The Billionaire Saved My Life - The Finale

by Sherie Keys

  “So he's not hanging out at home?”

  “Not as far as I know. I haven't tried to contact him because he expressly said not to under any circumstances. Not even if the whole building caught fire and those were his precise words.”

  “But surely he must have some kind of safeguard in case of a proper emergency or crisis with the company?”

  “That's why he left Bill in charge.”

  Just then a tall, sandy haired man emerged from Kurtis's office and smiled.

  “Everything all right, Edith?” It was Bill.

  “Yes sir, I was just telling Catherine...you remember Catherine?”

  “Of course I do.” Bill shook Catherine's hand.

  “I was just saying that we have no details about Mr Reed's whereabouts.” Edith looked to him and then at Catherine.

  “It's quite true, Catherine, he's given me a lasting power of attorney to run all his business affairs until his return, but never said when that would be.”

  “Right,” Catherine said, backing away. “Well, thank you anyway.” She headed to the elevator and then turned back once more. “But if he calls, shows up, anything, please let him know that I need to talk to him. And he'll like what I have to say this time.”

  She left Reed Records with a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. She hoped he hadn't done anything foolish. Just as she'd been laying low in her apartment for almost a week she wondered if Kurtis might be doing the same. Tanya seeing them kissing like that had obviously driven a bigger rift between them and maybe he was mourning her refusal to ever see him again.

  Catherine was even more determined to see him now. She had a lot to explain to him. She wasn't hoping for thanks but she was hoping that what she had to say would help him move on with his life the way she hoped she could do in time. At the plush building in which Kurtis held the top floor penthouse suite, Catherine entered the foyer. And, as she'd expected, the security team were hot to block her path.

  “It's okay,” she said. “I come in peace. I know Mr Reed has cautioned you about letting me have free access, but I wondered if you could just let him know I'm here. Maybe he could come down. I'll talk to him on the street if needs be.”

  “Sorry, Miss, no can do,” one guard said.

  “No can what...?” Catherine said. “I promise I won't be making a scene, but this is a very important meeting I need to have with Mr. Reed.”

  “Sorry, but Mr. Reed is not up there.”

  “Do you know when to expect him back?”

  “Can't say. He'd packed a few cases and he was on his way to the airport.”

  “The airport? To go where?” Catherine was surprised by this news.

  “Couldn't say, Miss.”

  “Couldn't or won't?” she demanded.

  “All we know is, the dust sheets are down on all the furniture and any deliveries have been canceled and that's all we know.”

  Catherine sighed and looked down. Kurtis had done a disappearing act. Now what was she to do with the information she had about the boat accident, and all the things she needed to confess to him about?

  She walked out onto the street in a daze. The late morning was stifling and dusty. She hated the city in the summer time and longed for the cooler weather. But she was now at a loss about what to do and where she might be able to find Kurtis to deliver her confession. She could search a thousand and one places and never be able to locate him. There was one last thing she could do, one last person to see, and she would be able to unburden herself of the lies and betrayal that she had been involved in. The sordid web of lies that had been keeping her awake at night.

  ***

  The evening was going well at Tanya's new place. They managed to get the music going and were drinking non-stop. It was a Friday night, and Tanya had taken a day off work the next day, and the other girls didn't have any obligations, so they could all just let their hair down.

  They had been talking about Mae and her boyfriend. They'd been together for a few months now and they teased her about her sex life and wondered when he was going to pop the question.

  “If anyone is popping any questions it will be me,” Mae declared. “That man has never once mentioned me meeting his folks.”

  “What?” Kaya said. “You need to send out a detective on this guy, find out if he's legit. You sure he ain't married or something?”

  “I've been to his place plenty times, he's not married.”

  “And on all of those plenty times, did you get laid in the bedroom or on the sofa?”

  “Kaya!”

