Easy There, Dad Bond

As he got closer to the stage Thomas got distracted by a few guests who stopped him and wanted to say “hello” or talk about Rachel and seeing her on stage. He tried his best to be polite and move from one exchange to the next, reassuring each person that Rachel would be out among the crowd soon, but when he eventually got up to the stage the mysterious man was gone. He looked around casually, not wanting to alarm anyone, but his unease remained.

A part of him wanted to let it go, wanting to write it off as someone who had walked by the community center and decided to crash the party and see what all the fuss was about. But something compelled Thomas to double-check and go out into the hallway just in case.

As he walked out he saw the man at the end of the hallway, turning a corner, but it was the person he had by the arm that caused his breath to catch. He had Aubrey and was dragging her down one of the dark hallways. Thomas didn’t call out but moved down the hall with speed, doing his best to silence his footsteps despite his dress shoes smacking against the hard floor.

‘How did Bond make this look so easy?’ Thomas thought as he did his best to catch up as stealthily as he could. When he reached the end of the hall he stopped before turning the corner. Maybe it was something private and he wasn’t meant to be alarmed, but then again, maybe Aubrey was in danger. He didn’t know for sure so he listened for a bit, hoping he’d hear something that would let him know one way or another.

“I need you. WE need you. You have to come back,” the man’s voice pleaded.

“Let go of me!” Aubrey said.

That was the phrase Thomas needed to hear to round the corner and confront the situation.

“Is everything okay here?” Thomas asked, trying to act as casual and calm as he could.

Aubrey was startled. “Thomas. Uh, yeah, it’s nothing,” she said as she pulled her arm away from the mysterious stranger.

“This is none of your business,” the man added.

“No offense, but it sounds a bit like it is,” Thomas replied.

The man then looked at Aubrey. “Is he who you left us for?”

Thomas’ brain was racing. 'Was this man her husband, boyfriend, baby daddy? Was he the ‘John’ she once mentioned, but later told him wasn’t real?'

Just then Thomas’ head started to throb and his vision blurred. He remembered the video of her masturbating, the one that Aubrey originally said was meant for John. The same video he had saved away on his computer even though he knew he shouldn't have. He then saw flashes of her and him together. In the kitchen, under the pier, in his car, at his house, and in his bed. Dreams he thought, but the memories were flooding back.

“Thomas, are you okay?”

“He is,” the man said. “You did it to him too, didn’t you?!”

Thomas doubled over in pain. He knew he needed to regain his composure and confront the situation. The man seemed to be getting more upset and Thomas was feeling less like the secret spy hero he was hoping to portray as he tried to right himself.

“Sir, you need to… you need to leave.” Thomas said through the pain.

Thomas then felt the man approach, watching his shadow grow in the dark hallway. He tried to push through and be on alert, but wasn’t sure if he’d be up for a fight. Despite the James Bond fantasy, Thomas hadn’t been in any sort of fight since he was a teen. The man was about his height, but a little bigger around the waist. Still, these days one could never tell about someone’s capabilities. Did he have a knife, a gun, or military training? Was he an ex-MMA fighter, a hardened ex-con, or maybe he was like him and hadn’t been in a real fight in years?

“She was mine before you. She loved me, my kids, and my wife. We were a family!”

Thomas extended his arm to keep the man back and shifted his weight to prepare for whatever was to come next.

“Mr. Johnson,” came a soft but stern voice behind Thomas, “you need to do as Mr. Weston has advised, and leave.”

Thomas spun around with nauseous regret and saw Aubrey’s boss, Helen, from Forever Hearts. He hadn’t seen her inside the gala among the crowd, but remembered Rachel had invited her. She looked beautiful and elegant in a form-fitting blue dress, her red hair done up, and her make-up flawless, but her face was stern and serious. He then looked back at the man who seemed to be in a trance, frozen in place.

“But…” he weakly muttered.

“No,” Helen replied. “You need to go back home to your wife and kids and forget all about Aubrey. Forget she was ever your nanny. Just remember that you are happier now than you were before she was in your life. Understood?”

The man nodded with a blank expression on his face. He then looked at Thomas with a glassy expression, back at Aubrey, and then walked away. He only stopped for a moment as he neared Helen and looked at her for a moment. She nodded and he continued on his way.

“Thomas, are you okay?” Aubrey asked as she came up to him and gently rubbed his shoulder.

“I take it, you have it from here?” Helen asked.

“I do,” Aubrey replied.

Thomas looked back at Aubrey and into her big blue eyes, noticing the worry on her face. She had changed back into her dress, something he had barely noticed when he first turned the corner to confront the situation. He then looked back at Helen, but she was already walking away.

“What was that?” Thomas asked.

“Nothing, just a mistake on my part.”

“Mistake?”

“We should get you some water.”

Thomas licked his lips, acknowledging the dryness in his mouth as he felt his heart beginning to slow back down to its normal pace. Aubrey took his arm in hers and they made their way back down the hall.

Thomas then stopped and looked at her. “I remember.”

“I know you do, and it’s fine now.”

“It’s not. I… we…” Thomas was at a loss for words as he took a few steps back from her.

“I know. Rachel too,” she said.

“Rachel?”

“Come here, I think you need a breather.”

Aubrey then pulled him back down the hallway and around another corner towards one of the women’s restrooms. She stopped him just outside the door.