The Coming of Anna (The Manhattan Series) (8 page)

BOOK: The Coming of Anna (The Manhattan Series)
13.7Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

“Oh, my Love.  I love you.  But matters are complicated. 
Malina will take me for everything I have if she ever found out about us.  But
I love you enough to make time for you in my life.  If I can just spend time
with you the few evenings a week she works late or when I can tell her I have
something on at school.  Or like this afternoon.  She has a meet-and-greet with
some clients.  They are going to be busy most of the afternoon and evening.  I
told her I am going to be out with a few of the boys, so I can be with you for
most of the night.  Come here.”

He held his arms out at me.  I was so furious that I could
hardly breathe.  The gall of the man!  How could he shame me like this.  He
knows me so well.  How could he even imagine that I would be okay with being
the other woman to any man?

“Get out!  Get the fuck out of my house!  I never want to
see you again!” I screamed.

When he tried approaching me again, I lashed out and started
hitting him.  I felt helpless and hysterical. 

“I can’t deal with you when you act like this.  I will call
you later.”

With that he walked out the door.  I slammed the door and
locked it behind him.  I heard his tyres screech as he drove off.

My cell phone rang a few times over the weekend but I did
not want to talk to anyone; least of all to Anton.  I ignored his knocks at my
door on Sunday.  What did he tell his wife about where he was going when he
came to me?

The Monday morning I went in to school, my resignation
already typed.  I made up a whole story for the headmaster about wanting a
complete change in my life after my divorce.  I told him that I had been
thinking and that it would be too difficult for me to break with my past if I
had to stick to my regular routine of coming to school, teaching in my familiar
classroom and being around the staff who had known me as Mark’s wife for so
long.  None of that was true.  But how could I tell this man who had always
been so good to me, that I had slept with a married member of his staff?  After
talking to Nadeyn, I realized that some of my colleagues and even a few
students must have known what had been happening between me and Anton.  I could
not see myself staying there and keeping my head high.  And how could I look at
Anton in the staffroom every day or run into him in the hallway, knowing how
much he disrespected me?

F
ACING THE PAST

 

I started at my new school only a week later.  The
Department did not accept my resignation.  Fortunately there was a crisis at
another school with the deputy principal having a heart attack and they offered
me a transfer.  I felt relieved to be away from Anton and his constant nagging
about me not wanting to be involved with him.

I found it hard to believe that this grovelling simpleton, who
started following me around like a discarded puppy, was the same man who stood
by me during the time of my divorce.  I had to go as far as to threaten him
with going to his wife or the Department if he did not leave me alone.  He
finally gave up.

But now it is a year later and here he is, on the plane with
me.  What am I going to do?  Hopefully he will just attend the workshops and
leave me alone.  If I had known he would be here, I would never have agreed to
present one of the workshops.  But now it is too late to cancel.  I can hardly
get on the first plane and go home!

I wish Thomas was here.  I miss him.  I will call him as
soon as I get to the hotel. 

I wonder if I should tell him about running into Anton.  He
knows about Anton and what had happened between us.  He was the first person I
told how hurt and humiliated I felt by this man whom I trusted.  How would
Thomas feel if he had to know that Anton was on the same flight with me and
that he would be spending the next few days around me?

An announcement from the cockpit that it is time to fasten
our seatbelts and get ready for landing, brings me back to my surroundings.  My
notes are still lying on my lap, untouched.  It is going to be a long night.  I
still have a lot to prepare before I can honestly say I am ready for tomorrow’s
session.  After seeing Anton and thinking about my past not only with him but
also reliving some memories of my life with Mark, the last thing I feel like is
being here and having to present one of the first workshops.  But I know that I
have an obligation towards the Department of Education and all the teachers
from across the country that came here to learn and to share.  I will not let
them down.

The hotel’s courtesy bus takes us to our hotel and somehow I
am not surprised to see that Anton is staying at the same hotel I am.  I will
just have to put him and the past out of my mind so I can get through the next
few days.

After a long shower I lie down on my bed and dial Thomas’
number.  I almost feel like crying when I hear his voice.  Have I fallen this
much in love with him that even the thought of being so far from him makes me
feel more alone than I have ever felt in my life?

