With My Body

by Jo Briggs

  Both Charlie and Jess exchanged silent glances, as they noticed how relaxed William and Elle seemed to be with each other, despite the gulf of separation that had impeded on their lives.

  To say that Charlie was surprised by the revelation of Christian’s paternity was an understatement; he had always thought Christian was at least a year younger than he would have to be, to be William's child. Despite this revelation, he could not help but be relieved that this was the case, as they had shared a close friendship even prior to meeting the sisters, and he knew William had deeply pined to have a child he was fully secure in knowing was his. Now that, he had one with Elle, it could only act to cement the blossoming reunion.

  With the meal over, they adjourned into the games room, where the men and Elle were going to play a game of pool.

  Elle had observed that Jess had not been drinking any of the wine or beer that the others had been sipping throughout the meal. "I notice you haven't drunk anything besides water all evening." She questioned. "Are the painkillers making your stomach upset?"

  Jess beamed shyly at being caught out. "No, Charlie and I are going to have another baby. It’s very early days, and we weren't going to make the announcement properly for several more weeks, till we get into the next trimester."

  "Oh that is fantastic news." Elle hugged her. She knew they had wanted another child for a while, and had been disappointed as each month passed without success.

  "Congratulations." William injected. "We have our own announcement too." He stepped over to Elle placing an arm tightly around her waist. "This lovely lady has agreed to put up with all my vices and move in with me."

  "About time someone was brave enough to bring you into line once more." Charlie commented, slapping his friend on the back. "I think only a Benedict sister has the spirit and determination for such a feat."

  "Hey, I am not that difficult to live with!" William cried.

  The four of them laughed easily amongst themselves.

  The rest of the evening was spent with Elle beating first Charlie then William at pool. Both men challenged Elle again, and were thus beaten for a second time each. "Ha, is there anything you are not perfect at, Miss Elle Benedict," William asked in his fake indignant at being beaten by her twice.

  "Now, that would be telling, would it not, Mr Dexter, for then you would be equipped with insider knowledge that I am sure you would take advantage of when I least expected it." She quipped back at him.

  "Moi? I would never do such a calculated thing as to take advantage of you!"

  Elle giggled, whispering in his ear, so they could not be heard. "I fear you did just that, when I found your half naked body lying upon my bed when I least expected it the other morning."

  "Ohh, now that is hurtful to suggest that my character is capable of such a manipulation." His eyes danced, enjoying their teasing banter.

  "Hey you two, didn't your parents teach you that it’s rude to whisper!" Charlie spoke, interrupting the giggling pair.

  "Sorry Charlie, my new roomie was just keeping me in line!" William replied, avoiding a playful swipe on his arm from Elle.

  22 April 2010

  The next morning was greeted by a more subdued pair, both with delicate heads from the previous night's wine, and the dull despondency that they would be separated for a whole week once Elle caught her flight to Paris from Heathrow that evening.

  "I am going to have to spend some time buying some clothes today, parts of my wardrobe seem to be scattered across the country." Elle concluded looking with despair at her vast array of clothes on the bed. "I just need to go by my boutique and get something's from there. I might as well give myself some free publicity by wearing my own designs."

  "I am sure we can fit that in; the helicopter is due to take us back to London at ten. I presume you will want to see Christian settled back into school for the afternoon rather than waiting until the morning?"

  “Yes, he said he has a music lesson this afternoon that he did not want to miss.”

  “I am sure we can accommodate Master Dexter’s request.” William smiled, testing the sound of the name on his tongue.

  “Master Dexter?”

  “I would like him to start using my surname.”

  “Would you now; is my surname not good enough for him?”

  “Well, I was hoping you might want to change yours too.”

  “William Dexter, is that your woeful attempt at a proposal?” Elle teased playful, noting by the mischievous glint in his eye that he was only half-serious.

  “And this is all the reply I am to expect?” He responded, using a quotation from a book, she was exceedingly familiar with.

  “William, be serious!”

  “I will accept defeat for now, but I will wear you down, then you will be begging to say yes!”

  “You will have to revamp your proposal technique considerably first!” She laughed as he kissed her softly.

  “Changing the subject, I want you to have my security guy be with you at all times when you are sorting out the clothes. He is pretty adept at blending into the background unless needed, so you won't feel as he is intruding."

  “Why?”

  “I just think we may have raised press attention since the statement comes out today.”

  Elle nodded, feeling slightly comforted that she would not have to fend any reporters off by herself. It was one of the bugbears she hated when she had lived in London. Even being well-known in New York, she had not been harassed as she was here, the desire for more privacy had fuelled her move to Yorkshire.

  After they had dropped Christian back at school in time for him to attend his music lesson, and returned William to the house, Elle managed to get Edward to drive her to the corner of Sloane Square where her small shop was situated. As her first store, it held more significance than the others did. She also had a slightly different trend of clothes designed for the British market than for mainland Europe and New York.

