Darkest Fears Trilogy: Fallen For Him / Freed By Him / Forever With Him

by Clair Delaney

  He takes a deep breath in relief, I think, then smiles, leans down and kisses my temple.Man he smells good, and he’s dressed smartly too, suit trousers and a shirt, he looks so sexy – I guess that’s for the Detective?

  I quickly push that thought away – I don’t want to think too much about that.

  “Who’s this?” He asks as he takes a seat next to me. Enya is now singing On Your Shore – It’s a very moving, soulful tune.

  “You don’t know?” I say, surprised.

  “No…should I?” He laughs.

  “Ok, if I said Caribbean Blue’ – “Like your eyes,” he interrupts.

  I swallow hard and chuckle nervously. “Or Book of Days?” I ask.

  “Ah, I remember that one coming out,” he says. “This is Enya?”

  “Yes.” I giggle and carry on with my breakfast.

  “Breakfast dear?” Edith asks Tristan.

  “Please…” Tristan says looking down at my plate. “Is that marmite soldiers?” He asks, grinning widely, I nod as I’m busy eating.

  “Would you like the same dear?” Edith asks, tittering to herself.

  “Yes, I would thank you.” Tristan says, his cheeks flaming. “I called Dr Green, she wants to see you at ten thirty,” he adds. God damn it!

  I decide not to let it spoil my good mood.“Ok.” I feel very happy today. Relaxed and content, I guess that’s because I’m in love. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?” I ask.

  His cup of tea stops at his lips, and I hear Edith make a strange squeaky sound.“I’m betting I love you more,” he says taking a sip.

  “I very much doubt that,” I banter, eating more soldiers.

  Edith places Tristan’s breakfast in front of him just as I’m finished. I decide I want a bath. Sliding off the breakfast stool, I pick up my mobile.

  “Where are you going?” Tristan asks, stopping me by placing his hand on my arm.

  “Upstairs to take a bath,” I say, entwining my fingers with his.

  “Don’t go,” he pleads, his eyes wide and round.

  “You want me to stay while you have breakfast?” I ask. He nods, smiling shyly at me. I simply cannot resist him, besides we have plenty of time.

  “Ok.” I kiss his cheek and sit back up on the breakfast stool.

  Tristan may have asked me to stay, and he hasn’t let go of my hand, but he seems very quiet and distant again. So I decide to go through my mobile. I haven’t looked at it since what happened with Susannah. I smile widely as I see I have several text messages from Rob.

  The first one is asking me about dancing. Rob wants us to go out and shake some moves when I’m better. Haven’t done that in a while, and I think with everything they have gone through, and Tristan and I, we all deserve it!

  I instantly picture Tristan and I dancing in a dark, nightclub; getting all hot and sweaty as our bodies grind against one another – Ok stop!

  I blow out a deep breath. I can't think about that because it’s just making me want to strip him and shag him senseless – So, to try and take my mind of those thoughts, I text Rob back letting him know how much of a sexy dancer Tristan is, and that we’re in, as soon as I’m better we’ll go dancing!

  I can’t help smiling, I’m really looking forward to that. Then I open the second text. Rob is asking me about the house, and how I want it decorated for the wedding? I roll my eyes and text him back. Letting him know that we’ll discuss that when he gets here – I think he’s stressing! Which makes me feel bad. I don’t want him to be stressed, not with everything he and Carlos have been through.

  I will make it my mission to reassure him that is doesn’t have to be a perfect day, that even if things go wrong, it won’t matter – Marrying Tristan is my only concern, as long as the right person turns up to do that, I’ll be happy!

  Then I open the third text, and my heart sinks. Rob wants us to spend some time alone, just the two of us – he wants to catch up, like old times. I can't help worrying. I hope he and Carlos really are ok, and he wasn’t just saying that. I text back, letting him know he just has to say when – It’s not like I have a job anymore!

  I suddenly feel really glum. I’m really going to have to give it some serious thinking, I can't hang around not doing anything; it’s going to drive me crazy.

  “Secret admirer?” Tristan says. I look up, he’s grinning widely at me.

  “Yes,” I tease.

  His face falls. “Who?”

