by Sherie Keys
“Okay, fine but don't think I'm afraid of your threats.”
“I'm not threatening you. You're a big girl, you can come and go as you please. All I'm doing is trying to be friendly, offer you a drink while you wait and engage in some friendly chatter with me. We're friends. We can be nice to each other.”
“We're not friends.”
“Any friend of Kurtis's is a friend of mine.”
Tanya turned away from James. She did not like that sly look in his eyes or that creepy way he had of smiling at her. When he looked at her it was up and down and all over her body. She pulled the neckline of her low cut dress up but it settled back down, still revealing the large cleavage under her tight top.
“So,” he said.
“So?”
“What is it to be?”
She looked over at the drinks tray. “A Club soda.”
“Nothing stronger?”
“I'm working James, and I'm a professional. I'm not about to start drinking on the job.”
“You sound like a policewoman. No drinking on the job for you.” He handed her the drink.
“Cheers,” he said clinking his whiskey glass against the tumbler of Club soda. He sat in the chair alongside hers.
“Isn't it a bit early to start drinking?” she said looking into her glass and not at him.
“Not for me. You see I've got a lot on my mind, Tanya.”
She did not answer.
“The thing is, ever since I met you I've been a little, shall we say, worried?”
“Worried? What have you got to worry about?”
“You may not know this about me, Tanya, and I'm sure you've heard many things about me, but I actually really care about people.”
“You mean you're a philanthropist?”
“Not exactly. My concern is for people around me, People I care about.”
“Really? So you help out at a soup kitchen, do you?”
“Don't tease, Tanya. I'm only trying to be your friend. See, from the day I met you I liked you straight away.”
“You don't even know me.”
He finished his drink and went over to the drinks tray. He picked up the whiskey bottle and walked with it back to the chair. He poured a large amount into the glass, crossed his legs and held the bottle in one hand, the glass in the other.
“You say I don't know you, Tanya, but I think I'm a very good judge of character. A lot of girls see men like me and Kurtis as a meal ticket. We've slept our way through a lot, and I mean a lot of women and not one of them have been genuine.” He took a sip of whiskey. So far, Tanya had drunk nothing.
“I don't know what this has to do with me?” she asked.
“Oh, more than you know. Your fiancé, Kurtis and I, once had a conversation. It was a while ago now when you could say we were BFFs. That is, if men are allowed a BFF or is that solely the domain of women?”
She shrugged her shoulders.
“No, I'm not so sure either but let's for argument say, like you women, us men tell each other everything. And I mean everything. We're not as insensitive as you women may think.”
“Not all women think the same.”
“Like I say, most of the women we met were out for what they could get. Then Kurtis met Catherine. He fell for her like I'd never seen anyone fall for a girl before. I mean, he ate slept and drank Catherine. Never stopped talking about her. Catherine, Catherine, Catherine. She was all he wanted.”
Tanya stood up and went to stand by the window, wishing she could climb out of it and run.
“I don't want to talk about her. I don't want to know,” she said.
“Oh but you should.” His voice went up in volume. “I'm telling you this because I care about you, Tanya. I can see you're not one of those gold digging, money grabbing women I've got sick to death with. You're a good person and you deserve to know the truth.”
“What truth, James? Why don't you just spit it out instead of talking in circles? I'm getting bored with it.”
“Well, you won't be bored with this.” He put the whiskey bottle and glass on the floor and walked over to her at the window. “Our Kurtis has not gotten over Catherine. As soon as I knew you guys got engaged, I wanted to warn you about him. Before it was too late.”
“I'm going.”
James caught hold of her arm. She looked down at his hand gripping her forearm.
“I'm sorry,” he said, raising both hands. “But I'm finding it hard to sleep at night and to concentrate on anything when I know I'm the one who holds the key to your future.”
She rounded on him and placed her hands on her hips.
“What the hell are you talking about? If you have something to say – say it!”
“Okay, Tanya. Kurtis's love for Catherine is still there. As strong and as real as the day he first told me that he would die for her. Only thing is, he couldn't prove that. She's dead and he's still here. It's eating him alive and any day he'll crack and this charade he's playing with you will all come tumbling down. He'll toss you out in the cold, Tanya, because that man cannot live with anyone else but her.”
“Don't be ridiculous. He told me himself he never even proposed to her. This is his mother's ring I'm wearing. He saved it for the right woman. Me. He already told me he hadn't asked anyone to marry him but me. Me, James. I don't know what you're playing at but I want you to back off.” She turned to leave, picked up her bags and slammed the Club soda onto a table.
“I know his feelings for her are still there and I can prove it,” he shouted.
Tanya stopped dead.
“Glad I got your attention. The proof you need is hidden in a drawer in his study, right hand side, right in the back. You'll see a picture. Probably the only one he has left of Catherine. He'll never throw it away and he'll never forget her. You'll only ever be second best to him, Tanya. Is that what you want?”
Tanya didn’t turn around but carried on heading for the door. She turned the handle and stepped into the corridor.
“See for yourself Tanya. The key to that drawer is hidden behind the picture of his mother on the shelf by the window.”
