A Jar of Dreams

by Cartharn, Clarissa

  “I’ll help you to the door, Miss Anne,” the tall, lanky driver said as he hurriedly made his way out of his seat and to her side.

  “That’s fine, Henry.” She smiled. “I may not come so often now but I still remember the way inside.”

  “Forgive me, Miss Anne, but just this one time, for old time’s sake,” the driver insisted politely.

  She chuckled and took his elbow. “You say that each time I visit Dad.”

  Henry smiled. “We all miss you in the house. It’s been a lot quieter since you moved out.”

  “You can’t hold me responsible for all the noise in the house, Henry,” she teased.

  “There’s no one to play the piano.”

  “Doesn’t Julia sneak in to play it anymore?” she said, recalling how her maid would wait for her father to leave the house before she would prance off towards the living room hosting her mother’s grand piano.

  “She does, sometimes,” he confessed. “But it still isn’t the same without you.”

  He stopped by a door and turned open the door knob.

  “Your room, Miss Anne,” he said.

  “Thank you, Henry. How long is it before the guests start arriving?”

  “About an hour, Miss. I’ll send Julia up to help you with your make-up.”

  He closed the door behind him as he left. Anne pulled in a deep, long breath. It was the same familiar smell of her old bedroom. She walked the length of her dresser, running her hands over it. Everything was exactly as it was placed when she had left the house. She smiled. Her father was still hoping she would return one day. He had never been pleased when she had announced that she wanted her independence.

  “You could achieve the same without leaving the house,” he had growled. “I don’t see why you need to live on your own to do that.”

  She sighed. She supposed she would return one day. After all, she had practically grown up with all the employees in the house. There was Henry of course. And Julia the housekeeper, Maddie, the cook and Jason, the quiet groundskeeper. They were people she had lived with all her life, and trusted with all her being. She couldn’t imagine growing old without them.

  She opened the door to her walk-in wardrobe. She could still remember how she had helped design it all those years ago. Her hangings, her shelves, her drawers- they were all placed carefully and where she had wanted them.

  She ran her hands through her dresses. She would enjoy twirling in them, marveling at how they looked on her. She didn’t think she could fit into it anymore. She scrunched her mouth. It was time she donated them away to charity. Someone was bound to love them like she had done.

  “Miss Anne?” Julia called from inside her bedroom.

  “I’m in here, Julia,” she replied.

  The housekeeper followed her voice into the wardrobe.

  “They’re still here, Julia,” Anne said.

  “Yes, Miss.”

  “What about my watches and jewelry?”

  “They’re all here, just as you had left them.”

  “We should think about giving them away.”

  The other woman swallowed nervously. “I don’t know, Miss. Your father won’t let us touch anything in your room except to clean it once in a while. He refuses to give away any of Mrs. Mullen’s stuff away as well.”

  Anne picked a dress out and placed it against her front. “It’s been twelve years since Mom passed away.” She sighed. “Dad does find it hard to let go of the past.”

  “The poor man has endured a lot in his life,” Julia said sorrowfully.

  “People die, some fall ill or go blind like me. The rest have to continue living. That’s the circle of life. If we hang on so desperately onto the past, we become mannequins of the dead. Living and yet not alive in every sense of the word.”

  “Mr Mullen can be stubborn, Miss.”

  “And that’s what makes him a great business man.” Anne smiled. “I’ll talk to him and try and knock some sense into him.”

  “Is my Dad back yet from his meeting?” she asked Julia.

  “He should be, Miss. Henry delivered his suit to his office earlier in the evening so I’m guessing he’ll change there before he returns home.”

  “Maybe I’ll go check on him then,” she said, pulling out her cane. “He does know I am here, right?”

  “Henry would have told him.”

  Anne nodded. “I’ll take a walk about the house. If he is home, I should catch him in his study.”

