Story of Us trilogy 01: TouchStone for Play (26 page)

“Ayden, this is Charlie.”

He’s assessing the situation but makes no
move towards her either. I sense a stand-off.

Her words leave her mouth like poison
arrows. “Oh, you’re here are you, you bastard! Do you have any idea what you’ve
done?” My protective, older sister is venting like an overheated radiator.

“Charlie …” I try to calm her but she’s been
building up to this on the drive over.

“Has she told you why she’s been hiding
out for six years, what happened to her?”

Ayden looks horrified and nods no.

“Charlie no,” I implore.

“You’ve come along and swept her off her
feet with your fuck me face and fancy clothes and now look what’s happened.”

“Charlie,” I call out. “That’s enough!”

She’s becoming emotional. “But he didn’t
see you Beth.” Tearful, she turns to Ayden. “Do you know she never left the
apartment for a month, she couldn’t sleep alone, she wouldn’t eat. It really
threw her off balance.” She turns to me and takes hold of my hands. “I don’t
want you to have to go through that again hon.”

“I know Char, but Ayden had no idea. I
only told him half the story I ...”

“… Did you happen to mention the
stalking?”

“No but I’m ...”

Ayden is visibly shocked. “ … I’ve
organised round the clock security starting tomorrow morning, so nothing’s
going to happen to you Beth. I’ll make sure you’re safe.” He pulls me to him
and kisses my hair: a truce is established.

Charlie flops down on the sofa and
addresses Ayden. “I’m sorry for being such a drama queen, but she’s my baby
sister, you know?”

I move to sit beside her and we hug
tightly. “Don’t worry. Ayden will look after me.” Affectionately, I brush away
a strand of hair. “Do you want a glass of wine? It’ll take the edge off.”

“No, no thanks, I’ve got to drive back,
besides I’ve got a date.” She shifts in her seat like she’s sitting on wet
sand; who would guess such a vibrant, beautiful woman could be so easily
shaken. That’s how special she is: no smoke, all fire.

“But I’ll stay here with you tonight if
you want me to?”

“No, I’m fine. You go and knock him dead.”

“Well alright. If you’re sure you’re ok.”
She gives my arm a sisterly squeeze.

“I’m sure.”

Ayden’s ‘excuse me’ cough takes my
attention away from Charlie.

“I’m going. I’ll leave you two, to, you
know …” He heads out of the room much too quickly. By the time I catch him,
he’s standing by the security door with his overnight bag in his hand.

The events of the past twenty four hours
have dinted my usually acute powers of observation, I’ve become desensitized
and I’m finding it difficult to read his body language. Does he want to leave?
Am I more trouble than I’m worth? Or is he waiting for me to ask him to stay? I
don’t know.

“Ayden ...” I want to say something
meaningful, but I can’t find the words. I’m too tense to even smile.

“I’d better go. You’ve got your Rottweiler
to keep you company.” He nods in Charlie’s direction and forces a weak smile.

“Her bark is worse than her bite.” I force
a half smile too. “But thank you.”

“For what, lying, making you feel like
you’re nothing to me and for putting you in danger?”

“You weren’t to know about the
photographs, you meant well.”

“And the rest of it?”

“That’s something different. You knew
exactly what you were doing then.”

The air becomes chilled between us, so
much so I expect to see my breath crystallise and fall to the ground in a
shower of ice.

“I suppose I had that coming.” He shrugs
accepting my rebuke.

His hand strokes my face and I can feel
the heat coming from his palm; I’m falling into it, it’s instinctive, but I
catch myself, open my eyes and refocus.

“You can’t just assume that normal service
will be resumed Ayden. You’ve hurt me.”

My words cause a twinge of pain. “I know.
Are we over Beth?”

“I don’t know, I’m still too raw, too
tired to think straight.” He reclaims his hand, leaving my cheek warm and the
flesh tingling.

