Listening to the nonsense, Laura just wanted to take a shower to wash off the manipulation. On Wednesday, Mike showed up at her place again, demanding a final answer. He said he was “ready to compromise.”
He promised that Eleanor wouldn’t move in permanently; she would just “visit for a week or two at a time.” Laura tensed up at the word “week,” but Mike quickly changed it to “just a weekend here and there.” Laura thought about it.
Dealing with the woman for two days a month seemed better than every day. She cautiously agreed, but only if the visits were approved by her first. Mike looked triumphant and hugged her.
Laura tried to believe it would work, but her gut was still uneasy. The next week was full of flowers and dates, as if Mike were trying to win her back. Eleanor vanished from the radar, and Laura finally relaxed.
For the weekend, Mike rented a cabin by a lake, suggesting they get away from the city to “reset.” The trip was perfect. Mike was attentive and didn’t mention his mother once. Laura felt herself falling for him all over again.
The peace ended Sunday night when Mike dropped her off. Laura went inside, tossed her purse on the sofa, and went to take a shower. When she came out in her robe, she looked at her bag and froze.
The leather bag had clearly been searched. The zipper was wide open, even though she always kept it halfway closed. Fearing the worst, she dumped the contents onto the sofa. Her wallet and phone were there, but her heavy brass key ring was gone.
She panicked, checking her coat pockets and the floor, but they were gone. The set with the owl keychain—the one that opened her building, her condo, and her mailbox—was missing.
She remembered having them that morning. She called Mike, her voice shaking. He sounded “surprised,” swearing he hadn’t touched her bag.
But before he said “no,” there was a long, telling pause. He awkwardly suggested she “look around the house” and hung up quickly. Laura, who spent her life analyzing data and human behavior, knew he was lying.
There was no doubt: he had gone through her bag while she was in the shower at the cabin. But why? He already had access when they were together. The answer lay in that guilty silence on the phone.
Laura had a spare set of locks in her utility drawer. She thought about calling a locksmith right then, but she decided to wait. She didn’t want to overreact if she was just being paranoid.
She didn’t sleep that night. She replayed every minute of the weekend. Mike had never been more than a few feet away from her, except when she was in the bathroom. That was the only time he could have done it.
Monday was a blur. She felt like a zombie at work. That evening, Mike texted to ask if she’d found the keys yet.
When she said no, he coldly suggested she just “get a copy made from the spare.” Laura ignored the advice. On Wednesday, Mike called and begged her to visit his mother one last time before the wedding.
He swore Eleanor “missed her” and wanted to “make things right.” Laura was too tired to fight and agreed to a short visit. As soon as she hung up, she regretted it, but she felt she had to see this through.
The week dragged on. On Friday night, Laura had a drink with Jennifer. She confessed she was exhausted. Jennifer told her to cancel the wedding if she had any doubts, but Laura blamed her feelings on “pre-wedding jitters.”
Saturday morning felt like a funeral. Laura forced herself to get ready, wearing a simple beige dress. As she put her spare keys in her bag, she looked sadly at the plain ring that had replaced her favorite owl keychain.
Mike picked her up at the scheduled time. He had a fake, twitchy smile on his face. The drive was silent. Laura’s intuition was screaming at her.
They climbed the four flights of stairs again. This time, the door opened before they even knocked. Eleanor was standing there, but she looked different. She was wearing a nice dress, her hair was done, and she was wearing lipstick.
The table was covered in desserts, fruit, and pies. Eleanor was beaming with a strange, triumphant energy. She invited them in, and Laura felt a wave of nausea. Something was very, very wrong…