  Anne strolled out into the aisle and down the stairs. The caterers bustled about her, trying to tie the final ends of the party together as quickly as they could. She heard some of them whisper, taking interest in the blind daughter of the very wealthy host of the party. When she was a teen, their talk would have unsettled her a lot. But now she would simply brush them aside, growing a thick and hard skin to such rumors and gossip.

  She left behind the caterers and ambled into a more private wing of the house and towards her father’s study. She heard a loud and deep chuckle and recognized that it belonged to her Dad. She smiled. That could only mean he was in a fresher and nicer mood for his party. It wasn’t so often her father threw such a lavish one as the one today. This had to be a special occasion and she couldn’t wait to find out the reason.

  Another deep voice boomed from within the study and she realized that there was someone with him. Was he in another meeting? She hesitated, deliberating on whether she should disturb them. She could always talk to him later, she decided. She would definitely catch him during the party, although she would have loved to have had a chat with him on their own. He was usually more at ease when no one was around. He always did feel that he was under constant scrutiny from everyone about him. She supposed she would have been the same if she hadn’t lost her sight. She didn’t have to worry about people looking at her any more.

  She turned to walk away again when she heard her name.

  “What if Anne doesn’t want to?” the other man said.

  “Yes, Anne can be stubborn,” her father replied. “It’s unfortunate she’s taken after me in those respects and not her mother’s. It would have done her the world of good if she was even the slightest bit pliant.”

  “You make it sound as if you are proud of her stubbornness.”

  “I am. She is my child after all. My only one.” Philip Mullen hesitated. “That is why I am very cautious about this, Andy. She might not want this marriage if she hears that it was arranged. I am worried that she will rebel, and most possibly even try running away.”

  Andrew Bradley coughed. “I doubt she will. Isn’t she dependent on you because of her… um… situation?”

  “That’s what’s concerning. Anne is anything but dependent on anybody. I’m hoping Nicholas will help make a turn around.”

  “He indeed will. I can assure you of that. This merger is not just of business, Philip. I’m so glad we will be family soon.”

  She heard the clang of glasses. Cheering to their new association, she supposed. A chill swept through her, her body tensing with the rage she was feeling against her father.

  Her father had basically sold her off. He had used her like some currency to further his business acquisitions. How dare he?! Had he lost his mind? Where was the protective and loving dad she had always known?

  She clenched her fingers tightly and began striding angrily back towards her room. Rebel…a rebel… The words kept ringing through her mind. She was unpredictable was more like it. She was going to play their game to the hilt and then watch it fall apart. A sly smile tugged at her lips. Nicholas Bradley wouldn’t have a clue what hit him.

  Eric pushed the ice dispenser, plopping a couple of ice cubes into his glass. He opened his bottle of brandy and poured it into his glass, watching the golden liquid flow over the frozen cubes, crackling it as it made its way to the bottom of his glass. He had been longing for a drink ever since she started dressing up for her party. It was torturous to watch her step out of the house decked in all her fi
nery and then not being able to go with her.

  He gulped down his drink, feeling the alcohol burn his throat as he swallowed it. Anne needed someone in her life, and that someone was not him. She needed someone stable and secure who was capable of protecting her.

  He looked at the time and gauged she wouldn’t be back until much later. He walked back up to his room and opened his bag, pulling out a cellular phone. He picked out a sim card from a bunch of new ones in a snap bag and clipped it into place. He dialed the number to the one person who Cavallo hadn’t a clue had been in his life.

  “Bobby,” he said into the phone.

  “Ricky?” Bobby whispered. “Is it you?”

  “How is it going, Bobby?”

  “Good… good, man. Where are you?”

  “I’m…” Eric hesitated. “I’m safe.”

  “Cavallo’s been looking for you. Do you know there’s a price on your head?”

  “Yeah. And I’m trying to figure out why.”

  “That Cavallo’s a sure bitch, man. Why would he turn on you like that?”

  Eric ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I don’t know, Bobby.”

  “I heard there’s a new man in your place.”

