by Adler
I go back to the page I marked and examine the picture more closely. It is of Harrison and Marion at what appears to be a function and they look older by at least three or four years. They have nametags on as well as the blonde girl, who now looks more like a woman. I squint to make out her name. It is too small to see. I turn the page and see a picture of just Marion and the blonde woman. The nametag is slightly more visible. The name starts with an ‘A’. My stomach flops. I feel faint, so I sit down on the floor with the album still in my hands. I skip ahead a few more pages. and sure enough, my suspicion is confirmed. The blonde in the picture is Adelaide. I know this because the image is of her holding what appears to be a certificate with her name on it in a frame. The picture is only of her, no Marion. The rest of the album is filled with pictures of only Harrison and Adelaide. The last picture is of Adelaide and Harrison kissing in an embrace, leaning against a car. I get up from the floor and walk back over to the bookshelf. There aren’t any other albums. That is puzzling. Why would Harrison have an album of this part of his life, but no others?
I am not sure how to feel about this new information. Part of me feels betrayed in some way. My assumption from what I can take from the story these pictures tell is that Harrison was engaged to Marion. Then, over time, he fell for Adelaide and left Marion behind. There appears to be about a five-year gap in the pictures at least in two places. After he presumably graduated from college and then after he started up with Adelaide. I wonder why he hasn’t told me about this. I knew that they had a past, but this is more than just having a history together. At one time, he was planning a future with her.
I put the book back on the shelf and make the copy of the card. I then fax it to the Towers Holdings office. I hear my name being called from down the hallway. Shit! I totally lost track of time. We barely have enough time to get to the massage appointment. I grab the paper off the fax machine and leave the office, locking the door behind me.
“Coming!” I yell, as I hurry down the hallway. I run into my room, leave the card on the mantle, and grab my purse. I had intended to change into something comfy for the appointment, but I have run out of time. I join the ladies, and our body guard, Lance, in the foyer, and we leave for our massages.
Chapter Eighteen
On the town car ride back from the massage, Clarke turns to me, ‘Okay, spill it! What is going on with you?” “What do you mean?” I play dumb.
“You have barely said two words in the last couple hours. I know you…is it the flowers today? Say, that is really a theme with that bitch. At least she splurged on roses this time. Those carnations were nasty.”
I couldn’t help but to chuckle. Sometimes Clarke can be so funny. “It’s not the flowers, or well, it is but it’s more than that. I am just so tired from all of this. My life has been in a whirlwind ever since I met Harrison. I am madly in love with him, but I can’t even enjoy any of this because of her.”
My mom clears her throat. “I am just sorry for you kids. It’s not fair what you have been put through. My baby girl finds the man of her dreams and he comes with a crazy woman. I just wish they would have locked her up for stealing the money, since they can’t stick her with the other shenanigans.”
Clarke grunts. “Yeah, they just need to throw her in a loony bin and forget where they put the key! Seriously though, what did Harrison say about the flowers?”
“He didn’t say too much; there’s not much that can be done, really. He is going to forward the copy of the card I sent him to the detective in Portland and to his father. Not that it will do much good with the case back home. All of her moves are well crafted and impossible to track back to her. Nothing she has done so far has been enough to arrest her.”
“What?! Since when is having someone attacked not enough? You almost died, Danners! How is that not a criminal activity? Can you please explain to me how the police have not been able to find any leads at all? It is unbelievable!”
“Oh, do you have to point that out again? I just can’t stand the constant reminder that I was attacked. My sleep is invaded every night with visions of someone chasing me. I rarely get a good night’s sleep. Believe me, I agree. It has all been very frustrating. Now I also have some new information that there is even more to the story than I knew about before.” I shake my head before anyone can ask.” I can’t discuss it right now. I need to talk to Harrison first.”
My mom and Clarke look at each other. Before Clarke can say anything, my mom pipes up, “Honey, would you rather we stay in for dinner tonight? It has been a nice day, but I am a little tired. I would be perfectly happy to order in.”
