“Hello yes, really, well tell him to be in my office in half an hour, I will be down as soon as I am dressed.”
Mr Holland is calling in to see me himself. I am honoured, or should that be worried? Either way I finish my bath, and wash my hair and step out onto the warmed bathroom floor, I schlep to the wardrobe and wonder what in God’s name he wants? The deal on the hotels he was interested in are all but signed and sealed. I towel dry my hair and wonder if he now wants the other hotels?
Ha, I laugh, perhaps he’s coming to try to change my mind, and use his supposed sexual expertise to sex me into changing my mind. The former playboy has to have aged even more than he had three years ago. Unless he was surgically altered like the majority of big names here, with their constant need of Botox and nip tucks and with the help of pills and alcohol, he lived to party twenty four hours of the day, and yet he is still rumoured to have his women.
All be it he never left his Vegas hotel suit now, and they visit him there. The recluse has modelled himself on the late Howard Hughes, he was a damned freaky man, part reality, part man of fiction and in the main an urban legend and apart from his half an hour show, at my twenty first party, he hadn’t been seen in public for years. So, this should be interesting. I dry my hair and look at my tired eyes in the mirror wow, I should book a day in the spa, I look tired and drained.
“Isabella Humphries, you look fifty, not twenty four. God girl you need to buck up and get a bloody life.” Self-flagellating my reflection in the mirror with my blusher brush, I cover the marks of tiredness and stress, by covering them with my blemish stick and then pile it on my massive lone teenage spot, and paint on a happy face. These hotel sales are going to be the death of me. Why did Dad not get Marcus or Warner to do them? They are his main men, and better than me at this crap, sure I’d been raised in hotels all my life, but it wasn’t my thing. I have my own life and I need to get back to help Mum, with Dad and his treatments, and back to see my man. I sigh this is the longest we have been apart, in just over two and a bit years. I put my waist length black hair into a rather fancy pants fishtail braid, and feel at last ready to face the world, Molly breezes into my room.
“I wasn’t sure what you needed me to do?” I slipped into the Alexander McQueen black floor length gown, with the matador shoulder embellishments in gold, and slipped on the gold pumps to match.
“Wow boss lady you look so different.”
“Why thank you Molly. Now tonight, I want you to go to security and get wired up, they will tell you through my security where I expect you to be tonight. Watch the tongue, and keep to the soft drinks you cannot drink on duty. I want you to tell me when people on the list I sent you get here and make them comfortable at their tables, see to their needs personally, when I am not there you will be me, do you understand?”
“Yes Miss Humphries, sorry I was a little giddy this afternoon, but the sleep was much needed. Thank you for the clothes too.”
“You’re welcome Molly. I sent the list of things you need to do to your iPad earlier, now if you don’t mind, go to the security office and grab your iPad from your room I will be down when I have seen to a more pressing matter that has arisen. I will be down as soon as I have sorted it out.”
“Okay, I will see you down there and thank you. You know for the chance?” She shut the door and I hoped she did as she was asked. I picked up my clutch bag and went to see what the hell the elusive Mr Holland wanted. I got the lift to the offices and made my way in, my ever present security four foot away at all times.
“Please wait outside the doors, should I need you I will press my button, I’m sure there is no danger.” I’d had these men follow me like shadows all my life, and they had become part of my existence, they were ever present and ever vigilant.
“Yes Ma’am. Usual protocol is one person is to be in the room with you at all times Bedford’s orders Ma’am.”
“I am happy with the security in the hotel, and he’s had to pass a metal detector to get in here, and he is sitting at the other side of an eight foot table, and you can monitor all from the big glass wall here see. I pay Bedford’s wages, and I call the shots, not him, are we clear?”
“Ma’am yes Ma’am.” Argh these ex bloody army guys Bedford hires grate on my last nerve. I walk in the room five minutes late and fully intend apologising, even though this is not a scheduled appointment, but even so, I do hate tardiness.
