Seduce Me (The Heart Series)

by Angela Estienne

  “I am sorry Cat, I truly am, but I have been in contact with Dylan via text, and you knew about the house and the job.” I was back peddling so far. I really didn’t know if I was winning. I hated Cat being mad at me, it always gave me a cold chill in my stomach. “I couldn’t face anything anymore. Greg’s parents blamed me for the accident, they wanted me to die, not their son. I couldn’t stay in the house a moment longer, there were too many memories of Greg.” I heard her sigh. I could feel my tears forming again.

  “Just tell me you’re all right.” I let out a long breath, thank god, I am off the hook, we would be fine now. At least I hadn’t destroyed our friendship.

  “I am.”

  “So what’s this new job then?”

  “Delivering parcels, I start on Monday.” She burst into fits of laughter.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You, delivering parcels, you are rubbish at directions.” I knew she was right, but I had to give it a go.

  “I will be fine.”

  “I know you will be, I hope you will enjoy it.”

  “Thanks Cat.”

  “Greg’s parents have been trying to get in touch with you.”

  “Why would they want to talk to me? They made their true feelings for me as clear as day. We have nothing to discuss.” I was trying to shut the conversation down but failing.

  “Look Jazz, all they told me was if I was in touch with you, could I pass on a phone number for you to ring.” I jotted down the number, but it wasn’t theirs, so who could it be?

  “I received two bouquets of flowers from that H.H person, are you sure you don’t know who it is? It is getting frustrating not knowing.”

  “I really don’t hun, I am totally clueless, if I knew I would tell you, I am dying to find out who it is.”

  “Get in line sister, I need to know first.” We said our goodbyes and I promised to be in touch. She said she was going to come and see me soon, that put a smile on my face. I missed her so much. I felt happier now I had spoken to her.

  So who could this number belong too? Two mysteries in just over one week. I still couldn’t figure out who the flowers were from, now I had a phone number to worry about, I hated not knowing. The more I thought about it, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to ring the mystery number. I didn’t want anything to do with it, as it was connected to Greg’s parents. If I never saw them again it would be too soon. But my curiosity took over as the night progressed. First thing tomorrow, I would ring and find out for sure.

  I lay on my bed staring up at the ceiling. I used to play a game with Greg, guess that song in three seconds. It was a lot of fun, but it brought back memories. I am not sure how long I cried for listening to our favourite songs. I refused to stop listening to them just because I found it hard. I would have to get used to it. I put my headphones in, I loved music, it always gave me something to hang onto in a way. The artists always seemed to sing to me directly. I loved singing along, although I was garbage at it, a drowned cat sounded better than me, but I didn’t care I was on my own, so I let rip.

  I woke up sweating, clinging onto my chest, panting, I was finding it hard to breathe. God I wish I could get rid of these nightmares. They were haunting my dreams. Not one night had passed without the same outcome. I ran into the bathroom, ditching my clothes on the floor as I headed into the shower. Whilst I was stood there, I had the nightmare replaying in my mind. Why couldn’t I remember the accident? I doubted I would ever get my memory back from that night. I was upside down in the car. My seatbelt was still fastened. My head hurt. I reached up with my hand to hold it, but it felt wet, I looked down at my hand and it was covered in blood. As I was in the shower I actually took a look at my hands. I fell to the shower floor and cried, I could see flashing blue lights out of the corner of my eye, I could hear sirens in the distance then loud screaming, but I wasn’t sure from who. It goes silent. I then hear voices talking quietly. “This wasn’t my fault, I was trying to lose the paparazzi, they are hounding me, because of you. This is your mess, not mine.” I can’t see any faces. I turn to my right and see Greg, his head, No! No! It can’t be right, his head is almost out of the windscreen. No! . . . And then it all goes dark. I start to realise tiny bits are starting to come back to me. Every so often a new bit of the puzzle falls into place, but I wasn’t sure if I could take any more of these ghostly images. I got out of the shower and went back to bed. I fell into a restless, disturbing sleep.

