Louise: A New Beginning

by Diana Nixon

  He wrapped his arms around me, saying, “I know you are scared. But we can’t let him hurt anyone else, Louise. First he murdered my father, making it look like an accident; then he murdered Isabel and managed to get someone else locked up for it; and now Christine is in a sanitarium somewhere, possibly crazy, and if she isn’t everyone thinks she is. . . Don’t you think all of that is more than enough to make him pay for what he has done to all of them? And to us?”

  I looked up at him, trying to find the right words to stop him from digging any deeper into the situation, but I failed. It was because in my gut, I knew he was right, and my father had to pay for his actions.

  “I think we need to find more information about both cases,” Drew said. “Kate, you need to talk to the girls about Isabel. They need to tell us everything they know, especially Valery.”

  “I’ll talk to them,” Kate said.

  “Good. Louise and William, you need to find out more about Debora’s work at Randal’s company. Also, see if you can find more information on the deal they were in the process of making when Randal just happened to get in a boating ‘accident’, ending his life, and making said deal null and void. And I. . .” Drew paused for a moment, sighing. “I’ll make sure my awesome asshole of a brother doesn’t find out what we are doing behind his back.”

  “Be carefu–” Drew raised his hand to stop me, but I cut him off and continued before he could protest, “No, I am serious, be very careful. We don’t want to get in an ‘accident’ too, do we?”

  Will let go of me, reached into the pocket of his pants, and pulled out his phone saying, “We might need some help from the police. I’ll call a friend of mine with the NYPD, and ask him to help us or at least cover for us if we need him to.

  “As psychotic as Fletcher is, I think he is smart enough to clean up his crime scenes before he leaves; so I highly doubt he left much proof behind, if any at all. It is going to be like finding a needle in a haystack to find enough to give to the police so they will put him away. Also, when we do find evidence, we will have to get my friend to help us collect it so it won’t be considered altered, falsified, or tampered with. If the police have any reason to believe the evidence is any of those things, they won’t use it.

  “We will have to work really hard to make sure we have enough concrete evidence to prove what he has done without it backfiring on us, by way of Fletcher or the police,” Drew said. “I wouldn’t put it past him to figure out what we are doing and set us up for his crimes since we will be near all the evidence of what he has done. If Fletcher is, in fact, responsible for the murders and Christine’s insanity, it could be considered a massive government scandal. Fletcher is a politician, and if the general public finds out that he did these things, or that he is even being investigated for doing these things, anyone in the government who voted for him might see a decline in their polls.”

  “I don’t fucking give a shit,” Will said. “If he killed my dad, and I find enough evidence to prove it, I swear, I will make sure the bastard spends the rest of his pathetic and worthless life in prison or whatever it is that he has to face for committing his crimes. I refuse to let him get away. I don’t care if it takes the rest of my life to prove the man is guilty, somehow I will find a way to make sure justice is served. . .”

  I was staring down at the floor, thinking about how pissed off Montgomery was going to be if or when he ever did get arrested and had to be held accountable for the awful things he had done, when suddenly I heard Drew say my name. “Louise,” that brought my attention back to their conversation, I had heard every word, I was just thinking too. “Are you still with us?” He asked.

  “Of course, I am. Montgomery has never been a real father to me. So, I don’t think he will be overly offended when he learns my role in destroying his career. Besides, he has more than earned the betrayal from me too; it is the least I can do to repay him for ruining my childhood.”

  Drew nodded. “It’s a deal, then. Time to get this Sherlock Holmes-style-investigation started.”

  ***

  Later that night, when we got home, Will decided he should call his mother to see if she would give us some more information. After all, there was no way she could have forgotten the man who used to be madly in love with her.

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me you knew Fletcher Montgomery?” Will asked as soon as she answered, without even greeting her. He had her on speaker, so I could hear everything she said. I told Will it wasn’t necessary, and that he could fill me in once they were finished, but he said he didn’t want to keep secrets from me any longer. Regardless of what she said, he wanted to make sure I heard it myself.

  “Fletcher and I. . . That is a complicated subject, William. . .it was always complicated, from the moment we first met. . . We were in high school when we met. We were young and reckless. And even though he was just a careless child, I could tell he wasn’t like all the other guys our age. He used to get angry when he found something he liked and he couldn’t have it. I met your dad while we were together and after seeing Fletcher’s hot temper, he was a breath of fresh air. I broke it off with him. I just couldn’t be with someone like that; and that was when I became one of those things he couldn’t have. . . The day your father and I got married, he came to my parents’ house raving about how your father was not good enough for me, telling them I deserved way more than Randal could ever provide for me, and how they shouldn’t be allowing me to marry him at all. Of course, they thought he was just showing normally jealousy and made him leave. And of course they didn’t listen, allowing me to marry your dad. . . As I said before, it was a complex situation.”

  “Mom. . .did you love him?” Will asked, watching me carefully. We were probably on the same track, thinking how different our lives would have been if our parents had made different choices. . .well, and if my father weren’t the heartless monster he has apparently always been.

