Truly, Madly, Greekly: Sizzling summer reading

by Mandy Baggot

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me? What was I doing when all this was going on? You had to move house and I never knew?! Ells, I’m your sister.’

  She hadn’t been expecting the hurt in Lacey’s voice. She hadn’t even thought about that when she was covering everything up and hiding the truth away. Was this how her dad was going to react, too?

  ‘I know. I just felt so utterly stupid and you were in the middle of wedding planning. I …’

  ‘You could have said something. I know I was obsessed with cakes and venues and white doves that wouldn’t fly down and shit on everyone’s heads but this is big stuff. He nicked your inheritance, Ells and you let him get away with that!’

  When Lacey said it, it sounded so much worse. Her sister was standing now, her hands on her hips, lecturing her. Telling her she’d done the wrong thing. Telling her she should have offloaded the hurt and humiliation.

  ‘I didn’t let him get away with it. I …’ Ellen began.

  ‘You lived like a pauper for months, moved house, didn’t tell your family …’

  ‘I was ashamed. Dad thinks I can do no wrong. And he was always going on at me to find someone, settle down. That’s the only reason I dated Ross in the first place.’

  ‘You know what Dad would have done if you’d told him. He would have called the police and got your money back. And if he couldn’t have got your money back he would have given the bloke a kicking and given you the money himself.’

  Ellen nodded. She knew that’s what would have happened. And that was another reason why she hadn’t said anything. She had so wanted to stand on her own two feet. Prove she didn’t need her dad’s money to get on. That was also why the money her mother had left her had sat in the bank for so long. Because it wasn’t something to use on everyday things. It was a nest egg to spend on her dreams. The accountancy business she was never going to have, now.

  ‘And then …’ Lacey took a breath. ‘Then, when you had the chance to get even with him you gave all the money to sodding charity.’

  ‘I had to do that. I’m not a thief.’

  ‘No, you’re someone who’s let a guy walk all over you, let him take what’s yours and then lived with the no Sky TV consequences.’

  Ellen didn’t know what else to say. Her sister knew everything and she’d never felt more infantile.

  ‘You’re so bloody annoying! I can’t believe you didn’t say anything,’ Lacey exclaimed and she levelled a kick at the bedstead. ‘Even if you didn’t want to tell Dad, you should have told me. We could have keyed his car together or slipped some of his business cards into the menu holders at the gay bar.’

  ‘You had so much on your plate already,’ she protested.

  ‘Well, I don’t now.’ Lacey picked up her handbag and moved towards her, checking her reflection in the mirror on the dressing table.

  ‘What are you doing? Where are you going? We can’t go out.’

  ‘What are you talking about? Of course we’re going out. We’re going to find him and sort this out. If he’s flown all this way to have it out with you then we need to get in first. We need to tell him what a low life he is and that if he dares contact anyone about your conjuring job with his accounts we’re going to hang him out to dry with the cops over your stolen inheritance.’

  ‘No, Lacey, we can’t.’

  The thought of facing him was driving spirals of ice through her. She wasn’t ready. She wanted the two magical days back, the reprieve, the time with Yan in that fantasy bubble where everything was a little bit brighter, where she felt a little bit stronger.

  ‘We’re going to karaoke. Dad loves karaoke and it might be needed to calm him down once we tell him what this Ross arse has done to you.’

  Ellen shook her head vigorously. ‘No, Lacey, please don’t tell Dad. Not yet.’

  ‘Not yet? It’s months too late as it is.’

  ‘Please, Lacey.’ She wet her lips. ‘I’ll come.’ She couldn’t really believe she was saying the words. ‘But let me talk to Ross on my own. I got myself into this mess and …’

  ‘Lied to your family.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And hurt your little sister.’

  ‘Don’t, Lace.’

  She felt her cheeks heating up as the gravity of the situation truly hit home.

  ‘Is it because …’ Lacey stopped mid-sentence.

  ‘Because what?’

  ‘Because she wasn’t my mum too? Because we’re not full sisters?’

  ‘No.’ The word was expelled forcefully from her mouth. The fact that Lacey could think that made her feel even worse.

