by Jo Briggs
"Yes, she is fine enough. She is sleeping. There is nothing to worry about" Charlie tried to soothe her nerves.
There was silence for a few moments. "Ok, I will see you at the hospital. Give my love to her." With that, she ended the call, and looked blankly out of the car window.
A short time later, Elle settled in her first-class seat. She had a little over seven hours to try not to think about how her sister was faring. Elle chastised herself inwardly, Charlie is her husband, and he will not let anything happen to her. It’s a bone break, not life or death.
The close brush with death, Elle and her son experienced, when she had been living in New York, still haunted her. She browsed through the movie choices hoping something would make her sleepy enough to rest through the majority of the flight.
As one of the first people off the plane, Elle was glad when she could claim her Louis Vuitton cases with relative ease, and headed through the long corridor to the main arrivals' lounge. She slowly weaved her way through the mass of people waiting for other people to disembark. Her eyes skimmed through the outskirts of the crowd, looking for a man, wearing a chauffeur's hat, with a card bearing her name on it.
A man stepped forward whom looked vaguely familiar to her. "Miss Benedict, it’s a pleasure to see you again."
Her eyes focused on the man's face for a second. "Edward, is that you?" Edward had been William Dexter's chauffeur, when she and William had been together.
"Yes, Miss Benedict. Mr. Dexter directed me to come pick you up, as Mr. Bingham' driver was otherwise engaged," he explained. Elle stood frozen to the spot, contemplating why William would be gracious enough to send his chauffeur to pick her up, when she was sure he hated her. Moreover, how did he even know she was flying in at this particular moment? Random thoughts were flashing through her mind, until she felt someone grab the luggage handle from her hand, bringing her back to reality. "I am to take you directly to the hospital, as arranged, to see your sister. Mr. Dexter is already there with Mr. Bingham."
Elle was too shocked to do anything, but simply nod, and follow him to the car.
The drive, from the airport to the small, exclusive hospital, was over remarkably quickly. Jess had stayed at the same private hospital when having Ruby. Edward quickly parked, and exited the car to pull her luggage from the boot of the car. Walking around the back of the car, he handed it to her, and offered her a friendly smile, "I hope your sister recovers quickly. They are in room 8."
"Thank you, Edward." Her heels tapped on the pavement, and the wheels of her case echoing slightly behind her as she turned towards the entrance. She spoke briefly to the receptionist for directions to room eight, before she took a deep breath, and started making her way down an immaculately clean corridor, with well-dressed visitors and staff alike. Stopping in her tracks just a few feet away from the partially open door, Elle could hear a rumbling laugh coming from inside the room. The laugh sent a tingling sensation down her spine, as she knew it was his laugh.
The owner of the thrilling laugh now stood in front of her, the same dark-haired William Dexter that she remembered so well, who took her breath away every time he spoke her name. He would be about 32. Even as tall as she was, he was still taller than she was in her Louboutin shoes, which added 3 or 4 inches to her 5ft 11 frame.
William’s back was towards her as she came through the doorway, he was looked out of the window on one side of Jess' bed while chatting to Charlie. He wore a well-cut pair of charcoal slacks, a hint of white collar beneath a light grey, twill combat jacket, probably a Ralph Lauren, noted Elle's well-trained eye. Elle consciously smoothed her clammy hands over her halter neck electric blue dress that fell to just mid-thigh, as she took a step into the room. Noticing Charlie change the direction of his gaze, William turned around to fully to face her, now aware of her presence in the room.
He looked directly at her, an awkward smile in greeting, as his eyes slid over her curvaceous body. William did not say anything at first, just drinking in the dress that covered her slightly tanned skin. The dress gathered at the bust, enhancing to greatest effect her firm bosom that he knew laid beneath it, the diamanté detailed waist feature nipped in her slim waist before the skirt of the dress cascaded down to her shapely thighs. This inspection lasted, but a couple of seconds before he engaged her gaze calmly, not showing her any emotion or sign as to what he might be feeling at seeing her. Inside he was trembling, to be in the same room with her after all this time; in his opinion, she was more stunning now than she had been before.
Taking a deep breath, she managed a small smile back, and said, "Hi Will, thank you for sending your car to pick me up." She avoided his piercing eyes, gazing at her, as much as possible, as she tried not to think about how gorgeous he still looked. He took a step forward, to take the luggage handle of her case from her. "Don't concern yourself, it was the least I could do under the circumstances." At first, she resisted him taking the case from her, but as she heard him sigh in slight frustration; she thought she had better let him help her with it. He simply placed the case beside where his own bag was.
She could not help, but feel mortified by her treatment of William the last time they were in each other's company when she countered his every effort of polite civility with cold contempt. Ever since, she had been haunted by flashbacks of his staring eyes, locking with hers repeatedly throughout the evening, full of unspoken questions, but she had been too prideful to offer him any answers. The bright glow of affection that once burned within those eyes was replaced by dark emptiness.
She stepped over to Charlie, greeting him with a kiss on the cheek. Trying to sound as natural as possible, she asked, "How are things? What has the doctor said?"
