by J J Harper
Dan walks over with a bottle of chilled water for me, Lucas must have called him. "Are you okay Imogen, shall I call Mason or your doctor? You don't look too well." He pats my shoulder and sits on the other step.
"No Dan but thanks, I'll be fine in a few moments." I take steady sips of the water and a shiver goes down my spine. "Have you noticed anyone hanging around here, someone not on your team?"
"What, why? But no I haven't. Is someone bothering you?" He starts scanning the trees and surrounding land.
"No I'm sure it's nothing I just keep getting a feeling that I'm being watched. Please don't say anything I'm sure it's just me." I realize I may have said the wrong thing to him.
"After everything you've been through Imogen don't keep this a secret, I'm not prepared to hide this from Mason." His eyebrows furrow and a look of concern sweeps across his face.
Lucas comes screaming up the driveway and locks up his brakes as he comes to a stop, he's out of the car even before the engine seems to stop.
"Ginny! What's wrong you sounded so unhappy when you called?" Lucas walks up and pulls me up and starts to lead me indoors.
"I'm just having a panic attack and Mason is in court and I've got virtually back to back appointments today, and I'm supposed to be making really big decisions about kitchens and bathrooms and curtains and every other piece of fucking shit and I'm supposed to meet Nancy this afternoon, and I'm pregnant and fat and I don't seem to have any control over my life any more, what if I'm a crap mother, my parents are probably going to be going to prison for a long time and what eight or nine months ago I didn't know Mason or any of you, and I keep getting the feeling that somebody is here watching me but I can't see them.
I feel my whole life is spiraling massively out of my control, and I really miss my friend." This all tumbles out of my mouth in the biggest jumble of words and as I take a huge deep breath in and I'm not even sure he understood most of it. My body wracks with a huge sob.
Lucas sensibly doesn't say anything he just holds on tight to me. After many minutes have passed I look up at Lucas and pull away. "Shit Luc, I'm so so sorry. I can't believe I just dumped all of that on you. You don't need to hear a hormonal heap of a woman rant on."
"Imogen, look at me. I have told you so many times that you are never a problem to me. You are part of my family and I look after my family. So here's what I'm going to do. First I'm going to call Nancy and get her to come here to you and to bring you some lunch, then she will be able to help you with your appointments and decision makings, and trust me she is pretty damn good at making them. The fact that you are pregnant does not make you fat, you are still a total babe."
This raises a smile on my face and I nudge him with my shoulder.
"Okay, are you still with me?" I nod. "Good, so the next problem is your parents, and Ginny darling they deserve everything coming to them, they sold you and girls like you to Williams and other sick bastards. Let them rot, you really don't need them."
"I don't know how to get them out of my head. I am still so angry with them. I want to go to their trial and watch them get sentenced but I know I can't, so how am I going to ever get closure?"
"I think only time will let you heal and you have Theo back in your life now, I know you have only been here a few months and nobody could ever have foreseen the connection you and Mason have, so I think your relationship with him is as solid as if you've known him for years.
I know you miss Maddie and I know you have been in touch with her because I have too, and she misses you as well. Now the main thing that worries me personally is the thought that you are being watched, so I'm going to have a couple of my security team around you again for a while, that way if anyone is stalking you we will either catch them or scare them off. Is that okay for you?"
"Yes and thank you Lucas, you are always so level-headed and calm. Mason wouldn't be able to analyze my mad ramblings the way you have. He would only focus on making me happy rather than sorting through the problems. But for heaven’s sake please don't tell him I said that!"
"Your secret is safe with me, you’ve been keeping mine for a long while now, so come on let's call my aunt and you can show me all the changes in the house and then introduce me properly to this beast you tell me is only a puppy." Taking my hand and kissing me forehead we walk in.
Nancy arrives like a whirlwind and deposits a basket full of food from homemade fried chicken and potato salad to fresh fruit salad and freshly baked chocolate muffins to finish. Lucas decides he wants to stay and eat but is shooed away by his loving aunt. "Let me look after her now Lucas please, and be sure to tell my son to get himself here as soon as he's done in court."
"Thanks Luc, for everything." I manage a watery smile and he pulls me back in for a hug and leaves.
After eating more than I have done in weeks I give Nancy the tour and show her all the changes and tell her my plans for the still half-finished rooms.
"Well no wonder you feel like you do Imogen dear. Now I know Mason had his heart in the right place suggesting you spend time here, but I don't think he has understood how much you have to organize, so we are going to prioritize the jobs, you say you've got the kitchen designer this afternoon.
Well that's an important one so we'll keep that meeting." Within half an hour she had sorted out my appointments and my diary was organized in to small manageable chunks and in order of priority, so after the kitchen planner had been and gone we spent the rest of our afternoon lazily talking and learning more about each other and our lives. But the last question blew me away.
"Imogen, did you want all this. I don't mean this house, I mean this sudden readymade life that has crash landed at your feet? What were your expectations for your year here? I'm not trying to pry and I do hope I'm not making you uncomfortable, but I wouldn't have seen this new life coming to Mason in my wildest dreams."
