I clap my hands to my face. “No way!” I squeak in delight.
“Yes way,” he laughs. “But it won't be for a while, we’re adopting from china.”
I launch myself into his arms again and squeeze him tight. “Oh Rob, I'm so glad you’re ok and Carlos, I was so worried. That must have been so nerve wracking waiting for the results.”
Rob squeezes me tight. “It was,” he says darkly. “The worst week of our lives,” he adds solemnly.
“Don't you ever do that to me again,” I scold. “I had all sorts of horrible things racing round my head.”
“Sorry, but Carlos didn’t want anyone to know.” He tells me.
I sigh heavily. “That’s understandable, but you could have just told me anyway. I wouldn’t have said anything to anyone!”
“I know…” Rob shakes his head. “Never mind about us, are you ok?” he asks pushing me back so he can look at me. “Look at the state of your eyes woman!” I smile back at him. “Come on,” he says grabbing my hand and leading me outside to the table and chairs.
“No!” I say, pulling on his hand. “I need to see Tristan. Can you drive me over to his place?” I ask. I have to see him now! He has to know about Susannah.
“Why?” Rob questions seeing the panic in my face.
“Please,” I beg. “As soon as I’ve seen him I’ll come straight over, see you and Carlos, but I really need to see Tristan – now!” I add.
Rob frowns at me then pulls me into him for a hug. “You ok?” he asks, his voice sounding worried.
“No…yes…I don’t know,” I croak, feeling anxious about seeing Tristan.
“Has he hurt you?” Rob asks, his voice going deep.
“No,” I pull back from him. I really need to see Tristan. “Rob, please can we go?” I ask jigging up and down.
“Alright, alright let’s go!” he says waving his hand in the air.
“Thank you!” I kiss his cheek. “I’m so glad your home.”
“Me too,” Rob takes hold of my hand. “Come on let’s get you over to him.”
On the short drive over, I briefly tell Rob about Susannah, what’s gone on and the report I’m about to show Tristan.
“Your fucking kidding me?” he gasps. “You think she was in your place?” I nod my head at him. “Jesus, you need to be really careful Coral,” he warns. “She sounds like she’s really lost it,” he adds.
“I know,” I whisper.
Rob pulls up outside the gates and whistles. “You’ve certainly fallen on your feet there kiddo,” he says. I sardonically raise an eyebrow at him. “And he’s gorgeous to boot,” he says, teasing me.
“Rob!” I scold.
“Sorry,” he chuckles. “Good luck,” he adds.
I lean forward and we kiss each other. “Thanks for the lift,” I smile weakly at him.
“Anytime,” he says.
“Rob,” I look up at the house. “If this goes wrong…” I swallow hard. “Will you come and get me?” I squeak.
“You don’t even need to ask that,” he says.
“Ok, good,” I say taking a deep breath.
“Let’s go for it does work,” he says.
I smile weakly at him and exit the car. Rob holds his hand up and waves, I wave back as I watch Rob drive away. Taking a deep breath, I head down the driveway to Tristan’s house – our house – I can't get used to that.
Using my keys I take another deep breath, and open the door. The moment I step in the house, I see Tristan running towards me.
“Baby!” He breathes pulling me up and into his arms, squeezing me tight.
I don't know why I don't hold him back – maybe I'm subconsciously protecting myself from the onslaught I may receive – and I'm still feeling sore about earlier.
“Come, sit down. What do you need? A drink, something to eat?” he frantically asks as he walks me over to the sofa.
I shake my head in reply. I seem to have lost the courage to speak.
“I'm so sorry about your Mother,” he says solemnly, sitting next to me on the sofa.
“I'm sorry too, for freaking out at you. I shouldn’t have,” I say feeling ashamed that I did.
Tristan smiles tenderly at me, picks up my hand and kisses it. “You don't need to apologise baby,” he says. “And I'm sorry about earlier,” he adds.
I stare down at our entwined fingers. “Why did you act like that?” I whisper.
Tristan shakes his head he looks mortified. “I was angry you hadn’t told me…that I had to hear it from Joyce,” he says shaking his head. I keep my gaze on our fingers. “I can't be seen to be taking sides,” he reiterates.
“But it was just me and Joyce, you could have given me the benefit of the doubt,” I squeak.
“I know, I was wrong, and again I'm sorry. You’re not really going to quit are you?” he asks.
“Well yeah...you...you’ve given my job to her,” I say.
Tristan shakes his head at me, his lips twitching with a smile. “No, I haven’t,” he tells me.
“But you’ –“No you said it, not me. I just didn’t tell you, that’s all,” he interrupts.
“But that doesn’t make any sense, why would you do that?” I ask in astonishment.
“I needed to see your reaction when I told you about the complaint.” I frown back at him. “Please say you’ll stay in the company.”
I shake my head at him, I’ve quit, made my decision. In a way, I think what happened today made me realise I won't like it, that it won't be the same without Joyce.
“Can you forgive me?” he asks with puppy dog eyes. “Because I don't quite know how to live without you,” he says melting my heart all over again.