“Well, here she is, at last. I thought you’d lost your way in your own hotel.”
“I’m sorry?” I looked at the man sat at my desk, his hat on the table and he had the urban cowboy look down to a tee, no change there then. As I looked at him and yes, I studied him hard, I wanted to see if the man I lost my heart to all those years ago, had changed, and he had, he’d got a little older damn him, but still looked like a damn model. He was hard to forget, he was always a rugged tall man, with broad shoulders on top of a large chest, which were still ripped with muscles from the looks of his white shirt under that a plaid jacket and as he stood to shake my hand, I saw the jeans and yes, he had on cowboy boots. Should I ask where he tied up his horse to partner, ye-haw?
He’s sporting really blond hair now, I guess bleached from the sun, he is rugged and a mess but a damn sexy mess. From where I was stood, those blue eyes still peered into mine, he was always a looker of course. He hadn’t changed in the years since our engagement party, and that memorable night and morning, we had before he broke my heart and slept with the Slut Princess. That was the last time I saw him, and wow my heart was now beating harder than ever. I had been following him yeah so shoot me, because I never got over my crush. First loves a damn hard one to get over, and the way we parted company was heart-breaking for me, I was used and abused and dumped and all in favour of the Slut Princess. He broke my damned fool heart and killed any feelings I had for him, dead in the water.
“So you should be.” He grinned. Oh no Mr Holland, you’re going down for that remark time for some fun at his expense.
“No, you misunderstand, that wasn’t an apology, no that was a question, and I have had meetings all day, which had you bothered to show up to, instead of sending your useless minion’s to do your bidding, you may have been more successful in getting the hotels from us. So, then don’t be angry when I squeeze you into my off time, as a courtesy. I wasn’t expecting the heir to Holland Hotels, no Christopher I was expecting your father, Hoyt Holland, you were the last person I would have agreed to see?”
“I am sorry Bella, and I’m sorry to mislead you, but I’m the CEO for Cooper Hotels and Casinos. Let me introduce myself, my name is Christopher Holland and I’m pleased to meet you Miss Humphries, it seems you had some particularly bad dealings with Christopher ‘dick head’ Holland before, because you ran out on him with no explanations like a child in the night? You will no doubt, want to throw me out for breaking the fucking court order?
I think I deserve to know why you turned into such an awful person, after we, I thought, spent a wonderful afternoon, evening, night and morning together, how wrong was I? You young lady have been hard to find. Bella, I have waited nearly three years, three fucking years for you to explain why you ran out on me, and finished us before it even had a chance to flourish, as it could have, and so yes, I used Dad as a way in to see you. It seems we got off on the wrong foot. I am sorry I have just flown in from Australia and I am a little jet lagged, sorry again for my bad temper.”
“It seems you run away to Australia a lot, you ran there after you ended us. I didn’t throw anything away. You did that screwing the Slut Princess, in the very bed where we’d had the lousiest sex you had ever had, with a frigid bitch, too timid to train and too immature to marry, screw with yes, but not marry. You wanted a threesome with my sister, but couldn’t wait, so did her then fucked off to your lil ole cattle ranch in good ole Oz. So you get my drift as to why I ran, so, what can I do for you? As I said, the hotels you wanted were sold this afternoon?”
“You can backtrac
k and tell me what the fuck you just said and why you said it? I assure you I did nothing of the sort, I didn’t leave you, well I did, but I went to Canada. Mel was nearly killed in a hit and run. I tried to get hold of you, I tried to find you before I left. You’d left your phone, I presume in your room? Had you replied to the myriad of texts and messages I sent you, you would have known the jet was coming straight back for you. I phoned Rachel three days later, worried shitless something had happened, and she told me your tale.” He spent half an hour telling me the whole thing, and I sat in total disbelief.
“You did what? You didn’t come and fight for me because you thought I was a childish immature brat? I gave you everything Chris and I thought you’d slept with Rachel.” I then spent ages telling him everything, well almost everything.
