Page 51 of Stronger Than Fate

“Fortunately very busy with work. But I’m glad you called, not just to hear from you, but also because I wanted to talk to you. Can we meet?”

“Of course. Is something wrong?” I asked, because I thought I detected some concern in her tone.

“Nothing important, just something I need to tell you about.”

“Alright. Do you want to come to the hotel or meet somewhere else?”

“I’ll come to the hotel. I can be there at seven,” she confirmed.

“Before you hang up, I wanted to ask if you’ve heard from Sol these days.”

She was silent for a few seconds, and then I heard her sigh loudly before answering.

“Actually, that’s what I want to talk to you about. She’s been in touch with me almost daily these days, and I find her strange, to put it one way. I know you two are very close friends and the last thing I want is to cause problems between you, but I assure you that girl has some issue with you.”

“I’ve been trying to reach her, but she doesn’t answer my calls or respond to my messages. What do you mean when you say she has some issue with me?”

“I don’t know, I got the feeling that she envies you a lot and wants to hurt you,” she paused while I was in shock, then quickly added, “Don’t listen to me, we’d better talk about this in person.”

“You’re making me worried, Niky. What happened?” I asked, completely confused.

“Let’s do this: as soon as I finish with a client who’s coming in fifteen minutes, I’ll head over. I can probably be at your office around four, is that okay with you?”

“No problem at all. Come as soon as you can,” I replied, anxious to hear everything she had to tell me.

We said goodbye and uneasiness took hold of me. I had no idea what she might have noticed about Sol to make such a comment. I tried to keep working, but I had to make a great effort to concentrate because my mind kept going back to my conversation with Niky. Every so often I checked my phone to make sure I hadn’t missed a response from Sol, and I always confirmed that I hadn’t.

Around four in the afternoon, Cameron informed me through the intercom that Niky Woollardy wanted to see me.

As soon as she entered my office, we gave each other a big hug.

“I’ve been so wanting to see you!” she exclaimed.

“Me too.”

When she pulled away from me, she looked at me and a big smile lit up her face.

“How are things going with my brother?”

“We’re spending time together to get to know each other,” I replied, also smiling.

“These past few days I’ve been dying to call you, but I didn’t want you to think I was being nosy. The last thing I want is to interfere in your relationship. One day you’ll have to tell me how you two met.”

“Of course. But now come and let’s talk about Sol because you left me very worried.”

We sat at the conference table and I asked for coffee to be brought to us.

“I don’t even know where to start,” she said, and I noticed she was a bit nervous.

“Tell me everything you think I should know,” I requested, ready to listen without interrupting.

“Alright.” She sighed. “I’ll start with the day you left the pub with Henry. When I told her, I swear I’d never seen a person get so furious and try to hide it, but without success. It even scared me a little because her face looked like someone who was out of control.”

“I could tell she was making an effort to control herself, but she couldn’t. At that moment, the guy who had been dancing with her came over and said something to her, and she yelled at him to leave her alone. The poor guy looked at her bewildered and took off, and we didn’t see him again, neither him nor his friends. I, thinking she was worried about you, told her to calm down, that you were fine because you were with my brother, and she looked at me like she wanted to kill me, but then I think she noticed the horror on my face and smiled and said she needed to go to the bathroom. I waited for her for a while, and when she didn’t come back, I gathered my things and left.”

»The next day she called me about ten times, but with a different attitude. That day she was sweet and affectionate. She kept asking me how I was doing and if I had heard from you. At that point, I started thinking something wasn't right, and I didn't answer her last few calls.

»On Monday the calls continued, but this time they worried me more because she started speaking badly about you,” she confessed, looking at me sadly, but I was so shocked I couldn't say anything. “She kept insisting that you were a bad friend because you had hidden from me that you knew Henry, and she tried to imply that you had befriended me just to get close to my brother. What's more, I think she said something like your weekend at our house was probably planned by you to corner Henry, which I denied completely because I was the one who invited you.