  “So I did.”

  “What do you think Cavallo is up to?”

  “I wish I knew, Bobby. Listen, I want you to tailgate Cavallo. Could you do it?”

  “I’m on it. Don’t you worry.”

  “Bobby, be careful. These guys play real dirty. Have they caught up to you yet?”

  “No. But they did ruffle Rudy’s feathers a bit. They’re too eager to find you.”

  Eric ran a hand over his sniper rifle. “Rudy should be fine. Cavallo will learn sooner or later I’ve had no contact with him. Watch your back though. If he finds out about you, he will hurt you.”

  Eric peered through his rifle scope and into the house opposite Anne’s.

  “Jake,” he whispered and smiled.

  The man was busily running on his treadmill, completely unaware of the fact that he was pointing a rifle at him. He scanned the room with his gun, resting his aim on the beautiful brunette seducing Anne’s beefy neighbor with her large boobs.

  “He’ll fuck you till the cows come home. But he ain’t gonna keep you forever, honey,” he said softly.

  He would know. He fucked the sort until he got tired of the emotional trade they would try on him. He never really grew attached to any of them, each one falling short to Anne’s measures in some way or another. Except then, he hadn’t realized he had always used Anne as a barometer for the women in his life.

  He sighed and laid down his gun. He would give Cavallo a week to find him. He could imagine the fucker panicking, grasping for straws, doing everything he could to get to him. But it was important that when he turned about to get Cavallo, he should kill him on the very first hit.

  CHAPTER 8

  “How about ditching this dreary party? I know a better place where we can really have some fun.” The tall lanky woman flashed Nicholas Bradley a side grin as she ran a finger suggestively down his arm.

  Nicholas smiled. She wasn’t the first to throw herself at him that night. He glanced over at the red head watching them jealously by the pillar a few feet away.

  “I would have loved to, beautiful, but there are people who expect me to hang about a little more. That’s including my father and Mr Mullen, himself.” He raised his glass at them from afar. They smiled widely, returning his cheers.

  “That’s too bad,” she whispered into his ear. “I would have loved to get to know you so much better.” She gave him a little kiss on his jaw and then winked as she walked away.

  Nicholas watched her dress swish rhythmically along with the sway of her large buttocks. Such a pretty ass, he thought. They were meant to twerk and grind against the crotch of some guy in a sweaty club dance party. What were they doing in this dull group of aging business people?

  His eyes rested on the curly blonde standing with the host’s housekeeper. Could it indeed be she? He narrowed his eyes as he studied the length of her. She had grown into a beautiful tall woman, developed in the right places, he noticed as he lustfully enjoyed the little mounds of her bosom peeking above her low neckline. Her dress clung to her skin, accentuating her curves, indenting at her waist and then widening at her hips. She had a dreamy glaze in her eyes and she kept them lowered as much as he could. It pained him to know why she did that.

  He made his way skillfully through the maze of people in the room, charmingly excusing himself until he reached her.

  “Anne,” he said.

  She turned, cocking her head to the side. “Yes?”

  He marveled at the glow in her face, her fortitude shining through her.

  “It’s me, Nicholas Bradley. I don’t know if you remember me-”

  “I do,” she cut him short. “It’s hard not to. You rarely left me in peace when we were younger.”

  He shuffled his feet nervously. It wasn’t often that a woman could successfully make him feel as skittish as an awkward teen again.

  He looked at her from over his brow. “I’m sorry. I hope I wasn’t too much of a pest.”

  “I don’t think I will be reticent about the fact that you were, Mr Bradley.” She smiled. “But I will however accept your apology. Although, I can’t help feeling they are a little too late.”

  “Is there any way in which I can make it up to you?”

  “Is there a way?” she asked, lifting up her chin with interest.

  “I believe a good meal can mend wounds and heal the most averse of situations.”

  “A truce via a meal?” she said thoughtfully.

  “Dinner was more what I was hoping for.”

