by S. K Munt
‘Yeah well, he should be after the way he’s been all over Sherri.’ She hated herself for the look of horror on her mum’s face, but told herself it was for Lincoln’s own good. ‘Tell him I’m coming back now, and I might call him back, if I feel like it then.’
Vana went quiet for a moment, listening, then said :‘He said, he heard that.’ The queen looked pained.‘Now he’s really upset, and wants to make it up to you for missing Valentine’s Day.’
‘Like I said, I’ll think about it.’ Ivyanne turned to Ardhi. ‘Kayu-Api? Hate to do this to you mate, but I have to go. I have a defunct fiancé to handle-maybe. We cool?’
‘Yes Lincoln, you heard her,’ Vana said quietly into the phone. ‘She’ll call, just be patient. Okay, bye.’ Her mother hung up the phone and stared at her. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Nothing you need to tell dad about, let’s put it that way.’ Ivyanne said in a bored, cool voice.
Ardhi looked at her, his expression a mixture of surprise, disappointment and something else...glee? ‘ You shouldn’t go. Valentine’s Day is kind of our thing, you know. If you want, we could go grab some dinner or something in River City-you can cry about your man, I can cry about you…’
Ivyanne tried to look amused and tempted. ‘That actually sounds kind of good, I haven’t had Subway for awhile....’
‘Subway?’ Ardhi made a face. ‘Ivyanne if you’re going to eat junk, you should eat junk. Come with me, and I’ll introduce to a wonderful concept called Big Macs. Saraya’s making risotto tonight which I hate, and guess who gets stuck with scraping the burned rice off the pan after?’
‘That would be me,’ Vana said dryly. ‘You just fill it with water and leave it there.’
Ivyanne turned to stone, seeing the Big Mac wrapper from Tristan’s boat in her mind. Her brain was decoupage by discarded wrappings and hidden notes, and her stomach was stuffed with unrealized nightmares.
‘I’ll think about it,’ she said, hearing the tremble in her voice. ‘I need to punch some things first.’
‘Okay. Call me.’
‘Okay.’
‘I mean it, if you don’t, I’ll rock up on your door with burgers and force you to eat them with me in front of that lovely large T.V I’m dying to try out.’
‘Okay.’ She laughed, but it was getting harder not to cry. ‘I’ll call.’ Ivyanne gave her mother the box, kissing her on the cheek and turning away, not liking the way the queen was obviously trying to read her thoughts through her eyes. No one could know those thoughts-and the more they meant to her, the less she could share with them. At least until she’d made contact with Lux.
Or had a gun to Ardhi’s head.
The blanket on the couch, the contempt for basic cleaning, the Big Macs...Ardhi had stayed on Tristan’s boat, she was certain of it. Anyone else would have slept on a bed-anyone who wasn’t disgusted by it, that was. He hadn’t been delirious, trawling the waters home-he’d been composed, nearby-near a house he’d just offered to show up at-a house he hadn’t been told was hers.
Had seen.
He’d watched her.
Ivyanne forced herself to wave casually as she hurried for the door, hoping she could make it outside before she was physically sick.
Her sudden, terrifying theory didn’t make sense when applied to the actions of a humbled man, seeking only forgiveness-but for a sociopath who somehow had known that Tristan Loveridge would not be back for his boat, before he’d been told.
24.
Lincoln didn’t bother knocking on Ivyanne’s door when he showed up after work, out of breath and terrified that he was about to spend another night separated from his reason for breathing. He pushed open the door, shocked that the lights were off and the curtains drawn-darkness had only just fallen-was Ivyanne still swimming? It wasn’t a safe hour-sharks fed at dusk, and a mermaid who couldn’t see a shark in darkness couldn’t scream one away.
But then he heard her voice in the kitchen: ‘No seriously Ardhi-I’ve had a major blue with Lincoln, I just don’t feel like going anywhere and I’m definitely not hungry. I’m going to crawl into bed, and work out if this engagement is going to last to the end of the party. I mean, guests have started arriving and I’ll need to face them tomorrow, so I need to sleep this mood off.’
Lincoln’s heart hit the floor. He staggered noisily towards the kitchen, staring at her open-mouthed, almost knocking over the arrangement of flowers he’d had sent over from the table when it slid under his weight.
