Rumours

by Claire Ayres

  Blair launches into the long story of her and Mark, and how Heath fell into the middle of it. When she finishes Anette is nodding with a creased brow.

  “Hmmm well, that makes things interesting.”

  “Interesting good, or interesting bad,” Mark says

  “I’m not sure yet.” She says. “Give me some time to work with the stories and see how I can spin it.”

  ◆◆◆

  The next day not long before Blair and Mark were driving home his Father called him into his office. While he was gone Blair spent some time with Maria who was doing a bit of work in the garden, a beautiful garden it was as well.

  “I would have thought you had a gardener for a garden this size,” Blair commented looking around the garden.

  “We do have a gardener, I like to potter around here and there though,” Maria responded, Blair, nodded and continued to help. “Blair, I wanted to tell you I’m extremely pleased to have met you and you make Mark happier than I’ve ever seen him, and I’m including playing the cello.” Blair stops what she is doing and wipes a hand across her cheek leaving a trail of soil in its wake.

  “Th-thank you. I don’t know what to say. I’ve not known him any different to this, he’s always been this happy, carefree, loving man with me. I’m also very pleased to have met you, to have seen where Mark comes from. I was worried you would think I wasn’t good enough for him” Maria leans forward and hugs Blair.

  “You are plenty good enough for him. All I ever wanted for both of my children was for them to find happiness. Their Father saw happiness in a different way, yet even he is coming over to my way of thinking as he gets older.” Maria kneels down and continues pruning.

  “I appreciate you saying that, Maria.” Blair looks around wishing she had her camera, there were hundreds of beautiful shots in this garden. “It’s beautiful here.” She murmurs.

  “It will be yours one day,” Maria responds and Blair’s head spins.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Well, that’s what the Men are meeting about now,” Maria says. “Edward is signing over Mark’s inheritance, including this house.” Blair gapes for a few seconds trying to take in what Maria has said.

  “But…Why?” She asks

  “Because Mark is getting married, the terms of his inheritance were always such that he had to marry to receive it. Mark is as stubborn as his Father, it has always been a recipe for disaster, and it’s meant we never thought he would inherit, with his playing the field never having girlfriends. Now, out of the blue, and very happily, Mark has you, and you calm him, you make him a better man, as I make Edward a better man. Once Edward met you and saw how Mark is with you he saw the truth and saw how fulfilled Mark is with his whole life, you, his career, all of his choices. He didn’t need to live the life Edward chose for him, he had his own path, and it’s done him well.” Maria stands up and puts an arm around Blair’s waist “Let’s go have a cup of tea. They walk inside and Blair mulls over what Maria has said and hopes Mark is taking what Edward is saying to him in the right way.

  As they sit and drink tea, voices come down the hallway and Mark and his Father walk through the doorway. Mark approaches Blair and he starts to chuckle, pulling her upright staring into her eyes.

  “I can’t leave you alone for five minutes, can I?” he laughs, she narrows her eyes at him in question.

  “What on earth are you talking about?” She says, when he takes a tissue from the box on the side, wetting it with his tongue he cleans the soil from her face, before kissing her nose. When she sees the dirty tissue she bursts into laughter, throwing her arms around his neck and whispering in his ear.

  “Everything OK?”

  “Yeah, I’ll tell you in the car.” She kisses his neck in response then pulls away. “OK, we need to head home.” He walks over to his Mother and gives her a hug then shakes his Fathers hand. Blair gets a big hug from Maria and knowing look, while Edward wishes her well.

  On the road, Blair leaves one hand on Mark’s thigh while she admires the ring on her other hand, a smirk on her lips reminding her she is soon going to marry this man.

  “My Father has signed over my inheritance,” Mark says eyes not leaving the road.

  “What does that mean?” Blair asks him

  “Not a huge amount,” he says, “No I’m lying, it means quite a lot. It was always dependent on me getting married, so I was never bothered about it before. Now, I guess it means I will get most of it soon.” Blair’s eyes widen, looking at him.