  ‘Your mum was so much nicer than mine. All those photos Dad has of her … she’s always smiling.’

  Ellen nodded. It was true. She’d looked through those old photographs so many times, trying to remember something about her mother, even if it was just a sensation. Her arms around her, the sound of her voice. She stood up then and went to Lacey, desperate to make things right.

  ‘You’re my sister, full, half, it makes no difference to me,’ she blurted out, closing her arms around Lacey. ‘I love you.’

  ‘I love you too, Ells.’ Lacey sniffed, her head pressed against Ellen’s shoulder. Then she broke the embrace. ‘Right, I’m done.’ She swiped a hand at her eyes. ‘That’s enough emotion. You need to toughen up to face the thieving git.’

  Ellen gave a half-hearted smile and wiped her eyes with her fingers. ‘Just promise me you won’t say anything to Dad yet.’

  ‘Promise me you’ll tell that arsehole he deserved everything he got and more.’

  Ellen mused over the sentence. ‘I promise I won’t let him off the hook.’ Behind her back she crossed her fingers.

  44

  Yan didn’t know what to do with himself. He was walking up towards the main hotel, heading for the lobby bar, even though he wasn’t sure what he was going to do when he got there. Have a drink? Have several drinks and try to quell the sick feeling in his chest as he thought about how close he’d come to having his secret exposed tonight?

  Getting sent away from the entertainment area had been exactly the outcome he’d wanted, to avoid taking part in the karaoke. But it meant he wouldn’t be near Ellen. That’s if she came to watch the show at all. When he’d left her earlier she was still digesting the information that her ex-boyfriend was here, let alone what it meant for her or for them.

  He wasn’t sure what she was going to do about it. Or would the angry man force the issue? Put himself in front of her, demand a confrontation, perhaps even in public. Today he had learned that Ross Keegan wasn’t at all shy about using his loud vocals to get his own way. What if he did that with Ellen? What if he embarrassed her in public? She would hate that.

  Yan stopped walking and looked up at the bulk of Mount Pantokrator rising up behind the hotel building. Unshaking, solid, always there.

  He couldn’t let her face this on her own.

  * * *

  Ellen’s legs were trembling and everything in her stomach was on a fast spin cycle, despite the half a dozen Kalms she’d swallowed.

  ‘You’re shaking! And you want me to leave you on your own with him? I can’t do it,’ Lacey said, clutching hold of her arm.

  Picture that place where you feel at peace. You’re warm. You’re safe. Let that feeling grow, fatter, taller, bigger.

  The words didn’t make her feel any better. She shook herself. No mental reassurance was going to help in this situation. She just had to believe in herself and trust she was capable of seeing it through.

  She carefully negotiated the steps down to the entertainment area then, once they were safely at the bottom, she closed her eyes and took a big breath, the type that fills your entire lung capacity and half your stomach too.

  ‘What are you doing? Are you meditating or something?’ Lacey asked.

  She shook her head. ‘No, I’m OK.’ She nodded. ‘I’m really OK.’

  Saying it aloud felt better than she thought it would.

  L
acey lowered her head into Ellen’s space. ‘Which one is he?’

  She was already scanning the room before her sister spoke. Wanting to find him but not wanting to see him at the same time. Perhaps he wasn’t even here. He’d never shown any interest in anything like karaoke before. Maybe he was up at the lobby bar or even in his room. But then her eyes came to rest on a dark-haired man sitting alone at a corner table half-facing the stage, half-facing the ocean view. Even from this distance she could see clearly it was him.

  ‘There,’ she said to Lacey.

  ‘Where?’ Lacey’s head turned left and right.

  Ellen turned to her sister and took hold of her hands. ‘I need to do this on my own, Lacey.’

  The slump of the shoulders and the pouting told her that Lacey had always expected her to give in and let her come. She wanted to support her and Ellen understood that need, but what she needed was to end this on her own, without help, just the way it had all started.

  ‘But, I can’t just sit down and watch. I mean, what if he has a go at you? You can’t expect me not to want to leap up and brain him.’

  ‘I do expect you not to do that.’ She gave Lacey the benefit of her best warning look. One she’d delivered so many times before.