She thinks we won’t last? She thinks I’m into…?
Ivyanne turned to look at him, and lifted one finger to her lips. ‘Okay, thanks for the understanding. We’ll go into the city in a day or so all right? You owe me a Big Mac. Okay, great...bye.’ Wordlessly, Ivyanne ended the call, and tossed her phone onto the table.
‘Have something to say?’ She asked in a tight whisper.
Lincoln fell to his knees in front of her, grasping her legs, staring up at her and feeling the words scrape by the emotion in his larynx. He was overcome with panic. ‘I love you. You can’t leave me. I told her today that if she touches me again-she’s gone!’
‘Good.’ Ivyanne leaned down, cupped his face in her hands and stared at him. The malachite in her eyes neon in the darkness. ‘Now...I’m going to be busy for the next few days. You won’t see much of me.’ She knelt in front of him and began to work the buttons of his shirt, her hands hot and trembling-just as he felt.
‘So you better give me enough tonight, to make it through to Saturday.’ She whispered, brushing her lips against his. ‘And don’t stop until you’ve made it up to me.’
Lincoln had no idea what was going on, but his body did and reacted by curling around her, crushing her to him in a kiss that expressed his remorse and passion and relief in a way his words would never be able to equal.
⁓
‘Wow, your apartment is gorgeous,’ Adele said, glancing around Tristan’s living room on Tuesday night. ‘How come your stuff is still here though? Shouldn’t someone have cleaned it out by now?’
‘Ardhi told you that my funeral is on Sunday,’ Tristan pointed out. ‘Which means my family won’t be over here until afterwards.’ Tristan went to the blinds and pulled them closed. Sneaking past the doorman in the lobby of his building had made him incredibly paranoid. Strange that he felt like a burglar in his own life. ‘We can shower here and stay the night, but we’ll have to leave between four and five a.m, when the night men switch shifts.’
‘Okay.’
Tristan leaned against the window and sighed, happy to be home. Part of him had worried that he’d never set foot in his apartment again. But the rent came out of his account monthly, meaning the agency wouldn’t have cause to evict his things for another week or so. If he hurried, he could fix his life before his house was cleaned out and his shares in the company sold.
‘Tristan….’
Tristan looked up to see that Adele was leaning against the kitchen counter and smiling at him. ‘Yeah? Sorry, I zoned out then.’
‘That’s because you’re mentally fatigued still,’ Adele said softly. She began to walk towards him, one hand toying with the thin strap of the sundress that they’d picked up in a second hand store in Bondi. ‘I can fix that.’
Tristan cocked his head. ‘Come again?’
‘That’s my point,’ Adele smiled, looping her arms around his shoulders. ‘You and me, here in Sydney again, alone, on Valentine’s Day...both of us going out of our mind with withdrawals...I can’t be the only one thinking of how easy it would be to get our frustrations out….together.’
Tristan grimaced. ‘You’re not.’ He said honestly as he removed her arms from his neck. ‘Still, I meant what I said the other day, Adele, I’m still in love with her.’
Adele’s hands came back, this time landing on his chest. ‘Things are different now. She’s engaged, Tristan. You may go back to Seaview a hero-but you’ll never be her king now. Ivyanne is far too kind, as you’ve pointed out, t
o hurt anyone-including breaking an engagement, regardless of the circumstances.’ Her blue eyes were apologetic. ‘I’m sorry to be the one to say it, but it has to be said-you’re holding out for her when you shouldn’t. You can’t accept that it’s over but you need to. Let me help.’
Tristan turned his head to the side. ‘No,’ he said, sidestepping away. ‘I know it’s over.’
‘So go to bed with me,’ Adele said softly. ‘You may not feel like it now, but you’re a mer Tristan, an incredibly virile one. It’ll make you feel better-and I know it’ll do wonders for my mood.’
Tristan chuckled, his face going red. ‘Adele...you remember me as being this big stud, right?’
Adele rolled her eyes. ‘Not to toot your own horn or anything…’
Tristan laughed. ‘Well it’s true. But the thing is, if I sleep with you now...I’m going to shatter that awesome memory you have of me-because regardless of the way my body responds, my heart will break the moment I kiss someone else and admit defeat. Instead of multiple orgasms, you’ll end up consoling me while I cry my damn eyes out.’ He shook his head. ‘I’m not ready. I’m not even close to being ready-and I won’t be for some time.’