“So what do we do now? I don’t know what we should do Bella, it seems someone has got some explaining to do.” I was sat in disbelief at the lengths my sister had gone to, to exact her petty vendetta. I dialled her number and it rang out, I hit redial four more times and the on the last redial she answered.
“What do you want Spoilt Bitch?”
“Nothing Slut Princess, well actually yes there is something. When did you get to Chris’s bedroom, you know when you had that magical time with my fiancé? I am writing my memoires and I’m not sure how long I had been out of the bed when you jumped in it? I need a time frame from when he had sex with me, to doing the do with you?”
“You use any of my personal life, and I will sue you bitch. I know you will never get over me being better in bed than you, but get over it, he slept with me and you ran like a baby taking my dad with you, a-fuc-k-ing-gain. I called over a couple of hours after you went for the wedding dress, good job you didn’t find one it saved Dad a few thousand.” Chris showed me the proof of texts sent to my phone from Jamie’s phone and he was in the air a good half an hour when she is claiming they slept together. I so wanted to kiss him.
“Care to run that one by Chris, he’s sat here in my office, he doesn’t remember the time your speaking about, because he was well on his way to Canada and has proof of him leaving the hotel, apparently we will be having a dissuasion when we get back together. Your sacked, leave the building, security are coming to escort you out of the hotel now, and go home to your mother, in ten minutes. You’re getting nothing from my company and I will be asking Luis to revoke your trust fund, enforcing the morality clause you signed, when you sweet talked Dad into giving it you back. You may be the oldest, but you’re not the wisest, you are a money hungry whore. Luis has Dad’s power of attorney, and I am CEO of Humphries Hotels. You, you stupid bitch messed with the wrong person, you don’t know what you have done, you have ruined more than my life you bitch. I swear if I see you anytime soon, you will need more than the hospital care poor Mel needed, forget to tell me about her, did you?”
“You can’t do that, I am family. Who do you believe me or him?” I laugh.
“I believed then what my eyes saw, my heart told me it was true, my head said it was all wrong, so I guess I am going with my head this time. You are finished, get a job you will need it, I have just cancelled all the credit cards, which Dad pays, and I have stopped the company ones, and you have four minutes left of the ten I gave you.” I jabbed the phone off.
“Look, I know we it seems have a lot to discuss, but can we get business out of the way first, and then set aside some time to talk things through Bella?”
“Yes, we have things to talk about. I have things to tell you too, important things. Hell I’m going to kill her I swear. Chris, she was naked in your bed, I will never get that image out of my head, she was so convincing, I am sorry, but she knew what buttons to press and pressed them. You sent a text for me to come as soon as I could, and I did. I saw her and I went to a place I did not like, I was filled with murderous rampage and pain, such pain. Nothing Chris, I heard nothing from you and suddenly everything she said made sense.” I hate her so bloody much right now.
“I left my phone there in the rush to get out. I phoned you before I left the bungalow, then after that I had to use Jamie’s phone. Listen, can we do this later? I have people waiting for me? I know this is important, in fact the most important thing in my life, getting this straight, but they have families they need to get back home to and places to be?”
“Yes, the deal you want to make please, I will accept, if there are not too may job losses? I have a room full of people waiting to see the new CEO, will that be you Chris?”
“I hope so Bella, I want to buy your whole hotel chain from you, America, Australasia and Europe, and for that I’m willing to pay you two and a half billion sterling for them.” I oh-ed, that was what Dad wanted for the group when he first put them up for sale. Wait, he wants the Europe ones too, no way.
“It was two billion dollars for the American and the Australasian branches not the European ones too.”
“Bella, I’m sure that your aware I stated sterling which equates to roughly 4.2 Billion dollars?”