  Her sister puffed out a sigh and looked at her watch. ‘Well, I told Dad we’d meet him down here at ten so …’

  ‘I’d better get a move on.’ Ellen smiled, putting a hand out and patting her sister’s arm. There was nothing else left to say.

  * * *

  Ellen’s father was at the lobby bar, his vast body perched up on one of the bar stools, a short glass in his hand half-filled with amber liquid. The first impression Yan had got when the man arrived at the hotel was bad. Shouting, loud, quick to place the blame for Lacey’s actions on Ellen. Yan stopped short, put a hand on the doorjamb that separated the bar area from the lobby. But, whether he liked him or not, this was Ellen’s father and he had to believe that he would want to help her. That he would want to know about this and stop her having to go through it alone.

  Al could do more about this situation than he could. And that’s why he had to go to him. For Ellen.

  ‘Mr Brooks?’

  Al turned at the sound of his name, then looked Yan up and down. ‘Yes?’

  ‘My name is Yan. I work in animation team.’

  ‘I can see that, son. You ‘ave a name badge on your chest.’ Al laughed, before taking a swig of his drink. ‘You don’t have to badger me you know. I’m gonna come down and sign up for the karaoke when I’ve finished this drink.’

  ‘That is good.’ He nodded, trying to convince himself it was the right thing to do. ‘But …’

  Yan stopped, torn between carrying on and saying nothing more. He knew Ellen might not thank him for telling something so secret, so private, something she had shared only with him. They had so little time left together as it was. What if this changed things between them? Broke the trust they’d built up?

  ‘But?’

  Al was staring at him now, like he was a highly infectious disease being observed under a microscope. He needed to decide what he was going to do.

  ‘It’s Ellen, she …’ He’d started but he didn’t know where to go from here.

  Al’s expression changed immediately from confused to concerned. ‘‘as something ‘appened? Is she all right?’

  Yan nodded quickly. ‘Yes, she is OK. I am sorry. I did not mean to make you worry for her.’

  ‘Then what is it?’

  He took a breath before levelling his voice. ‘We go to sit down on chairs. Here is more quiet.’

  * * *

  ‘Hello, Ross,’ Ellen started.

  He hadn’t noticed her approach and she was glad because every single step she had taken had empowered her. Now, responding to her calling his name, he was looking straight at her.

  She watched the acknowledgement of her presence reach his features. His eyes narrowed and his mouth turned into a hard, bitter line. Slowly, he rose up from the chair and stood, hardening his stature, broadening his body, looking down on her.

  ‘I wondered how long it would take you to realise I was here.’ His voice. That deep, commanding sound she had once found comforting and stabilising, sounded nothing short of sinister now.

  She braced every fibre of her being, maintaining eye contact, holding her stance. It was typical of Ross to pull the attention back to him. He hadn’t gone looking for her because he had known she would go to him.

  ‘I was under the impression we had a meeting at the offices when I got home.’ She kept her voice even. She wanted him to tell her what he knew. She wanted to hear, in blunt language, that he was fully aware of what she’d done.

  He smiled then, but the mouth movement wasn’t reflected in any other part of his body language. He put a finger to his bottom lip, opened his mouth to speak and then stopped, observing her quizzically.

  Why wasn’t he saying anything?

  He slipped his hand into the pocket of his trousers and pulled something out. It was a small square object that was instantly recognisable. She had seen it so many times before. The prototype, the model, the very first example of Keegan Manufacturing’s unbreakable packaging.

  He placed it on the table, smoothing a hand over it, like a caress, before turning his attention to her again. ‘Remember this?’

  Was it really a question he thought she was going to answer? She didn’t say anything.

  ‘This is my dream. My dream that I had to work so hard to make a reality.’

  The passion in his words was evident but it wasn’t affecting her. She’d heard a few of his motivational speeches in the past and after a while they all blended into one. Because whenever he’d told his story, it wasn’t to benefit the young entrepreneurs out there, it was purely for the spotlight himself, to be held up, admired for being someone who had had an idea and grown it into a million pound business.