  “Joking Tristan, there never will be anyone else for me,” I say.

  “Me neither…so?” He prompts.

  “Rob,” I giggle.

  Tristan rolls his eyes. “You’re seeing him this lunchtime?”

  I shrug. “I know, he just…”

  “He just what?” he asks.

  “Are you jealous?” I ask.

  “No. But I am worried,” he retorts.

  “Worried?” I half-laugh.

  He turns and glares at me. “Is he a bad influence on you?”

  “No.” I answer, my voice low.

  “Well, he let you get really drunk that night you were out’ – “Stop right there.” I interrupt. “I am a grown woman Tristan, and if I want to get drunk, I’ll get drunk. Besides, Rob would never let anything happen to me, he and Carlos are very protective of me.”

  “Ok.” He submits mulishly, returning to his breakfast. I try to work out why Tristan is acting like this. It’s not like Rob and I would hit the town, get pissed and party till four in the morning, not with the state I’m in. I frown down at my mobile and ponder a little more…

  Shit! No way!...I think I’ve worked it out.

  “Tristan. Rob is my very best friend and he was the one I would always confide in. You know it’s you now, don’t you?”

  Tristan turns and smiles at me, I can see the relief behind his eyes. “I do now.”

  “He’s still my friend though, I know he’s a guy, but try and think of him as a girl…you know, he’s my girlfriend, I can talk to him about…well, girly stuff.”

  “Like what?” He asks, bemused.

  “Periods, hairstyles, clothing, hormones…shall I go on?”

  Tristan sniggers and shakes his head. “No, I get it.” He grins.

  “Good, so long as you know that,” I say. “Because I will spend time with him, I’m not going to dump my friend because I now have a boyfriend…well fiancé…husband to be...” I splutter. “I hate people like that,” I add, staring down at my hands.

  “Me too,” he says.I suddenly feel really sorry for Tristan; he has no friends of his own.“Hey,” he says lifting my chin. “Don’t feel sorry for me.” How does he do that?

  “Well I do,” I retort.

  “Well you shouldn’t,” he says. “I have everything I have ever wanted in the palm of my hands.”

  I swallow hard – He says the sweetest things. “Me too Tristan.”

  “Good, now let’s get you in that bath.”

  “Tristan,” I chuckle. “I don’t think I need help’ – “Coral, what if you accidentally slipped?” He asks. His serious face is back, he’s not to be argued with. I want to roll my eyes at him and laugh, but I don’t think he’s in the mood for that, besides, he has a point.

  “You’re right,” I say and head over to unplug my player…

  I LEAN MY HEAD BACK AND CLOSE MY EYES. Then I sink further down into the bath. Hmm, I’m surrounded by bubbles, and Enya’s music – Perfect!

  Tristan is in the bedroom, looking through the video footage on my laptop from the CCTV. He said he would make a copy of what’s recorded so we can give it to the Detective. I feel my stomach flutter nervously, making me feel nauseous – Don’t think about that Coral!

  I take a deep breath and slowly blow it out, trying my best to keep myself calm….

  “READY?” TRISTAN ASKS AS HE HELPS me into my long sleeved jumper. I shake my head, I feel sick. I don’t want to see the detective. I don’t want to talk about what happened anymore. I just want to forget it all and move on
.

  “We have to do this, you know that right?” He says.

  “But if we’re dropping the charges…?” I whisper.

  “I don’t think we should do that,” he says.

  “Why not?” I frown.

  “You know why,” he says. “Besides, seeing Susannah wrecking your studio and attacking Bob…” He growls, his jaw clenching several times.

  He’s right. – Why do I want to save her? Because part of me doesn’t. She should be punished for what she did, to Tristan, to Bob and to me – God I’m so confused!

  “Coral.” Tristan tilts my chin round to look at him. “You can change your mind baby, you know that, right?”I nod and try to fight against the stupid lump in my throat. I’m getting really pissed off with this feeling tearful crap!

  This is not me, I am strong, not weak; and I have never been like this before…I just don’t understand?

  “Hey,” he says gently wrapping his arm around me. “You’re ok now baby, you’re safe.”

  “I know,” I tremble.

  “Then why are you so afraid?” He softly asks.

