Premier Deception (27 page)

She played her
favourite music all the way singing out loud and feeling happier
than she had ever felt before. It was a cold December day but it
could have been the hottest day of the year she felt so happy and
warm inside. As she drove up to Sylvia
’
s
house she was pleased to see that Ronnie
’
s car wasn
’
t there. She
didn
’
t recognise the other car but
assumed it was one of Sylvia
’
s friends.
She parked beside it and headed to the house. She
couldn
’
t wait to hear all the party
gossip and hoped that Sylvia had managed to find some alone time
with Luke. She rang the doorbell which was quickly opened. A young
pretty girl stood there with blonde hair. She looked in her late
teens and smiled broadly at her.
“
You
must be Charlotte, I am Macie one of Sylvia
’
s friends, come on in.
”
Charlotte
smiled and followed her inside.
“
She
’
s just popped upstairs and
won
’
t be long,
”
Macie said over her shoulder.
“
Come into the kitchen and I
’
ll
get you a drink. We are having Elderflower, is that ok?
”
Charlotte nodded once again thinking what a
beautiful house Sylvia had. The kitchen was a vast room with cream
wooden cabinets all around and marble work tops. A large Island
unit dominated it and there was a huge kitchen table at one end and
a separate area with a comfy settee and large television. Charlotte
sat down and gratefully accepted the drink. Macie said,
“
I hope you don
’
t mind
but I need to use the bathroom. Sylvia won
’
t be long I
’
m sure. Charlotte
smiled and she was soon left alone. She took in the surroundings
and thought how lovely everything was. It was such a shame that
Sylvia was locked in this loveless marriage and she hoped that she
would find a way out of it soon. She wanted her to be as happy as
she was. Just then she heard footsteps approaching from the
hallway. However her welcoming smile soon faded when none other
than Ronnie walked into the room.

She stood up in
confusion.
“
Hi Ronnie, I thought you were
Sylvia, will she be long?
”
He smiled his
creepy smile and said.
“
Probably, in fact
I am not sure if she will be coming back at all.
”
Charlotte looked at him in confusion and
suddenly felt very disorientated and sat back onto the settee. He
moved towards her slowly with an evil grin on his face.
“
You see Charlie; it appears that my lovely wife
never came home last night, where do you think she went to I
wonder?
”
Charlotte shook her head.
“
I don
’
t know, I never
saw her leave.
”
She started to feel very
strange and her head started to spin.
“
Well it doesn
’
t really matter now
anyway,
”
said Ronnie coming to sit down
beside her obviously enjoying himself.
“
You see I don
’
t need her anymore
so she can do whatever she wants, and that brings me to
you.
”
He stroked her face and she could
feel him pressing hard against her on the settee, she started to
feel very strange and looked at him in alarm.
“
You see Charlie, the time has now come when you are no
longer my boss and Mitchell and I have arranged a little leaving
party for you.
”
She looked up in alarm as
she saw Mitchell and Macie enter the room. She tried to get to her
feet panic setting in but her legs would not work and the last
thing she remembered was being picked up by Ronnie and carried from
the room.

Charlotte
’
s thumping head woke
her from a deep sleep. She put a hand up to her head wishing that
it didn
’
t hurt so much. She opened her
eyes and an unfamiliar room swam into view. She was lying in a big
king-sized bed and she was dressed in unfamiliar clothes. Confused
she tried to sit up but fell back down. Suddenly she was aware of
somebody else in the room and the events that had unfolded
previously came rushing back. Startled she looked around and was
relieved but confused to see Sylvia sitting in a chair beside the
bed. Sylvia jumped up and said,
“
It
’
s all right Charlotte,
you
’
re safe now, nothing can hurt
you.
”
Charlotte looked at her in
confusion.
“
But Ronnie, Mitchell, what
happened I don
’
t remember?
”
Sylvia looked solemnly at her.
“
I am afraid that you have had a nasty
experience but don
’
t worry
it
’
s over now.
”
Charlotte looked at her as the realisation of what may have
happened dawned on her. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she looked
at Sylvia.
“
Oh no please say they
didn
’
t.
”
Sylvia
shook her head and raced over.
“
Oh God
no, don
’
t worry Max got to you just in
time.
”
Charlotte looked even more
confused and Sylvia said,
“
Listen
Charlotte you have been through a terrible ordeal, here have some
water and I will tell you what happened. But don
’
t worry nothing bad happened to you and you are safe now,
it
’
s just you and me.
”
Charlotte gratefully accepted the water and listened
intently as Sylvia began explaining.
“
Apparently Gloria called Max and told him that Mitchell had
finally secured over all majority and was going to call a press
conference for the following day. She told him that they must put
their plan into action and call the authorities regarding the match
fixing. Max called Luke and told him that they would pick us up and
we could go through our notes and decide how we would proceed. But
Luke told Max that he was with me and that there was no get
together at mine. Max realised that you had been set up and told
Luke to meet him at my house. I came with him and arrived just as
Max did but he was not on his own. He had brought with him a couple
of his friends, at least I think that
’
s
what they were and I let them all in.
”