  “What do you mean?” She says.

  “I’ll have to check the paperwork, however the house will pass to me, several million is in trust, and the family business.”

  “You are kidding?” Blair says “I’m about to marry a multi-millionaire, I thought you were a broke musician.”

  “Surprise.” He laughs. “Look, I don’t want to live in my parents house, I say we tell my parents to keep it. The business has people to look after it, we won’t have to do anything, it would be mine in name only. The money will help us of course, but I have a career, and a life which makes me happy already.” He says and he takes Blair’s hand and squeezes.

  “Stop saying ‘we’ Mark, this is your inheritance, you should do what you think is best.” She says, when Mark pulls the car over and turns in his seat to look at her.

  “You are my partner, you will be my wife very soon, you need to help me make this decision. You are far more important than money and I’m not going to make any decision which will affect both of us without the two of us discussing it and agreeing. OK?” Blair feels her heart expand and leans in to kiss him before answering.

  “OK. Before I answer, I love you more every time you say something like that. Now, I don’t want to live in their house either. It’s beautiful and far too big for two people like us who are used to city living. I don’t know anything about running a big company, whatever you think is best for the company I support you. And as for the money, I wouldn’t even know where to start with so much money, maybe we could find a nice house, a small house for us which is close enough to work and our friends?” She says and he smiles and nods. “And more than anything, I want us to be married.” Blair finishes, leaning in and kissing him.

  As she sits back in her seat, Mark pulls back out onto the road and continues their drive home a contented smile on his face.

  Epilogue

  Mark

  Six Months Later

  “I’m sure you can all agree there is insufficient evidence to find my client guilty on either charge.” The barrister finishes his closing statement, puffs his chest out and sits down. I take my wife’s hand and squeeze it. Blair has handled this whole court case wonderfully, Annette has spent month’s preparing her, no, us, especially for the bad parts and we got through them together.

  She faced the cross-examination, which, as Annette warned was brutal, with dignity and courage. Was honest about everything they asked and every time they tried to shame her she held her head high and looked proudly towards me, a reminder of the love she has no matter what.

  Emblyn and Dean are sitting the other side of her, I suspect they are seeing each other although Blair says I’m reading too much into things, I think she’ll be surprised, there is a spark there. Emblyn is holding Blair’s other hand now the trial is almost over we have to wait for the jury to make a decision as to Heath’s guilt. We’ve always known this would be difficult, a man of his fame and popularity versus a woman nobody knows who has had her personality ripped apart by top lawyers is going to be a tough sell. We have to hope the people on the jury look past his public status and see the man who hurt a woman who trusted him.

  The judge sends the jury to debate and come to a decision and we are given leave until they come back. Heath troops past with his barrister and lawyer, the look of malice on his face has me standing up to face him, Blair taking my arm and pulling me back towards her.

  “Mark, please he’s not worth it.” She says pulling me towards her an
d I embrace her, kissing the top of her head.

  “I’m sorry sweetheart, I didn’t mean to let him get to me,” I whisper into her hair.

  “Shall we go home?” She says to me, and I nod, it’s late in the day, it’s unlikely any verdict will come in tonight. We leave the court and walk to where we parked our car, Dean and Emblyn following far enough behind to give us space.

  “How are you doing?” I ask her, her hand in mine.

  “Tired.” She says, then looking behind us she stops and takes my hands. “There’s something else.”

  Worried I put my hands on her shoulders, “What’s wrong, are you sick?”

  “I have been, I felt awful. Then this morning before we left I took a test. Mark, I’m pregnant.” She looks nervous, her face held tautly. We had agreed we didn’t want this. As she says the words though I know having a family is exactly what I do want and I grin before taking her face in my hands and kissing her with more love and passion than I ever have before.

  “I love you, Blair Huxley. I love you and I love our baby.” I tell her and she smiles up at me taking my hand to start walking again.

