by GL Chapple
Losing friends and seeing terrible injuries had become all too commonplace, but I don’t think anything can ever prepare you for the overwhelming sense of grief and loss of a loved one.
No amount of experience makes it easier to cope with, the crushing feelings of despair, anger and upset are just as intense and suffocating each and every time.
I’d sat in the car, unable to drive or think when my phone had rung. I’d answered and calmly informed Jonathan that I was at the hospital and there had been an accident. I hadn’t wanted to tell him over the phone and had tried to arrange to meet him, but he’d been adamant, yelling and shouting for me to explain.
I’d reluctantly broken the news of our parents’ deaths and he’d been silent for a long while. Just as I was about to ask if he was alright, he spoke up. “But you were there.”
I’d tried to explain that I’d been calling him repeatedly and that he must have numerous missed calls, but he’d not wanted to listen, slamming the phone down on me.
That was the last time we spoke. I’d organised the funeral; he had had no input despite my requests to get him to contact me.
He’d come to it but left before the wake. Apart from Gramps, we had no other family members.
The surprise had been the following month when I’d been contacted by my parents’ solicitor for the reading of their will.
I hadn’t really had any knowledge regarding their financial affairs but they’d clearly been affluent enough money had never been an issue.
Jonathan had joined us at the meeting but hadn’t acknowledged me, looking down at his shoes from the moment he’d entered and fidgeting uncomfortably.
The solicitor was a family friend and smiled sadly at us. I imagined this must be difficult for him too. He stated that he needed to read a letter. Holding it out before him, he began:
“To our darling boys, Jonathan and Nate,
This is the letter that no parent ever wants to write. If you are reading this, it means that we have been taken from your lives. As parents, the thought of leaving your child, no matter how old or successful they are, is a terrifying and heartbreaking one. We want you to know that we love you both very much. You have both made us tremendously proud of you in your own ways. There are individual letters enclosed that James will give to you. We’re sure that the terms which are about to be read to you will cause anger, resentment and upset. For that we are genuinely sorry and we beg you to please read the letters that have been addressed to you and to listen to and hear what we ask. This is not meant as a punishment or as a way to cause any further upset. We love you both very much…”
James shifted in his seat and coughed, his unease apparent.
“There is a combined wealth, including all life assurances, stocks and bonds, of around 1.6million. This does not include the property owned by the Masters family, which may be put up for sale, if so desired.”
Jonathan’s head snapped up on hearing the amount and I felt my mouth gape open in shock. I’d known my parents had money but I’d never imagined it would be anything near that amount.
James looked at us both before continuing, “The sum of our estate is to be placed into investment trusts, as has been discussed with James. In order that time is given for certain requests to be fulfilled, the funds are to be held back for a period of two years from our deaths in order that certain arrangements can be put in place, this will be reviewed periodically.” James saw my confusion just as I caught the look of disgust wash over Jonathan’s face. Before I could react, James began to explain. “Your parents came to see me six months ago to make amendments to their existing documentation. They had been the victims of some fraudulent activity on their accounts and wanted additional security measures put in place. At the same time they discussed making plans for the division of their estate.” He seemed to be focusing on me, as if he didn’t want to look at Jonathan.
Out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of my brother scowling at James and couldn’t understand why.
“The funds which will be held in trust,” he said directly to me, “but I am authorised to give you both £100,000 each, which will be made available for you today, there are some stipulations though…”
Jonathan pushed his chair back roughly, making it scrape loudly across the floor. “But the rest…Nate gets the fucking lot; am I right?” He snarled aggressively.
“No, not necessarily…” James leaned forward as if to continue explaining, but Jonathan exploded.
“This is a fucking joke! Golden boy does it again. Why the fuck am I surprised!” He turned to me, his face a mask of hatred and his voice dripping with spite.
In his fury leaping up, he’d knocked over the chair. He shot me daggers and stormed from the room, slamming the door loudly behind him.
I was stunned, looking back from the door to meet James’s resigned face.
“That went as I thought it would,” he muttered.
“Surely they’ve not left the whole lot to me?” I asked stunned and he sighed wearily.
“Jonathan was the one taking the money ,Nate.”
I recoiled back as if he’d struck me. “What?”
I knew Jonathan wasn’t my biggest fan and had done some shitty things, but to be stealing from his own parents? That was a low move even for him.
“They found out and confronted him about it. This reaction...” he waved his arm at the knocked-over chair. “He knew this was coming; they had spoken to him. That’s why they came in and changed the terms. At the end of the two year period, or if he doesn’t complete the requirements set, or has any further issues with substance abuse or illegal activities, the vast majority of the money will go to you. Jonathan is required to receive treatment for his use of cocaine and make amends with you and your grandfather, or at least make an effort to redeem himself. They have made provisions for him. He won’t be left without anything, but he has to be willing to help himself too. They didn’t want to put you in an awkward position Nate, but they were adamant they wouldn’t leave him the funds to send himself to an early grave after them. As I said, Jonathan was aware this was coming. That was just posturing. Here is your letter from your parents. I’ll make sure Jonathan gets his.”
