Kim Collins set an alarm for four o'clock in the morning, despite the risk, but it never had the chance to go off. She hadn't slept, and when the time came, she quietly rolled out of bed. Greg didn't stir.
The laptop was in the office just down the hall, and with intentional stealth she tiptoed out of the bedroom and found her target. She opened it up, shielding her eyes from the bright screen. The password... that was the trickiest part, outside of the secrecy. She tried a few combinations before, much to her surprise, finding success with 'Collins74," the same password that was used for their Netflix account. She scoffed at her husband's recklessness, though if she had been the one to create any of their accounts, she would probably have done the same.
The desktop was littered with folders. She sighed and began to browse, looking for anything that could be used as evidence against him. As Sam had instructed, she looked for folders with unnaturally basic names. Eventually, she came across a folder labeled 'Videos' within a larger folder called 'Extras from Work.' Inside were a dozen or so.mov files.
Her heart raced. Was she about to see what she expected to? Did she even want to? She thought of Sam and knew the answer.
The first video was taken in a bedroom that Kim had never seen. She recognized Greg's ass as it walked away from the camera. From within the scrambled sheets appeared a woman. Kim fast-forwarded through the rest, able to see the act they committed without really seeing the details.
She skimmed the rest with motionless persistence. The other videos were similar, with the exception of the location and the identity of the woman. Kim recognized the secretary from Greg's floor in one of them. She shifted and bumped her knee on the desk, biting her lip to contain her yelp down to a whimper.
Feeling both disgusted and triumphant, she inserted a flash drive that Stephanie had given her and copied the folder over. There was no way he was getting away with this. She would get away with Nick and the bastard's money.
Just as she shut the laptop closed, the office door creaked open.
***
The restaurant wasn't busy at all, and Sam Murray's pizza arrived quickly, much to his liking. A medium pepperoni, made by Lucia Russo herself.
"Thank you!" he called out into the kitchen. The response he got was in Italian, and Stephanie Russo laughed. "What did she say?"
"Anything for the handsome man," she translated. Sam grinned sheepishly and started to eat.
"Happy Monday!" announced Emily Brown as she walked through the front door. Today she was wearing a black tank and lilac shorts, showing off her shapely legs. Her strawberry blonde hair was pulled into a lazy bun. She waved over at them, showing off her floral tattoo.
"Hey!" Sam and Stephanie called out in unison. Emily sat on the stool next to Sam.
"How's business today?" she asked Stephanie.
"It's one o'clock on a Monday, so... busy as hell."
Emily chuckled and asked for a glass of water. Sam was on his third slice of pizza already. Lauren walked in, waved hello to the three of them, and went into the office area without other acknowledgement. He and Stephanie raised their eyebrows at each other.
"What's in store for you this week?" Emily asked Sam. He had to swallow a large chunk of pizza so he could reply.
"I'll be painting the walls of the new wing and applying the trim to the floors once that's dry. Then I just have to furnish it all. Luckily the electrical and plumbing parts of it has already been done."
"Who did that?" Stephanie asked.
"Amy had someone hired. I forget the name of the company; it was towards the end of her life."
"Ah." Stephanie paused for a moment. "I was just wondering because I've been rearranging some furniture at my house and there's an outlet that doesn't seem to work. I tried all of the light switches in the room and none of them turned it on."
"I can take a look at it," he said. "I may not have done my house, but I know some of how it works."
"Oh! Well, thanks!"
Emily grinned. "Is this kind of like when I needed help with my sink?"
Stephanie slapped her hand while Sam let out a robust laugh. "Well, is it?" he asked Steph. The blonde blushed but gave no answer and went into the kitchen.
"What's going on with you this week?" he asked Emily.
"I'm going out of town on Wednesday for an art show. I'll be back on Monday."
"Woah, that's exciting? How come you hadn't told me? Where is it?"
She laughed. "It's not that exciting. Just a bunch of hipsters and rich people walking around critiquing and buying pieces for way more than they're worth. It's in Chicago."
"I take it you're driving."
"Yes, I love road trips! So do my parents, and we never flew growing up, even when we went to California and Alaska."
"Wow! You've been all over, huh?"
"I've been around."
"You'll have to fill me in sometime. I'd love to hear about all of your experiences!"
Emily shrugged as Stephanie returned. "I was just checking on Lauren," she explained. Emily shrugged again and Sam smiled through a bite of his next pizza slice. Emily reached for a piece, receiving a hesitant glare from Sam, but he let her have it.
"So anyway, when are you free to come look at the outlet?" asked Stephanie.
"How does Wednesday sound?" he asked. "I'm seeing Nicole today and Emily's leaving on Wednesday so I thought I'd say goodbye tomorrow." He looked at her and she nodded with a wide smile.
"Wednesday is great," she said.
A customer walked in and placed an order to go, and while Stephanie relayed the order to Lauren, Emily watched Sam wolf down his last pizza slice. "I can't believe you just ate that whole thing," she muttered.
"It's good! And I have a pretty big stomach."
"But you're also so toned!" Her eyes scanned his body. "How do you stay so fit with such an appetite?"