"The doctor wants to keep her in for at least a couple of days, to make sure the wound caused by the bone breaking through the skin doesn't pick up an infection." Both looked at the sleeping Jess. "They think she will sleep through the rest of the night due to the sedation."
Elle nodded, taking in the information, her eyes unable to resist darting over to William.
His eyes had undoubtedly been staring at her, but as he caught her glancing over, he looked away, a definite stain on his cheeks as his face showed a slightly embarrassed expression. "I am just going to get a drink, and make a quick phone call, does either of you want anything?" William began, after a few moments of silence in the room.
Both Charlie and Elle declined, and William almost sprinted from the room, as if he could not get far away from them fast enough, stopping only to close the door behind him.
Making sure he was gone, she turned to her brother in law and questioned in puzzlement, "Charlie, why is he here?"
Charlie smiled. "Will helped me get her a bed here urgently; he is close friends with the orthopaedic surgeon who operated on Jess. He is the best in the country. The doctors in Canada were concerned the leg would not heal properly due to the brittleness of her bones. This surgeon is experienced with dealing with such a problem. If it weren’t for Will's help, I would not know what I would have done, as there is a high demand for this doctor's time.”
Elle sat down on the couch pushed against the wall, overwhelmed with the reality that to give Jess the best chance of a full recovery, William had gone out of his way to help. She knew he must have done it simply out of his deep camaraderie for Charlie, rather than anything to do with her. She felt a sudden sadness that William would probably never do anything because of her again, especially once he found out about Christian. She just hoped he would not explode too much, and start seeking legal custody through the courts.
Charlie began again. "I know you were expected to stay with us until your house was completed, but I will now be sleeping here, so Will has offered to have you stay with him until Jess comes out of hospital, rather than be bored in our large old house alone."
Elle raised her eyebrows in surprise. Her heart raced at the idea of going home with him. It did make sense for her to stay there, rather than burdening an already
occupied Charlie with entertaining her, but her mind was awhirl with trying to make sense of why William would want her back in his house, after she had been so rude to him. Could she allow herself to dream that he had aided Charlie with getting Jess into the hospital, so he then had the excuse to offer to have Elle stay with him?
At this moment, William re-entered the room, He knew from the looks on their faces that they had been talking about him, and he shifted his unreadable eyes over her face. She offered him a reassuring smile, her mind still burning with the anticipation of spending time with him alone. "I understand from Charlie that you have offered to put me up while Jess is in the hospital. If you are sure I won't be putting you out, I will gladly accept."
He nodded. His posture stiffened slightly, as if he could sense her unease, but his voice was soft and reassuring. "You won't be putting me out."
Charlie watched the interaction between them with amusement, aware of the undeniable sparks flying between them. He had seen it all before. Here, we go again, he thought.
They had chatted about trivial things for the next hour, before Elle stifled a yawn, and William took his cue, "Shall we go?" He asked.
"If you wish," She answered, trying her best to stay calm.
Collecting his briefcase, and her case, they said their farewells to Charlie, who reassured Elle he would call her in the morning with an update.
William walked ahead of her out of the room, pulling the case's wheels along the floor. She gave Charlie a backward glance, as he offered her thumbs-up sign. Rolling her eyes, she took a deep breath, and followed. William walked taking long strides at first, but he slowed down, once he became aware she was trailing behind him. Her feet were adorned in open toed heels that made her walk slightly slower than him, even with her long legs. The same long legs he remembered caressing countless times, and waking to find his own limbs entangled with of a morning. William shook the thought away. Control yourself, that is in the past.
Both silently decided that they would make a determined effort to be polite, and friendly, while keeping a reasonable emotional distance, until they could be on the neutral ground of being in Jess and Charlie' company in the days to come.
It could not be that hard, could it?
Memories
William clicked the central locking key remote, so she could settle herself in the passenger side of his dark black sports car as he placed her luggage in the boot. She managed a secret smile to herself, yet again, the similarity of their materialistic tastes showed through; just before she had gone to New York, she had bought herself a smaller model cabriolet, with the same colour, leather seats, and console decor. It would be delivered to her new home in the coming week.
After buckling himself into the seat, and starting the gently purring engine, he finally spoke. "I know this is going to be awkward, but I thought you might be more comfortable staying with me in Derbyshire while Charlie was busy attending to Jess in the hospital. Charlie and I did look into hotel rooms, but they were overflowing, - even my suite at the Pemberley hotel, here in Manchester has been commandeered by Sadie Bingham." He offered her an apologetic smile.
Elle turned towards him slightly to return the smile, but her eyes remained inscrutable. "Thank you for at least trying. I genuinely appreciate it." She said softly. "As unplanned as all this is, I would like to see the house once again" She knew from conversations with the Bingham’s that he still lived in the same house they had shared in the past; it had been in William family's possession for nearly 100 years.
The ancestral home, Pemberley had been converted into the first Pemberley Hotel decades earlier, so the exorbitant conservation bills could be paid for, by utilising the house more. The Dexter family had moved their principal residence to Winster House, located just on the outskirts of Pemberley grounds, once the hotel became popular in 1940s. Catching the word house in her throat, he looked at her intently for a second, before giving a silent nod of understanding, and driving smoothly out of the car park, to join the network of roads beyond the airport.