“Of course I forgive you,” I tell him. He leans down to kiss me, but I push him back with my hand. “I need to know Tristan…do you believe I threatened Susannah?” I swallow hard, waiting for his answer.
“No,” he says after an eternity.
“Then why didn’t you say that earlier?” I question.
“Why didn’t you tell me she upset Joe?” he asks ignoring my question.
“Joyce told me not to get involved,” I repeat. This is getting us nowhere!
“Look Tristan, there’s something I need to tell you. I don't think you’re going to like it, so I'm going to ask you to wait until I'm finished before you judge me,” I say scrutinizing his reaction.
His cheeks flush and his pupils dilate with worry. “Ok,” he murmurs looking down at our hands.
“Ok,” I breathe. You can do this! “Firstly, I need you to keep an open mind. Can you do that for me?” I ask hesitantly.
“Anything for you,” he tells me. Ok, here goes!
With shaking hands, I reach into my bag, open the envelope and pull out Susannah’s report. “Here,” I place it in his hands.
“What’s this?” he asks, his eyes going darker.
“Just, read it,” I say my heart in my mouth.
I watch Tristan open the pages and start reading, then he stops, his eyes shoot up to meet mine. “This is a report on Susannah,” he says frowning deeply.
“Yes,” I whisper.
“Why do you have this Coral?” he questions.
“Just…please read through it. You can ask me whatever you want when you’ve finished.”
Clenching his jaw several times, he carries on reading it. “Her husband died?” He whispers. I say nothing. I keep watching as he turns over to the next page, the medical history one, and continues to read, he looks horrified – Good, maybe he won’t think she’s all holy and great anymore.
“Jesus,” he whispers running his hand through his hair. He stops reading and looks up at me. “She lost her husband and her baby?” he says.
I nod once. “She’s really sick Tristan, she needs help,” I say.
Tristan looks down at the paperwork again. He looks totally shocked, he runs his hand back and forth through his hair, messing it up. I can't help swooning at him for a moment, then I snap out of it.
“I still don’t understand though, why do you have this Coral?” He asks.
“Turn it over,” I say.
Tristan turns to the last page, the image of her husband. “Fuck!” he hisses.
“He really looks like you don’t you think?” I say softly.
Tristan nods, totally mesmerized by what he’s seeing. Finally placing the paperwork down next to me, he stares at the floor for a while, deep in thought.
“Tristan,” – “Don’t” he warns, with his forefinger. “Why do you have this?” he questions again in a deep, low voice.
“Lots of reasons,” I say, not knowing where to start.
“Enlighten me,” he snaps.
I take a deep breath and begin. “Would you agree that men and women are different, that we pick up on different things?” He narrows his eyes at me. “Yes or no Tristan,” I bark.
“Yes,” he growls. Ok, he’s really pissed.
“I could tell from the very first time I met you that Susannah liked you, I even thought you were sleeping together, you know a couple maybe. Of course, I never thought for one second that she was in love with you; that she’s obsessed with you, and now I know why. Tristan, everything she said I did to her was exactly what she did to me.” Tristan’s face pales.
“She deleted the Google images I had of you, and said that if you found out, I would lose my job. Her behavior was totally erratic, up and down like a yo-yo, she snapped at me, she upset Joe, and I know she said something to Joyce.” I take a deep breath and continue.
“When she told me she was getting divorced and moving down here, it raised my suspicions, especially given the fact that you told me she was happily married. When I called to speak to you on Tuesday and Karen answered, we got chatting, she’s really nice by the way, I wish you’d sent her down to train me,” Tristan cocks one eyebrow up at me, I look away and continue.
“Anyway, I told Karen that Susannah had upset Joe, I asked her what she thought of Susannah,” I stop talking because Tristan is glaring at me, like I’m the one to blame for all of this. “I only asked her that because I thought it was just me being me,” I snap, he squeezes his eyes shut, so I continue.
“Karen confirmed that no one within the company actually likes her, that she’s all sweetness and light when you’re around, and when you’re not she’s well...weird. She also said that everyone knows she’s in love with you, and hardly anyone believes she’s actually got a husband, guess she was right about that part…” I break off shivering slightly.
Tristan stands, wraps the throw around me and softly strokes my cheek.
“Go on,” he says, his brow furrowed his eyes dark. He is not a happy man. I shake my head remembering her words.
“Susannah threatened me Tristan, she said she figured we were together, she caught you winking at me on Monday before you left, she told me to stay away from you. She said ‘he’s mine’ and…she said you would never be interested in someone like me, someone in constant therapy. And the worst part is that she said that you two are secretly engaged, mad about each other…” I stop for a moment and take a breath. “So not only does she know I'm seeing George, but she also knows where I live.”
“How do you know?” he asks.
“She made a comment about my studio,” I say and continue. “Then at lunchtime on Wednesday I went out, I wanted to write something down but when I searched for my little note-pad it was missing. I emptied my bag in a panic only to find my keys had gone too.” Tristan looks horrified. “When I got back to the office I found them on my desk with a note from Susannah, she said she found them on the floor. When I was out Wednesday night, she entered my property, drank a beer and stole two items from me.”
Tristan eyes widen. “How do you know it was her?” he whispers, horrified.