  “I just…” I sniff loudly. “I’m just feeling so emotionally raw at the moment Tristan, and it’s really annoying. I don’t like feeling like this, I…I’ve never been this tearful before, it’s like…I don’t know, I’ve been through much worse and I didn’t cry then,” I say, sighing heavily.

  “Worse than getting shot?” He asks incredulously.

  Ok, he has a point!

  “No…I guess not,” I sniff. Tristan lets me go, stands, picks up the box of tissues and hands them to me.“Thanks,” I whimper and blow my nose. “I’m worried Tristan.”

  “About what?” He softy asks.

  “That you’ll…well…get fed up of me…” I stop and shake my head at myself. “I just don’t want you to think I’m like this all the time, because I’m not!” I say, feeling angry.

  “Hey.” He smiles. “I know that Coral, so please baby don’t worry, it’s wasted energy.”

  “Ok,” I mumble.

  “We better get down there,” he says holding his hand out to me.

  Reluctantly, I place my hand in his and get to my feet. I turn to walk towards the bedroom door, but Tristan stops me by gently tugging on my hand.

  “What?” I whisper.

  Without a word, he pulls me into him and starts slowly dancingus around the bedroom, humming Some Enchanted Evening to me. My mind floods with all the memories I have of us so far, especially the first night he hummed me to sleep with that tune.

  “I want to tell you something,” he whispers, pulling me from my revere.

  “Ok.” I smile up at him.

  “When I first met you, apart from thinking you were the most attractive woman I have ever met, I…well, I didn’t quite know where to look. Your beautiful eyes had captured me, the colour, the shape. I swear to god I knew then I could stare at your face all day, but then I found myself drawn to your very sexy lips. I had to stop myself from leaning down and kissing them, they looked so…so’ – “Kissable?” I interrupt.

  Tristan chuckles. “How did you know?”

  “Because it’s how I feel about your lips,” I say, feeling shy again.

  “Is it now,” he teases gently twirling me around.

  “Yes,” I giggle.

  “And when I followed you up to the boardroom, I couldn’t help looking at that fine figure of yours…” He laughs a little nervously, his cheeks flushing.

  “And you were wondering what I would look like naked?” I ask, feeling brave.

  He smiles wryly at me, then shrugs. “Well I am a man!” He chuckles.

  “Well you weren’t the only one thinking that,” I say.

  His mouth pops open. “Really?” I smile and nod shyly at him. “Well, well, Miss Stevens, surprising me again!”

  I giggle then rest my head against Tristan’s chest, and we continue to dance around the bedroom. “Feeling better?” Tristan asks as he carefully twirls me around once more.

  “Yes,” I say smiling up at him, because it’s true.

  “Good.” He smiles, then leans down and kisses me. “Arms up,” he softly says.

  I know it’s making him feel like he has a purpose, that he’s looking after me. So I place my hands around his neck, he lifts me into his arms and we head out the bedroom…

  DETECTIVE MARSH IS A WOMAN. She’s tall, maybe five feet seven, slim, well looks very fit actually; has strawberry blonde hair that’s tied back into a neat ponytail, and has very little make-up on, but is strikingly pretty. She’s got to be in her late thirties, or early forties, I’m not sure. She’s dressed in black fitted trousers, black boots, and a short sleeved cream shirt, she looks smart, intelligent and has an air about her that says ‘don’t fuck with me’ – I like her.

  “I thought you said the Detective was a man?” I whisper to Tristan as we walk over to her.

  “It was?” He says, gripping my hand.

  “Good morning Miss Stevens. Mr Freeman.” She nods to us both, then smiles at me.

  “Detective,” Tristan nods to her.

  “Hi.” I manage to squeak out. I’m so nervous!

  “I’m Detective Annie Marsh.” I feel all the blood drain out of my face. Annie – That was my mother’s name.

  “Are you alright?” She asks me. I nod and frown back at her. She reaches out and shakes Tristan’s hand. “Mr Freeman. Detective Ward has unfortunately been put on sick leave, I’ll be heading the investigation from now on. ” She says very formally.

  “Please, take a seat.” Tristan says.

