by Amy Cross
"I hope I haven't made you feel too uncomfortable," he continues.
"Not at all". I can't help thinking back to the time I saw him having sex with Rachel. Does he sleep with all his employees? While it's tempting to believe that Edward couldn't resist me, it's starting to seem as if maybe he's just the kind of guy who can't keep his manhood in his pants.
"Obviously your discretion will be very much appreciated," he adds. "I'd hate to have gossip spreading across the hotel".
"Of course," I reply. "There's no way... I mean, I haven't told anyone. And I won't!"
"I'm sorry," he continues after a moment, as something catches his eye over by the main door, "you'll have to excuse me, but I think my brother might be here. We'll continue this conversation another time, though. I'd very much like to know exactly where you stand on the matter. Don't forget, we have to arrange a time to meet for dinner".
Watching as he hurries outside, I take a deep breath and try to stay calm. I should never have let things with Edward get to this point, and I can't help thinking that once the restoration project is over, I need to start looking for a new job. Once again, my inability to keep my legs closed has probably cost me a job, and all I can do is - yet again - start over somewhere new. Cursing my lack of self-control, I figure I should probably wait in reception until Luke Bannister arrives. I make my way over to the window and watch as the back doors of the van are opened. Moments later, a wheelchair is rolled out, containing a heavily bandaged and apparently unresponsive figure. Standing nearby, Edward seems unable to suppress a faint smile. It's almost as if he's pleased to see his brother's injuries.
Elizabeth
Five years ago
"You're going to have a bruise," I say, still dabbing at the wound on the side of Edward's face. "You could try covering it up with make-up, but I'm not sure you'd have much luck. The best thing might be to just come up with an excuse".
"Or tell the truth," he replies. "What's that phrase that people always come up with? The truth shall set you free?" He smiles. "Anyway, I think the cat's out of the bag. Luke and I weren't exactly subtle, were we?"
"What were you fighting about?" I ask, even though I think I already know the answer.
"It doesn't matter".
I smile, grateful to him for sparing me the gruesome details. Without wishing to sound big-headed, I'm fairly certain that they were fighting about me. I swear to God, sometimes the Heights is like a kindergarten playground, and I'm starting to feel as if Edward and Luke are two schoolboys squabbling over everything in their path. This time, however, it's clear that Luke's the one who went too far. I don't care what's going on between them. Violence is never the right answer.
"Are you sure you don't want to see a doctor?" I ask, stepping back. "If that pain in your side -"
"It's nothing," he replies.
"You might have a cracked rib".
"Then it'll heal," he says firmly, and it's clear that he's not the kind of person who wants to kick up a fuss. "I haven't been to see a doctor for many, many years, Elizabeth, and I'm not going to start now. The human body is a wonderful thing, and there's no reason to think that I won't be able to heal any injuries that might have developed. Sure, I'll be a little stiff for a day or two, but I'm quite certain I'll be fine in the end". He pauses. "Thank you, though. You've been very kind".
"I just can't believe how much damage he caused," I continue. "It sounded like..." My voice trails off as I try to understand exactly what happened. One thing's certain: I know that this isn't my fault. Sure, they might have been fighting about me this time, but Edward and Luke's animosity clearly stretches back to a time before I ever came to the Heights, and I doubt that I caused them to hate each other with such passion. Something must have happened long ago that set them on this course.
"I think we can start getting back to normal," Edward says, straightening the papers on his desk. "I hope there won't be too much gossip. Did many guests overhear the struggle?"
"Rachel took them into the bar," I reply. "I think she's giving them free drinks".
"A good idea," he says. "I think I should keep a closer eye on that girl. She seems to have a good head on her shoulders. So many of the staff who come through this place are just drifting along and waiting for their pay packets. It's rare to find someone who seems to actually care about the Heights. What do you make of her?"
