Second Chances: Novella One (11 page)

“
Ha, I could have done with that offer half an hour ago,” he replied with a laugh. “I hope you’re hungry.”

She smiled. “I am.”

Evan had made a simple, soft-dough pizza, laden with mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and basil.

Over dinner, the couple discussed the costume designs Layla had put forward, and how winning the job would involve her being away, on and off, for a couple of months, once the film went into pre-production. 

Evan

While Evan knew Layla’s absence would not be for some time yet, he was made nervous by how the news of the film job was affecting him already. He realised the intense feelings he’d always felt for Layla were still alive and burning brightly, and he so wanted to re-establish himself in her life, but he also knew he needed to be realistic about how he went about it.

One nagging doubt kept pushing to the front of his consciousness.
Could I raise a child that she’s had with someone else? I’m not sure
. Evan had to laugh at the irony of that doubt because, realistically, he was already doing that with Lily, as he lacked absolute proof that she was his. He just needed time to get used to the idea of Bennett, he convinced himself in the end.

“
Do you know whether they have finalised all their location shoots taking place over here?” Evan asked, having a sudden brainwave.

“
I’m not entirely sure. I’ve only met the location manager a couple of times before, when attending the early introduction meetings.”

“
I could always offer The Hall
as a location. It would be perfect in my eyes for a Regency era-based film.”

The Hall, which was the Carters’ ancestral home, had been converted into the first Carter Hotel decades earlier, so the exorbitant conservation bills could be paid for by utilising the house more. The Carter family had moved their principal residence to Winster House, located on the outskirts of The Hall’s grounds, once the hotel became popular in the 1940s.

However, when his father passed away and Evan took over the management of the family’s mass of companies, he closed the hotel to refurbish it back to its former glory. The intention, once complete, was to centralise all of the operating headquarters of Carter Holdings and the subsidiaries of the Carter Media hotel chain, along with Cameron’s internet enterprise, in one place at The Hall, rather than having them scattered throughout Europe.

Layla looked at him in surprise.

“
Who is the name of the director?” Evan continued when Layla remained silent.

“
Philip Elton.”

Evan had met the man before on numerous occasions. As a director of several well-received films, Philip had approached Carter Media to help him fund a project he had been trying to get off the ground. Evan had been interested, but the film did not go into production due to other problems.

“
I’ve met him before,” Evan replied. “I’ll discuss the idea with him and his location manager.”

“
Are you sure you would want all those people filming on your property for weeks on end?” Layla asked.

“
I wouldn’t mind if it meant you would be nearby, instead of being away for so long.”

“
Evan, please don’t offer this just for me. If you truly want to do it, let it be for your own interest rather than mine,” Laura asks cautiously, her body language rather stiff as if she is not totally bought on the idea. He knew they had a history of her thinking he was trying to buy her affection, especially in the early days when he was both pursuing her both a personal and professional relationship.

“
Layla, it would be for my own interest in many ways. Yes, it would mean you’d be closer, but it would also bring in funds to renovate the house much quicker than I had planned.”

“
Okay, well, if you’re sure, I can give you the contact details if yours are out of date.”

Evan smiled. “Great, that will be helpful.”

After dinner, Evan led Layla into the media room, where they snuggled up on the sofa. They were watching a movie when his mobile started to ring. Shifting slightly to view the screen, where Adam's name was flashing, he sighed, but took the call.

“
Adam, what can I do for you?” Evan tried not to sound too irritated by the interruption as he knew his friend was probably calling to give him an update on the photo debacle.

“
Are you alone?” Adam asked.

“
Umm, no, not quite, but I can go into the office. Hold on,” he replied. Frowning slightly, he shot Layla a quick, apologetic glance and moved into the office, closing the door gently behind him.

“
What the hell is wrong?” he finally demanded when he was alone.

“
In one word, Caggie,” Adam sighed in an unusually exasperated tone.

“
What on earth has she been up to now?” Evan's hand began to clench against the desk he was leaning up against. More than anything, he did not want Caggie’s antics to destroy any long-term chance of a full reconciliation with Layla. “Has this got anything to do with the photos of Layla and me?”

“
She may have got a whiff of it.  Everyone was willing to negotiate buying the photo back, except for one.”

“
Don’t tell me – Greg frigging Ashley?”

Greg Ashley was a particularly nasty piece of work; a scummy newspaper reporter with a taste for drug-dealing on the side. He had always refused any request for unsubstantiated gossip regarding the Carters to not be published. Greg’s hatred of the family, and in particular Evan, seemed to have come from a failed opportunity to attain a job within the newspaper arm of Carter Media. Ever since, the man had sought every opportunity to dig up any piece of dirt on Evan and Layla when they were together, and if there wasn’t any, he just made some up. Now Caggie seemed to be his regular informant.

“
Yes, the latest is that she is threatening to give him a video of you two together, during a rather intimate bedroom moment, unless you increase her monthly allowance,” Adam said quietly.

“
She what?” Evan shouted, his voice rising to a higher volume than he had meant.

“
Could there even be such a video in existence?” Adam enquired.

Evan went quiet. He’d had so many hazy moments during the drink-binge phases that he did not know for sure. “To be honest, I don’t know, but I thought you went over all her electronic devices the last time she tried to pull this stunt?” Evan said in a quieter tone. “I’m truly going to make this woman pay. She has attempted to blackmail me for the last time.”

“
We did go over everything we found in her apartment, but I guess she could have hidden a USB stick. Anyway, Evan, you should concentrate on Layla. I know you wanted this handled discreetly the last time, but I insist we discuss this with our legal team now. You need to warn Layla about everything. I can give you a couple of day's grace before we start playing hard ball with Caggie.

“
Okay,” Evan sighed, knowing there was no turning back now. 