She could hear the words as she opened the front door but refused to stay in the apartment with the tears rolling down her eyes as they were. She did not want him to see that he had gotten to her, but he had. Right to her very core and she didn't know what to say or do.
“Everything all right, Miss Herman?” one of he security guards asked her as she approached the gate.
“Any chance you could call me a taxi?” she sniffed.
“Sure, right away. I have a number here.”
Tanya stood just outside the gate and saw the trees and hedges on the road making swirling motions before her eyes. Very soon, a taxi pulled up and she was in the back before even realizing what her body was doing.
She arrived at her apartment, shaking and feeling nauseous. She noticed that her answer machine was flashing and immediately wondered if there was a message from Kurtis.
There was just one message.
'Hi, Tanya, it's James. Just wanted to make sure you got home safe. Don't worry I won't let Mummy slur your name around town. I understand why you had to leave like that. Must have come as quite a shock. If you need a shoulder to cry on, you know how to get hold of me.'”
Tanya brushed the answer machine onto the floor, rushed to the bathroom and was violently sick.
Chapter7
It was just days now until the engagement party and Tanya had not spoken to anyone about her conversation with James McConnagh. It must’ve shown on her face that something was wrong because everyone, including Kurtis, kept asking her if everything was all right.
“Kurtis, for the last time – I'm fine. Now will you stop asking me that?”
“I'm sorry, Tanya but if you could see the expression on your face these last few days, you'd be asking yourself the same question.”
“Look, I'm sorry to snap at you, Kurtis. If anything is wrong it probably has to do with planning this
engagement party.”
“Really?”
They were sitting up in bed. It was late. They'd eaten out and walked quietly back from the little Vietnamese restaurant in silence. Well, near silence, because Kurtis spoke and Tanya hardly said more than a three-word sentence.
“I just wish we could have made the announcement about our engagement and left it at that,” Tanya said.
“But I thought you wanted a party?”
“No, that was your idea.”
“Well do you want to cancel?” he asked.
“It's too late to cancel. It’s two days away. Everything is arranged now.” Tanya shuffled her body under the covers and lay down. She turned her back to Kurtis and said goodnight.
“Well, goodnight then,” Kurtis said. It was unusual for them not to kiss before going to sleep but Tanya practically covered her head and screwed her eyes tight shut. Eventually Kurtis turned out the lamp at the side of his bed and leaned over Tanya to turn hers out too.
Since James put the idea in her head that she was only ever going to be second best for Kurtis, she found it hard to sleep. She tossed and turned, playing his words over and over in her head and questioning their validity. But why should she, when Kurtis had already told her that he never asked Catherine to marry him and that he never loved any woman the way he did her? Why was it so hard to believe Kurtis was telling the truth?
Both Kurtis and Jeannie had told her, she should never listen to anything James had to say and that she should run in the opposite direction if he approached her. But that day he had more or less trapped her. She was forced to listen to him. But Tanya knew how close Kurtis and Jeannie were. There was every chance that Jeannie would cover for Kurtis and back him up on everything, including lying to her, making her believe she was special when all along she'd only be a replacement for Catherine.
There was one way to settle it. She could look for the picture that James was talking about. The one that proved that by being hidden away, it really did mean that Kurtis still carried Catherine in his heart. She had to see if she could find that photograph and satisfy the morbid curiosity that James had planted the seeds for in her mind.
She tossed and turned from one side to the next in bed. After a short time, she realized Kurtis was asleep. She sat up. It was warm in the room and Kurtis had his legs outside the covers and the top half of his body exposed. She looked around the dark room and then at the door, which was slightly open and then into the dark corridor.
Throwing the covers off, she stood and padded across the soft carpet. She got to the door and pulled it open. She looked over her shoulder. Kurtis stirred and rolled onto his back. Tanya waited to make sure he didn't wake up, and stepped into the corridor.
She made no sound along the wooden floor as she hurried along to the study. The door gave a low creak as she opened it. Tanya grimaced and pushed it, making sure it didn't close completely. At the desk, she turned on the antique table lamp and aimed it towards the drawer. She sat in the leather chair and tried to open the top right hand drawer. It was locked. She sat back in the chair. James said it would be. Now she wondered why Kurtis would lock it. No one locked a door or drawer in a house unless they had something to hide.
She closed her eyes and thought for a moment. She shouldn't be doing this, snooping around like a spy. She should confront Kurtis face to face. At least let him know what James said. But to ask about the existence of the photo would imply that she didn't trust Kurtis. He was bound to be upset about that. She could be playing into James' hands by asking Kurtis if there was any truth in what James said. He would accuse her of trusting James more than him.
Tanya looked over at the shelf by the window and saw the framed picture of Kurtis's mother. If James was being honest, then there should be a key behind it, that opens the drawer, and in that drawer, at the very back, the picture of Catherine that Kurtis could never part with, would be there.
In a way, she couldn't help feeling pangs of jealousy that he could keep a picture hidden. There was not a single photograph of her in the whole of Kurtis's apartment. It could just have been coincidence. After all, they saw each other practically every day. There was no need for a picture, surely.