  We all sit round the kitchen table. Edith comes over and asks if we would like drinks. Tristan and Detective Marsh ask for coffee, I don’t have anything, I don’t think I can stomach it. Tristan takes hold of my hand and gives it a gentle, supportive squeeze.

  “Coral, I can tell you’re nervous. So we’re going to get through this as quickly as possible so you can get back to recovering, peacefully.” She smiles.Good, feeling better!

  “Ok.” I breathe.

  “Detective I have the recordings.” Tristan says handing over a small USB drive.

  “Thank you Mr Freeman.” She takes the drive and places it in her black briefcase. “I have something for you Coral,” she says and produces a brown A4 Envelope. She slides it across the table to me.I open it up and hesitantly look inside. I can see my family photo, the A4 photo of Tristan and I, plus the key to my studio that Susannah copied.

  “Thank you,” I whisper, sealing the envelope. If I really look at the photo of my old family, I know it will make me cry.

  “Mr Freeman, you should know our investigation has thrown some interesting light on the events leading up to Miss Johnsons attack.”

  “Oh?” Tristan’s head cocks to the side. “How so?”Detective Marsh’s eyes flit from Tristan’s to mine, then back to his again, she looks a little uncomfortable. “Detective, whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of Coral. She’s my fiancé, we’ll be getting married shortly, we have no secrets between us.” He clarifies.

  Detective Marshnods once, takes out a pen and pad, then some paperwork and flicks through it until she finds what she’s looking for.“Because of the nature of the attack, and the fact that it all stems from…” She flicks more notes. “Ah yes, from the fact that Ms Johnson has being diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, we had to find out if this was, well a one off.” She takes a sip of coffee, then continues.

  “With your approval of course, we interviewed several members of your staff. It seems they all had taken a disliking to her, that she has upset them in one way or another, but unfortunately they knew you….liked her,” she says, looking uncomfortable again.

  Tristan shifts in his chair.

  “And from the P.I report you handed to us, we also took the liberty of interviewing your ex partner; Mrs Olivia Logan.”

  “Oh?” Tristan’s face falls, the colour draining from his cheeks.

  “Yes, it seems…
well I should ask really. Is it true that you were given information regarding Mrs Logan fidelity that led to the demise of your relationship?”

  “Yes.” His tone is flat, uninterested, but above all polite.

  “This information was given to you by Ms Johnson?” she clarifies.

  “Yes.” Tristan states.

  “And I take it you were not aware, suspicious even of any wrong doing on Ms Johnson’s part?”

  “Of course not,” he scoffs. “She wouldn’t have still being working for me had I known that,” he answers dryly.

  Detective Marsh’s eyebrows shoot up. “Mrs Logan also gave us some of your other ex-partners names, so we could interview them too.”

  “Who?” Tristan questions, his brow furrowing, his hand tightening around mine.

  “Cathy Holmes. Rebecca Braithwaite, and Sarah Clarence.” Detective Marsh takes another sip of coffee.“Mr Freeman, I’m sorry to have to tell you this, and I have to say, I made it very clear to each of these women that you and Miss Stevens could actually sue them all, and that each of them could be held for criminal neglect’ – “I’m sorry Detective, but why would we want to sue them?” He interrupts.

  “Each of them admitted to being harassed by Ms Johnson, in-fact Rebecca was attacked by Ms Johnson only days before she stopped dating you.”Holy crap!

  “What?” Tristan bellows launching to his feet. He’s radiating anger and tension.

  “Tristan.” I look up at him with my empty hand.He takes a deep breath, places his hand back in mine and slowly sinks back into the chair.

  “I don’t believe this,” he hisses staring down at the table, then he looks up at the Detective. “I apologise,” he says. “Please…continue.” His jaw clenches several times as he stares back at her.

  Detective Marsh shifts in her chair, and I notice for one tiny tenth of a second, her eyes linger on his chest. She shifts again, clears her throat and continues. “I take it you weren’t aware?” She asks.

  “No.” Tristan glares at her, his eyes going dark. I squeeze his hand trying to calm him.

  “Am I correct that you dated each of these women?” She questions.

  “Yes.” Another one worded answer. She frowns back at him, trying to work something out.