  “No, I have to ask. I went out with a guy whose girlfriend worked shifts. She had that long hair that sheds a lot and I realized we always made love on the sofa or the floor in the living room whenever we went to his place – which wasn't nearly as often as he came to mine. I realized later he kept me out of his bedroom so I didn't find her hair on the pillow.”

  “So how did you find out in the end that he had a girlfriend?” Jeannie asked. “Did she walk in on you?”

  “Well, one night, he went to the bathroom and I crept into the bedroom to surprise him, taking my clothes off, all seductive like. I pull back the covers and I see this long hair on the pillow. I pick it up and go rushing to the bathroom and barge in on him. You know what he's doing?”

  “No.”

  “He's hiding his girlfriend’s tampons and birth control in the laundry basket so I don't see it when I go to use the can.”

  “And what did you do?” Jeannie said, eyes wide.

  “I grabbed a tampon and shoved it up his nose. Then I staked his place for a 24 hour period so I could catch up with his girlfriend and I told her everything; all about his cheating ass when she was out at work in the hospital. She was a nurse. I only hoped she knew something about poison.”

  “Our Kaya doesn't hold back when it comes to men who cheat.”

  The room went silent after this comment by Mae and all eyes were on Tanya.

  “Stop looking at me like that and let's order some Chinese. I'm still hungry.”

  Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

  “Do you think the Chinese restaurant has your apartment bugged?” asked Mae. They all collapsed in fits of laughter and there was another knock on the door.

  “I better get that,” Tanya said getting up. “Maybe it's a neighbor complaining about the noise.”

  Tanya opened the door and there stood Catherine.

  “What the hell...?”

  “Before you slam the door in my face, I've got a few things to say. Things you really need to know.”

  Tanya was speechless. She saw the desperate look in Catherine's eyes and turned to see the reaction of the other girls.

  “Let her in,” Jeannie said. “It can't hurt.”

  Tanya stood back and watched Catherine from head to toe as she entered the apartment but only stood inches from the door.

  “First of all,” Tanya said, “how did you know where to find me?”

  Catherine looked over at Jeannie.

  “Don't look at me,” Jeannie said.

  “No, I've just come from Jeannie's. A little bird told me you'd been staying there. One of your staff said you were in Brooklyn and I managed to get the address with a little gentle persuasion.”

  “My big mouthed staff, I need to teach them some things about discretion.” Jeannie shook her head.

  “I lied,” Catherine said. “I told them I was supposed to be meeting up with you and said I thought you were still at home. So they let me have the address.”

  “How did you get up here without the intercom?” Mae said.

  “Oh, I waited half an hour for someone to leave, and then found your name on the mailbox.” Catherine put her head down. Kaya turned off the music and turned the lights up.

  “You went to great lengths to find me,” Tanya said. “Did you think Kurtis would be here?”

  “No, I discovered he was out of town. No one knows where he's gone to or when he'll be back.”

 
“Really?” Tanya looked at Jeannie. “So what was so urgent you had to play detective and find my apartment?”

  “May I sit down?”

  “No. Just say what you have to say and leave.”

  “I understand. I know you must think this strange but I... I spoke to James McConnagh and, well...” She swallowed. “First of all, Tanya, I was there the night James took you from that wine bar. I helped him get you back to your apartment and I was the one who sent you all a text to say Tanya was all right and had taken a taxi home. And I was the one who sent that text to Kurtis to get him over to your old apartment.”

  “You sly bitch!” Kaya stood up again.

  “Wait,” Tanya interjected. “Why now? Why are you coming clean all of a sudden?”

  “Because I've ruined two lives. I had mine ruined and I was angry, bitter. I was so in love with Kurtis. He was my world and when I got my memory back, he was all I really knew. I needed to have him back. James said he would help me. I flew out to LA to try to get into his bed and he didn't want to know. I took the picture outside his room seconds after he threw me out.” She sighed.

  “Go on.”

  “Well after that, I saw red and that was when the whole set up at the wine bar had to take place. If I couldn't get him into bed I had to get you out off the scene to give me a fighting chance. I didn't know any other way and then when James came up with the plan...”