After a few minutes, Tanya began to shiver. It was cool in this room. It didn't get used very often and the sun didn't shine into it until late in the day. She rubbed her bare arms and shivered. Getting up now, she walked over to the picture of Kurtis's mother and picked it up. Kurtis had the same shaped face as her and the same hair color.
She stared at it a good while until she realized she was holding it and that there had been no small key behind it. James was a liar. She felt an enormous feeling of relief as if heavy sacks with rocks in them had just been taken off her shoulders. As she replaced the picture she felt something cold, stuck to the back of it. Turning it over she saw they key. It was carefully stuck to the back of the frame. The key was there. That meant the picture of Catherine must be in the back of that drawer.
“What are you doing, Tanya?” Kurtis said from the door.
Tanya jumped and hit her hand to her chest. “Jesus, Kurtis! You frightened me. Why are you sneaking around?”
“Me?”
“I'm not sneaking around.” Tanya's heart was pounding fast.
“What are you doing in here?” He had walked over to her and took the picture frame out of her hands. He put it back to sit on the shelf.
“You look like your mother,” she said.
“Don't change the subject. I know what this is about.”
“Y-you do?”
“Yes.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “Tanya, you're shaking. Are you cold?”
“Yes, I want to go back to bed.” She quickly tried to side step him but he held her and swung her back to face him.
“I know you're nervous about the party. You have to be hostess to all those people and it’s daunting. You don't have to worry, Tanya. I'll be there for you. And really, it isn't too late to cancel. I can get a message out to the entire list of people. And don't worry about the money.”
“I don't think we should cancel.”
“You're sure?”
“Sure.”
Kurtis went over to the desk. He put his hand on the handle of the top right hand drawer and looked as though he was going to try to pull it open but changed his mind. He turned off the table lamp.
“Come on. Let's get back to bed.”
He held her hand and took her back to the bedroom. They got into bed and he held her tight, kissing her lips before saying a last goodnight.
“Hope now you can get some sleep, baby.”
“Me too,” she said.
The Final Chapter
In a leafy New York suburb, the mansion, set within acres of parkland with a small forest surrounding it, was being given the final touches for the engagement party that, so far, Tanya and Kurtis had been able to keep a secret from the press.
At the front entrance there were security guards on patrol. The entrance to the estate was situated miles from the actual door to the mansion. All the guests would have to be checked off a list by security and any press would be strictly forbidden to enter.
The dress Tanya was changing into was deep red in color. It was strapless with a molded bodice and pushup bust line that enhanced the already ample cleavage she naturally had. Its slim line showed off her hourglass figure, accentuating her curvy hips and narrowing her slender waist. She wore tall heels and put on her crystal earrings as Kurtis, standing behind her at the mirror, was fixing his tie.
They were getting ready in one of the upstairs bedrooms in the mansion, while, on the ground floor, the caterers prepared the three-course meal and the waiting staff polished champagne flutes.
“What time is it?” Tanya asked.
“Ten minutes later than when you last asked me,” Kurtis replied with a wink into the mirror at her. “Relax, Tanya. It's going to be a great night. No one other than our guests know where we are and, if for any reason the pre
ss gets hold of the address, they'll never get through to the house. It's like a fort in this place. That security firm has the best reputation around.”
“I know it will be fine, I'm not nervous. I'm glad we managed to find a place like this.”
“You're telling me. An associate tipped me off on this one,” Kurtis said, still struggling with his tie. He normally never wore one. “In fact, we ought to buy a place like this. It would be nice not to live in the heart of the city.”
“Good idea,” she said, turning to him. “Let me fix your tie.”
“Thanks. I wonder how much this place costs. I like it here.”
“Let's go downstairs, people will be arriving.”
“Come here,” he put his arms around her waist. “You look beautiful, you know that? I'm a lucky man. Everyone says so and it's true.”
He gently kissed her. “So?”
“So...what?”
“Aren't you going to say that you're a lucky girl to have me?”
She paused a second and looked at him, the vision of the key hidden behind his mother's photo flashed across her mind. Why the hell hadn't she said something before?
Her hope that this was all a bad taste joke on James' part and that there was no picture of Catherine in the drawer would have been out in the open. One way or the other, she would have had the proof she needed. But something stopped her. She was still feeling lost and confused but had done a good job of hiding it. How much longer she could keep it up, she wasn't sure. Straight after the party, she planned to confront Kurtis and put an end to the burning question once and for all.
“I am lucky, Kurtis,” she finally said. “I'm very lucky indeed. Now, let's go down. Make sure they've poured the champagne.”
In the grand entrance hall of the mansion, Tanya and Kurtis stood and greeted their friends and family. There was an elaborate ceiling mounted candelabra above them and the wooden floors in the entrance hall gleamed from beneath their feet. The entrance hall was just for welcoming the guests, there was a grand hall just to the left in which staff wondered around with hors-d'oeuvres on trays.
The waiters in the entrance hall held trays of champagne or fruit juice to greet the guests.