  “I love you too Mark Huxley. I was worried you wouldn’t want the baby. We had agreed on no children, I don’t know how it happened.” She says as we near the car park.

  “I’m fairly sure I know how it happened, Sweetheart.” She swipes me on the arm.

  “You know exactly what I mean.” She says and I laugh pulling her to the car.

  “How far along do you think?”

  “Not far, we should go to the doctor, get it made official, get dates.” She says and I nod with a huge grin on my face.

  Dean walks up to the car behind us. “What’s up with you two grinning like a pair of Cheshire cats?”

  “Glad to have each other,” I reply winking at Blair as we all get into the car.

  Driving to our cottage on the outskirts of Bristol we have a relaxed chat and talk about work and life. We bought the cottage a couple of months ago after spending a lot of time looking around for somewhere we felt fit both of our personalities. The cottage is a lovely building with four bedrooms, and a big garden, there was enough space downstairs that we have been able to convert one room into a rehearsal space for me. I actually enjoy rehearsing much more now, Blair enjoys watching me play and often sits in on my rehearsals, I guess now we have a baby coming I will want he/she to hear their Dad playing.

  We converted the loft space into a darkroom for Blair, she closed her studio and works from home now. She can spend her days in the loft and once I am home we can be together, days I don’t need to go in for rehearsal we can stay together. Now we are lucky enough to not have to worry about finances Blair can be pickier about the jobs she takes on and she is doing more of the work she enjoys. Despite all the trouble, Heath has caused her, the other band members were very supportive towards her and have referred some work her way on the back of the work she did for them. She really enjoys that line of work and is doing fewer weddings.

  When we arrive home, Blair offers to cook some dinner, I say I will order in, we’ve all had a pretty taxing day and putting our feet up to relax would be far preferable. I order several pizzas and get some wine and a juice for Blair. Thinking it’s lucky Blair doesn’t drink anyway or there would be suspicion hanging over her.

  “Thank you for the support guys, we really appreciate you being there,” Blair says to her friends. Her bond with them has only grown since our marriage, she has become sure of herself and where she stands she has learned to fully trust her friends, especially Emblyn.

  “Of course, we are,” Emblyn says, sitting on the couch opposite us with Dean. “There’s something we wanted to talk to you about though.” Her friend says, glancing at Dean.

  “Oh?”

  Dean takes Emblyn’s hand and Blair gasps, I smile, “I knew it.”

  “You said,” Blair says looking at me. “How did you know?”

  “There was a vibe between them, which hadn’t been there before,” I say, chuckling.

  “Are you OK with it?” Asks Dean “We don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Why wouldn’t I be? You’re my two best friends, who better to look after each other?” Blair smiles before jumping up and crossing the room to hug them both.

  “Congratulations guys,” I say as the doorbell rings. “I’ll go get it.”

  When I return we dive into the food and pass the evening watching comedies, chatting and laughing.

  ◆◆◆

  We get the call not long after lunch the next day, Dean and Emblyn had to leave because of work, the two of us drive back to the court to meet Annette. It’s time to find out if the jury saw past Heath’s fame or if they were blinded by it.

  We sit behind the prosecution bench and wait, it seems like far too long, Quinn has joined us and is sitting next to Jess while I have Annette next to me. The remaining members of the band come in before they sit they all come and speak to Blair and wish her luck, Liam had appeared as a witness for Jess relaying what he had seen and done, turning against his best friend. He takes a seat next to Quinn and the two look almost overjoyed to see each other, the setting dulling their response somewhat. Mark overhears Aiden whispering in Jess’ ear that he hopes they throw the book at Heath and he feels a little more confidence towards these men who he suspected were turning a blind eye to what their friend was doing to women.

  The judge arrives, the jury is called in and the tense few moments where formalities are met pass by and then it happens, the judge asks the question in reference to an assault.

  “Guilty,” says the foreman. My ears are ringing, Blair’s hand goes over her mouth, we look at each other and grip each other’s hands tightly.