Clarke picks up on my mom’s cue, “I agree, I could go for some take out and comfy clothes. Maybe we could find a good chick flick on tonight?”
I am so damned relieved! “Are you two sure you don’t mind if we stay in? Let’s see if we can get something delivered and snuggle in for the night. I have so much going on in my head that I am afraid I wouldn’t be a very fun dinner companion.”
My mom pats my hand. “Of course, dear. Besides, I am really looking forward to the restaurant we have booked for tomorrow night. Your father and I celebrated our thirtieth wedding anniversary there last year.”
Back in the penthouse after we ate, I excuse myself and go to my room to call Harrison.
“Mi amore!”
I decide to skip past the pleasantries. “Why didn’t you tell me that you were engaged to Marion before Adelaide?” I demand.
Silence. Complete silence.
“Hello?” I shout into the phone.
“Where did you hear that?” His voice is quiet and controlled.
“I didn’t hear it; I saw it with my own eyes.”
“What do you mean you saw it?”
“When I was faxing the florist card, I looked through a photo album I found on the bookshelf. It was all right there. Did you honestly think I wouldn’t find out about that? Why did you hide it?”
“I hid nothing. I honestly didn’t think that specific detail was relevant.” I growl and start to say something, but his voice overpowers me. “It was over years and years ago. Way before I dated and became engaged to Adelaide. I was dating Marion and Adelaide was her roommate. It’s that simple.”
“Ohhh! But it does have relevance. That is part of why she is out to get me. I am the next person to stand in her way. The last being Adelaide. Don’t you understand how this feels to me? I feel as if you deceived me.” I am shouting into the phone.
With his voice raised, “Now, stop right there. I did not deceive you and frankly, I think you are overreacting. I told you that I had a past with Marion. I just didn’t get into great detail because you said you didn’t want to hear it. Which is it Danielle?” Oh, I can hear he is about to spit bullets.
Ugh! This is not going well; although, I couldn’t have honestly thought it was going to go any differently.
“Look, I guess maybe we should agree to disagree on this. I feel like you still should have told me that you were engaged to Marion at some point. I realize that I told you I didn’t want to hear all the details of your past with her. I also understand that you were respecting my wishes. But, you have to agree that sometimes people need to hear things, despite their wishes. Do you get what I am saying?” I have managed to calm my voice down.
He sighs.
“I do understand. It’s like I don’t want to know details of your past with Bradley, but sometimes it does have a bearing on our present and inevitably our future. I just wish you would not fly off the handle at me. It pushes my buttons and infuriates me to where all I can see is red.”
Hmm. I had not thought about Harrison not wanting to hear about Bradley as being the same as my not wanting to hear about his past relationships.
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I think we both have some things to learn about communicating and not jumping to conclusions. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” I can hear the smirk in his voice. Phew!
“So, mo
ving forward. I assume you got the fax? Eleanor said that by the time she contacted the doorman there had already been a shift change, so she would follow up in the morning about the florist. I don’t know why we are spinning our wheels on this. Marion sent the flowers; you and I both know that.”
“While we know that, I want the proof to provide for the case we are building against her in Montreal.”
“Oh, I see. So, are you still meeting with Bradley tomorrow?”
“Yes, at 10:00 AM. It should prove interesting.”
“I had better get back out to the living room. The ladies are waiting for me to start the movie. We are watching a chick flick, and we will continue our wedding shopping and planning tomorrow. I will touch base with you in the morning. I miss you!”
“Ah, but I miss you more!”
“Impossible!”
“I love you! Bye!”
“I love you too, Mr. Towers!”
After a late night of watching two movies and eating popcorn, I go to bed exhausted with a tummy ache. I climb into the large bed feeling lonely. I have not had much time with my husband since we returned from our wedding trip. First, I was hospitalized, then recuperating at home. A couple weeks after that, here I am spending almost a week away from him. I sigh to myself. I can’t wait to get into a normal routine with Harrison.