"Does that mean you are sorry it has? Have I taken something away from his life? It sounded like he was living in a sham relationship and not fairing any better when it ended." I don't want to sound peeved at her question and in the back of my mind I think I knew I was reading this all wrong.
"No Ginny, it doesn't mean that at all.” She pats my hands sympathetically. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to him, I have never seen him as happy as he is now. I meant are you happy with how things are turning out."
"I'm sorry Nancy, I'm living on the permanent edge of crazy just now. To answer your question, no I never thought I would meet anyone over here, it was a way of escaping my dreadful life back home, with a new name and I hoped a new me.
Maddie wasn't happy with her life and was eager to join in with me, we expected a lot of hard work and a lot of fun new experiences. I thought that after our year was up we would either try a different part of this country to work in or skip to a different one completely. I feel unhappy that my best friend has chosen to leave, and I know I am responsible for her having to make that decision and I miss her every day, and I worry about her back in the UK, she has an awful amount of demons to battle with over there, and I feel I should be helping her just as she helped me.
But I can't. I can't leave Mason, I would never deny my child its father." I feel her tense beside me as she digests the thought of Mason not having his child but I'm not going to let her interrupt my thoughts now. "Did I ever think I would find love here?
No absolutely not. I never thought I would ever want to be in a physical relationship again, my experiences of being with a man were so dark and so painful emotionally as well as physically, that I never believed I would find a man I would be prepared to be intimate with, let alone a man who would steal my own heart and soul in just one brief encounter.”
I smile softly as I remember our first meeting. “He left me breathless, his ability to reach inside me to the places I thought I had lost, and to unlock a side of me I wasn't aware I had. To be able to love and trust someone so quickly and so completely and to have those feelings returned back to me ast
ounded me. Did you know he told me he loved me after spending only a few hours together? I never doubted my response back to him either. I loved him, I know I always will."
"What about the baby? How are you coping with that?" Her face shows concern but only in the kindest of ways.
"Oh what, little Cookie here? Oh well I think we were both, well surprised is not a strong enough word for our reactions, mine was disbelief that something so small could survive such a violent assault on my body, and all the drugs pumped into it afterward, but I was instantly very protective of it.
Did Mason tell you that the doctor made a suggestion that there were options available to me if I hadn't wanted to progress with it?
No?
Oh my, we had a few harsh words with each other over that." I chuckle at the memory. "It was never something I would have considered unless there had been problems after my trauma. Now I'm excited, or well as excited as I can be at the thought of expelling something the same size and weight as a bowling ball from my body!
But the rest of it yes I'm very happy. I have all the usual concerns as to whether I'll be any good at being a mother. Let's face it my own mother hasn't left a very good impression or experience in my life, so I think as long as I do the exact opposite of everything she ever did I'll probably be all right at it.
But to give you a simple answer, yes I’m happy, very very happy." I push my hair out of my eyes and look up at the sun beginning to make it's slow descent out of the sky, I wriggle to get more comfortable with a baby doing somersaults inside me and a large snoring dog resting his head on my thighs I look back at Nancy and see her wiping her eyes.
"Oh Nancy. Have I upset you? I really didn't mean too." I reach over and rub my hand up and down her arm.
"No I just never expected you to answer me so honestly and candidly. I thought I may have just got a simple yes you were happy, and that would have been enough for me. You have shared so much of yourself with me and with my family since you moved here I truly believe that we are blessed to have you.
You have made my son the happiest I have ever seen him and I want to thank you for that. Anyway, look at us sat her getting all serious when really we should be talking about baby names and nursery decorating."
Just like that our moment is over, but I am grateful for her questions and I have a very cathartic moment as I embrace this sweet caring woman. As I feel the emptiness of my previous life wash itself away from me.
"Back to business Imogen, the kitchen designer has been and gone and is going to be sending you his costings and potential delivery date by tomorrow. The landscaper is doing the same, so tomorrow we have the bathroom designer in the morning and then the flooring expert in the afternoon and I think we should get Mason involved with the flooring, I think he already knows what he wants so he can take charge of that one while we plan the baby's room." She looks at me expectantly.
"We? Are you coming back to help again?" I hope she doesn't detect the sound of neediness in my voice, because I really want her to be here again.
"Of course I am, and I'm going to be having a few sharp words with my first born tonight before I leave to go home."
"Oh don't be too hard on him, I think he wanted me to make the decisions because it would have just ended up a larger version of his man-cave of an apartment." I laugh at the thought and I think Nancy actually shudders at the thought.
"Well we'll see because here he is and he's got Lucas with him again, I wonder why?" Nancy stands and brushes the dust off her legs.
I walk over to Mason and let him pull me into his strong arms. "Hey babe, I hear you've had a tough day, I'm sorry. I promise to be here for you from now on." Leaning down he kisses me soundly without a care that his mother is standing just a few feet away with Lucas.
A soft moan escapes me causing a growl to build up through his chest. "I'd better get the verbal and very possible physical beating over with." He whispers in my ear as his fingertips run softly down my face and neck causing a shiver to run over my body but I manage to smile at him.