  “But isn’t this dinner?”

  “I was anticipating something more private.”

  Anne grew quiet, her fingers caressing the stem of her wine glass.

  “Anne,” he said, stepping closer to her. “I am very sorry for my childish pranks. But we were only kids.”

  She pulled in a deep breath and nodded her head reluctantly.

  His heart shrunk. She still didn’t trust him enough. Had he hurt her a lot? He was sure he hadn’t bullied her. He had only pestered her because he had been attracted to her. But during those years when he was caught between being a boy and a young man, he hadn’t known how to approach her without the awkwardness that loomed over him.

  “I’d love to catch up on old times again, Anne ,” he said, trying to muster more confidence in his voice.

  “I’d like that too,” she replied quietly.

  “He is handsome,” Julia whispered beside her as they walked away from him.

  “He was, I remember,” Anne said, thinning her lips in deep thought.

  “Are you really going to have dinner with him?” the housekeeper asked excitedly. “I think he likes you.”

  “Really, Julia, you’d match-make me to any man who even showed the slightest interest in having a conversation. This is why I take your judgments on the subject of man with a grain of salt.” Anne rolled up her eyes in disbelief.

  “I swear, this one, Miss Anne, is so different. I do really think he has a genuine interest in you.”

  He would, she thought, feeling an urge to snap sharply at Julia. Hadn’t Dad promised him a grand merger with the Bradley empire?

  She pulled her lips into a tight thin line. There was nothing she would gain from throwing her temper at her housekeeper. She was mad with herself for eagerly anticipating a reunion with Nicholas Bradley. She had brushed off their childhood differences. After all, they had been but just children. However Nicholas was every bit the shade of his father- a cruel, ruthless businessman who thought nothing about the emotions of the people around him. The only currency he only understood was wealth. How could Nicholas end up becoming like the father he had always despised?

  A small pair of arms gathered her about her hips, her tiny head pummeling into her mid-riff.

  “Ashley!” Juli
a growled. “What are you doing? Go back to the kitchen this very instant.”

  Anne ran her fingers through the six year old’s dark curls. “Hello, there.” Anne smiled. “Haven’t I missed you?”

  The little girl looked up, her eyes teetering between her mother and Anne. “Miss Anne,” she said softly. “You don’t come home these days. When are you going to teach me piano again?”

  “Ashley, go to the kitchen,” Julia said firmly. “And don’t bother Miss Anne.”

  Anne gave the woman a slight pat on her hand. The little girl’s touch had induced a pleasant calmness inside her and she was glad she could be rid of her raging thoughts on Nicholas Bradley for the moment.

  “It’s okay, Julia.” She put out her hand and Ashley clasped it eagerly. “Why don’t we go to the kitchen together?”

  Nicholas watched her walk away out into the foyer, aided by her housekeeper. Her body swayed, carrying the same pride he had always admired when he had known her all those years back.

  He leaned against the wall, swishing his champagne glass as he secretly enjoyed the delicate shape of her body.

  “How did it go?” A voice cut into his thoughts, jerking him back to reality.

  Nicholas lifted his eyes, looking directly into his father’s steely gray ones.

  “Okay,” he said, almost in a nonchalant whisper.

  “Okay?” Andrew Bradley shook his head profusely. “We need Anne to agree to this marriage. We need Philip Mullen to be certain that she would be happy with you.”

  Nicholas raised his brow. “That is going to be a little hard.” He placed his now empty glass onto the tray of a passing waiter and picked another. “Does she know about the merger?”

  “Of course not.” Andrew blew out a puff of dismissive air. “Philip hasn’t told his daughter anything about the merger or the marriage. He knows well how she would react. It would be the end of it all.”

  Nicholas shifted his gaze towards a group of young women hurdled in the far corner of the room. They were giggling as they glanced over at him at intervals during their conversation. He could guess what they were talking about, after all the party was given in honor of his success with a specific Mullen contract.