Adele’s eyes widened. ‘It’s that bad?’
Tristan looked away. ‘You think what I went through with the crash was upsetting?’ he asked gently. ‘Well, it was nothing compared to how I felt when you told me she’d slept with him.’ He waited for a minute, but Adele didn’t respond. When he finally looked up, he saw that tears were rolling down her face. Gone was the sultry seductress. A guilt-ridden girl stood in her place, and she was trembling with remorse.
‘Adele?’
‘I’m so sorry!’ She whispered. ‘If I’d believed you were capable of actual love I-’ she shook her head fiercely. ‘Tristan, if I could take it all back-’
Tristan crossed to her and wrapped her in his arms while she sobbed on his chest. ‘I know,’ he said quietly as the woman who’d tried to kill him came to terms with how much of him she had killed. ‘I know.’
⁓
Ardhi had never seen a woman really weep in years, and he was sort of disgusted to see Sherri reduced to such a state over a man she’d known for a few weeks. At first, he’d awkwardly petted her shoulder, but when ten minutes had passed, and all she had done was sob, he’d drawn away, and gotten as comfortable in the small tidal pool as he could to wait it out.
But once another five or so minutes had passed, he abandoned the concept of sensitivity. This was ridiculous. He was starting to see why she’d tried to take her life-the woman was a bit of a basket case.
‘What do you mean, he threatened you?’ He asked, wrapping his arms around himself to ward off the chill. They’d met on Needle Island as he’d arranged with her a few days prior. It was little more than a rocky ledge rising out of nowhere, but he knew it well, and it was almost always deserted. An optimum rendezvous point-if not for the wind that always seemed to whip across it.
‘I mean rejected, and decimated,’ she sniffled. ‘All I did was hug him, and the next thing you know, he’s threatening to get the queen on my case!’ She rubbed the heels of her hands across her eyes. ‘I’m so humiliated.’ She scowled at him. ‘I didn’t sign up for this Ardhi. You promised I’d be happy.’
‘You promised you were good at seduction.’ He retorted. ‘Clearly not.’
‘Clearly a hopeless case-trying to steal a man off the most beautiful girl in the world!’ She returned. ‘If she was sweet too, it’d be a different story. But she’s not sweet, and she can hold a grudge! She’s been eyeballing me since that stunt your friend Lux pulled.’ Sherri paused. ‘Where is that woman anyway? She just took off?’
‘Yes.’ Ardhi said shortly. ‘And I don’t care. She’s a slut, and a backstabber.’
Sherri looked confused. ‘Lincoln mentioned that she picked a fight with Ivyanne-over you. So why are you mad at her?’
‘She was only doing it to try and make up for something she did with someone I hate last year.’ He paused. ‘And when she saw it wasn’t enough, she gave up.’ He shrugged. ‘I don’t need her. If I could have counted on her, I would have asked her to join us.’ He looked at Sherri again. ‘So basically what you’re telling me is that you failed?’
‘Well, I managed to make them fight a lot,’ Sherri amended. ‘But he doesn’t want me.’
‘So you failed.’ Ardhi sighed, stroking the water, reflecting on his time with Ivyanne that day. Thinking of the warmth in her giggles, the way she’d looked on the sand-okay so Lincoln loved her too. Enough. The way Ardhi did-the way that made other women insignificant in comparison-it was commendable, the way he’d turned both Sherri and Lux down.
And infuriating.
‘Are you sending for Adele?’ Sherri asked in a small voice. ‘I still want him, but I understand if you do.’
‘I have.’ He got to his feet, staring at the dark blue of the land in the distance. ‘But it’s not going to work.’
‘So you’re giving up?’ Sherri asked.
‘No.’ Ardhi said. ‘I’m giving her me. And if she doesn’t respond the way I need her to-I’m taking him.’
⁓
‘I’m sorry to be calling so early,’ Ivyanne said softly as she settled into the still evening-chilled sand by the shore and watched pink thread through the mauve horizon. She was wrapped up in Lincoln’s long-sleeved shirt from the night before-it still carried his scent. ‘But Tristan once told me you woke at the crack of dawn to swim before heading into work.’
