Circling her thoughts around, Beth began to refocus on her mission. She pulled out the book and five-dollar bill that she had been given earlier that day and considered the two items again.
Yes, the Waldorf was exactly where she was supposed to go. This was a clue that she felt very sure about. She wondered, though, what she would find when she got there. Jumping a little in her seat, her stomach fluttery with excitement, Beth placed the two items in her lap and took a deep breath, composing herself. Even though she still had considerable uncertainty about who could actually be behind all this, she had to believe that eventually it would all make sense.
Just like a classic movie with a plot that featured countless twists and turns, Beth had faith that the path would lead her to answers. She was committed to seeing it through.
The cab slowed, and the driver turned round from the front to face Beth. ‘Sorry about this traffic. You said the Waldorf, right? I’ll get you there as quick as possible.’
Beth smiled politely and shook her head. There was no way to control Midtown traffic at rush hour. ‘No worries, I’m not in a hurry,’ she said, even though she sort of was, but she had to keep it in perspective. It was her own internal deadline that was making her agitated – it wasn’t like there was any emergency.
She looked out the window at Park Avenue to find something to entertain her thoughts; to distract her from wondering what was waiting at the hotel for her. Chances were it wasn’t Billy, she reassured herself with some relief, given that she’d just left him.
However, almost as if serendipity was playing its own kind of trick, Beth suddenly got more than she bargained for.
On the path, no more than twenty feet away from where she sat in the cab, was Danny.
He was walking briskly, avoiding the tourists and crowds of Christmas shoppers that seemed to be crushing the space around him.
Beth’s expression dropped when she noticed he looked incredibly stressed, completely out of sorts, as if something terrible had just happened. She could see it in his face. The cheery twinkling fairy-lit trees along the avenue seemed even brighter against the grey misery of his demeanour.
Forgetting her own mission at that moment, Beth had eyes only for Danny. What was wrong, what had happened? She hoped it wasn’t more bad news from the office, and that all those extra hours he’d been working had ultimately been for naught… She started to roll the window down so she could call out to him, make him stop so she could get out of the cab and find out why he looked so upset and preoccupied.
She could go to the Waldorf another time – tomorrow – whenever. ‘Just a minute,’ she said to the driver. She had just got the window down halfway, and she started to stick her head towards the opening to call after Danny, but someone beat her to it.
‘Wait!’ cried a woman’s voice from nearby. ‘Hold on.’
Beth pulled back from the window and watched as a beautiful, dark-haired woman rushed after her boyfriend. She had an arm up in the air and seemed desperate to reach him – to get his attention. Beth’s brow furrowed and she looked around in confusion, suddenly realizing that this part of town was quite some distance from Danny’s workplace. What was he doing here?
Her attention was very quickly dragged back to the scene in front of her. The dark-haired woman had been successful in getting Danny’s attention. She had reached him and grabbed his arm, pulling on him, trying to get him to face her. And Danny’s face was just… ashen, Beth thought; it was hard to describe how he looked. And not only that but he seemed dishevelled, not at all as groomed as he usually was, his shirt hanging out as if… As if he had got dressed in a hurry or something. What on earth…?
But notwithstanding how he looked, it was also crystal clear that he knew this woman.
Who was she? Beth studied her. Dark and Mediterranean-looking, she had long, silky hair and wore a pencil skirt and high heels. Beth focused in on the woman’s face. She handed him something and she and Danny were talking now – no, not talking,remonstrating. Something was going on and it was heated. Beth tried to remember the last time she and Danny had communicated like that, openly and unrestrained, the way these two people were interacting. It reminded Beth of something, it was like two lovers in the throes of a passionate discussion. A dramatic outburst on the city streets – followed by making up somewhere private.
Beth felt as if she was holding her breath.
Danny was clearly upset and Beth wished that she could hear their words. How did they know each other? Was she a workmate of his? What was going on?
And then the realisation hit Beth. Danny was… involved with this woman. She swallowed hard, trying to understand it, trying to make sense of it. Suddenly his behaviour over the last few weeks made perfect sense.
‘Oh God…’ she gasped out loud.
‘Miss?’ the driver suddenly said, interjecting into her thought process. ‘Do you want to get out here or what?’
But Beth turned away from the window and shook her head violently. ‘No, no. I don’t.’ Her fear and confusion escalated as she turned back. She had to get away from here – she wasn’t ready to deal with this. She wasn’t sure when she wouldeverbe ready to deal with this.
Danny cheating on her…
And right then, she came to the crystal-clear realisation that Danny didn’t plan this treasure hunt – he certainly wasn’t behind it. Evidently he had moved on, was making plans for – or more to the point,with– someone else, and Beth wasn’t included.
‘Sorry, no, I don’t want to get out,’ she managed to the cab driver. ‘Keep going. Please. I have to get out of here.’
As the cab continued on its journey, and Beth scrambled to get her thoughts together, suddenly she felt very sure of one thing.
As her world was crumbling around her, she would continue on with this hunt, she decided, swallowing the lump in her throat and hardening her heart.
Anything that would offer her a respite from this terrifying new reality.
Chapter 21
