Seduce Me (The Heart Series)

by Angela Estienne

  “Miss Williams if you could just excuse me for just one moment, I need to finish with Mr & Mrs Mitchell first.”

  “Yes certainly,” I replied. He then looked at Mr & Mrs Mitchell and said.

  “Your son has left very clear instructions, with you in mind. He knew you would turn your back on Miss Williams, should something ever happen to him. So with this now being a proven fact, thanks to Mrs Mitchell’s unprovoked slanderous verbal attack on Miss Williams in our reception area today. Witnessed by myself, Mrs Sarah Roberts, the receptionist and Mr Glynn Evans, a senior partner at this firm, he has made sure you cannot claim against anything in his estate. You come out of this with zero. Thank you for coming in today, but if you will please excuse me I need to sort out a lot more with Miss Williams.” He showed them out of the door. They stormed out shouting.

  “This is an outrage, we will see you in court Jasmine. You won’t get away with this you evil murderer.”

  Mr Russell took his seat again and looked at me.

  “Don’t worry, they cannot touch anything now, our company are in sole possession of his Last Will and Testament, they can try and sue, but they have no case, it would be totally futile.”

  “So did you set them up in the reception to gain proof that they hated me?”

  “Yes. Greg had predicted it. We talked in length about how best to get them to demonstrate their hatred for you. Greg knew that if we left you in the reception area together for long enough, one of them would cave in and start an unprovoked out burst on you. We just needed to set the scene for them to hang themselves. This was why we left you for so long in the reception area. We made sure you were offered a drink, they were not. Greg said it would have irritated them the fact that your needs were tended to and there’s wasn’t. I am really sorry about setting you up in the firing line, but we had to get the proof we needed or they could have made a claim against you for the money. All they would have to say to claim part of your inheritance in court was that they were friends with you still, they loved you like a daughter, things of that nature. That would have put doubt into the mix and they could have possibly won a case against you. But this way, we have three independent witnesses, like I say claiming now would be futile, you have an open and shut case. We also have video footage of the outburst. We have made absolutely sure that they can’t get to you, ever. I turned to Cat.

  “This was all a set up.” I was gob smacked, I didn’t know what to make of it all.

  “Now back to the important matters at hand, we need to set a yearly amount for you. How does a half a million a year sound to you?” I went all light headed and fell off the sofa onto the floor. When I came around Cat was tapping my face, she had smelling salts under my nose.

  “Jazz, Jazz are you all right? Here have a drink of water, you went so pale.”

  “Mr Russell can you get her a coffee please.”

  “Yes I can Miss Fisher.” He phoned through to the reception area and requested a coffee to be brought into me. I picked myself up off the floor just as my coffee arrived.

  “Here Jazz drink this, it will make you feel better.”

  “I am fine, sorry about that,” I said. I sat right back on the sofa so I had no chance of falling off again, Mr Russell continued.

  “I will need your bank details before you leave, so we can transfer your money, would you like it weekly, monthly or yearly?”

  “I . . . I . . . I . . .” I had lost the ability to speak.

  “Don’t worry Miss Williams, we can talk about that when we conclude today’s proceedings.” My brain was struggling to take it all in, all my conversation skills had now just leapt out of a window and deserted me.

  “He has also made a few personal requests of you, these are up to you clauses, they have no legal weight to them, but he would like you to follow his instructions, if possible. I will give you a print out of these at the end of our meeting.” I looked at Cat. I wasn’t sure of what was coming. She gave my hand a gentle squeeze, she looked at me and smiled.

  “1. On the anniversary of his death, each year, he would like you to light a candle, to celebrate his life.

  2. Don’t sit around and mope my death. Get out there and spread your joy around, share it.

  3. He wants you to move on with your life, he doesn’t want you to be alone and turn into a lonely old woman that has only got her cats for company, find someone else to love, sooner rather than later, don’t waste your precious life in mourning.