He reached out and handed me a hand-written letter from my parents. I clutched it tightly in my hands and apologised on behalf of my brother. Righting the chair as I stood, I walked out of the room, my thoughts swirling in confusion.
I hadn’t thought about the money in a while; there was no real need to. I’d used the money that my parents had left to redecorate my parents’ home and continued to live there.
My extravagance had been buying myself a new car. I worked, so I had a salary to cover day to day living expenses.
I’d not heard from Jonathan since that day in the solicitor’s office. I wondered about his motivation for reaching out now. Unless I saw him I’d never know. Surely I needed to give him the chance to redeem himself and build a relationship if that’s what he wanted, even if his motivation was the money.
I dropped Marcus off and headed home. I knew how he felt, but thinking back to losing my parents and the money had made me realise that I could never accept that money if I hadn’t at least given him the opportunity to make amends.
I couldn’t throw it back in his face, even if he was only doing it to get his hands on the money; that was up to his conscience to deal with; I couldn’t take what I felt was his share as well.
Before I could think about it any further, I picked up my phone and sent a quick message to Clarissa, it was her number that had been included on the invitation to respond to.
“Thank you for the invite. I’ll be attending and bringing a guest. Nate”
I checked the time and decided to send a text rather than call, just in case Lena had caught an early night, “Hey princess, hope your day went well. Just confirmed we’ll attend the wedding x”
She responded almost instantly, making me smile “Yeay! How was Gramps? Hopefully I’ll see him ther
e? Alex dropped me in it…My father is keen to meet the man flinging me about!”
I typed quickly back “So, let’s all go out for a meal?” and immediately cringed.
Her response was exactly what I’d just realised it would be, “My father’s not really eating much at the moment.” Before I could tap out a reply another message came through.
“Family evening at my parents this Friday if you can make it though?”
I quickly checked my shifts in my head. I was working early so I’d be finished in plenty of time.
I sent back a thumbs up and she responded, “Pick me up from work at 6 xxx”
Friday, another three days and I’d be able to speak to her father and find out what the hell was going on.
Lena
I spoke to Byron and asked him to ensure that he kept me up-to-date on all developments. When I told him that I wanted to see the letters, he’d looked unsure but agreed, advising me that he would need to retrieve them from my father. I was surprised when he admitted that he’d not seen them.
I told him not to bother. I’d assumed that Byron was holding onto them, but if they were in my father’s possession, I could pick them up off him on Friday. I wasn’t in a huge rush to get my hands on them.
I asked Byron about Graham and he confirmed that he had “monitored” me occasionally. I tried to press him for more details but he asked that I speak to my father and politely refrained from divulging anything else.
I racked my brain trying to think of anyone that could be upset with me or want to send such hateful messages. My suspicion was that it was some oddball who probably sent loads of these messages out, hoping for some sort of reaction or infamy.
I knew my father had been worried but I thought that he might have overreacted. The letters had arrived around the same time that Richard had sent his disgusting photos through and my father shouldn’t have tried to deal with it all himself.
I wasn’t overly concerned or worried and I certainly didn’t want this Graham guy following me about like a goddamn stalker.
I was going to take a look at these letters, put my fathers mind at ease and have Graham informed that his services were no longer required.
I kept in touch with Nate through text messages and the occasional call. I was looking forward to his brother’s wedding. I knew things were tense between them but I hoped, selfishly perhaps, that meeting his Grandfather and brother would give me even more of an insight into him. He obviously loved his Gramps very much, so family must be important to him.
I couldn’t imagine what could cause such bad feeling between him and his brother. He seemed so easy-going and genuinely nice that it was hard to imagine him being so angry with someone that they’d stopped speaking.
I knew that his parents had died only a year or so ago and I couldn’t imagine how awful that must have been for him.
The thought of my father being ill now was tearing me apart. To lose both my parents in a split second must have been truly horrendous, especially as it seemed that he’d not had the support of his brother. I wondered if the death of their parents might have had something to do with their falling-out.
Maddie had told me that Kelly and Marcus had known Nate most of his life and that he was a great guy, but Kelly had been reluctant to give away much on him. I’m sure that Maddie had been doing her best to pry but had only gleaned superficial information, much to her annoyance.
I’d laughed and told her to stop being so damn nosey. She had said though, that when she’d mentioned to Kelly about Nate’s brother’s wedding, Kelly had been really taken aback.
She told Maddie that she was surprised that Nate was bothering to go and that his brother was an arsehole. I’d need to speak to Nate before the wedding and find out what the story was.
I walked into the gym for my Krav Maga session with Paul and saw that he was sitting over on the benches, waiting for me. I waved at him and walked over.
“Am I gonna get my arse kicked today?” He joked.
“It was a close call there for a while. I was mad as hell.”
He laughed, his shoulders relaxing and he gave me a warm, genuine smile. “Yeah I could see that. You caught him well a few times.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “He always was a stubborn, crazy bastard….So, you and him?” He asked affectionately.