I drift into a fitful sleep to be greeted by another horrifying dream. I am running down the white corridor with the shrouded man in black chasing behind me. I turn to look, and once again, he disappears. When I turn back around, expecting him to be in front of me, he is not there either. I think he is gone and feel relieved. My relief dissipates quickly when I realize that the corridor is coming to a dead end with nowhere to run. I turn around to head back the way I came, but to my horror, the shrouded figure reappears and he is heading straight for me with boney hands outreached. I have nowhere to go, so I reach out to block his attack. I open my mouth to scream but nothing comes out. I start kicking and punching my way past him when I feel his hands on my arms. He is yelling ‘Dani, Dani!’ I wake up and there are my mom and Clarke hovering over me.
“Honey, you were having a bad dream. Here have some water.” She hands me a glass.
“Dani, was it the guy in black again?’
“Yes! It was so real! It’s as if I know him or something. It’s…it’s….Ohhh!” I then break into uncontrollable sobs. I have been trying to keep my emotions in check. I have been working hard at being the happy newlywed, but I simply cannot hold it in anymore! I feel my body wracking with pain from the fierce shudders of grief ripping its way through me like a hurricane through a hut. I can hardly breathe as the tears flood my face.
My mom is holding me, petting my head as I continue to allow my release. I can see out of my tear-blurred eyes that Clarke is pacing back in forth beside the bed. I know this is hard for her. She is a jovial girl and this type of display of emotion is foreign to her. I know she cares, though.
I continue to heave, but the tears have subsided to a trickle. My mom is still holding me, and Eleanor has now joined us. She is handing my mom a warm washcloth. My mom accepts the washcloth and dabs at my tear-soaked face. I am so embarrassed for my outburst. Eleanor must think I am a disturbed woman.
Once the heaves have diminished, I turn to the concerned faces. “I am so sorry for waking you guys. It was just such a terrible dream! I look straight at Eleanor. “I don’t normally do this.”
She smiles. “It’s okay. I do understand that you have been under a tremendous amount of stress.” She looks at my mom, “Donna has told me a lot. You are a brave and patient woman. I don’t know that I would have the fortitude to remain as strong as you have.” She pats me on the shoulder, and I feel the tears spilling down my face once more. Without missing a beat, my mom is dabbing at them again with the cloth.”
“Can I interest anyone in some hot tea?”
Clarke practically jumps at the chance to leave the room, “Yes! I’ll come help!”
I watch as Clarke scurries out the room after Eleanor. My mom turns to me, “She spent a lot of time at your bedside when you were in the coma. She was so worried about you. I even caught her coming from the chapel one day with her rosary in her hand. I didn’t think that girl had a religious bone in her body. We all were so uncertain about who you would be once you came out of the coma. Some people experience brain damage, while others lose part of themselves or their personalities change. I think we are lucky that all you came out with is nightmares, as scary as that may seem.”
I guess that was supposed to make me feel better? I smile and wonder if these nightmares would subside if they were able to catch my attacker.
After we all drank our fill of chamomile tea, we said our goodnights once again. I asked my mom to sleep with me in the master bedroom, and she agreed. We curled up in the enormous bed, and I managed nightmare-free sleep for the remainder of the night.
In the morning, I wake to an empty bed. I look around for a minute, wondering if last night was a dream too. I stretch and get out of bed. As I pass by the mirror. I take note that I look like crap. My eyes are puffy, and I look like I ran into a wall and the wall won. I take a long, hot shower, hoping that will help my appearance. Once I finish applying enough eye makeup to cover up the raccoon circles under my eyes, I decide to go find the others. I hear voices coming from the kitchen and walk in, expecting the same hushed welcome I got yesterday. Instead, they continued their chatter and act as if nothing happened last night. Good. That is exactly what I need. After three cups of coffee and a delicious breakfast of Quiche Lorraine and a cinnamon coffee cake, I look at the time.
