The Coming of Anna (The Manhattan Series)

by Rinder, Leilani

  I put the do-not-disturb sign on the door. My body is sore and I decide to have a bath. I am shocked to see how badly bruised I am. How am I going to explain it to Thomas when he sees me? Hopefully it would have healed enough by the time I go home that he will not even notice.

  Since I did not get any sleep last night, I decide to get into bed. It is just after two in the afternoon when I wake up. My head is throbbing and my body aches really badly. I know I need some pain medication. I will have to find a pharmacy so I get dressed. Before leaving the lobby, I ask the receptionist about a pharmacy in the area. She directs me to one about two blocks away. When I get outside, the sun hitting my eyes makes me cringe. Something is wrong. I am never this sensitive to light.

  By the time I reach the pharmacy, I feel like crying. I am dizzy and feelings of nausea overwhelm me. The young man behind the counter gives me one look and asks whether I had seen a doctor. He comes around the counter and leads me to a stool standing next to the wall.

  “Miss, it is obvious that something is very wrong with you. This is not just a headache you are having. Do you have any idea what could have caused it?”

  “I slipped and fell in the bathroom. I hit my head really hard.”

  “When did this happen?” he asks.

  “Last night. I slept most of the day and woke up with the worst headache I have ever had. I am from out of town so I cannot go see my doctor.”

  “Where are you staying?”

  I give him the name of the hotel. He arranges for a taxi to take me back to my hotel and for a doctor to meet me there.

  When the doctor leaves my room, I switch on the television. He diagnosed me with a concussion and advised me not to sleep too much for the next 48 hours. He gave me something for the nausea as well as the headache. If I feel worse I need to call his emergency number.

  When he leaves, I call Thomas. I now have an idea.

  “Hello my love,” I hear his voice in my ear.

  I do not know why, but I start to cry.

  “Anna? What is wrong?”

  His concern only manages to make me sob even harder. It takes me a while to calm down enough to make myself understood.

  “I had a bubble bath and I slipped on some water on the floor and fell. The doctor says I have a concussion.”

  “Damn it! You have to come home! You cannot stay in LA and attend a conference if you suffered a concussion. I’m going to have Eileen immediately arrange a flight for you. If we play quickly, you might still be able to fly out tonight. I will call you back. Stay by the phone.”

  I lie back on the bed. When Thomas calls I need to leave for the airport immediately. The clerk at reception seems a bit stunned when I settle my bill so soon. I haven’t even spent a night and here I am ready to leave again. He looks at me suspiciously.

  The flight home is absolute hell. I struggle to stay awake and the air pressure on the plane is making my head feel even worse. I now consider the fact that I did not mention to any of the flight staff that I had a concussion and that I should probably not be flying. But all I want to do now is be with Thomas.

  Thomas will make everything alright. Once I am back in his arms, the world will be okay.

  TENDER LOVING CARE

  When I enter the terminal with my bag in hand, I see Thomas holding his arms open to me. He wraps his arms around me and for a few seconds I just rest my head against his chest. No matter how bad the past few days had been, having his arms around me lets all the bad feelings fade away.

  He puts my bag in his car and helps me get in the passenger seat. He drives off without a word. It takes me a while to realize he is driving in the wrong direction.

  “Where are we going?” I ask.

  “I had my housekeeper prepare my house for you. While I am at work, she can keep an eye on you and when I am there, I will play nursemaid. There is no way I am going to let you stay at your place alone while I am at work.

  I want to protest but he is not having any of it. So I just sit back and allow him to take me home. I can hardly believe it has only been a few hours since I called him and told him about getting hurt. He thinks I slipped in the hotel bathroom and fell, banging my head. What would happen if he found out what really happened?

  I have never been to Thomas’ house before. He drives me to a beautiful neighbourhood and it is easy to see by the surroundings that we are definitely not in a working class suburb.