“Ok.” His heavy footsteps echo on the path
and his hot breath plumes around him in the cold night air like a sail. He
spins around, visibly troubled, distraught; looking as if he’s aged overnight.

“I say that, but it’s not ok that I
haven’t had a chance to explain. It’s not ok that some psycho might be dreaming
up a fucking plan to get to you. None of this is ok.” A twitchy hand tugs at
his hair and grips his neck. “I’m not ok Beth.”

My words rush out, “I know, but I need
time.”

“How long?”

“I’m not sure.”

He’s becoming more perturbed. “Speculate:
an hour, a day, a week! How long?”

I hear myself shouting. “I don’t know
Ayden, I don’t know!”

“I’m out on a limb here ...” His voice is
a whisper.

“I can see that.” I place my trembling
hand over my mouth.

He seeks out my eyes. “Tell me what I have
to do to win you back Beth. Just tell me.”

His choice of words offends my sense of
worth. Why is it always about winning? “I don’t want to be
won
Ayden.
I’m not a trophy you can show off to your business friends and I’m not a
promising acquisition you have to put in a bid for.”

“It’s only a fucking word Beth ... you
know what I mean.” He’s reaching for his neck.

“Yes I do and that’s the problem, it’s the
word you live your life by. But, as far as us, as far as we’re concerned, you
don’t have the winning formula, not yet.”

He laughs sardonically and takes a step
back. “Touché - you win.”

What!

“I’m not competing Ayden. It’s never been
a battle of wills for me.” I shake my head from side to side to reinforce the
point and inch towards him.

“No, but you can still bring me to my
knees with a fucking smile,” he roars.

That single declaration has me reeling.
I’m stunned, but not into silence. “I’m sorry you feel that way. So ... so
defeated.”

“I don’t, I mean I do, but I don’t want
to.” His hands reach into his pockets and, out of frustration, he rocks back and
forth. “Look, I don’t know what I’m saying, I’ve got to go.” With heavy lids,
he takes a lingering look at me, as if committing my image to memory. He turns
and marches off in the direction of his waiting car. Even though I know it’s
coming, the sound of the door slamming makes me flinch and I watch him speed
away.

Wearily, I close the security door,
leaning my hand against the glass for a couple of seconds to regain my composure.
What the hell just happened? Dispirited, I return to my apartment.

“Beth?” Charlie calls from the lounge.
Caught up in the commotion, I’d forgotten she was there. She must have heard
everything.

“Here,” she hands me my glass of wine. “I
heard. What’s that guy’s problem?”

I have a simple answer. “He has to win.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means that unless he accepts that it’s
an irrational way of approaching everything, we’re not going to make it.” I
shrug my shoulders and turn to face her.

“Oh Beth.” She takes hold of my hand, but
sympathy is the last thing I need.

I have a moment of clarity. “In a way,
it’s a good thing.” I’m having a positive thought for the first time in 24
hours: it’s a revelation, so powerful it reshapes my face.

Puzzled, Charlie asks, “How’s that?”

“We’ve got to the bottom of his problem.
That’s been his motivation! All these years he’s been driven by nothing else,
why didn’t I realise. We could have avoided all this heartache.”

“I’ll take your word for it, even though
I’ve not got a friggin’ clue what you’re talking about.”

I throw my arms around her neck and kiss
her affectionately on the cheek. “It doesn’t matter, you don’t have to, but
thanks for listening.” Feeling energised, I wipe the dampness from my cheeks.
“I know what I have to do now.”

Out of the blue, the external buzzer
sounds and we look at each other. “Did you hear that?” Surely Ayden hasn’t come
back? What would motivate him to do such a thing?

Charlie jumps up. “I’ll get it and, if
it’s him, I’ll make myself scarce.”

I can hear an unfamiliar male voice,
“Are
you Beth?”

“No, who are you?” Charlie answers in her
‘don’t mess with me’ voice.

“I’m Jake Harrison, I work with Ayden
Stone. Is Beth Here?”