“Hello, my baby.  How are you doing?  How was your flight?”

“It wasn’t bad.  I did not get all my work done so I will be
staying in my room tonight so I can finish preparing for tomorrow.”

“You do that.  And make sure you eat.  I am worried about
you when I am not around to keep an eye on you.  You never seem to eat when I
am not around.  I don’t want you fading away while you are not here.  You need
to be strong when you get back.  I have a lot to keep you busy with.”

I can hear the smile in his voice and it makes me feel so
much better.  We talk for another few minutes before we say goodbye.  I sit on
the bed with my phone in my hand for a while. 

I can still hear his last words to me ringing in my ear:  “I
love you, Anna.”

I work for a couple of hours.  When the room becomes too
dark I switch on the light and ring the number for room service.  While I wait
for my meal to be brought to my room, I page through a magazine left on the
small desk.  But I find it hard to get into any of the articles and feel a
sense of relief when I hear a knock at the door and the waiter announcing
himself. 

After picking at my food, I get my laptop and continue
working.  It is late when I finally switch off the light.  I am tired and fall
asleep almost immediately.

I wake up with a throbbing headache.  I kept on dreaming last
night.  It was horrible reliving so many bad moments from my marriage.  But
like it always happens in dreams, everything became contorted with the entrance
of Anton in so many scenes that I sometimes became confused as to the context
of a specific dream.  Why could I not just have a beautiful dream about Thomas? 
But no, as always, first Mark and then Anton had to come and disturb my dreams;
another way in which they manage to disrupt my life.

I jump in the shower in an attempt to wash the cobwebs from
my mind.  No long, relaxing bath for me this morning.  I ignore the urge to
call Thomas and head straight for the conference facilities without having
breakfast.  I do not feel like talking to anyone today.  As long as I focus on
the material I prepared for today I will be okay.

I have already started with the first part of my
presentation when Anton walks in.  He has a smile on his face and from the
blush on the face of the blond girl who enters the room only a minute later, I
can only guess what he had been up to again.  For a second I feel taken aback
and have to fight the confusion I feel building up in my mind.  I continue with
my speech but in my mind I am fighting a battle with myself.  I hate the
feelings seeing Anton and the blond had stirred up in me again.  I know I am
not in love with him; in fact I doubt if I ever was.  So what is this I am
feeling?  Jealousy?  Rage?

By the conclusion of the day’s proceedings, I feel emotionally
drained.  I cannot wait to get out of here but after a standing ovation, people
flock to the front for a chance to talk to me.  I smile mechanically and answer
as many questions as possible.  I hand out my contact information to colleagues
who may need more help from me in future.  Then he is there again.  Anton
stands right in front of me, among the rest of the teachers, with a sardonic
smile on his face. 

“So, Miss Lemar, will you be available to answer more of our
questions later during the evening?  Say, around dinner?”

“Yes, let’s all go out to dinner together and Miss Lemar can
answer some more of our questions.  Come on, Anna, let us buy you dinner.  In
return you can just sit there and answer our questions while eating.  Come on,
you have to be tired after such a long day.  Let us buy you dinner,” another
excited teacher says.

I realise I have not eaten yet and I am feeling famished. 
After skipping breakfast I could only manage a few cups of tea during
intervals, so I can feel my body needs nourishment.  I don’t want to spend the
evening in Anton’s company but at least there will be a whole crowd of people
with us.  I can also not think of a logical excuse as to why I would not be
able to have dinner with this friendly, welcoming crowd.

The evening seems to be a success.  Wine is flowing as easy
as the conversation and I finally start to relax.  Quinton, one of the teachers
who attended the session today, is funny and entertaining.  If I had to guess,
I would say he is gay.  He is an attractive man – tall and slender with a
childlike look to him.  He entertains everyone with spoofs of famous speeches
by politicians.  For a thin white boy, he does a great Obama. 

When I say that I am tired, he immediately jumps up and with
a salute, he says:  “At your service, Miss Lemar.  I would be honoured to
escort you to your boudoir.”