  4. Laugh every day. He said you have a beautiful smile, and I have to agree with him, you need to share your happiness around.

  5. Find someone that can help you with your charm bracelet! (She will know what you are talking about.)

  6. Keep on singing, don’t forget to sing like no one is listening, enjoy the moment and own it.

  7. Don’t build back your walls. Anyone who really, really loves you will let you bring your baggage into the relationship, they will embrace it as a part of you and your past.”

  I burst out crying, I couldn’t hold back any longer, Caitlin passed me a tissue.

  “This concludes today’s events, have you any questions for me Miss Williams?”

  “I am not sure, this was all so unexpected, I didn’t even know he had a Will, what will happen with the headstone now?”

  “Yes, we need that one taken care of immediately, could you please write down what you would like wrote on it, then I will have it taken care of on your behalf.” He passed me a piece of paper and a pen. I had already thought about what I would like it to say, so this was very easy for me.

  “Gregory Mitchell

  Aged: 23

  Born: 29 January 1984–Died 18 February 2007

  Beloved fiancé to Miss Jasmine Williams

  Son of George and Susan Mitchell

  Cruelly taken from us all before his time in a freak accident

  Sleep tight our beautiful angel”

  I passed him the piece of paper back.

  “I don’t just want a headstone, Greg deserves more than that. I want a monument to stand in its place, I want a black marble tomb stone placed on top of the grave site with white stones scattered around encased with a white and grey marbled edging stone. It will have gold writing engraved into the top of it with his picture underneath. Then I want a sad faced male fallen angel, mourning over it in stone, the maximum height must not exceed four feet. I will also require a flower stand at the foot of the statue.”

  “Very well Miss Williams, I will make all the necessary arrangements. When I have received the plans for the new monument made up, how about I email them too you? Then you can make any changes necessary before it is built and put in place.”

  “That sounds perfect, thank you Mr Russell.” I wrote down my email address for him.

  “Here take my card, if you have any concerns at all, please ring me. I am here for you. Now if I could just take those bank details off you, I can get on and transfer the monies into your account. I will deposit a one off first payment of two million today, if you can get back to me how you would like the rest, weekly etc. I am also authorised to make any one off lump sum payments if you are in need, for example, you need a car or buying a new house, I can free up any extra money that you may require, this will be on top of your yearly allowance. Remember this is your money, whatever you need ring me.” I took my purse out of my bag and handed him my debit card so he could take down my bank details, he handed it back to me and gave me a copy of Greg’s requests. I glanced at them again and the tears were getting ready to make another appearance. Cat handed me a tissue, I wiped my eyes. I stood up and shook his hand.

  “Thank you Mr Russell, I will be in touch soon,” I said. He turned to Cat.

  “Miss Fisher, if you think Miss Williams needs something, please call me. Greg had a feeling that she would be reluctant to contact this office if she really needed or wanted something.” He handed her his business card, she shook his hand and we left.

  When we got outside, I looked
at Cat.

  “Is this for real? Am I dreaming? What just happened?” She was lost for words as well. She looked at the business card, on the back Mr Russell had wrote. ‘Even if Jasmine doesn’t need anything, please call me, I would love to take you for coffee one day.’ I looked at Cat and laughed.

  “You have an admirer,” I said. She just shoved my arm and went to the car.

  “Cat can you drop me off in town? I have got something I need to do.”

  “Yeah sure, do you want me to come with you?”

  “No, I just need a bit of time alone.”

  “That’s cool.” She dropped me off and headed back home.

  Chapter 10

  My mind was still spinning as I walked around in a daze. Passing a local florist I picked up a bouquet of flower and headed over to the cemetery. I sat down on the grass, now I needed some alone time to talk to Greg. I placed the flowers on top of the soil.

  “Hi Greg, it’s me Jasmine.” I paused. I think I was waiting for his reply.