"Rachel?" I pause for a moment. Although I was annoyed with the way Rachel helped to scupper my plans for the summerhouse, I can't deny that she seems to be a little sharper than most of the people who work here. "Sure," I say eventually. "She seems... nice".
"Perhaps I'll bring her under my wing," he continues. "I've always wanted to have a protege. Someone I can really help. Of course, I tried to impose my authority on my sister, but she went away to boarding school and I'm afraid my efforts were ultimately in vain. Any attempts we made to deal with Luke were, of course, doomed to failure from the start. I'm sorry to say that my brother has long been something of a mystery to me. There's a level of anger in his soul that seems to be eating into him like a cancer, and it's often directed at me. I don't know what I did to infuriate him, but I'm quite certain there's no way I can calm him". He pauses again. "I was hoping you might be able to help".
"I don't think I even know him anymore," I reply.
"You should go to him," he says.
I shake my head.
"He might be hurt too".
"So?" I pause, feeling as if I'd rather never even see Luke again. Is it possible that I made a terrible mistake when I agreed to marry him? I always thought I was a good judge of character, but now it seems as if I might have ended up with a monster. Did he merely turn on the charm in order to get a ring on my finger?
"Don't leave us," Edward says suddenly.
I stare at him.
"What I mean," he continues, "is that you need to..." He pauses, as if he can't quite find the right words. "Are you thinking about it?" he asks eventually. "Are we all going to wake up one day and find that you've gone?"
"No," I say, even though the idea has crossed my mind.
"Please don't," he says, with a pained expression. "Don't leave just because of Luke".
I smile awkwardly, but the truth is, I feel nauseous just thinking about seeing my husband again. "I should go and clean up," I say eventually, feeling as if I need to be alone for a while. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Of course," he replies.
Once I'm out of the room, I take a deep breath and try to stay calm. The truth is, there's a part of me that desperately wants to just grab my things and run. Sure, Luke would try to drag me back, but he can't make me be here. Then again, I know that I'm not that kind of person. No matter what else happens, I won't just walk away from my marriage. I'm going to find out what's causing Luke's anger, and I'm going to try to help him. Isn't that what a good wife would do?
Laura
Today
"Cole?" I call out as I walk through the door. "Have you got a minute?"
When I reach the bar, I stop and wait. The place is completely empty, devoid not only of customers but also of the one man who always, always remains in his station behind the counter. I don't think I've ever had trouble finding Cole before, but right now he seems to have disappeared. It's a little disconcerting, like finding that all the ravens have left the Tower of London.
"Cole?" I call out again, making my way into the storeroom but finding no sign of him. The whole place is eerily empty.
Heading back out to the bar area, I grab a piece of paper and start scribbling a note. Since the hotel is effectively shutting down today, I figure I need to make sure I can still get in touch with the one person who seems to be able to help me stay sane. In fact, I'm so desperate to keep Cole around, I've been thinking of coming up with some kind of job for him, just so he'll still be here. Maybe that's selfish of me, but I figure a job's a job and hopefully he'll be only too happy to stay. I don't feel prepared to take this place on without a little
help, and in a way Cole has become my lifeline.
Hearing a sound nearby, I turn and find, to my surprise, that Luke Bannister has wheeled himself into the bar. His face is covered in bandages, with only his eyes visible, and he's wearing a medical gown that covers the rest of his body. It's noticeable that he only has one leg, with the other apparently having been lost in the wilds of Afghanistan. Still, he's able to use his arms, and now he seems to have decided to come and see me. There's something a little creepy, however, about the way he's just staring at me, as if he finds me fascinating and believes that he's fully entitled to observe me in such a direct manner.
"Hi," I say awkwardly, struggling to work out exactly what to say. "I'm so glad you're back, everyone was very worried about you".
He doesn't say anything, but I can see his eyes staring at me from behind the bandages.