  If things had gone differently between our parents, or rather if Montgomery had left Will’s mom alone, we may have never met. Will may have not been on that train, heading to his dad’s office. He probably would have been off doing all the fun things guys his age were supposed to do. . .

  I couldn’t even begin to imagine my life without Will. It was such a mess, and he was the only thing to hold me up when I was down, and he was definitely the one part of my life that even when I tried, I couldn’t seem to let go of. Nothing else really mattered at the end of the day as long as Will and I were together. . . I was overthinking it. Things didn’t go differently, we met, and that is why we were here today.

  Angela spoke, “I never loved anyone as much as I loved your father, William. He is the love of my life, and that will never change. . . Is there anything you’d like to tell me? You sound a little worried. I know you, son. So tell me, what is going on?”

  Will couldn’t decide if it would be best to inform his mother about Montgomery’s possible involvement in his father’s death. He didn’t think she was ready to hear about it. That, and we both decided it would be smarter to confirm our suspicions first; at this point, we didn’t have enough concrete evidence to prove or disprove his guilt, and figured it would be safer to keep our thoughts to ourselves, so as to not place blame where it was not due just in case Montgomery was innocent. As the saying goes, “Innocent until proven guilty.”

  “Everything is all right, Mom. Really. I was simply surprised when I found out that you and Fletcher Montgomery knew each other and I didn’t know about it. I just didn’t realize you two had a history together.”

  “Is this because of that girl. . .Louise?” She asked superciliously. She clearly believed she and her son were above people like me.

  I looked at Will questioningly. Angela knew about me? But, how?

  Will smiled at me, pulling me into his embrace. “You know I care about her. Actually, I have always cared about her.”

  “Oh. . . I see. . . Are you two dating?”

  I smiled, looking up at him. Are we
dating?

  “Kind of. . .” Will responded, then kissed my forehead, running his palm up and down my back.

  It was really hard to give our relationship a title. To me, it was more than just dating, it was deeper than words could even begin to explain. And I think Will felt the same. That’s why we never specifically said we were dating. But then there is also the fact we spent several months apart, when we didn’t see each other at all; during those months, our relationship would have been better defined as a pause, than dating. Now that we were back together, dating couldn’t really describe the bond we share with one another.

  “Of all the girls in the world, you just had to fall in love with Fletcher’s daughter. . . Well, that’s ironic, isn’t it?” Angela didn’t sound like she was angry with her son’s choice, but amused. And I didn’t blame her. After all, it was really hard to keep on track of the series of events that brought Will and me together. I was so glad to realize the thoughts I had a few moments ago, about her thinking she and Will were better than me, were completely unfounded. I was relieved.

  “She’s a wonderful person, mom. I know you will like her too when you finally get to meet her.”

  “If she has managed to win your heart, I have no doubt that she is special. Not just any woman has the capability of doing that. I am sure I will like her too.”

  Will smiled, nodding in approval of her compliment, said good-bye to her, hung up the phone, and then kissed my hair, embracing me.

  After a moment of pure bliss, it was time to get back to business. We shifted gears back to our investigation.

  “So it’s true. . .” He said, laying his phone on the coffee table. “My dad did steal my mom from Montgomery. That is definitely a good enough reason for Fletcher to hate my dad for the rest of his life, isn’t it? I know if anyone took you from me, I would despise them,” he said, tightening his embrace around me. “I think I would even kill that person. . .” He added quietly.

  Oh, I knew exactly what he was talking about. I felt the same about him, I know I had been a real pain in the ass the last couple of months, but I hated the idea of seeing Will with another woman. I would probably die knowing that his heart didn’t belong to me anymore. No strength or willpower would be enough to suppress the pain I would feel from losing him to another woman. It would be even worse than pushing him away and then trying to erase him from my life. It may have been selfish, but it was true. I couldn’t imagine him being with anyone other than me. My feelings for him were stronger than I was. I probably shouldn’t have been thinking about it so much; loving him and being with him was so much easier than worrying about him ever leaving me. . .

  “How about we get something to eat?” Will asked. “I’m starving.”

  I smirked. “Not surprising at all, considering the only thing to pass your lips since last night was alcohol.”

  “Not true, I had you for dessert.”

  “Right… How could I forget about dessert?”

  “Mind being my sweet dessert again? I mean in a little while?” He leaned closer, touching my lips with his. “My starvation for you can’t be compared to anything else.”

  “Same here,” I said between kisses.

  “Does this mean you will stay with me tonight?”

  “Maybe. . .”

  “Why don’t we officially move you into my bedroom? I miss seeing you in my bed.”

  “How selfish of you, Mr. Blair. Playing house always helps, right?”

  “Exactly.”

  I giggled, wrapping my arms around his neck. “I love you,” I said.

  “I love you more,” he responded, bending to give me another kiss.