  The following morning, I sat down to ring the mystery number. But I felt emotionally weak. The nightmare last night had drained me. I didn’t really want to ring it, so I put my laptop on the table, pulled up my play list, I need a song to give me some strength. I found the perfect song, Metallica–Don’t Tread On Me. This was a, ‘don’t think of giving me any shit kind of song,’ it always made me feel stronger.

  After listening to it I took in a deep breath and dialled the number. A female voice came onto the phone.

  “Good morning, Fry & Hill Solicitors.” Oh crap! Why would I have to ring a solicitor? Don’t tell me Greg’s parents are suing me for living.

  “Hi, I have been asked to ring you by Mrs S Mitchell, but I have no idea why.”

  “Can I take your name please?” Now was this a trick question? Do I give her my name? Or do I hang up and forget about this? In for a penny and all that rubbish, I thought.

  “Miss Jasmine Williams,” I replied.

  “One moment, I will transfer you to Mr Russell,” she replied. I waited on the line for a few moments then I heard a man’s voice talking to me.

  “Hello Miss Williams, you are a very difficult lady to get hold of, I wondered if we could set up a meeting?”

  “Can you not tell me over the phone what the nature of your business is with me?” His voice dipped quite low.

  “I am sorry Miss Williams, I am unable to do that, we can only deal with this issue face to face.” I thought about it for a few moments weighing up my options. If I didn’t make the appointment I would send myself mad thinking about what it could have been about.

  “Fine.” So I made an appointment for the following Saturday, at 11:10 a.m. at his office. This was crazy, I would have to wait a full week before I found out what it was all about. I didn’t think I could last that long, I hated not knowing.

  I phoned Cat to let her know what had transpired. She agreed it seemed to be a big mystery, but at least I was going to get to see her next weekend. I told her I would book into a local hotel, but she wasn’t having any of that! I was going to stay at her place, no amount of arguing was going to change her mind, but it would be good to spend time with her again.

  Later on, I had a phone call from Rangers coffee shop on Seven Road. It was a chance for another part time job in the afternoons, they wanted me to go at 4:20 this afternoon, it sounded great. I went for a quick shower, got my hair done and tied it up in a bun for this interview. It was a cold day so I chose some smart grey dress trousers and a white blouse, with a full-length black cardigan.

  I arrived in the nick of time for the interview. Mrs Lana Lloyd was the manager. She offered me a part time position, serving coffee and making light snacks for customers, 2:00–6:00 p.m. Monday–Thursday and every other Saturday 9:00–11:30 a.m. My official title was a Barista. I preferred the term coffee maker. I never liked fancy titles, it just wasn’t true to my personality. I explained I had prior commitments this Saturday coming, and I had no way of changing my plans as I would be out of town, she said it wasn’t a problem and she would put me on a week on Saturdays rota instead. I asked her what I would need to wear, she told me a uniform would be provided. I thanked her and left.

  I felt really happy, now I had secured two part time jobs. This was working out a lot better than I could have hoped for. I now would not have to dip into any of my savings again. I would have no problem paying my rent, if I was still shrewd with my money. I might even have a little bit left over for my rainy day pot.

  By the time I got home I was feel
ing really tearful. I wanted to share my good fortune with Greg, I was still missing him so much it hurt, he completed me. I felt like a shell of a person now. I needed him to hold me and tell me everything was going to work out for the best. I needed to feel his skin next to mine as we lay in bed together. I would put my ear on his chest and listen to his heart beating, I needed to feel him inside of me as well, he was a fabulous lover, such a thoughtful partner, never leaving me before he had satisfied my appetite.

  I got interrupted from my trip down memory lane by a loud knock at the door. I sat on my bed trying to ignore it. It would be only sales people anyway. Then the knock came again and then again, they were not giving up. So eventually I got up to answer it. There was a huge bunch of flowers waiting for me and a red heart shaped balloon that said congratulations in bold black writing. I took them off the delivery driver.