"My name's Laura," I continue, even though we've already met. I figure that maybe he doesn't remember me, since we only crossed paths very briefly back when he was about to head out to Afghanistan, and I'm not sure what state his mind might be in after the traumas he suffered while he was away. "Your brother hired me to help revitalize the hotel," I add. "We've got some very ambitious plans. I don't know if Edward's filled you in properly, but basically we're going to refresh the entire place from top to bottom. We're even going to rebuild the old summerhouse".
No response.
"We're going to start next week," I say, figuring I need to keep talking for a few minutes, in order to be polite. "The plan is to spend three months really rebuilding the place from top to bottom. It's going to be like a total facelift, like plastic surgery or..." I pause, suddenly realizing that perhaps I shouldn't be making this kind of analogy when I'm talking to a guy who's just come back from the war with a set of pretty horrific injuries. "You get the general idea," I mutter, feeling incredibly awkward and uncomfortable. "You really won't recognize the place once we're finished with it".
Instead of replying, Luke continues to stare at me.
"Is there something you want?" I ask. "I can get Edward or... someone else?"
Slowly, he shakes his head, which at least means that he's capable of understanding what I'm saying.
"Okay," I say, feeling a little freaked out by the way he's continuing to stare at me. "We only met very briefly before you went away. I've been working on a project to renovate the hotel. I don't know if your brother has told you..."
I wait for a reply.
Nothing.
"Right," I mutter, trying to decide what to do. It's as if he's just come to stare at me, which is kind of freaking me out. "Do you want a drink?" I ask, figuring that maybe he's not actually here to see me at all. With nothing else to try, I hurry around to the other side of the bar and grab a pint glass. "I guess you missed this while you were out there, huh?" I say. "I'm not really sure how to pour a pint, but..." After a moment, I manage to pour what appears to be the perfect pint of beer. "Beginner's luck," I continue, surprised by my own ability as I place the glass on the bar. "Is that what you wanted? Not bad, huh? Maybe I should switch careers".
No reply.
"Do you think I'd made a good barmaid?" I ask, hoping to lighten the mood a little.
Silence.
"Okay," I say, feeling once again as if I'm under a spotlight. "Maybe I should go and fetch someone? There's probably someone who's got a better idea of what you might need". Hurrying back around the bar, I make my way past Luke, but at the last moment he reaches out and grabs my wrist, holding me tight.
I look down at him, and he stares back up at me. The whites of his eyes look slightly yellow, and although most of his face is covered by bandages, I can still see a few patches of reddened, burned skin. I don't know the exact details of what happened to him, apart from the fact that he lost a leg, but it's clear that he's suffered some pretty severe injuries and that it's going to take a long time before he's even remotelyhealed.
"I'm sorry," I continue, wanting to pull away but feeling as if I can't do anything that might upset him, "I really don't know what you want. I can go and get someone else, though. Maybe Edward, or your father's nurse? Would that help?" I try to gently ease away from him, but he's holding me so tightly, it's starting to hurt. "Please," I continue, "just let me go and I'll someone who can help you, okay?"
He continues to stare at me.
"That's actually hurting a little," I say, trying a little harder to get my wrist free from his grip. "That's -"
"Luke!" Edward calls out, hurrying across from the door. "Stop that at once!"
Reluctantly, Luke lets go of my wrist.
"Are you okay?" Edward asks, seeming genuinely concerned. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"I'm fine," I say, checking my wrist and seeing that Luke's firm grip has left a faint red mark.
"Luke, you mustn't go off by yourself like this," Edward continues, admonishing his brother as if he's talking to a badly-behaved child. "We talked about this, didn't we? You're still not quite yourself, and you can't go around confronting people". He turns to me. "I'm very sorry, Laura. I'm afraid my brother's injuries have affected him very deeply, and it might be some time before he's able to get about by himself. I hope he didn't do or say anything that upset you?"
"Of course not," I reply, feeling as if this entire situation is getting out of hand.
"You've met Laura before," Edward continues, still talking to Luke as if he's a baby. "She works here. She's the woman who's helping to push the hotel into the twenty-first century".