  “Why are you telling her this?” Mae said. “It's too late now.”

  “No,” Catherine said, turning to Tanya. “If I knew where Kurtis was I'd tell him I saw you on the bridge in Central Park that day before I grabbed him and started kissing him. I was mad with him, I was angry at you; you two had destroyed my life.”

  “Catherine it wasn't planned. Can't you see that?”

  “Yes, I see that now and that's why I'm here.”

  “You and James McConnagh were made for each other.” Jeannie said.

  “You're so wrong,” Catherine said. “I found out a few things about James. I don't even come close to that lying bastard. I'm trying to prove that you, to myself, I'm not like him. You have no idea what he's done. If I knew where Kurtis was I'd tell him the whole shameful truth. But I don't know where he is. Do you, Tanya?”

  “I have no idea,” Tanya said.

  “But I do.” They all looked at Jeannie.

  “You know where Kurtis had disappeared to?” Tanya whispered.

  “Yes, but I didn't think it was worth telling you. You didn't want anything to do with him. And you still don't...do you?”

  “I don't know any more.” Tanya sat on the floor and Mae stroked her hair.

  “Surely what Catherine has just told you changes everything,” said Mae.

  “It changes a lot of things,” Tanya said. “It doesn't change the fact that I love Kurtis with every bone in my body and it's tearing me apart that I can't see him.”

  The girls rushed around her as Catherine edged to the door.

  “I'll go now,” she said in a quiet voice.

  “You do just that,” Jeannie said. As soon as the door was closed, Jeannie turned to Tanya. “He's gone back to his father's home. He's in California contemplating the life of a wine merchant, can you believe? He's actually thinking about going back to his roots.”

  Tanya grinned. “He'll never get on in the countryside. He's a city boy, through and through.”

  “Well, why don't you fly down and tell him that?”

  The Final Chapter

  Tanya sat on the plane. Her stomach was tying itself into knots, untying for just a brief moment and knotting straight back up again. She did not touch her in flight drink or meal and could not settle to look at a magazine or read a book. Instead, she just stared out of the window and tried to picture in her mind, Kurtis's reaction to her just showing up at his father's country home in California.

  The temperature was sweltering when she landed. She had on a short, floral, summer dress but the heat still sapped her of energy and she had to rent a car for the next part of her journey. Tanya was sure she knew how to get to his father's place; it was an easy route she remembered. Just follow the road and in an hour she'd be there.

  It was late in the afternoon when she pulled up in front of the large white house with a sloping slate roof and brown wooden shutters over the large windows. Tanya's legs were weak as she mounted the steps up to the front door, and she had to calm her breathing before ringing the doorbell. There was a loud chime as soon as she released her finger, which made her jump and almost want to run back to the car.

  A woman dressed in a maid's uniform opened the door.

  “Yes?” the maid had a big warm smile that helped put Tanya at her ease, but only slightly.

  “I'm here to see Mr. Reed.”

  “Would that be senior or junior?” Well at least she knew he was there. It hadn't been a wasted journey.

  “Um, junior, please.”

  “Please come in, I'll just call him for you.”

  Tanya stood in the hallway and immediately her heart began to bang in the cavity of her chest. She was sure it could be heard and tried to practice some yoga breaths she learned a while ago. Just then, Kurtis's father, Henry, came out.

  “Tanya, Tanya, Tanya. How are you my dear? It seems like a long time but it hasn't really been has it?” He hugged Tanya and his girlfriend, Carla, followed him into the hallway.

  “Oh, Tanya, it's so good to see you again,” Carla said.

  “Well, it's good to be back.” Tanya wondered if they knew about what had happened between her and Kurtis that summer in New York.

  “I expect you've come to see Kurtis?” Henry said.

  “I did. Is he here?”

  “He went out for a walk,” his father said. “Been moping around like a hormonal teenager since he got here. He told us what happened and I've been trying to get him to call you but he said it was for the best if he left you alone.”