Everybody laughs when I say:  “Thank you, my humble
servant.  But the front door of the hotel will do just fine.  My boudoir door
will be seen by none other than me.”

I can see the irritation in Anton’s face when I say goodbye
to everyone with a mere wave of the hand.  Did he think there would be hugs and
kisses all around?

When Quinton drops me in front of the hotel, he asks if I
would be okay going to my room alone.

“Of course, Quinton.  I am a big girl.  Thank you for a
wonderfully entertaining evening.  It was just what I needed after such a
tiring day.  See you tomorrow.”

With that I get out of his car.  I take the lift up to my
room.  When I go inside, I just kick off my shoes before dialling Thomas’s
number.  He sounds sleepy when he answers the phone.

“I am sorry.  I did not realize how late it was.  I had just
walked in the door.”

He immediately apologizes for sounding so sleepy.  He had a
long day as well and decided to go to bed early.

 “I miss you too much.  If I’m awake, I think about you
being so far away the whole time.  So I decided if I could sleep, time would
pass a bit faster.”

“Oh you are so sweet.  I miss you as well.  I would never
have been able to fall asleep if I could not hear your voice.”

I tell him about my day and about going to dinner with some
of the other teachers.  But I do not say a word about Anton being there.  What
would he say if he had to know that Anton was among the group I had dinner
with?  Would he understand that I got forced into going?  That I could not say
no without it looking very suspicious?  I hate hiding things from Thomas since
I also expect him never to lie to me; not even by omission.  However, telling him
these things over the phone feels too risky.  What if he does not understand
and I am not there to really explain everything to him?  I would rather just
wait until I am home and then tell him everything.  In any case, it is not like
there is really anything to tell.  Why would I want to fill his mind with
worries about Anton being at the conference?

After about twenty minutes, we say goodbye.  I walk through
to the bathroom and draw myself a deep bubble bath.  I feel relaxed after the
wine at dinner and having talked to Thomas. 

I allow myself to just lie back in the bubbles and let my
mind drift.  The sounds of Gheorghe Zamfir’s pan flute fill my ears when I
switch my iPod on.  I relax and my hands start exploring my skin under the
water.  With Thomas being in the front of my thoughts, it is easy to make
myself believe it is his hands caressing my body.  My fingers finally find
their way down to my pussy and I gently massage the mound surrounding it.

Fright is not the right word to describe the feeling I feel
when I suddenly feel another hand over mine.  I gasp when I open my eyes and
see Anton’s bloodshot eyes right above me.  I can now smell his alcohol-laden
breath in my face while his right hand pins mine down under the water.

“Anton!  Get out!  How did you get into my room?”

He laughs and it is clear that he is very drunk:  “Nothing
that I cannot get some waiting staff to do for me.  I convinced the cab driver
to tell them that I am too drunk to get to my room on my own, so one of the
bell boys brought me upstairs and gladly opened your door, thus letting me
inside.  They must have believed that my sexy wife is waiting for me.”

I push him away and he has to take a step back in order to
maintain his balance.  He is very drunk.  I am now lying under the bubbles,
wondering how to get out.  I have no choice but to ask him to hand me a towel. 
He steps back but this time he is too drunk to keep his balance.  He falls and
I use the opportunity to get out of the bath and grab a towel. 

Sitting on the floor now, Anton grabs the towel and part of
my leg.  I am wet and his hands slip off me.  He only manages to hang onto the
towel.  He grabs at me again and this time he gets hold of me.  He tugs at me. 
I lose my balance and come down hard on the bathroom floor.  For a few seconds
the world around me goes black.  Immediately Anton tries to roll on top of me. 
He tries to kiss me in my neck but only manages to reach my shoulder.  I start
fighting back but his heavy body pins me to the floor while he fiddles with his
zipper.

BOOK: The Coming of Anna (The Manhattan Series)
13.7Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Wishful Thinking by Jemma Harvey
Primal Heat by Kimber White
Vintage Babes by Elizabeth Oldfield
Now the War Is Over by Annie Murray
Elegy for April by Benjamin Black
Angel Isle by Peter Dickinson
Ad Astra by Jack Campbell