“I don’t know, I’ll ask her. Wait there.”
She returns to the lounge. “There’s sex on legs at the door and he wants to
speak to you, says he works with your Mr. P. Should I let him in?” She holds
her hands together in a kind of mock prayer.

“Ok, ask him to come in. Just give me a
minute to make myself presentable.”

She dashes off and I do the same, in the
direction of the bathroom. I don’t want one of Ayden’s colleagues to see me
looking like this. My mascara is smudged and I’m ghostly pale, through lack of
food and sleep, but it’s nothing a little blusher and a touch of lip gloss
can’t improve.

I hear Charlie giving her all; her best
flirtatious laugh is bouncing off the walls. It almost seems a shame to
interrupt, but he’s come here to speak to me and the least I can do is show my
face.

“Hello, Mr. Harrison, I’m Beth Parker.” I
stretch out my hand and notice how quickly he reviews me. I wonder what he’s
thinking. “I’m pleased to see Charlie has been keeping you entertained.”

“Yes, she has.” He launches a beaming
smile in her direction and I swear I can hear her heart skip a beat from the
other side of the room. I know why, of course, he’s ruggedly handsome and
nicely turned out in his black suit and silver tie: he’s just her type.

“Can I offer you anything, wine, water?”

“No thanks, I’m good.”

Oh, you’re American, I detect a west coast
inflection.

“I wanted to speak with you about Ayden
and it’s a kinda delicate matter.” Is he suggesting Charlie leave?

She picks up on it immediately, reaches
for her handbag and offers him her hand. “Of course, I’ll get out of your hair.
It’s been very nice meeting you Jake, I hope we meet again soon.” She’s all teeth
and sparkling eyes.

“Sure thing.”

After a farewell hug and a kiss, she heads
for the door. With Jake’s back to her she holds up an imaginary phone, meaning
get his number, but I look away quickly in case he catches my wandering eye.
From his serious expression, I think he has more important things on his mind
than arranging a date with my best friend.

I make a point of giving him my full
attention. "So Jake, what’s on your mind?"

"Well, Ayden and I have been buddies
for, well since we were kids. I went to the U.S. to college and he stayed here
building his empire, but we always kept in touch. These past five years, we’ve
been working together on projects. I’m his CCO, right hand man and his sparring
partner in and out of the boardroom: he’s the ideas guy and I figure out how to
make things happen, sort out the logistics, kinda."

"I see, so you’re telling me you’re
close?"

"Yeah, we’re close I guess or as
close as you can get to ..." He nods his head knowingly and I resist the
temptation to do the same. When he starts to fiddle with his tie, I sense
something more pressing is about to be discussed. "I don’t know how to put
this politely but ..." He’s trying to find the right words.

"Don’t bother sugar coating it for
me. What’s up?"

He laughs softly. "He said you were
sharp."

I acknowledge the compliment.

"I think he’s lost his fucking mind
over you!"

As hard as I try, I can’t conceal my
astonishment. "Really? Why do you say that?"

"Well." He runs his right hand
over his close cropped hair. "It started last week. He bailed on two major
meetings in New York last Friday and the one he did attend he was totally
distracted. Can you believe it? He had two video conferences on the plane?
That’s unprecedented."

I’m sitting back, wishing Ayden back in my
arms with every new insight. Keeping my amusement under wraps isn’t easy. It’s
clear, Jake is in need of some answers.

"Not only that but he’s only been
available through email and video conferencing this weekend; it’s like he’s
gone off radar. On Sunday morning, he even blew me off and he doesn’t do
that."

"Sunday morning?" I have a
recollection of a very happy man organising a picnic and commenting on my ‘I’ve
been fucked hair.’ The memory lingers, making me smile.

“Yeah, was he here?"

"Yes. I heard him talking to you and
he ended the call when I walked in the room." I point over to the kitchen
table. "He was sitting right there."