  “I suppose he was right. I probably wouldn't have wanted to see him. But a lot has changed,” Tanya said.

  “Please tell me you're about to put a smile on that boy's face.” His father put an arm around her shoulder.

  “I hope I can,” Tanya said.

  “You'll find him out on the western pasture. Not sure what he does there all day, but that's where he'll be if he's anywhere. You know how to get there? Just go back to the main road, turn left and when you see a white, painted fence, drop the car off and go in through the gate. He favors a sycamore tree just a little way in. He'll probably be sitting there until supper time.”

  “Thank you,” said Tanya.

  “Wait, honey,” Carla said. “Don't you want to freshen up first?”

  “Oh, don't get in the way of the lovebirds,” said Henry. “Go on, Tanya, we'll see you later.”

  She got into the car a lot less shaky than when she'd first arrived. At least Henry and Carla were on her side. She found the white, painted fence and pulled over onto the side of the road and let herself in through the gate.

  The land on the western pasture was rich and green. She waded her way through long grass to the first tree she could see. Henry said she'd find Kurtis under a sycamore but she had no idea what one might look like so she planned to cover every possible tree she could see there.

  Just up ahead she saw a figure sitting under a large tree whose branches were like a canopy. She recognized the man under the tree straight away. Kurtis's profile was in view as he sat leaning up against the wide bark of the sycamore. There was a slight breeze rustling the long grass so he did not hear her until she was very close by.

  He turned and looked at her, stunned into silence at first.

  “Kurtis, hi. I came.” She stopped a few feet away from him.

  Kurtis sprang to his feet and rushed towards Tanya. He stopped in front of her without touching her. “Does this mean?” he said.

  Tanya nodded. “I'm sorry I was so stubborn.”

  “No, Tanya, I'm sorry I was a blind idiot who couldn't see that
I had the woman of my dreams right there and my stupidity allowed me to let you slip away from me.”

  “I'm back, Kurtis. Back and I want it to stay that way.”

  “Oh, me too.” Finally, he held her and would not let go. “But, how,” he said, still holding her tight.

  “You'll never believe it, but we have Catherine to thank for me being here. I'll tell you the whole story, but not now.”

  They kissed. A deep passionate kiss that left an already emotional Tanya quite heady.

  “I've missed you so much, Tanya. You won't believe how much.”

  “I'm pretty sure I can guess.”

  He kissed her gently and fell to his knees, hugging her waist and closing his eyes. Tanya got down onto the grass, lay on her back and Kurtis joined her. Lying beside her he stroked her cheek, her bare arms and across her breast until his hands rested on the front buttons of her dress. He unfastened the top few and caressed her naked bosoms, pulling more of the buttons apart and biting into the soft skin of her upper abdomen. He kissed her stomach as she lay back with eyes closed, stroking the back of his neck. He pulled up the short skirt of her summer dress.

  “Let me,” she said, and hooked her fingers into the elastic waist of her panties. “I'm hoping no one can see us here.” She giggled as she lowered them and pulled Kurtis on top of her.

  “No one here for miles, don't worry.”

  She unbuttoned his shirt to reveal the taught, bulging muscles of his naked torso. She'd missed that body. She raised hers slightly to kiss his chest before sinking back onto the grass to undo his jeans. He helped the process along. They were hungry for each other, kissing and touching all parts of the other's body and rolling closer to the tree until Tanya was on top.

  She lowered her breast into his mouth and sighed with deep pleasure as she felt his tongue and teeth clasp the rippled disks of her nipples. She arched into him, contorting her body into the pulsing grooves of his lower body. She had to have him inside her.

  He was on top of her now, feeling the calling between her legs, he sank into her and sighed, looking dazed, into her eyes before beginning to thrust with all he had. The weeks of separation were evident in that meadow. Their love making lasted well into evening when the sun began to dip beneath the tree tops until it was out of sight.