  She greeted her assistant, Maria, who had come down from the offices she owned up above the shop front to oversee her requests. "Maria, is everything in order?" The woman was of a similar age to Elle, and had been working as her assistant from the start of her company conception; she knew her job inside and out.

  "Yes, everything is on schedule; I have double checked your flight details and liaised with your sister about when to pick you up. I have also received the dates on which you will be required for filming on location. I have sent it all to your smartphone. "

  Elle nodded. "Perfect. What I would like to do today is grab some stock from the collection that we have not yet released. I am after two mid-length dresses, the black-and-white skirt suit, and the caramel evening trouser suit."

  As Elle spoke, Maria casually scribbled the items down on her pad. "Accessorises?"

  "Hmm, I would say a black clutch that I can match up with most of those, and perhaps an off white."

  "Ok, if you can give me ten minutes, we will be ready to take everything out to your car."

  Elle nodded. "I am using a friend's driver today so once you are definitely ready to go, I will call him rather than risking getting a ticket."

  Maria always strove to give her boss whatever she needed, whenever she needed it, even if she had not particularly demanded it, so when she said it would be ten minutes, ten minutes it was. Maria's command over the store staff to get all the items required sent them into discrete panic mode, professional exterior, headless chicken inside.

  Elle could not help but be amused by all the buzzing around, once Maria had given instructions to the store manager. If Elle had been in business mode, she perhaps would have gotten involved herself, but she just wanted to get the clothes and leave.

  True to Maria’s word, ten minutes later, Elle’s clothes and accessories were neatly placed into some bags ready for her to carry to the waiting car.

  With her mind looking forward to Mrs. Button’s lunch preparation, she did not notice the raised male and female voices until she wa
s fully inside the hallway. She recognised William’s instantly, and the female seemed oddly familiar yet, she could not quite place it.

  Vengeance can be bitter sweet

  Hearing Lily’s crying screams coming from a room separate from where the shouting match was going on, Elle made her way to collect the little girl before going into the lion’s den.

  The shouting match seemed to be coming from his study, enabling Elle heard several exchanges of words, before she actually came upon them.

  “What the hell did you think you could accomplish by deleting those messages. You must have known, that once I discovered your deceit over my son existence, your monthly pay check would end!”

  “My deceit? That BITCH has been lying to you for years. If it had not been for my telling Richard the real truth, you would have probably forever been in ignorance to what she had done to you.”

  “You may well have forced her hand in telling me, but let’s not forget who was the cause of the misunderstanding in the first place. So drop the Miss Innocent act with me.”

  “I did it for your own good; the BITCH had left you once, so there was no telling if she would leave you again, if I hadn’t deleted those messages. I knew I would be better for you than she could ever be. I would never have left you!”

  “You seriously are delusional, if you honestly think you are better for me. You think blackmailing me for money and threatening to abort Lily was best for me?

  As Elle hovered by the doorway, the shouting pair still did not notice her immediately.

  Charlotte looked tired and unkempt in a fading sweat suit. Her hair was limp and unstyled, as if she lost all interest in her outward appearance, as well as what she put inside. She was waving a couple of sheets of paper around as she spoke.

  “Can you two behave like adults? You are so absorbed in your shouting match, neither of you have noticed your crying daughter who was clearly frightened by all the noise.” Elle was mad at them both for their ignorant behaviour, which was affecting their child’s feelings. Handing the now quieter Lily to a surprised William, she turned to a distracted Charlotte, who was watching Lily, seizing the opportunity to catch her unawares, Elle slapped her cheek twice. “One: that is for my son. TWO: the BITCH is back for good, and do not ever forget it. Now just accept that you have lost your meal ticket, and get out of our home.”

  “You BITCH,” Charlotte lunged forward at Elle, trying to claw at her with her nails. “I have a right to be here as much as you do.”

  “How do you work that out?” Elle moved out of the way, to avoid Charlotte’s pitiful attempt at a lunge, her temper flaring as seven years of frustration started to boil over.

  “I am entitled to visit my daughter.”

  “Then I suggest you get yourself a lawyer because I am sure, once the social services and court hear what I have to say about who you date, they are highly likely stop even your once a week visits.”

  William started at this; he looked as surprised as Charlotte at this pierce of information, but remained silent, intrigued to see what Elle had on Charlotte.

  “What are you talking about?” Charlotte eyed Elle warily.

  “You interfered with my secrets, so I am interfering in yours.”

  Charlotte pulled a face; she was too tired to think straight, as the drug buzz from the previous night had worn off long ago. She was in a club all night, dancing with her on and off lover, Greg Wickham. "How dare you. Where do you get off telling me what I can do with my evenings?"

  "To be quite frank, I don't give a damn what you do with your evenings, but I do give a damn about the influence you have on an innocent child, and indirectly my child. I am sure the court would be particularly interested to know that you hang out with a convicted scum bag, and have track lines up your arms." Elle spat back, the disgust for the woman in front of him surfacing.

  "I do not hang out with scum bags!"

  "You deny you have a friendship with Greg Wickham, a convicted drug dealer, aka scumbag?"

