Show No Mercy (8 page)

Chapter Twenty One

Deciding on a gift

Adam’s work partners were all having a discussion, sitting in one room, making sure nobody else was listening.                                                                      

“Well, I’ve been thinking,” Mike began, “that we should give Sophie a treat. ‘Cause her and Adam are pretty close now.”
                                                       

“I totally agree,” said another of them, whose name was Sam.
                                                                     

“Maybe we could enter her into a competition, but make sure she wins,” Cameron suggested.
                                                                                                               

“Good idea,” Mike replied. “But the problem is – what competition should we enter her into?”
                                                                                                               

“Maybe for a new apartment?” suggested Cameron. “I mean, her apartment needs refurbishing, but it’s no damn use because the wallpaper gets covered with mould no matter how many times she paints it or changes it.”
             

“Well, an apartment competition it is, then,” Mike finished, and grabbed the phone to let Sophie know about what they were going to do.

Chapter Twenty Two

Winning the apartment

Sophie was whooping with joy as she answered a phone call.                                                                                                 

“I’ve won the competition, yes I have, I’ve won the competition, yes I have,” she sang. “I’m getting a new apartment! WOO HOO!”
                                         

She packed up her clothes and all her stuff in practically a million suitcases, and then loaded them into a truck. Then the truck drivers drove her over to her apartment.

She unpacked her stuff and gazed at how gorgeous the apartment was. The wallpaper was gorgeous, the bedroom was gorgeous, the bathroom was gorgeous … Everything was gorgeous!                                                                                                               

She phoned Adam to tell him about the good news.
                                                                                                 

“Come over right now!” she screamed in sheer delight. “Apartment block two, room number 45.”
                                                                                                 

“OK.”

Adam arrived.
                                                                                   

“Congratulations,” he exclaimed, but before he could step inside, Sophie stopped him.             

“Wait here a sec’,” she said, and ran into the apartment. Then she came out with a green slab of clay in the shape of a square. It hadn’t dried out yet.                                                                                                 

“You’ve got to push your foot in it, and I’ll push my foot in it as well. So if I ever have to move out of here, though I doubt I will, our footprints will always be a memory of this apartment.”
                                                                                                 

Adam knew she’d gone bonkers. But he did as he was told anyway.
                                                                     

They grabbed each other’s hands to keep themselves steady, and then entered the apartment.

There relationship was great, but the only problem left was that Adam hadn’t told her he was actually Adam Attenborough.

Chapter Twenty Three

Leaving her alone

After having a mug of coffee each, Adam’s phone began to ring.                                                                                   

“Excuse me,” he said to Sophie, and stood aside to answer his phone.
                                                                     

It was Mike.                                                                                   

“What is it now, Mike? You know I’m spending the day with Sophie, and I don’t want to upset her now.”                                                                                   

“I’m sorry, Adam, but this is important. We’ve got to go on a job trip, up in America. You have to come as well, of course, ‘cause you’re the boss of this whole bloody business.”
                                         

“Oh, right. I’ll be at the office as soon as I can.”
                                                                                                                             

Adam dialled off, and turned back to Sophie.
                                                                                                               

“What was that all about?”
                                                       

“Oh, just a phone call. I have to go.”                           

“Well, bye,” Sophie said, and Adam could hear her voice crack.

Chapter Twenty Four

Moving away for work

It was a couple of days before Adam Attenborough had to leave for the job trip. Before Adam left for the job trip, he decided to pay a visit to Sophie.
                                                                                   

“I’m going to be going away for a couple of weeks,” he explained. “I really have to go.”                           

“Why?” Sophie cried, heartbroken.                                                                     

“Well, my mum’s ill, and I need to go to America, to be there by her side. I can’t afford to treat her, that’s why I need to go,” Adam lied.
             