“Ladies, we should get going if we are to pick out ensembles for you two to wear to my wedding!”
“You are so correct! Time is burning, and I am excited to get my shopping on today! Let’s find our bodyguards and get rolling!” Clarke’s enthusiasm always makes me giggle.
As we head out to go shopping, I think about how Harrison has to meet Bradley in a couple hours. I sure hope it goes well.
“Coming?” Mom asks.
“Yes, right behind you!”
Chapter Nineteen
Back in Portland…
Harrison stands as Bradley enters the small café. Bradley sees Harrison and heads to his table.
Harrison reaches out his hand, Bradley accepts it, and they shake.
“Please sit.” Harrison motions for Bradley to sit, as he takes his own seat.
Harrison and Bradley look at each other for a minute before anyone speaks. Bradley finally begins. “So, thank you for meeting me.”
“Well, as you know I wasn’t going to, but my interest was piqued. I don’t have much time Bradley, why did you ask me here?”
He looks over his shoulder, then back at Harrison. “As you probably suspect, I want to discuss Dani.”
Harrison nods.
Bradley nervously continues. “Well, as you have probably also figured out, I want Dani back.”
Harrison’s eyes narrow and his hands are now in clenched fists. “Ok.”
“I know you are married, and there is no chance for a reconciliation, so you don’t need to punch me out. But, there is more. A lot more. I need to preface this by saying that I never meant Dani any harm. All I wanted was to have a second chance with her. The only way I thought I could get her attention was if she needed me. Things just spiraled out of control and here we are.”
Harrison interjects, “You’re going to have to back up a whole lot here. I don’t understand what you are saying. You might as well start at the beginning.”
Bradley nods, then looks over his shoulder again. He almost jumps when the waitress comes by the fill his coffee and water glass.
“Ok. Here it goes. I have been in coalition with Marion Devereaux to break up or get in the middle of you and Dani.” He lets out a huge sigh.
“What? How the hell do you know Marion Devereaux?
“I don’t actually know her. I met her once, but the rest of ou
r communication has been by phone.”
“When exactly did this alliance start?”
Bradley taps his finger on the table, while he appears to be thinking it over. “I guess it has been about four months now. She sought me out when I moved back to Portland. I had visited Dani at the ribbon cutting ceremony. I brought her flowers, and hoped that she would give me at least a minute of her time. But, you walked up and stomped on my chances. She hardly even looked at me; she couldn’t keep her eyes off you. I was getting into my car in the parking lot, when Marion approached me. She had obviously done her homework and knew who I was. She also knew where Dani lived. She had her followed and had a guy stake out her condo prior to the opening of your towers.”
“Okay, continue.”
Bradley takes a large sip of water. “Well anyway, Marion told me that she was supposed to marry you, but when you met Dani, you broke it off. She said that you had cold feet and that you would drop Dani and break her heart once you decided to go back to Marion. She offered me money to get Dani away from you. I had some financial setbacks prior to that, so that was appealing to me. Besides, I didn’t want Dani with you, so I would have probably helped her for that alone.”
“What exactly did you do for the money? And for the record, I have not been engaged to Marion Devereaux for almost twenty years.”
Bradley is stalling and Harrison is getting impatient.
“What did you do Bradley?”
He sighs. “A lot. I have done a lot.” He looks away. “I was the one who hired the thug who plastered the pictures in her condo. I spent a lot of time spying on Dani and reporting back to Marion. When Dani stayed with me on the first night, I took her keys to Home Depot, while she slept and got a key duped off. I gave a copy to another one of Marion’s thugs. He is the one who entered her condo the night she moved in with Simone. The plan backfired, she was supposed to stay with me, but like an idiot, I left my phone in my car and didn’t get her call until later.” Harrison is doing everything he can to not climb over the table and start thumping on Bradley.