Winster House was over an hour away from the airport, and it was pitch-black outside. She glanced at her watch; Nine o'clock. She decided she would use the time to take a short nap, as she could not resist her tired eyes from closing anymore. She had a restless flight, thinking of the past, and the confession she was going to have to make to William.
Drifting in and out of her nap, she became aware of warmth, rising against the side of her knee, which was resting near the gear console of the car. The warmth was from William's hand periodically brushing against her knee as he changed gears. Her heart fluttered each time there was the briefest of touch, but she did not want to move away from it. She opened her eyes partially and cast him a sideways glance; he did have a slight colouring to his cheeks, but other than that, his expression was ambiguous.
William was wearing his emotional mask that she had seen him wear many times before, the one he wore in business meetings when he did not want anyone to know what he was thinking. Elle had also seen it more towards the end of their relationship, mostly due to her own regrettable behaviour in pushing him away, whenever he tried to comfort her through the grieving process of losing both her parents, and baby, so close together.
It was not that she missed her parents. Truth be told they had always treated her badly growing up, comparing her to the angelic Jess, so by the time she moved to London, at seventeen, her self-esteem had hit rock bottom. It was only a model agency scout saying she had the potential to make it, which had given her the well-needed confidence boost. The pain she felt for losing both her parents was only because she would never be able to confront them about their treatment, and she felt she needed to have done that, to have full closure on that part of her life. This lack of closure made her feel a sense of incompleteness, and she had taken that out on William.
In the last two years especially, Elle had experienced many regrets about how she had treated William, generally feeling ashamed she had run away from her intense feelings for him, the night before Jess' wedding, when she found out he was marrying Charlotte. She had let her pride rule her head, until it was too late to come clean about their child, and her suspicions over Charlotte’s deceit. Even in the years when she thought William had deliberately rejected his son, she had tried to move on, but no other man compared to the way he made her feel. She just hoped to get through the next few days, without him discovering her powerful craving to touch him, and be touched by him in return. She could not bear to be rejected by him, as she had rejected him.
Her thoughts began to drift back, to the first time he held her in his arms; they had been at a charity dinner, after he had finally convinced her to be his date for the evening, after insulting her at an earlier engagement. Despite her reluctance to forgive this insult, he had slowly broken down her defences, from the moment his arms wrapped her waist; defences that crumbled whenever he was close, even now.
If only she knew, the man sitting beside her was fighting a similar internal conflict. His hands were clinging tightly to the steering wheel, as if his life depended on it. Even just having her in his car, and knowing she would be sleeping under the same roof as him, was causing a relatively warm build-up in his groin. With every touch of her knee, whenever he had to change gear, the pressure built slightly more, as his slacks felt tighter. He breathed in deeply, trying to ignore the effect she still had on him, and praying that it would decrease by the time they drew into the driveway, which were just a few minutes away now. He tried to think of something else - a business deal he had been mulling over came to mind and this helped at first, but as she stirred in the seat beside him, a waft of perfume was sent in his direction. Another deep breath - this was going to be harder than he even imagined!
He slowly pulled into the drive, and was thankful it was dark, as he stepped out of the car. A security light automatically turned on, as he stepped towards the boot to remove her luggage case. She had stayed at the front of the car, waiting for him t
o lead on, to the front door of the large manor house that had once been their home together. Opening the large wooden door, he invited her to enter first, her footsteps echoing against the marble-floored hallway, as she did so. He placed their bags down on the hallway floor, and started going through the rooms one by one, putting on certain lamps at he went.
Finally, he turned to her. "I know it's late, but did you eat on the plane, or do you want me to prepare you something before we retire?"
She smiled appreciatively, "Actually, no, I haven't eaten anything since I left for the airport. Could I impose, and get some toast?"
He shot her a mischievous smile. "My cooking skills have greatly improved since you were last here, so I can manage something better than toast!"
She relaxed slightly at this peek at his old self laughing, and rewarded him with a brilliant smile that took his breath away. "This I have to see! And thank you."
They made their way into the large kitchen. "I have homemade ravioli that I made with my own fair hands, if you would like"
"That sounds perfect." She pulled out one of the white padded chairs from beneath the large oak kitchen table, and crossed her legs. He grabbed the bowl of leftover pasta that he had cooked earlier in the afternoon, and turned his back to warm it through, on the hob of the range cooker. As he stood at the cooker, she could not help but let her eyes drift down his body admiringly, the charcoal slacks fitted snugly over his form.
His bottom had always been her favourite part of his body, and she could not help herself but think it still looked perfect and pert to her, now. She blushed inwardly at the wicked thoughts he still provoked within her, but she would love to lean in right now, and pinch it. It used to be a regular occurrence between them, that she would sneak up behind him, and fondle him, when he was caught unawares. Usually those incidents would lead onto to many lovemaking sessions over a piece of furniture. A warm tingling sensation invaded deep between her legs, as she thought back to a time when they made love on this exact kitchen floor, and table. Life had been so carefree back then, before the miscarriage, and Charlotte's intervention.