  Then comes the big one, the one we never expected to win, but pushed for anyway, because it happened, and Blair was determined. I put my arm around her and hold her tight while the judge asks for the verdict on the rape charge.

  “Guilty,” Says the foreman looking at Blair and I hold her against me, the tears she’s held in for months now fall freely, she looks at me and I hold her. I look over to Aiden sitting at the end of the row opposite and he nods at me a grim expression on his face.

  The judge sets a date for sentencing and it’s over. We thank Annette for everything, all her help for the past months, would we have survived this trial without her prep? It’s highly unlikely. I turn to lead Blair from the courtroom and I lock eyes with Heath, he now looks beaten and broken, caught out for being the abuser he is. His career will be ruined and he won’t get away with treating a woman like that again. I lead Blair from the room and keep her tucked under my arm as we navigate the cameras and journalists waiting to get a statement. I’ve got the woman I was meant to love in my arms, she is the strongest woman I’ve ever met and I couldn’t be happier to call her my wife, and now we have a baby on the way. Life couldn’t be much more perfect.

  THE END

  Read Jess and Luca’s story

  An Extract from Entrapped

  Prologue

  6 Months Ago

  Jess

  Ade comes out of the bedroom with his hair ruffled and Jess catches his eye from her position curled up on the couch. She’s hugging her favourite cushion as though it’s a comfort blanket and she stares at him with wide eyes that beg for him to show his love.

  “Are you going to move today, Jessica?” he huffs. She shrugs, pulling her knees into her body in a protective gesture. Ade slams a glass on the counter, shattering it and swears under his breath. As he cleans up the mess, Jess sits and watches him.

  When she first met him, the pair seemed to fit like a perfectly snug glove. Ade needed someone to show him love and attention after an awful childhood, and Jess was more than happy to pile that on in lashings. He returned that love by being attentive and caring. They moved in together a little over a year ago, settling into a comfortable routine.

  As she watches him now she wonders what went wrong. She has become more withdrawn. As the m
onths have passed, she cries all the time feeling hopeless and desperate. Some days she lacks the motivation to even get up or get dressed. Meanwhile, Ade is becoming more fed up. He will walk into the room, look at her, sigh, then turn around and leave again. His reaction to her makes her feel worse, worthless, disgusting, a piece of rubbish.

  After he cleans up the glass he resorts to what has become his normal routine in recent weeks. He picks up his coat and without saying another word to Jess, walks out the front door. The resulting bang reverberating around the walls. Jess jumps at the sound of it slamming shut and stays sitting in a numb silence. She knows he loves her, but he is also fed up with her. Jess’ brain churns over the thoughts she keeps having about how sick she is of herself, so of course he is sick of her. She thinks she doesn’t know how to turn these feelings off. There was a time it crossed her mind that she could be pregnant, that she was having some strange hormonal reaction to a baby. Oh, she had hoped, but it wasn’t to be.

  The persistent knock on the front door sees her hesitantly shuffle her feet towards it wishing whoever was on the other side would go away. That person was her best friend Katie, looking like an angel with her glossy long blonde hair hanging loose either side of her slender face, and her boyfriend Jay at her side with that perpetual look of concern that Jess is becoming all too familiar with, pinned to his face underneath a cloaking smile.

  “Come on, sweetheart, it’s time to get some help,” Katie says as she slips an arm through Jess and leads her back into the apartment towards the bedroom.

  All Jess can do is manage a simple nod as a new wave of tears takes over. Wishing Ade was here with her right now, Jess wants him to hold her hand and hug her like he used to. Instead, Jay takes over, wrapping his arms around Jess as he whispers, “It’s going to be OK, Jess.”

  Katie takes Jess’ phone and calls her doctor. Explaining the situation, she secures a rare emergency Saturday appointment. After helping her get dressed in a simple pink jumper and jeans duo Katie bundles Jess into her coat, and the pair of them walk outside followed by Jay. Jess feels like a lamb being led to slaughter, and like that lamb, she is powerless to stop what is about to happen.