sense at this point with all the dots connecting in my head.

“I’m coming to the station.”

Suddenly a black truck pulls out in front of me. I swerve to the left to keep from hitting it and cross the median strip lined with oak trees. Thankfully, no one is coming the other way and I manage to screech to a stop before going up onto the curb. “Fucking Asshole!” I yell, as the truck speeds away.

◆◆◆

I’m staring at photos hung on my whiteboard when my phone rings, but I don’t make a move to answer it.

I’m on the cusp of something. It’s right there, within reach. I can feel it.

I flop down in my chair and rake my hands through my hair. The photo left in Millie’s house stares back at me, from within a clear evidence bag on my desk.

My mind drifts back to that night. I haven’t allowed myself to go there yet, because that was the night things with Theo started to fall apart. It was our junior year of college. We had been drinking at our apartment when Theo suggested we go to The Boardroom, a bar we used to frequent in those days.

“I don’t feel like paying $8 for a beer,” I tell him.

“Come on, man. I’m bored. And horny,” he jokes.

I shake my head at him. “Jesus, Theo, how do you even pass your classes?”

“My IQ is 136,” he shrugs.

“Yeah? Well, you are going to be the only genius in the room whose dick fell off from venereal disease by the time you are thirty,” I joke.

“Might be worth it,” he says with a laugh. He lights the joint in his hand and brings it to his lips for a long hit before exhaling and handing it to me.

“Nah,” I shake my head. “I’m driving.”

Theo throws his arm over my shoulder. “Always so responsible,” he says. “Like the big brother I never had,” he pauses, “or wanted.”

“Alright, let's go. But I am not staying there all night so you can taxi your ass home if you wanna get laid.”

“Sounds fair,” he says with a cheesy grin.

We arrive at the bar and meet up with a few other buddies that Theo had texted on the way. This place has a cool vibe. It is mostly college students and young, twenty-something professionals. The back room has a huge table, like you would find in the boardroom of a big international corporation. It can seat at least twenty people, and that’s usually where we end up.

We are headed back there when I spot her. Blonde hair falls in waves down her back and she laughs before taking a sip of some fruity cocktail at the bar.

“I’ll meet you in there,” I tell Theo, who is probably too busy laughing with a group of guys to even hear me.

She looks up and smiles as she sees me. “Wyatt, Hi!”

“Hey Sophia,” I smile back. We’ve been in classes together all semester and flirt regularly, although, nothing has come of it. It is not that I don’t want to pursue it. I really like Sophia, but she seems like the kind of girl you make your girlfriend, and that isn’t what I’m looking for right now, so I’ve just let it be.

“How is your night?” she asks. She seems tipsy already.

“Good. How about you?”

“Good.” She giggles, as her eye catches something behind me. The next thing I know Theo claps me on the back.

“Hey Buddy,” he says, but he is looking at Sophia the whole time. He flashes her that boyish grin, his dimple pops, and I can see it right away. She is hooked. I shake my head. This kid never misses.