"I'm fine," I say, taking a deep breath and forcing myself to smile. "Really".
"I'll take him to my office," Edward adds, grabbing the back of Luke's wheelchair and steering him over to the door. "This won't happen again," he calls back to me. "It's obvious that he can't be trusted to go around on his own. I'll be keeping a much closer eye on him".
Once they've left the bar, I take a deep breath and try to stay calm. I swear to God, the Heights is getting stranger with every passing day, and while I've got all the sympathy in the world for Luke's suffering, I can't shake the feeling that there's something else going on here. Edward certainly seemed very keen to get him away from me, and I can still feel some slight pain in my wrist from where Luke tried to hold me in place. Heading back over to the bar, I write a quick note for Cole, and then I decide it's time to get back to work. Whatever's really going on around here, the best approach is probably just to get on with things and hope that eventually everything blows over.
Damn it, I'd give anything to be able to talk to Cole right now.
Elizabet
Five years ago
"Is someone in here?"
Wiping my eyes, I realize that Cole must have come back early from the storeroom. I glance at my reflection in one of the metal teapots, and it's clear that I won't be able to hide the fact that I've been crying. Make-up is running down my cheeks, and my eyes look puffy and red. As I try to clean up a little more, I hear the door swing open and, sure enough, Cole carries a box through into the backroom.
"I've got good news," he calls out to me. "We might actually have some customers tonight! I just spoke to this guy who's here with some kind of coach tour, and they're gagging from a beer".
"Great," I say quietly, my voice sounding cracked and fragile. I take a deep breath and try to hold it together, but I feel as if I'm going to burst into tears again at any moment.
"I can't remember the last time we actually had some proper drinkers in this place," Cole continues, stashing the box away in one of the nearby cupboards. "Seriously, I think I've forgotten how to deal with crowds. I've lost all my skills. At least I've got you to help out though, right? You can work tonight, can't you? Please, God, tell me you can work tonight".
"I can work," I say, but halfway through the sentence I burst into a sobbing mess.
"Hey!" Cole says, hurrying over and putting an arm around me. "What's wrong?"
Unable to speak, with tears streaming down my face, I shake my head.
"It's okay," he continues, pulling me into a hug. "I heard about Edward and Luke's little fight. Is that the problem?"
I try to answer, but I can't get the words out. All I can do is cry on Cole's shoulder, until finally I realize that my tears have made a large wet stain on his shirt. I want to turn and run, to hide away until I can sort myself out, but at the same time I feel as if I need someone to hold me.
"It's going to be okay," Cole says, kissing the side of my head. "I swear to God, whatever those two assholes have been doing, there's no way you can let them get to you like this".
I nod, but deep down I know that his advice is already coming far too late. Maybe it's a terrible thing to think, but I can't help wishing that I'd never met Luke and that I'd never come to the Heights. This whole new life has turned out to be a complete nightmare, and I wish I could just make everything disappear. Even better, I wish I could disappear.
"Did he hurt you?" Cole asks after a moment.
"What?" I ask, stepping back.
"Jesus, you're a mess," he says with a smile. "What I mean is, did Luke hurt you? If he laid a finger on you -"
"He didn't hurt me," I reply, sniffing back some more tears. "He hurt Edward, but not me. I don't think he'd ever do that. It's just..." I take a deep breath. "I didn't know he had that side. I never asked to be in the middle of all this. I knew that Edward and Luke had a difficult relationship, but I feel as if I'm caught between them and I don't know what to do".
"The first thing," Cole replies, holding my shoulders, "is you need to decide if you're willing to fight for Luke. I haven't said anything so far, because I figured it was none of my business, but the guy's a mess. Seriously, I could see this coming a mile off". He waits for me to reply. "You mustn't think that this is your fault, Elizabeth. Luke Bannister's got this anger deep inside, and when it comes out, things tend to get messy".
I nod, realizing that everything he's saying is true.