“Bob heard a noise and went outside to investigate, he saw a blonde woman entering my studio so he questioned her. She told him she was my friend, picking something up for me.”
Tristan shakes his head at me. “That doesn’t prove it was Susannah,” he argues.
“I know, but who else would it have been? I don't have any female friends Tristan. Debs is blonde, but she doesn’t have a key and she doesn’t drink beer.” He frowns deeply and stares down at the floor again. I can tell he’s trying to work it all out. “I think it was Susannah outside my door on Monday night too,” I add.
His head snaps up. “Those are very serious allegations,” he tells me.
“I know,” I whisper.
“What’s missing?” he asks me.
I stare at the floor and swallow hard. “The one and only photograph I have of my family before things went wrong, and one of the pictures of us.” I hear Tristan’s sharp intake of breath. “Tristan, if she knew so much about me, you don't think she would have...” I break off unable to say it out loud.
“What baby?” he asks a little calmer.
“My mother,” I whisper.
“I don’t understand?” he says.
“You don't think she would have...k-killed her do you?” I manage t squeak out.
Tristan’s eyes close for a moment. “No, no way,” he says shaking his head.
I nod feeling a little better about it. “Ok, well that’s why I got the report. I was so freaked out Tristan, you were away all week, and she kept reminding me of someone. I worked it out in the end that it was my Mother, they both have the same crazy look in their eyes,” I say shivering slightly.
“I don't believe this,” he chokes staring out the window.
“I’m sorry Tristan,” I whisper. Reaching out, I place my hand on his forearm but he pulls away, I instantly feel rejected. “I know this is a lot to take in, and I really wish it wasn’t true, but she needs help Tristan, and we both need to be really careful, and quite frankly, I’m scared to death that she’ll just flip, hurt someone, hurt you.” I end in a whisper.
He turns away from me and stares out the window.
“Tristan,” I place my hand on his cheek and turn his head so he has to look at me. “I'm not doing this to hurt you, you know that right?”
He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “I…I don’t know what to say,” he murmurs.
“You don’t have to say anything. It’s up to you what happens now, but whatever you decide to do…just, be careful, please.” I beg.
Tristan nods silently then shakes his head again. “This is unbelievable,” he chokes.
Shit! I’m losing him!
“Tristan’ – “Don't,” he warns again. “I need a few minutes,” he says as calmly as he can, although I can see the anger rearing up inside of him.
I watch as he silently walks the length of the hallway, and disappears into his office. I can't help wondering what he’s up to, why he’s walked away. Maybe he’s feeling foolish for not seeing through her pretences, or maybe he’s mad that none of his staff have brought any of this to his attention, especially with the fact that he’s so good to them all. Either way, I have more to tell him and there are more questions to ask, so I guess I'm just going to have to be patient and wait for him to come back.
I suddenly feel really cold, right down into my bones cold. I pull the throw tighter around me and begin my silent prayer. Please don’t hate me, please don’t blame me, please don’t leave me…
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
AS I SIT WAITING FOR Tristan’s return, I can't help wondering if I'm doing the right thing here. I can't lose him, I just can't. I look up at the clock on the wall, he’s been ten minutes already, another five and I'm marching in there.
I hear his office door open. I watch him storming over to me, he looks really mad. He sits on the coffee table opposite me, and without a word he reaches forward and entwines our fingers together. Tristan frowns at me then stares down at our fingers. I know I need to continue, he needs to know what I know and I still have unanswered questions. Ok I can do this!
“Tristan I’ve got to ask, how did Susannah get the job? Her employment records show no prior off
ice based work?”
“I...” Tristan shakes his head. “It’s irrelevant,” he snaps.
“No Tristan, it’s not,” I say softly.
He gazes out the window for a while then starts to speak. “I kept bumping into her, outside work, at the cafe I used to eat at...” Holy Crap, it’s just what I thought! “She seemed really sweet you know, we got talking one day in the queue, she said she was looking for a job, that she’d been made redundant. I had an opening so I invited her to come over for an interview, she told me she had no prior experience, I told her that was fine.” Tristan shakes his head in exasperation. “She started at the bottom Coral, worked her way up. She became one of the best employees I’ve ever had. I don’t understand how someone with so many problems can do that well?” He looks hurt, confused, his eyes bleak.
“I know, I have a theory about that,” I say.
“You do?” he says cocking his head to the side.
“It was never about the job, it was about getting close to you, I think she planned it all Tristan. People who are sick like that, they can seem really...well normal, as though they are functioning properly.” Tristan shakes his head in disbelief.
“I think when she first saw you she saw her dead husband, I mean the likeness is uncanny don’t you think?” Reluctantly, he nods. He can't disagree with that, they could be twins. “I think she did everything she could to get close to you, I think you were her obsession and you still are.” I take a moment and let that sink in.
“I think she stalked you Tristan, that’s why you kept bumping into her. Then she tells you some cock and bull story about losing her job, so you offer her one, she knows that’s the best way to get close to you, in your life, and in less than a year, she’s also got the woman you love out of your life.”
CORAL - Fallen (A Romance Trilogy, Book 2) Page 44