  Charlotte stood open mouthed. "How do you know about Greg and me?"

  Elle reached for her laptop, which was still on from perusing her emails earlier than morning. She pulled up an email with some photos that she had received just that morning, from a private detective she had employed the day Charlotte dared to cross her.

  Charlotte stepped forward and took a clearer look. At closer inspection, she saw they were photos of several different nights out, where she was in the company of the same tall black-haired man, who clearly was Greg Wickham.

  "Why are you stalking me, and taking photos?"

  "Not stalking, it was just purely coincidental that an acquaintance of mine turned up to the same place as you a couple of times, and took some photos of partygoers, and you were snapped among them."

  "Rather convenient don't you think?" Charlotte said angrily.

  "I guess if you were at home more regularly, trying to get your life back on track, rather than shooting up drugs in the local nightspots, the chances of being spotted by a photographer would not be as high." Elle shrugged nonchalantly. "It probably doesn't help that you are frequently in such notorious company as an infamous, convicted criminal like Greg Wickham, who is bound to attract photographers and reporters seeking a story."

  "Greg has done his time and is on the straight and narrow."

  Even William scoffed at this.

  "I can't believe you fell for his dribble. That guy does not know the meaning of straight and narrow; he has been double crossing people all his life."

  Charlotte's eyes narrowed. "Prison changed him." When she heard the words out loud, they sounded less convincing than they had in her head.

  Elle laughed even harder at this. "I am sure the court will be particularly interested to see what evidence he can produce, that he is earning a living by legal means for a change."

  "What does Greg Wickham's ways of earning money have to do with myself and Lily?"

  "The court will be interested in any person who stays over in your property, and you have a relationship with. They need to know that you are not being influenced to do anything illegal."

  "Greg would never hurt her."

  "He is a drug dealer and user. He has been making you reliant on him for your fixes so that he can manipulate you into extracting money from Will. I bet he even told you that he loved you, didn’t he?"

  Charlotte frowned. "He isn’t manipulating me to do anything. He does love me!"

  "You believe what you want, but I know otherwise."

  "What do you mean by that?" Charlotte had a dreadful sinking feeling that Greg had not been truthful with her, and that Elle had found out about something.

  "Meaning, clearly I know about Greg more than you do." Elle stated matter of fact. "Now for me not to take this any further, you have to agree to give up all your rights to Lily. I am sure Will’s lawyer can send you the required documentation to sign?”

  Elle looked at William, and he nodded, still not entirely sure what else Elle had up her sleeve, but willing to go with it.

  Charlotte was silent for a few moments. She was been a rock and a hard place. Should she accept that Lily would be better off without her, or could she risk having the court investigating Greg's activities and possibly lose custody of Lily anyway? She knew Greg would take it out on her if the courts became involved. She probably would not survive another beating like the one he gave her before. No, she had to do the right thing for her child, and allow her to have a better life away from all the drugs, and her grave choices.

  "I need to get out of here." Brushing a hand over her tear-smudged cheeks, Charlotte uttered, "Rot in hell both of you!" And with that stormed out of the room, knowing that she had been outmanoeuvred.

  The study door slammed behind her.

  William raised his eyebrows as they just looked at each other wide-eyed, and let out the breath they had been holding.

  "I see she has not lost any of her acting skills." Elle observed drolly, trying to inject some h
umour into the situation.

  “So, what is all this about an acquaintance of yours taking photos of her?”

  “I hired a private detective when she started threatening to throw mud about me in the papers. In just three days, he found out so much evidence about both of them, that I knew it would be worth the risk to challenge her about the relationship.”

  “What kind of evidence?”

  “He clearly has more women on the side, and we even have one shot of him handing something dubious to someone in the street who had just given him money.”

  “I can’t believe you kept it a secret. You actually are sneaky.”

  “I didn’t expect anything to show up so quickly, and I became distracted sightseeing and thinking about my trip. It was not until I saw the email this morning that I thought it might be of use.

  "I think I need a stiff drink."

  Handing Lily over to their nanny, Lydia who conveniently reappeared once everything was quiet again, William disappeared behind the bar, to pour himself a quick shot of whisky, which he downed in one gulp.

  Elle pulled her smartphone from her bag, which she had slung on the couch outside the study, and began texting Jess about seeing Charlotte. Jess had remained in tentative contact with Charlotte after Elle ended their friendship, and although Elle felt no sympathy for the situation, Charlotte had gotten herself in, she knew she could do with a friend about now, even so. Despite all that had gone on, Jess was always one for seeing the good in everyone, no matter what.

  I will give her a call later she may do something stupid if she feels cornered. Jess replied

  E: You seriously think she would do herself an injury? Elle was shocked by this revelation.

  J: I really honestly do not know she has become somewhat unpredictable in her behaviour. That Greg Wickham being in her life has not helped.

  E: Yes, from what I understand he has a long history of causing trouble for Will, as well. Something happened years ago involving Gina, which she never quite recovered from.

  J: Let us hope Charlotte takes the opportunity to get clean and remove Wickham from her life for good then.