  “You were right about your parents, they turned on me. They are not very nice people, but they did make you so they can’t be all that bad. You have asked me to light a candle to remember you every year to celebrate your life. I will honour that, but I can’t move on, I love you and only you, I could never find the same happiness with anyone else. At that moment I got a cold chill running down my spine, turning around I saw Mr & Mrs Mitchell stood behind me.

  “What are you doing next to our son?” Mrs Mitchell asked.

  “Talking to my fiancé.”

  “You have no rights murderer,” she replied.

  “Whatever.”

  “You need to leave now, you have no rights to be here,” Mr Mitchell said.

  “That is where you are wrong. It looks like I have a lot more rights than you.”

  “You manipulated the Will reading, it is fraud what you have done,” she replied.

  “Why don’t you both go and take a long run off a very short pier and leave me alone for an eternity?”

  “You have not seen the last of us Jasmine,” he replied.

  “Pity,” I replied. They turned around and left me alone with Greg.

  “Greg I have to ask you, why on earth did you leave me alone?” I laid down next to the gravesite. Stretching my arm out I put it over where I thought his waist should be. I just wanted to be as close to him as I could be, “I love you sweetheart with all my heart, I don’t want your money, I want you back. Please come back to me, I will give anything if you will just come back to me.” My eyes filled with tears. “Greg please come back to me.” I felt so alone and heartbroken.

  “Jasmine.” I opened my eyes and Caitlin was stood over me.

  “Come on hun let’s get you back home.”

  “What time is it?”

  “7:30, you have been gone for hours, we were getting really worried about you babe. What have you been doing?”

  “Talking to Greg, I must have dropped off to sleep, sorry I didn’t mean to worry you.”

  “Don’t worry, let me just ring Dylan and let him know I have found you.”

  “Dylan, I have her, we will meet you back at home, bye.”

  We drove back to Cat’s house in silence, neither one of us knowing what to say to each other. Upon our return, she put the kettle on, I sat at the kitchen table, just looking around, and then Dylan walked into the kitchen.

  “What’s going on then?” He asked. Cat looked at me and I nodded in approval.

  “I found her at Greg’s grave, she had her arm across him, and she had fallen asleep.”

  “I am sorry Dylan, Cat, I didn’t mean to worry you both. Mr & Mrs Mitchell turned up and started with me. I needed to ask Greg why he left me.”

  “They turned up?” Dylan said.

  “Yes?”

  “Jazz hun what did they say to you?”

  “The usual shit, I had no rights to be there, you know that kind of crap.”

  “Don’t worry, you are safe, and that’s all that matters,” Dylan said. Caitlin put my drink down on the table. She walked over to the sink and filled a bowl with water.

  “Come on hun, let’s get your back sorted out.” I leaned forward and she lifted my t-shirt up.

  “Shit, Jazz what happened?” Dylan asked.

  “I had a slight break down and slid down a wall.” Caitlin started cleaning it up for me, shit it hurt more now than it did before.

  “There you go hun.”

  “Thanks Cat.”

  “So come on girls, what actually happened at the solicitors then?”

  “Well this young lady here is very brave,” she said. Teasing him.

  “So what happened then? Are they suing you? He took a seat at the table and held my hand.

  “No, it was Greg’s Last Will and Testament Reading.”

  “Oh is that all, why couldn’t they tell you that over the phone?” He replied.

  “Is that all?” Caitlin glared at him.

  “No I didn’t mean it like that. I really meant no disrespect Jasmine.” He squeezed my hand, “all I meant is why all the cloak and dagger stuff. Why did she need a meeting to find this out?”

  “Because Greg had put some clauses into it, his mum and dad were there, they get nothing,” Cat replied.

  “Seriously?”

  “Yep, absolutely nothing, Jazz gets it all.”