His overwhelming urge to have a connection with Layla, no matter how small, during the past five years had driven him to make the biggest mistake of his life. Now it was all about to blow up in his face publicly, and God knows what Layla was going to think of him then.

“
Evan, just be honest with her. She’ll understand.”

“
Let me know when it’s done, but I won’t be contactable tomorrow,” Evan replied slowly.

Ending the conversation, he took a deep breath and tried his best to regain his composure before heading back into the media room. Layla smiled as he walked in, and he resettled on the couch with her to watch the rest of the movie.

Layla

Although she never mentioned the call, Layla had heard Evan's outburst and noticed his tense posture when he walked back in the room. Something was bothering him, but guessing it was a business problem, she didn’t enquire about it at that point.

After the film, Layla yawned, saying she was ready for bed.

Kissing her on the lips, Evan said he needed to attend to some work and that he would see her in the morning.

Frowning slightly, Layla said nothing and went up to her bedroom. She lay awake for quite a while, wondering if she should have asked Evan what was troubling him, but she had not wanted to invade his privacy. Before finally drifting off to sleep, she decided it was best to see if the man’s mood had improved in the morning, before reassessing whether she should raise the subject again.

The next thing Layla was aware of was turning over in bed and noticing the hall light shining through a slight gap at the bottom of the door. Otherwise, it was pitch black in the room, so no more than a few hours could have passed. Knowing it was Evan’s habit to turn off all the lights before retiring, she wondered if he were still working.

Feeling concerned, Layla headed downstairs, wearing only a strappy, long negligee. Some of the lights were still on. After searching a couple of rooms, she noticed the library door ajar.  She tentatively pushed it wider. The room inside was dark, except for one desk lamp shining in a corner.

“
Evan?”

“
Why are you awake? Are you okay?” Evan’s voice came from the same corner as the dim stream of light, allowing her to make out the outline of his body on the sofa.

“
Yes, I’m fine. I was concerned that you hadn't gone to bed.” Layla walked over, her eyes taking in his tired expression.

“
Adam's call troubled me, and I couldn't unwind.”

Sitting down beside him, Layla took his hand in hers, placing it to her lips. “Evan, what is troubling you?”

His eyes met hers and he sighed. “I’m not sure where to start. What I have to say isn’t pleasant, and I fear how it will affect us.” His voice quivered with emotion.

“
Evan, start at the beginning, and we can go from there,” Layla urged. “As to how it will affect us, I won’t let outside influences come between us again, now that we’re beginning to unravel our misunderstandings.” Her tone was firm, but anxiety hung in the pit of her stomach.

Evan took a deep breath. “Well, it’s to do with Caggie again,” he blurted out.

Layla tensed, but encouraged him to continue.

He slowly explained that, despite not being officially in a relationship with the woman, he provided her with a monthly allowance. While Evan had not set out to keep providing for her, she kept threatening to publicise some photos of him in compromising situations.

Layla gasped in shock. “What do you mean exactly by compromising situations?” She guessed what he was implying, but the thought left a sick feeling in her throat, and she hoped it might not be so terrible if she heard him say it straight.

 ”
Umm, it’s not something I’m proud of, but after one particularly appalling night of drinking, I passed out on the bed. It seems Caggie took some photos of me naked in various poses,” Evan admitted.

Layla closed her eyes. Hearing his explanation did not make it sound any better. She felt sick. It was horrible enough knowing that he had a baby with Caggie, but to know there might be naked pictures lurking on the internet at any moment was devastating. “Oh, God, how bad are they?” she asked.

Evan grimaced and muttered, “Really awful. I was passed out. Caggie took advantage by handcuffing me to the bed, and you know the result.”

Layla remained silent as she mulled over what he’d said. As angry as she was at him for being stupid enough to get himself into such a situation, there was nothing she could really say, since she felt to blame for him drinking heavily in the first place.

“
Say something, please. I know you must feel disgusted that I allowed this to happen.” He pleads, his eyes and face full of remorse.

“
Well, I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but I do feel responsible, ultimately.”

Evan’s eyes flashed in confusion as he ran a hand through his jet-black hair. “How are you in any way responsible for this?”

“
Well, I’m the reason for you drinking yourself into a stupor, aren’t I?”

“
Well, it’s not like you stood there and poured all those glasses down my throat,” Evan protested. “It’s my fault, and I need to take responsibility for my poor decision of getting caught by such a cunning woman.”

Layla sighed. “Do you know how many photos she has? Was it only a one-off occurrence?”

“
Yes, that was the only time I ever passed out with her there. The next morning, when I couldn’t remember what happened, I realised I needed to clean up my act. Otherwise I’d end up damaging my liver irreparably.”

“
So, I presume you retrieved all the photos and copies when you agreed to this monthly allowance?” Layla asked.

“
Adam convinced her to hand over her computer and other storage devices, to be wiped of anything incriminating.”

“
Okay, so if Adam dealt with that side of things, why are you still uneasy?”

“
It would seem she kept something back,” Evan replied.

“
You didn’t get everything? Surely you got your solicitor involved, so there wouldn’t be any repercussions?”

“
I was too embarrassed to. I admit I dropped the ball on a lot of things while I was in Chile. “

“
So, what is the latest problem?”

“
Her latest threat is a video of her and me in the bedroom,” Evan revealed. “I can promise you now that no such video was ever made with my knowledge.”

Layla stifled a nervous laugh at the revelation. “Surely you don’t plan to let her get away with it this time?”

He shook his head. “No, Adam is going to discuss it with our legal team and let me know the options, but I want to make sure the police and social services are aware of her blackmailing tactics.”

“
I know this might be a painful thing to consider, but with all the endless trouble she’s caused you, are you even sure Lily is yours?” Layla asked.