I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s not been long. He… I dunno Paul, he’s different somehow.” I trailed off, unable to put it into words but he nodded at me as if he understood.
“He’s a good guy Lena. Well, as long as you’re ok… Did you sort your shit out?”
I grimaced and briefly ran through the reasons why I’d broken down. Outwardly he didn’t appear to register any reaction, but I could see that there was tension in his jaw that hadn’t been there before. He fixed his eyes on me. Gone was the warmth I was so used to; they had turned hard as flint.
“You told Nate all this?” I nodded. “What’s he gonna do about it?”
I looked at him, puzzled. “Do? Nate’s not going to do anything, I just needed him to understand and listen. I don’t need action from him,” I said in confusion and Paul laughed. It was harsh and humourless.
“You do know Nate, right?”
I frowned. “Why would Nate get involved? This isn’t anything to do with him and it’s under control. He said he’d speak to my father, I assumed that he would advise him from a policing perspective of his options… He’s got no reason to get involved in this.”
Paul looked at me disbelievingly. “Lena, the guy got into the ring with you and let you hit him. Yes, he’s trained too, but he knew you were upset and weren’t going to hold back. He obviously cares for you to have gone to the effort to come down here and persuade me to let him in there with you. There aren’t many guys that would have the nerve to come and ask me for a favour like that, whether they knew me or not. The Nate that I knew would never stand back and watch this play out. I can tell you categorically - he’s gonna be all over this.” He spoke with certainty and I felt nauseated.
Maybe I’d underestimated the impact this would have on him, hell I hadn’t even considered it in all honesty.
“But what can he do? I don’t know who’s sending the letters and Richard has been dealt with.”
Paul clenched his hands together, his expression menacing. “If it was my daughter or someone I cared about, Richard would be paying by my hands.”
“You think he’ll hurt Richard?” I asked, my voice high-pitched and eyes wide, the sick feeling increasing. As much as I wanted Richard to pay I didn’t want it to affect Nate or his job.
“I don’t want him to get into any trouble over this, over me.”
Paul patted my leg. “Just talk to him about it, Lena.” He changed subject slightly, distracting me from my thoughts of Nate. “So, you have no idea who’s writing those letters? You think it could just be some nut job?”
I shrugged despondently. “I have no idea. I’ve tried to think, but nobody springs to mind, certainly nobody who would go to these lengths. I’d have thought the crazies would have bigger and better targets to go after but you never know, I guess. Maybe I’m an easy target? I’m going to get the letters from my father tomorrow and see exactly what they say. Hopefully that will shed some light on who could be behind it. I’ve no idea where to go from there otherwise.”
“Good plan,” he agreed “Well, I’m here if you need me. Now, c’mon, let’s see what you’ve got.” He pulled me back up and led me over to the mats to start our session.
I spent the day watching the clock, I needed to speak to Nate and make sure he understood that I didn’t want him getting involved in this.
I’d spoken to my father on the phone the previous evening to insist that he have the letters at hand for me to view when we visited.
He’d been reluctant initially, worrying that they would upset me, but I’d pointed out that they were addressed to me and if he wanted me to think who could be sending them I’d need to see the type of thing t
hat they contained.
My father had been shocked when I told him that Nate knew about the letters and Richard, especially since I was normally so protective of my privacy. I was adamant though, that I didn’t want any more secrets, they were more poisonous and hurtful than the truth even if it was something I didn’t want to hear.
Byron brought Nate up to my office at exactly 6pm. Anna had left for the day already; most people tended to leave early on a Friday as long as we weren’t busy.
I’d changed from my business attire into a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. I left my hair tied back in a chignon and hadn’t bothered with make-up, just smudging some balm onto my lips.
Nate grinned when he saw me, he brushed straight past Byron, ignoring his presence completely and pulled me in for a long lingering kiss.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Sounds ominous” A slight smile played on his lips as he picked up my bag and caught hold of my hand, tugging me lightly out of the door after him.
I didn’t bother responding until we’d got to his car. He turned the radio on and I reached over and turned it off.
“Sorry sweetheart, you were saying? What do you want to talk about?” I tried to think how to phrase it but decided to just come straight out with it.
“What are you going to do about Richard and the letters?”
He kept his eyes on the road but his voice sounded amused.
“What am I going to do?” he repeated, and I felt self-conscious.
Maybe Paul had got it wrong. “Paul seemed to think you’d want to interfere.” My voice drifted off as he turned to look at me.
“Interfere?” he repeated thoughtfully, though his voice had a bit more bite to it, turning back to the road.
“By that, do you mean he thought I’d hunt Richard down and fuck him up...that I’d make it my mission to find the fucked-up arsehole sending you shit and make them pay?” His voice had a hard edge to it.
I reached out and touched his arm as he drove. “Nate, please, I don’t want you dragged into this,” I implored him but he turned to me and replied, “Too late Princess” he reached across and pulled my hand to his mouth gently kissed it.