  Thomas pulls into the driveway of a beautiful house with huge trees and rolling lawns. He walks around to my door and helps me out of the car. It is late and the street is quiet, except for the distant barking of a dog. The porch light has been switched on and another light is shining from inside the house. It must be the housekeeper who switched it on before she left.

  He unlocks the front door and steps back so I can walk in first. The plush carpeting and luxurious furnishings take my breath away. Could this really be his house? What must he have thought of my scantily furnished cottage?

  “Do you want to go straight to bed or would you like to have a bath first?”

  “I had a bath before leaving the hotel tonight. Goodness,” I exclaim, looking at my watch, “it is past midnight already!”

  “Straight to the bedroom it is then.”

  I follow Thomas up a flight of stairs. He opens a huge wooden door and from the masculine smell coming from the room, I know that this must be the master bedroom. He puts my bag on a table and opens it.

  “Get out of those clothes and into bed. I am going to get you some tea.”

  With that he leaves the room. I have just got into bed when he appears in the doorway, tray in hand. The tray has a pot of tea, two cups and some sandwiches. There is also a vase with a single pink rose in it.

  He smiles at my astonishment: “No, sorry, I am not Superman. This is all Trudy’s doing. She is like a mother hen. She must have realized that you might be hungry after your ordeal so she prepared some sandwiches. Now you can see how I have been able to have a successful life without a wife all these years. Eileen sees that I stay on track at the office and Trudy keeps my household in order and my tummy well fed.”

  He sits on the edge of the bed and hands me a steaming cup of tea. He also hands me a small plate and pushes the sandwiches towards me. He pours a cup of tea for himself.

  “So, tell me everything there is to know about the past few days. I said goodbye to you not even three days ago and here you are back in my bed. You seem to be unable to stay away from me.”

  His smile disappears when I suddenly burst into tears again. Why am I crying at every whim?

  “Hey, what is the matter, Little One?”

  He holds me and strokes my hair until I calm down.

  “I’m sorry. My head just hurts so much and everything that happened is making me feel a bit blue. I need a good night’s rest and I will be myself again.”

  “So drink up and eat a sandwich. I will get you some tablets for that headache.”

  “The tablets the doctor prescribed are in my handbag. He said not to take anything else.”

  We finish our tea and sandwiches in silence. When Thomas finally returns from locking up the house, I watch him undress. I have missed the sight of his male form so much while I was away. I don’t want to be away from him another day.

  When he folds his arms around me, I drift off to sleep.

  A loud shriek wakes me. I am sweaty and feel scared.

  “What is it? What is going on? Are you okay?” Thomas asks in an anxious voice.

  I realize it was my own screaming that woke me. I have been dreaming about Anton and being trapped by him in that bathroom.

  “I’m sorry. I must have been dreaming.”

  “Sounds more like you had a nightmare. What were you dreaming about?”

  “I cannot remember,” I lie, again. “I guess it is the bump against the head making me have nightmares. Go back to sleep.”

  I get up and walk over to the en-suite bathroom. I open the coldwater tap and spla
sh water on my face. I wash my hands and apply some lotion to help me calm down before I go back to bed again.

  When I snuggle into bed, Thomas turns towards me and wraps me in his arms.

  “Sleep now, my angel. Are you sure you are okay? Can’t I get you something?”

  “No, go back to sleep. It was just a silly dream. There is really nothing to worry about.”

  Long after I hear his breathing become deeper again, I am still staring at the ceiling. Should I tell Thomas about what happened? How will he handle it? I don’t know him well enough to know what he would do if he knew that Anton tried to force himself on me. What if I only make matters worse? At the moment nobody but Anton and I are aware of what transpired in that bathroom. Should I just keep it to myself and let it all blow over, or should I be honest with Thomas the way we promised each other? The first signs of daylight are starting to show when I finally drift off to sleep again.