"Hey Mom, have you had a good day here, what do you think of the place, it's going to be great isn't it?" He is the personification of innocence.
Lucas moves back next to me. "Let's watch the fireworks from a safe distance, call your dog over Ginny this could scar him for life."
He is starting to laugh hard as Nancy lays into Mason, I can see him trying to take it seriously and starts to smile at one point and then his face changes and a stricken look crosses it as he turns to look at me, putting his arm behind his mother’s back he leads her away and they start to have a very serious and heated discussion all the while both of them are giving me very small glances. Then it's over and Mason shakes his head once and then hugs his mother hard. They both walk back to us.
"Imogen I'll meet you here at nine thirty and I'll bring lunch again, thank you for such a lovely afternoon together, we will have this place sorted in no time. Mason I'll see you here at three. Lucas, it's lovely to see you again." Walking off to her car and waving just one more time before turning around and driving off.
Lucas grabs Mason's car keys and saunters off to drive it home for us. We will take the bigger car because of Phoenix.
Mason
Today has been the biggest clusterfuck of all time. The court case went in my favor but not before over four hours of 'he said - she said'. Why do people become so bitter and hateful to the ones that they must have once loved so passionately?
Maybe I need to take on less divorce cases and go back to proper legal work. I used to love being a prosecution attorney but Old-Man Davenport wanted to make more money by having quicker cases. I think it's time for a meeting with Lake and the associates, I know Lake has found Imogen's case challenging, I can't say he's enjoyed it but only because of the personal ties he has in it.
It’s time to start putting the bad people behind bars again not dividing family assets between greedy money grabbing families.
So after a quick late lunch of a sandwich from the deli I head up to see Lake. "How's it going dude?" I saunter into his office and dump a soda on his desk for him.
"Cheers man, it's going to shit if I'm honest. I just want Ginny's case to be over with, her parents are now arguing over which one of them was the instigator, both are now blaming the other for starting it in the beginning.
My money is on the mother because she really is one nasty piece of work and hates Imogen so much. Her father is going to change his plea to guilty at the last minute I reckon, although he hates his wife he has accepted his role in all of it he just wants to leave it to the end so she doesn't get any idea of it. It's only a week away now so keep Ginny busy and happy please, take her away for the weekend do something please."
"I'm thinking of throwing her a birthday party at Mom and Dad's place, do you think that will do the trick? We can get Tamsin and Amber involved they'd love to help and we can keep it a surprise, do you think she'll like it?"
"Yeah I'm sure she will. Did you know she called Lucas today and he shot out of here? I don't know what was going on, has she called you at all?"
"What! Why am I only just hearing about this now? For fucks sake Lake, you could've started with that." I pull my cell out of my pocket and see that there are no missed calls from Ginny but a message from Luc. "Look I've gotta go and see him upstairs, I'll speak to you later. I need to sort this out for now."
As I race up to Luc's office I check my watch, Shit! It's nearly four o'clock already. Pushing my way through his reception doors I see his door is open and he's talking to two of his security guys and Ben Johnson is sat in one of his chairs.
When he looks round and sees me he quickly finishes his conversation and the others walk out including Ben, but I'm not going to bother thinking about why he's still here.
"What's happened Lucas? What's up with Imogen? Why haven't you called me?" My voice is getting louder as I get angrier and Lucas just looks at me waiting patiently for me to stop.
"Have
you finished?" He walks back to his desk and sits on the edge. "Imogen is fine, well sort of. She called me because she knew you were in court and suddenly things all got a bit too much for her. I know you thought getting her off work here would reduce her stress levels but you've thrown her in way over her head at the house.
There are just too many decisions for her to make on her own. She is doubting everything, from not knowing what drapes to order to thinking she's fat and that she's going to be a bad mother and she doesn't want to worry you with all of this. But the thing that has me the most worried and is why I had Dane and Lacey in here is that she keeps getting the feeling that someone is watching her and she is getting frightened."
I'm pacing round the room with my hands laced behind my head as I try to take all this on board. "Shit! Why didn't she tell me all of this Lucas, I mean it's great that she came to you and I know how much you like her, but she should have told me this."
"That's for the two of you to talk about but for this afternoon I got your Mom to go over and help her out and keep her company, and I said that you would go over there after work to pick her up, but Mase I'm going to be serious here, who the hell could still be after her? Dane and Lacey are going to be with her from now on at the times when one of us can't be with her. Are you okay with that?"
I nod at him while my head spinning at the thought of who could be after her. "Will you come out with me so that you can drive my car home and I'll bring her home?
Lucas I'm sorry I freaked but I'm so worried about her and the baby, the baby isn't as big as it should be and she is supposed to be taking it easy. It looks like I fucked up majorly on that one." Running my hands down over my face before reaching over to pat Luc’s shoulder. “Thanks for being there for her man.”
"Look don't sweat it. We're getting it sorted, I just think your Mom is gonna take a huge chunk outta your ass when we get there."