She stopped looking
at Charlotte in concern.
“
Are you ok? You
don
’
t feel sick again do you?
”
Charlotte shook her head, what do you mean
again?
” “
Well you have been sick rather a
lot and I was very concerned. Max even called a doctor out to you.
Drink some more water and let me know if you feel strange.
”
Charlotte nodded and urged her to carry
on.
“
Well they all ran off into the house
and the next thing I knew the friends of Max
’
s were marching Mitchell and Ronnie out of the house and
bundled them into a car. There was a girl there who ran out and
drove away in her car. Luke came downstairs and told me to call a
doctor and then to come and help you. When I came into the room you
were out cold and lying on the bed. You were half naked but it
looked like they had got there in time. I helped you into the bed
with Max and we stayed with you until the doctor came.
”
Charlotte
’
s eyes
filled up again with tears and she almost couldn
’
t look at Sylvia.
“
What did the
Doctor say?
”
she said weakly.
“
You had been drugged with one of
Mitchell
’
s specials, he said that there
would be no lasting damage but that you would be really sick as
your body disposed of it. He gave you something to counteract the
drug but you were really sick.
”
Charlotte
said,
“
I
’
m so
sorry Sylvia it must have been awful for you to deal with all of
this.
”
Sylvia put a hand on her gently
and said.
“
Don
’
t you apologise you have done nothing wrong. Max was beside
himself, he wouldn
’
t leave you and dealt
with most of it all himself. He blamed himself for not seeing it
coming.
” “
Where is Max?
”
said Charlotte suddenly and what time is it? My
parents are probably frantic.
” “
Don
’
t worry I called them and
said that you were staying here for the night,
”
said Sylvia in a soothing voice.
“
The night! exclaimed Charlotte, how long have I been
out?
” “
Most of yesterday and last night,
you need to drink lots of water and get your strength back.
”
Charlotte slumped back against the
pillows.
“
But where is Max?
”
she said again desperate to see him.
“
He had to go to the press conference with Luke
and Gloria. He didn
’
t want to leave you
and I have to text him the minute you wake up. He
couldn
’
t get out of it though.
”
Charlotte gingerly put her legs over the side of
the bed.
“
Sylvia can I borrow something
to wear? I have a press conference to attend,
”
she said determination in her voice. Sylvia looked taken
aback but realised that there would be no stopping her.
“
Wait there,
”
she
said,
“
I
’
ll get
you something and drive you there myself. It won
’
t have started yet I think we can still get there in
time.
”

Charlotte dressed in a grey knitted
dress and jacket that Sylvia gave her and they headed out to
Sylvia’s car. Charlotte felt unsteady on her feet and her head
really ached but all she cared about was getting to the
stadium.

On the way she
said,
“
I don
’
t
know why they did it? What on earth were they hoping to achieve?
They must have known that I would have reported them.
”
“
I don
’
t know,
”
said Sylvia gravely.
“
But they must have got it covered because if they called a
press conference they must have had a plan. It was probably to use
as a weapon to discredit you should you not leave quietly. I am
just sorry that they used me to lure you there. I lost my phone at
the party but didn
‘
t think too much about
it. I now realise that Ronnie must have taken it and that they had
been planning this all along.
”

“I
don
’
t blame you in any of this,
”
Charlotte reassured her.
“
You have had more to deal with than most throughout this
whole experience.
”
Sylvia looked grateful
and Charlotte said,
“
Sylvia, I hope that
I am not speaking out of turn but I have noticed the way that you
and Luke are in each other
’
s company. Is
there any chance at all that you can be together after all of
this?
”
Sylvia looked startled but then
relaxed her shoulders.
“
I wish we could
with all my heart. I have loved Luke for a long time. When Ronnie
had the affair with Luke
’
s fiancé Luke
told me that he was glad that it had happened because he had
realised that he didn
’
t feel anywhere
near the same towards her as he did me. We had grown quite close
over the last year and enjoyed each others company. We grew to love
one another and if it wasn
’
t for Jackson
I would have left Ronnie straight away. But I cannot break up a
family for my own selfish reasons. However things have gotten out
of hand now and I realise that this isn
’
t
a good environment in which to bring up a child. For both our sakes
we need to get out.
”

Charlotte looked at
her with sympathy and put her hand on Sylvia
’
s arm.
“
I am sure that things
will work out for the best, you both deserve happiness
together.
”

Soon they drove into
the stadium and once again the place was milling with press vans
and cameras. Sylvia told Charlotte to hide herself and she would
drive her around the back to avoid them. They reached the back
entrance and abandoning the car, ran through the double doors. It
was just Martin the security guard on duty and he smiled and said
hi as they ran past. They headed up to the boardroom and Charlotte
felt as though she may not make it as her legs were so weak. Geoff
and Elsie were waiting outside the room and as they rushed up Geoff
said,
“
Stop! You can
’
t go in there,
”
but Charlotte
took no notice and flung the door open. Her weakness had turned to
anger and nothing was going to stand in her way.

She stood in the
doorway and a sea of faces turned towards her. Max rushed over to
her concern etched across his face.
“
Charlotte! Are you ok? Come and sit down.
”
She smiled relieved to see him and said,
“
I
’
m fine thank you
but I couldn
’
t miss this.
”
She saw Mitchell and Maurice sitting near the
top of the table with Ronnie and Gloria either side. Ronnie and
Mitchell looked at her angrily and Mitchell said,
“
well I suppose you had better take a seat now
you
’
re here.
”
She looked at them angrily and sat down between Max and
Luke.