‘Well he’s right, so don’t worry. Plus I’m really happy to hear from you Ivyanne.’ Sven said down the line on Wednesday morning. ‘Sounds like things are a bit too exciting up there for me-I’m glad I left when I did!’
‘You have no idea.’ Ivyanne turned, scanning the hazy beach for any sign of Lux. But there was none. ‘Are you coming up for my engagement party?’
‘No way. Sorry, but I’ve been flat-out since Tristan-’ She heard him swallow. ‘It was all over the news you know, and it’s made some of our contractors a little jittery. I’m putting out fires, left and right. I’ll be there for the memorial-but I can’t fly in until Sunday morning.’
‘That’s actually why I called,’ Ivyanne said. ‘To offer my services.’
There was a pause. ‘Come again?’
Ivyanne smiled. ‘I’d like to help-LoveSun meant the world to Tristan. I’m not working any more, and I have a bit of free time before the wedding, so I wanted to see if I could help in any way.’
‘You want an office job?’ He sounded incredulous. ‘You’re a princess!’
‘An office job….here.’ She said. ‘It looks like my future is in Seaview, and we have sun year round. I don’t want to be a bored housewife, but I don’t want to be run off my feet either. So I wanted to run the idea by you, of opening a small chapter of LoveSun up my way and maybe establishing it before I take off for a year. I mean, Tristan travelled north a lot on business-why not have a permanent base?’
Silence greeted her.
‘Sven?’ she asked. ‘It’s not such a horrible idea, is it?’
Sven laughed. ‘Actually no, it’s a terrific idea-did Tristan tell you he was looking into doing exactly that before he..um, you know?’
Ivyanne’s brow lifted, shocked once again by Tristan’s preparations for a future with her. The ring, a new office… uprooting his life, for her! She’d teased him for being a whore, fretted that he’d grow tired of monogamy-and yet it appeared that he was more the ‘marrying’ kind than she was!
‘...Yeah the plan was for me to get upgraded to the L.A office, and for him to find someone to move into the Sydney one to replace me. But he hadn’t named anyone before he left, so now it’s my call.’
‘Well I’m sure you can think of someone. And I am happy to invest whatever you need to make this happen.’ She smiled, raking the sand. ‘I owe it to him, to keep part of him alive.’
‘I understand, and I’m glad you thought of it! We’d pro
bably have to put something into motion soon though,’ Sven said. ‘Our shareholders are getting nervous.’
‘Well, decide on a number that will make them relax again, and I’ll get it off mum. I know she’d be more than happy to help. Then, I’ll pay the difference for my own shares.’
‘I actually don’t know what to say. I know Tristan would appreciate it.’
‘I know he would. That’s why I want to help.’ Ivyanne paused. ‘Whatever happened with that big sale Tristan flew off for? The one that he was so excited about?’
‘The Absalom deal?’ Sven sighed. ‘I don’t know. I haven’t heard from Mr Schorer-but I’m assuming they saw the news-Tristan’s face was flashed a lot in the media, you know. They probably got cold feet without him. He was the face of the company after all.’
‘The perfect face.’ Ivyanne’s heart gave a tug. ‘God, I miss him.’
‘Well wherever he is, I know he’s counting on that.’
Ivyanne smiled. ‘Talk to you soon?’
‘Sure thing. And Ivyanne? Congratulations. I know for a fact that Tristan liked Lincoln-he would wish you well too, if he could.’
‘Only because he’s dead,’ Ivyanne joked, thinking of the ring she still hadn’t returned for. ‘He would have throttled me otherwise.’
Sven chuckled. ‘True. See you later?’
‘Bye.’
Ivyanne hung up the phone, pleased with herself for having done something pro-active. The new house, the new potential career-it felt good to focus on matters that didn’t concern her heart.
Thinking quickly, Ivyanne went to the web search on her phone, and typed in Absalom Corp, searching for the contact details. When the link for the international phone number came up, Ivyanne pressed on it, surprised that her phone instantly came up with a prompt to place the call.
Why not? Ivyanne thought. This was Tristan’s big deal-might as well throw out some bait, and see if they’re still biting.
When the line picked up, a series of bips indicated that she’d dialed internationally. She hadn’t even been sure that her phone was set up for that. Obviously, Tristan had been prepared to call her a lot from overseas. That made her smile sadly.