Three weeks.
It's taken me three weeks to come to terms with what Jacob revealed in our session together.
In those three weeks, I've spent at least seven days crying, another seven days avoiding my mother, and the remaining seven doing what I do best...sleuthing.
I'd managed to avoid Jacob during that time but, as I lived with my mother, I wasn't so lucky to avoid her. She'd picked up that something was amiss based on me trying to spend as little time with her as possible. But I'd had the perfect excuse.
I told her I had to study.
It wasn't a lie.
I was busy studying...studying every movement she and Jacob made.
I'd figured that they got together when both me and his wife, Julia, were not home.
That was almost every day of the week except Wednesday. I had Wednesdays off and, of course, the weekend. That meant I had to find out when Julia left for her goodwill adventures.
That wasn't as hard as I'd imagined. Setting up my laptop webcam to record all day, I aimed the camera at Jacob's front door for an entire week.
Julia left the house every day except Tuesday, which meant Mom and Jacobβugh, the thought if it still makes me feel sickβmet up on either Monday, Thursday, or Friday.
I figured it couldn't be on Mondays. The hospital was too busy on those days. So my mother would probably not have the time.
The problem is, my camera didn't catch her entering his house on any of the three days. Actually, the camera didn't catch her going anywhere near his place.
Unless...
Unless they did the deed here.
I paced my bedroom floor, my fingers in my mouth as I bit away at my nails.
Today was Thursday. Unknown to my mother, I'd skipped school to stay home and do more sleuthing. I couldn't concentrate on anything else. Not to mention, my professor was constantly picking on me for some unknown reason.
I had a mind to tell him that his opinion on whether I got the course material was completely incorrect. I'd more than gotten it. I'd fucking mastered it. I still couldn't believe how easy it was to put Jacob under. Either my professor was bogus and didn't know what he was saying, or he had some other agenda.
I pushed that to the back of my mind and concentrated on the present.
So far, both my mother and Jacob had left for work and I was beginning to think this was another wasted day. At least, if nothing happened today then they definitely hooked up on Fridays. That would mean skipping school tomorrow too then.
It was almost just after midday when I heard a car door shut.
Darting to the window, I peeked through the curtains, making sure I was not seen. It was mom.
Why the hell was she home so early?
Darting away from the window, I stood panicked for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. As her keys jingled in the doorknob, I bolted down the corridor and into her room.
Shit.
Why didn't I go to my room? I should have thought this through. I almost fell over my own legs as I rushed over to her closet and slipped inside, just seconds before I heard the door open.
My heart was beating so hard, I could hear my pulse in my ears.
What the hell was I really doing? If I got caught now, there was literally no excuse that would make sense. And what if none of this was actually true? I'd taken something I heard from a man's subconscious and believed it as truth. For all I know, he could have been recounting a fantasy or a dream. My camera had picked up nothing for a week.
What if I was wrong?
I started biting my nails again as all the possibilities ran through my head. This had better not go south.
I was having second thoughts but I couldn't back out now. I could hear that my mother had already entered the house.
"Layla?" I heard her call my name from the living from then, following the sound of keys falling on the center table.
My heart skipped a beat.
Why was she calling me?
Did she know I was home?
Shit.
"Layla?" Her voice sounded louder and I realized she was heading to the bedroom.
Shit.
She knew I was home.
I'd messed up.
I was just about to reveal myself when she walked into the bedroom and loosened her hair. She was still dressed in her nurse's uniform but she was already releasing the buttons. She looked different. Happy?
And there was something else.
She was humming.
She was humming?
I paused, my hand poised on the closet door.