  “Excuse me, can you tell me who placed the order for these flowers?”

  “I am sorry Miss I am just a delivery driver.”

  “Thanks anyway.” I walked into the kitchen and opened the envelope.

  “Congratulations on your second new job.

  All my love H.H.”

  I sat at the table and stared at them in disbelief, I really needed to find out who H.H was, I had to tell them . . . Tell them what smart ass? My brain said. I don’t know, tell them to stop it I suppose. But wait a minute how do they know about my new job, I only got it four hours ago. This wasn’t making any sense to me at all. Was someone following me? If so why? But then, how would they know about the accident? Far too many unanswered questions to figure it out today. I headed upstairs to try and catch up on my sleep, with all my nightmares it was leaving me feeling exhausted. I didn’t want to feel like this with my new jobs to look forward to. I put my headphones in and gently drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 5

  Monday morning arrived fast. I was all excited, starting two new jobs in one day. This was hopefully going to work out great for me. Rachel was waiting for me at the front door.

  “Morning Jazz,” she said. She was so bubbly.

  “Good morning Rachel,” I replied.

  “Are you nervous?”

  “A little.” I had to admit.

  “I know you are going to enjoy it, I have a good feeling about you.”

  “I have another job this afternoon as well, so my insides are turning like a washing machine at the minute.”

  “You will be fine. Mr Earnest has partnered you with Zale Sarantos the Greek god. He will be showing you the ropes for your first week, so you have nothing to worry about.”

  “Greek god!” I replied. Lifting my eyebrows.

  “We will talk later, let’s get you sorted out first.” Her cheeks turned crimson. Nice reassurance. She showed me to the changing rooms.

  “Wow not bad!” it was spotless, with a large tiled floor and birch slatted benches in the middle of the room, “now this is my kind of place, it is similar to a gym I went to a few years ago.

  “This is your locker. You’ve been assigned number twenty-three. Here are your keys. In through that door there is a shower, so if you need to use it feel free, but you will need to bring your own towel and soaps etc. I have left your uniform on the bench, you can get changed in the shower room.” She took a seat on the bench. So I went off to get ready.

  My uniform was nice and simple, black trousers, red t-shirt embroidered in black, with the company logo on the left hand side, and a black cap with a logo on the front. They had also provided me with a lightweight raincoat in blue. I put my comfortable trainers on and that completed the new look. I pulled off the uniform quiet well I thought, giggling to myself. I walked out of the shower area, and put my clothes away in the locker, Rachel stood up.

  “Wow you look totally different.”

  “Good or bad different?”

  “What do you mean good or bad? It is going to be good. The uniform really does suit you. Come on let me show you the coffee room.”

  We headed off down the hall and entered a small room. It had a table and chairs sat in the middle and a work surface on the far wall with a kettle. Next to it sat three caddies for the tea, coffee, and sugar. Rachel opened up a cupboard and took out a couple of mugs.

  “Come on in, take a seat, would you like a drink before you start?”

  “Yes please, that would be lovely, coffee, white with no sugar.” Under the counter sat a small fridge, the place was kitted out really well, I was impressed.

  “We have a pot over here.” She picked up a small tin and gave it a shake, “we all contribute one pound a week, that covers the cost for any drinks we have during the week.”

  “What a great idea.” She brought the drink over and took a seat next to me. As the other employees came in, she introduced them all. They appeared to be a lovely bunch of people. Then I saw Rachel’s eyes light up, I turned around to see what she was looking at.

  “This is Zale,” she said. Dark brown long hair, it looked almost black, he had it tied up in a ponytail. European skin, very tall and thin. He reminded me of a male model. Very easy on the eyes I thought. Her whole face lit up when she said his name.

  “Hi Zale, nice to meet you, I am Jasmine, but please call me Jazz, everyone does.”

  “Nice to meet you Jazz. I will be walking you through your first week of deliveries. I hope you are a fast learner. You have only got me for one week, there is just not enough of Zale to go around so many people.” He appeared very sure of himself, not short on the self-confidence front, but he was pleasant enough.