  As much as he was trying to keep things light and teasing with me tonight, I still knew he was upset about everything we’d managed to find out about his father’s past and death. I also knew it would be even worse if we found out our suspicions about the accident were true. But we didn’t have any other choice than to keep trying to find out the whole truth; neither of us knew how to keep living in the dark.

  It had been so long since the last time Will and I fell asleep in his bed, and it felt amazing. It was like I was finally back home after a long journey that at times felt endless and too lonely to enjoy.

  I looked at the man sleeping peacefully by my side and smiled, trailing a line down his cheek and chin with my fingertips. We didn’t do anything but talk for the rest of the night. I knew Will needed me as much as I needed him. He wasn’t ashamed to tell me his fears, and he already knew all of my own.

  We didn’t notice the moment we fell asleep, wrapped in each other’s embrace. And it felt so good, so natural, so easy. . .

  And now, watching him sleep, I couldn’t stop thinking about the things that I still needed to do. Will was right, my father had to pay for being a horrible excuse for a person, but I couldn’t let him hurt Will. I was sure Will would be the first person he would blame for ruining his dreams about being the next president of the United States of America. But it was common knowledge that hasty climbers had sudden falls. My father may not have realized it, but he deserved every single drop of the hatred I had for him. He couldn’t keep destroying everything and everyone on the way to his long-awaited glory. Someone had to stop him, and that someone was going to be me. . . I preferred for him to blame me, than to take revenge on Will. Maybe I was being a fool, but I hoped Montgomery wouldn’t hurt his own daughter, no matter how screwed his life just might get because of her revenge.

  Morning came quicker than I expected it to. I opened my eyes and to my huge disappointment, I didn’t see Will next to me. His half of the bed was empty except a small sheet of paper with my name on it, lying on his pillow. I reached over, grabbing the note, opened it, and read it:

  “My Dear Louise,

  Waking up next to you has always been something beyond words. . . Even time hasn’t changed it. A part of my mind still feels like I’m living in a dream because you are finally with me again. And the rest can’t stop enjoying every second of it. . .

  We never seem to be in the right place at the right time for me to tell you how much you mean to me. I love you more than I could have ever imagined loving anyone: too much to describe it, too much to let it go, too much to stop loving you. . .

  And as thoughts of you start to invade my mind, my heart starts to race. It beats for you, for every breath you take, for every smile I see brightening your beautiful face, for every kiss I steal from your lips. . . Every time I can’t see you, I feel like drowning within the depths of my fears of losing you again. I lose my mind over you. . . So young and wild-tempered, you broke into my world like a hurricane, conquering my heart and my every thought within seconds.

  Nothing makes sense without you. . . I’m helpless against the power you have over me. I don’t know how to be myself without you. And every time I’m with you, I drink in every single moment of our closeness, like there is no tomorrow, like there’s nothing at all but you and me, hidden from everyone’s eyes in a small world meant for the two of us.

  When I am away from you, seconds turn to hours, days turn to months. There is no future for me without you. I live with the memories of my past, that sometimes seem nonexistent, because you weren’t always there. . .

  And now, all I want is forever with you. To kiss you, to love you, to breathe you in. I’m tired of being broken. I am tired of being shattered into fragments that only you know how to put back together. I want to feel complete again, which is impossible without you. . .

  The power of my love for you cannot be measured, but I hope you can feel it with your heart. . .

  I’ll see you soon, My Love.

  Forever Yours,

  W.”

  Oh, how I missed Will’s letters. They have always been so beautifully written, so deep and meaningful. Will had always been a man full of secrets, but when he wrote to me, he didn’t hide a single thought or emotion crossing his heart. In his letters, he had always been honest with me, maybe even more than he could al
low himself to be in reality.

  Christopher knocked at the door, saying from behind it, “Breakfast is ready!”

  “Coming!” I shouted back, tucking Will’s letter into the draw in the nightstand.

  I took a quick shower, got dressed, and went downstairs to have breakfast.

  “Where’s Will?” I asked Christopher, disappointed to not see him in the dining room.

  “He left for work.”

  “On Sunday?” That seemed a little odd, especially considering he didn’t tell me he had planned on working today.

  “No need to worry, it’s just an emergency at work. But I’m sure it’s nothing too serious. By the way, he asked me to take you to his office when you are done training at Le Papillon.”

  “What for?” I asked, taking a sip of my steaming coffee.

  “I don’t know. You haven’t been there before, have you?”

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “How long will your training last?”

  “Somewhere between two or three hours. I’ll call you when I’m ready to go, okay?”

  “Sounds good. Now finish your breakfast, and I’ll drive you to the club.”

  As always, Sunday training at Le Papillon was a hell. Kate was furious, and I couldn’t seem to figure out if it was because the girls couldn’t repeat the moves she had been trying to teach them, or because she was still in shock after yesterday’s conversation with Drew.

  “For God’s sake, people! How in the fucking hell are you going to dance tonight if you move like turtles on the ice?”

  I giggled, saying, “Easy, Kate, they are doing fine.” I had been watching the training for a half hour already. I wasn’t going to dance today, but I wanted to see Tess’s new dance.