  When I wake up, the house is quiet. It takes me a second to take in my surroundings and realize the bed I am lying in is not a bed in a strange hotel room. It is Thomas’ bed! How wonderful it is to be in his bed. I lie back again and I can smell his masculine scent. The room is made up in deep browns and burgundy. The heavy wooden furniture portrays him perfectly. One can see that this is a man’s room.

  I get up to go to the bathroom and it feels like every bruise in my body is screaming out at me. My eye catches the clock on the bed stand. It is after ten! Why did nobody wake me?

  When I wash my hands in the basin in Thomas’ bathroom, I see a note stuck to the mirror.

  My sleepy baby,

  I did not want to wake you when I left. I have a few things to handle at the office. Make yourself at home. Have Trudy bring you some breakfast. Promise me you will stay in bed. I need you to get well soon.

  Love, Thomas

  I smile at the note and notice his handwriting. The man could have been a doctor!

  I hear a short knock on the bedroom door.

  “Come in!”

  A woman in her late fifties comes walking in. Her apron is clean and crisp but from the spot of flour on her cheek it is clear she has been busy in the kitchen.

  I smile at her: “You must be Trudy. Thank you for the tea and sandwiches you left us last night. I really needed that before coming to bed.”

  A smile breaks onto her face: “Thomas had told me you were beautiful. Now I can see why his mind is suddenly on something other than his work and golf.”

  I blush.

  “He gave me clear instructions not to allow you to get up. He spoke to his own doctor this morning. The doctor told him the best thing for you for the next couple of days would be to rest as much as possible. And he made me promise to see that you eat. So what will it be? Will you have some bacon and eggs with toast? Or would you rather have an omelette? You are not one of those funny people who live on fruit and vegetables, are you?”

  She rolls her eyes towards the ceiling and I cannot help but laugh, in spite of a splitting headache.

  “No, I love all food. I love animals but I have no qualms about eating them. So don’t worry about that. An omelette sounds just perfect. And some tea if you don’t mind.”

  “I will be back soon.”

  I lie back on the pillows and the awfulness of the past few days seem so far away. Just one knock on my door and how my life has changed. How difficult would it have been to get over what had happened to me if I did not have Thomas to come home to?

  It does not take Trudy long to get back with a fully-laden tray.

  “Here is your omelette. I have baked some fresh muffins so I put one of them on the tray as well. I am famous for my muffins. There is some homemade jam and some cheese too if you want.”

  She sees me admiring the fresh rose she put on the tray.

  “The rose is from Thomas’ garden. Other than work and golf, his garden is his passion. And no matter how he redesigns and changes the garden, there is always an herb garden for me so I can have fresh herbs for cooking and a rose garden so there will always be roses in the house. I think it reminds him of Katrina. Come on, eat up.”

  She helps me sit up against the pillows and puts the tray on my lap. Then she excuses herself.

  While I eat my breakfast, I start thinking about Katrina. Is that Thomas’ ex-wife? He only mentioned her once and never talked about her again. And somehow I knew not to ask. But I feel the curiosity in me wanting to know more. Somehow I also cannot help but feel a pang of jealousy. If, after all these years he still plants roses in his garden because they remind him of her, how will any woman ever take her place in his heart?

  Trudy comes to collect my tray again.

  “You can have a bath or a shower if you like. I went out to buy you some women’s magazines. I put them on your bedside table. I was sure you would not feel like reading Thomas’ golfing or carpentry magazines! And if you would like to watch television, the television set is right across the hall from the bedroom. I am sure it will be okay if you make yourself comfortable in there. As soon as you feel better, you can take a walk in the garden. Thomas’ garden is something to behold.”

  Thomas comes home just after lunch. I am surprised to see him home so early but the file he has tucked under his arm tells me his workday isn’t over yet. But I am happy to see him and to have him close to me.

  “I finished up everything at the office that needed my urgent attention and brought the rest home. At least here I can keep an eye on you while I am working.”

