Unfaithful: Web Of Betrayal

She was skimming through the files on her desk. Assessing her workload for the weeks to come. Calculating how much she could delegate and how much she had to bring to London. She made a list of the numbers she needed to contact and assigned them to the tasks.

There was a stack of folders of her projects that needed Roman to look at. She stared at them from time to time as she let them sit while she figured out how to deal with them from that point on. She had to be professional about it. She had to separate her personal life from her work to succeed in the only thing she was still passionate about doing. Urban Aesthetic was her ‘baby.’

She pressed a button on the phone on her desk. “Gabby … have you been in touch with Ludus about the impending files on my desk?”

“Oh … yes … actually …” Gabby cleared her throat. “I was going to ask you if you’ve heard anything from Mr. Murphy … because I tried to contact him, but he was unavailable.”

She paused for a moment, “What do you mean ‘unavailable’?”

“The Manager said he left a few days ago, and his phone was disconnected … I thought he might’ve said something to you or been in contact with you.”

Her stomach formed a knot, “Did the manager say where, or did he leave a message?”

Gabby hesitated, “No … that’s why … I thought you might know something … or … well … obviously not … so I left all the files on your desk.”

“It’s fine … I’ll drop by later and see what’s up.”

“Okay … great,” Gabby replied.

She checked her phone to see if there was anything she missed. Roman or someone from his gallery might send her a message and get buried beneath all other unread messages. Nothing.

She opened Roman’s old messages to see when was the last time he was online. The information was hidden. But from what Gabby said, his phone was disconnected. Even if it wasn’t, she didn’t have the courage to contact him yet.

She crossed the street later that day to see Sandra, his gallery manager. The atmosphere of the place reminded her of many things. A certain emotion came over her from the first gush of wind blowing from behind her as she stepped into the gallery. The coolness of the room. The golden lighting. The aromatherapy diffuser spewed a flowery scent. She shivered and drew in a deep breath inhaling the memories that place represented.

She missed him. She pictured him welcoming her with a smile and warm embrace. But she wasn’t there for that. It was all in the past now, and her chest tightened, knowing something beautiful and magical had ended. And now she was left to pick up the pieces of what she had badly broken.

“Olivia! I’m glad to see you … Gabby said you’ve been unwell these past few days. I hope you’re better now?” Sandra walked up to her from inside the corridors.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“Sandra … hi! Yes, thank you, it’s good to be back … I’m stopping by to see …” She looked around and saw a few visitors had a tour. “Gabby said … she was unable to reach Roman.”

Sandra smiled and clasped her hands together. “Yes … if you don’t mind … can we talk in private?”

Sandra was one of the people who knew there was something going on between Olivia and Roman beyond their professional relationship. But Sandra knew enough to be discreet. The day they had a fight, Sandra was the one doing damage control by closing the gallery early because Roman’s screaming echoed through the stairs and was heard from the show gallery.

She guided Olivia to the back of the ground floor, where her office was. She greeted the visitors and wished them a pleasant tour as they passed. They went into the corner office facing the main street and locked the door.

Their eyes meet for a brief moment, and Olivia can see how Sandra braced herself for what she was about to tell her.

“Roman is not here … he left a few days ago and took his belongings with him.”

Olivia was stunned. She couldn’t believe her ears. “I don’t understand … he moved out? Or?”

Sandra tilted her head to one side and twisted her lips. “Yes … but he didn’t say where he was going, and it seemed like he left in a hurry … he packed up a large backpack and a duffle bag … he gave me his keys and told me not to worry and that everything is taken care of.”

They stared at each other. Sandra was perplexed as she was.

“Did he leave a number where you can reach him?” Olivia had to try.

Sandra shook her head, “No … nothing of the sort … it’s as if he just wanted to disappear … I did ask him for more details, but …”

She didn’t have to finish the sentence. It was clear he had left abruptly and then … absolutely.

Her head felt light. She put her hand on her forehead. Taking the news and the reality that Roman had left her wasn’t easy. He left everything without a word.

“I have gone through our impending projects with Urban Aesthetic, and I made some inquiries to our workshop … 80% of the items are already in our itinerary … the rest are paintings and pieces from other artists that are still in the works.”

Olivia wasn’t really listening. Her mind was somewhere else.

“So when you have time … maybe we can set up a meeting again with everyone involved to go through it,” Sandra continued.

“Oh … yeah … sure …” she pulled herself back to reality. “I’ll tell Gabby to contact you about the time and place.”

They stood in silence.

“I guess that’ll be all,” Olivia finally said.

Sandra forced a smile and nodded.

“If you … uhm … hear anything from him …”

“Absolutely, I will let you know,” Sandra said.

Olivia walked out of Ludus feeling dazed, like she was in a dream. It was really over. Roman was gone.