  “How come? I don’t understand. I must be missing something.” Cat sat at the table and explained everything to him on my behalf. I went off to get a shower, I was still in shock. I wonder why he never told me about how his parents really felt about me? And how come I didn’t know about his Will? Or the money from the accident? I was finding it hard to make sense of it all. I stepped into the shower and let the water wash over me. I burst out into tears again, I missed him so much. How could he expect me to move on? My heart belonged to Greg and Greg alone. I could never replace him, I wouldn’t want to.

  I walked downstairs and Dylan came up behind me and gave me a massive hug, he talked to me in my ear.

  “You were really brave, I am proud of you sis.”

  “I wasn’t brave I ran away, crying like a little baby.”

  “Yes, but then you went back up there, you faced them again. Hence, you were brave. Can I take a look at the requests Greg has made of you?”

  “Yeah sure.” He let go of me and we headed back to the kitchen, I got the piece of paper out of my handbag. We both sat at the kitchen table and he started to read the list.

  “Well this needs to be a celebration then, that’s what Greg wanted, I will ring for a table at Roses Steak House, my treat,” he said. Shit I nearly fell off my chair in shock, Dylan never paid for anything, he always managed to find a way out of it. As we were sat at the table, Cat looked over at me.

  “What’s troubling you babe?” She took hold of my hand.

  “He wants me to move on, I could never do that, my heart and soul belongs to Greg alone, I can’t replace him.”

  “It isn’t replacing him,” she replied.

  “It is. If I find someone new, then that takes away from the love we shared.”

  “You are so wrong Jasmine. You need to find someone else to share your life with. Greg is right. You have a beautiful personality. It needs to be shared around, enjoyed by other people. You need to find someone else that will complete you, just as Greg did. Don’t waste your life holding onto a dead man. Now is the time to move on. We will help you get through this, but just remember you could never replace Greg, he will remain in your heart until the day you die. That isn’t what this is about Jasmine, you would not be replacing him, you would be honouring him as a person, respecting his wishes, and getting on with your life.”

  “I am not sure. I would feel disloyal to Greg by moving on.”

  “I will leave it with you, but you are wrong, think about what I have said hun, it really is time now to move on.” She put the kettle on again and made us all a hot drink. My head was still spinning from the day’s event
s.

  By the time we went out for our meal, I was starting to feel a little better about what happened during the day. We had a lovely meal out and to my absolute surprise, Dylan really did pay. He even splashed out for a pudding for us, he said we deserved it after the amount of turmoil we had been put under today. Caitlin filled me in on what happened when I ran outside. Mr Russell and Caitlin both had a go at Mrs Mitchell. Mr Mitchell made the mistake of trying to justify his wife’s behaviour but Caitlin was taking none of it. She had some really choice words for them both. It made me smile. I wouldn’t like to be on the receiving end of Cat’s tongue. It could be quite pointy at times. I asked them not to breathe a word of this outside of their family, I knew they wouldn’t say anything, but I had to be sure, I didn’t want to tell a living soul about the money. When people found out I was wealthy I was sure it would change our relationships, people would pop out of the wood work. I also knew that Cat, Dylan and their parents would not be fazed by my newfound wealth, I was guaranteed to still be treated the same. Cat said she would come down the following weekend, to check up on me, so I now had that to look forward to, I couldn’t wait.

  I rung Mar on the Sunday, to ask if she minded Dylan staying with me for a couple of weeks, she had no problem with it at all, so we were all set.

  I got into my van to go back to Newtown. Dylan was taking his own car so he was going to follow me. I pulled over halfway through the journey, I needed a rest. We went into the restaurant. I ordered macaroni cheese and a cup of coffee. Dylan ordered fish, chips, mushy peas and a tea. We sat in complete silence. I think I was still in shock over yesterday’s events. I have never had an abundance of money, I always worked for what I had in life. I had thought about giving up work now I didn’t need to, but that wouldn’t be true to me. I maybe now didn’t need to work but I wanted to, I need to interact with people and have some self-worth, so I decided that I loved my jobs and would continue with them.