  She looked away from him, turned her eyes towards the stage where a resident in a Hawaiian shirt was being clapped onto the stage to perform a song. Instinctively, she looked for Yan. Beautiful, strong Yan who had no idea what a bank reconciliation was.

  ‘You believed in my idea, Ellen. You told me I shouldn’t give up until I made someone listen and they helped me make it real.’

  She had said that. She’d said that when she’d been blinded by his charm, glad to have found someone herself to avoid being paired off with sons of haulage firm owners by Al.

  ‘And now I’m told that lumps of money have been going missing from my bank accounts.’

  He did know. There was no pretending anymore. She had to face this head on and see if she could salvage something from the wreckage.

  ‘How the fuck did you manage to get a job at the firm I chose to handle my business accounts?’

  His irate tone and the way he was leaning a little, almost towering over her, filled her with the anger she needed to finally respond.

  ‘I got a job at Lassiter’s because you stole from me!’ She blasted the words out, fiery, venomous and enriched with all the hate she should have unleashed the moment he’d walked out of her life with her inheritance. ‘You took everything I had. You stole everything my mother left for me. You knew I’d packed in my job, you knew about my dream, my dream to run my own accountancy practice and you robbed me of that to achieve your own ambitions.’

  She was boiling up, shaking on the spot, the hurt and devastation leaking from her pores as she regarded the man who had hurt her so much.

  ‘I asked you to marry me, Ellen. All you had to do was say yes,’ he bit back.

  She couldn’t believe it. What was he actually saying here? That she should have married him to avoid having her money stolen? Her mouth dropped open in shock at his gall.

  ‘We could have been …’ Ross paused, as if searching for the right word. ‘Comfortable. My new business, maybe your accountancy practice in the future and …’

  Comfortable. Not blissfully happy. Not even happy. C
omfortable. And a maybe. She shook her head, almost saddened instead of angered.

  Ross carried on. ‘Things could have been just the same. They needn’t have changed. No one says every married couple has to have children. It would have been a partnership.’

  She wanted him to stop now. She didn’t want to hear anymore. It was bad enough that he was still talking about the proposal, but detailing how he thought the relationship would have developed was making her feel sick.

  ‘So what were you going to do if I’d said yes? Ask me for my money to make an “investment” or just take it?’

  ‘You said you were going to support me with the idea, that you were with me every step of the way.’

  ‘I meant emotionally. It wasn’t code for “I’m going to give you all my money”.’

  He shook his head at her, like she was stupid. As if he couldn’t possibly understand how she could think anything else. As if she should have known what their relationship was all about from the very beginning. The truth was, she’d fallen for his fabricated affections and had jumped out not a moment too soon.

  ‘You left me with bills I couldn’t afford. I had to move properties, I had to sell anything that meant anything to me. I had no job, no savings and no dignity. And you did all that knowing I wouldn’t have the guts to ask my dad to bail me out.’ She held onto a chair for support. ‘I told you how important it was for me to stand on my own two feet. I told you I didn’t want to rely on my dad’s success in business. You knew how much proving myself meant to me.’

  ‘Well, you’ve certainly proved yourself now. My legal advisers tell me the way you moved revenue around in my accounts was nothing short of brilliant. The work of a highly-skilled numerist.’ He scoffed. ‘Such a waste, using all that financial talent to break the law. I’m sure you could have put those skills to use getting me some tax breaks or something.’

  Ellen’s skin flamed hotter as she narrowed her eyes at him. ‘It took me weeks to pick myself up off the floor and realise what I had to do.’ She edged closer towards him. ‘Taking my mother’s money meant nothing to you. But money in general, that’s your whole life. You didn’t create this …’ She picked up the unbreakable package from the table. ‘This … stuff because you wanted to make a difference in the world. You created it because you knew it could make your fortune.’ She scoffed. ‘So, I realised quite quickly how I could hurt you. I was going to take my money back from you and I was going to do some good with it in the process. See, I didn’t use it to furnish my flat or buy back the things I’d had to sell, I gave it to charity. Charities I know my mother would have approved of. D’you know, I had no idea until my dad told me just last year that my mum loved donkeys.’