  We spend the next couple of days together in sweet harmony. Thomas goes into work early in the morning and comes home around lunchtime. He had his secretary move all his appointments to the mornings so he did not have to stay at the office all day waiting to see someone. Every afternoon after lunch he would have me take a nap. Then he would sit on the chair in his bedroom, doing some work. Later when it was a bit cooler outside, we would sit in the garden or next to the pool. I would read and he would finish up the rest of his work. In the evenings after dinner, we would watch a movie together and listen to some music before retiring to bed.

  **********

  It is Friday morning and I am having a shower. The bathroom is filled with steam when Thomas appears in the shower behind me. He takes the washer from my hand and starts washing my back. His lips softly stroke my neck and I can feel my body waking up to him. His hands with the washer moves around to my breasts and he gently starts washing them. I can feel his erect penis pressing against my back. I am already wet for him and I lean against the wall with my hands, holding my butt towards him. We have not made love since I came back from Los Angeles and my body longs for his touch.

  He must have let the washer go because I feel both his hands stroking my butt cheeks. With his hands on my hips, he lifts me off the floor slightly and slides my open pussy over his cock. I gasp as I feel his fully erect cock slide all the way into me. My feet hardly touch the floor now but Thomas has my hips firmly in hand. With my hands pressing against the shower wall in front of me and the warm water washing over me, I feel my pussy clasping his cock. He is so deep inside me that it almost hurts. But it is a sensation of pleasure and deep satisfaction. Maybe because we have not made love for a few days, it does not take long for both of us to cum. As I feel my pussy rhythmically suck onto his cock, I cry his name. When we both have cum and our breathing returns to normal, he folds both arms around me and lies his head against the back of my neck. He turns me around and his tongue slowly sweeps the inside of my mouth. Then he takes the washer and washes my pussy before rinsing our juices off his dick.

  I am still standing under the stream of warm water when he gets out and dries himself. He takes another fluffy towel and holds it open for me. When I step out of the shower, a ray of sunlight touches my skin. His eyes widen.

  “Anna! What the hell?”

  I see him looking at the bruises on my shoulder. Then he turns me around and softly touches the bruise now clearly visible on my back. He pushes me away from him a b
it and I am sure he can see the bruising on my upper legs.

  My heart beats loudly in my ears. I had been so careful about hiding my bruises from him. I made sure that I was dressed all the time when he was home. I scheduled my baths and showers around the times he would be at the office. I thought he was still fast asleep when I slipped out of bed this morning. And seeing the anguish and horror portrayed on his face as he looks at me now, I know it was the right thing to do.

  “Anna! Tell me what happened to you. There is no way on God’s green earth that those bruises are from falling on a bathroom floor. What the hell happened to you in LA?”

  I can just stare at him in stunned silence. The memories from that dreadful night not so long ago come flooding back and flow into a contorted mess of pictures and hurt and and tears and screams. What do I tell him?

  Thomas grabs my arms and I cringe. He sees the pain in my face and let go a bit. My mind is racing through stories and versions of that night but I cannot seem to make any sense of it.

  “Come!”

  Thomas leads me to the edge of the bed. He softly dries me and helps me put on some clean clothes. Then he calls down to Trudy to make us some tea. When I lie back against the pillows again, he sits himself down in the chair in front of the bed, his hands clasped in front of him.

  “Now you are going to tell me everything. I could see something was wrong since the moment I picked you up at the airport. There is no way that you just fell and bumped your head. You are going to tell me the truth and you are going to tell me now. The whole truth or so help me!”

  I tell him about Anton being on the plane. About all the bad memories that came back to me. I tell him about Anton being in the same hotel and cornering me into having dinner with the same group of people as him. When I tell him about what happened in that bathroom, I cry uncontrollably.

  Thomas does not touch me. He just looks at me as the words tumble from my mouth. I can see he is furious.

  I tell him how I spent the night at the airport and then went to another hotel that morning. About how the pharmacist got me a doctor and the doctor said I had a concussion from the fall. And then I came home to him.