“Oh,” Sophie whispered, still crying. “But won’t I ever see you again?”                                                       

“Of course you will,” Adam promised, “when I come back.”                                                                                   

“Right.” That was the only word that she could manage.
                                                                                                 

“I’m not going yet, though. I’m going next week.” Adam thought that by informing her of this, it might soothe her.
                                                                                                               

“OK.” Sophie shrugged, trying not to look too worked up about it.

Chapter Twenty Five

The guilt that he felt inside

Sophie was back at the car shop. She wanted a refund on the embassy car. They didn’t see why she wanted to give it back, but they gave her a refund anyway.
                                                                                                 

“Thank you,” she smiled, even though she was both gutted and heartbroken on the inside. Sophie went to see Adam. It was the day when Adam was going to leave for his job trip.
                                                                                   

She phoned Adam to tell him to meet her by her apartment before she left. He agreed.

When he arrived, Sophie tucked the notes into the palm of his hand.
                                                                                   

“Here’s some money, to help cure your mum,” she said.                                                                                    

Adam looked at her with a shocked expression.
                                                                                                 

“But …” he began.
                                                                                                 

He felt very guilty.
                                                                     

“No buts. You can take it. I hope your mum gets better.”                                                                                   

“How exactly did you get this money?” Adam asked. He couldn’t help feeling a bit angry.
                           

“Erm …” Sophie tried.                                                                     

“How?” Adam repeated, more demanding now.                                                                                                                             

“I sold the embassy car,” Sophie murmured.
                                                       

“WHAT?!” Adam cried.
                                                                                                 

“I sold the embassy car,” Sophie said, louder than before, though she knew very well that Adam had heard her the first time she’d said it.
                                                       

“But we were going to get married, weren’t we?” Adam looked truly distressed.                                                                                                                             

“We’ll still get married, but maybe not now. You really need the money,” Sophie reassured.
                                         

“Erm …” Adam was rendered speechless.                                                                                                 

“Now go,” Sophie said firmly. “You don’t want to be late.”
                                                                                   

Adam began to walk to his car.
                                         

“Oh, wait,” Sophie said. “I just wanted to ask you … come back quickly, OK? Please?”                           

“Sure thing,” Adam agreed.

“Can I kiss you?” she whispered.

Adam tried nodding, but ended up shaking his head. He cupped her face in his hands. This was the one last thing he was going to say to her before he left.
“Sophie, I'm not kissing you tonight but believe me when I tell you, I've never wanted to kiss a girl more. So stop thinking I'm not attracted to you because you have no idea just how much I am. You can hold my hand, you can run your fingers through my hair, you can straddle me while I feed you spaghetti, but you are not getting kissed tonight. And probably not when I come back, either. I need this. I need to know for sure that you're feeling every single thing that I'm feeling the moment my lips touch yours. Because I want your first kiss to be the best first kiss in the history of first kisses.”

Chapter Twenty Six

Boarding on the aeroplane

Mike and the others were waiting for Adam at the office.
                                                                                                               

“Don’t spend too much time with your girlfriend next time,” Cameron cursed furiously.
             

“I couldn’t just leave without saying goodbye,” Adam confided.                                                                     

“Oh, had a snog? You look so happy,” Sam added sarcastically, and everybody laughed, mocking him.
                                                                                   

“Shut up, Sam. Another word from any of you and I’ll fire you all!” Adam shouted.
                           

Sam sure shut up.                                                                     

“Well, let’s go to the airport, then. Our plane’s leaving soon,” said Mike, quickly changing the subject.                           

So that’s what they did. Then they arrived. They had a private aeroplane to take them to America. They had to go through the security process first, but they got on the plane as soon as possible. As soon as they got on, Adam rummaged through his luggage bag and took out his diary. Then he began to write about:

●
  
              Sophie

●
  
              Business

●
  
              Sophie

●
  
              London

●
  
              Sophie

●
  
              Family

●
  
              Sophie

●
  
              Feelings

●
  
              Sophie

●
  
              Friends

●
  
              And about Sophie again.

Adam made a promise to himself that after this business trip, he was going to tell Sophie that he wasn’t Mitchell, he was Adam Attenborough.