  “No need to worry about little old me. I am a very fast learner if I have the right teacher that is.” Nice comeback Jazz, 1–0 to you. He burst out laughing. Well he was obviously a very witty fellow, we should get on fine.

  “Shall we get going? It will be a long morning for you.”

  “I am ready. Let’s get this show on the road.” I stood up and followed him. Rachel’s eyes had not left him for one second.

  We went around to the back of the building and he picked up a clipboard off a nail on the wall.

  “This is our hit list for the day.” He walked over to a counter and picked up a scanner.

  “Every parcel we have to deliver has a bar code on it, all you need to do is match the barcodes, one from the parcel and one on this paper work. When we deliver the parcels the customer has to sign next to the right barcode on your paperwork, are you getting all of this?”

  “Yep, match barcodes, and get a paw print on the paperwork.”

  “Good, well done!” A bit patronising, he really is full of himself.

  “Next thing, you need to stack the van, all your parcels will be on a trolley ready for you to take to the van, check them off as you load up.”

  “Cool got it.” I followed him as he walked off.

  “Now this is your trolley, your name is written on the top of the work sheet. Next to it is a code, the code on the trolley matches the paperwork, so we know we are choosing the correct one.” Code, paperwork, not so hard. He wheeled the trolley over to a van.

  “Now if it is a busy morning, you could have two or even three trolleys to load up. The top of the paper work will also tell you this information. This is van number 1809, it is written on a plate next to the licence number. This will be your own personal delivery van, you will always keep this one. If it is not working you will be informed which substitute van you would be expected to take out,” 1809, 1809, need to remember this. 1809 “load your parcels into the van, you may want to put them in sheet order, it will make your job easier in the long run. Once loaded, you are expected to have a run through of your van.”

  “Run through?” Under all the paper work was a separate sheet of paper.

  “This is your tick list, this is really important so don’t forget. Now we need to do as the check list says.” He walked around the van.

  “No scratches or dings, so tick it off. All mirrors accounted for, so tick it off. No cracks or chips in the windscreen. Tyres look g
ood. No cracks, lots of tread, don’t forget to tick it all off.” He headed inside the van and switched the engine on. He started hitting the light buttons. He got back out of the van, and walked around it again, “indicators working. Lights working properly. Perfect, so tick it off your list. If you do find a problem, you must write it on this sheet, before you leave the yard. Are you getting all of this?”

  “Yep, it’s straight forward.”

  “Next you need to check the oil and water levels. Don’t forget about the screen wash. This is one of your responsibilities,” he opened up the bonnet and checked the fluid levels, “now you won’t have to worry about the fuel levels, every night they get refilled, so don’t even give it a thought. Once you have finished drop your checklist off in this pigeonhole before you leave. Now you are all set to go.”

  “So what happens if the van won’t start?”

  “Good question Jazz. If you are not happy with anything on the van or it will not start then you need to walk over to that green phone on the wall and press three. A maintenance person will come out and a) either sort out the problem or b) find you a new van.” Surely it would be better to do the checks before loading the van! But, who am I to argue?

  The morning went really well. It was a fun job to have. Zale introduced me to many people, he was a popular man. We arrived back at the office at 12:15 and Rachel was there to meet me.

  “Do you want to go for some lunch?” she asked.

  “I would love to, I need to fill out the last bits of paperwork first.”

  At 12:30, we set off for our lunch. We ended up at an Italian restaurant. Nice atmosphere, small and cosy. We took a table and ordered. I went for chicken fettuccini, and a glass of water, while Rachel chose a seafood special pizza, and a glass of orange juice. We hit it off straight away, she was down to earth, no fancy frills or corners, the way I liked a friend to be. She had fiery red hair, green eyes, and a pale complexion. She was about 5 ft. 4” and had a very loud dress sense, but it suited her personality. I was glad I had met someone I could get on with so soon. It made me feel a bit more secure about my decision to move to a new town.