“I can count Mr Holland Junior, as I have a business studies degree, amongst all the others I have. The European hotels are not for sale, I can manage those should anything happen to Dad.” Damn I did not hear him say sterling, I heard dollars, blast it, I need to focus and fast this is an obscene amount of money. I winced as the arrogant son of a bitch tipped his hand at me and headed towards the door. He was leaving me after all he heard, he knows I know we were set up to fail. Then I go all dumb and play straight into his hands as he sets my temper off.
“Well Monkey Face get back to the organ grinder, and let me know what Hugh says. It’s a lot of money either in dollars or in sterling, so when you’re done little girl, get back to me, and for the record the last one to call me junior they ended up in a pigpen face down in pig muck and mud and he was my brother.”
“I knew it you still think I’m the brat you fucked up and you used. That girl, you ruined is no longer here. After the way we ended it hurt, Christopher that’s why I couldn’t see you again, you hurt me and I thought you didn’t care. Why would you, you didn’t accept you had a possible part in the fuck up that became my life, and the horrid things she did in killing her family, and yet you still went and did that to the other girl, Alysia, then what did I think you’d done, used me the same fucking way. Arghhhh you haven’t changed at all, and its thanks to that incident, that I have those lugs with me all the time, Christopher you are still an arse.” He looked so sad, when I mentioned it, but it was thanks to him, all this happened.
“I know and there’s not a day goes by when I don’t hear those people and that child, that baby being killed, it was hard thing for me to have to hear too Bella, as to the security I am sorry, I really am, will you ever forgive me? You know I didn’t leave you, are we ever going to be able to get past my past and don’t call me Junior?”
“No I don’t think I will, I don’t even like the man you have become Christopher, so I hardly think I can forgive you, now if that’s alright I will phone Dad, see yourself out, and stop looking at me like that, it was a long time ago and it’s best it stays put, in the past. Christopher, I put those childish thoughts to bed a long time ago and I wish you would too, it’s not what I want now.”
“You were still checking me out Bella here have my handkerchief, for the drool on your chin. Don’t worry, it’s a common problem, and one I deal with a lot, and for your information, I now look and don’t touch, there has only been a handful of girls in my life since our kiss first, and only one who meant enough to me for me ask to marry me.”
“I was not checking you out at all, and I’m not drooling. I was just seeing if you had changed Christopher, obviously you have if you have a fiancé, I hope you and Parker will be very happy, congratulations.”
“Bella, I was joking with you. Seriously, I’d hoped you’d have forgotten that shit day by now, yes, I was an ass but I knew I’d taken precautions, and Gina was known for pulling this crap. Had you waited and listened, I would h
ave got you her security file out and shown you what she was capable of. Obviously, I did not think she was deluded enough to do all that, kill her child and her family, but, she did, and for my part in her madness, I pay the price of little or no sleep, the memories of that day are horrendous and yes, she is still out there, locked away but still alive. I wish she wasn’t but she is, I’m sorry you have to be kept safe, but not sorry you are Bella, not sorry at all, that she hasn’t fulfilled her promise to kill you, I’m not sorry at all that they protect you so damn well.
I haven’t been able to get near you for nearly three years Bella. We sort of never spoke, when we did get together, and I blame a drunken Bella for brushing away the past so easily, and put it to the side and allowing me in. It something I’m glad you did by the way, because I meant everything I said then, I loved you like no other person in my life, I wanted to marry you, I wanted to have you in my bed a lot longer than a day. I wanted you to have my children.” I oh-ed very loudly, they were all in the past loved, wanted and then. I feel like I’m banging my head on the doors, as he is slamming them shut, as I try to run to him, I’m failing miserably not to love him. I try not to cry.
“We should have spoken properly, about what happened at your eighteenth birthday, so let’s talk. You promised me a dance, and instead of meeting me for it and giving me an opportunity to explain the whole Gina thing and my past, you took a boy to a back room, thus I presumed there would be no need in fulfilling a promise we made each other. Instead, I thought you’d be spending it all cozied up with Jack Lyle. You broke a promise to dance, and talk to a man who loved you dearly, and he left the party feeling fed up and sad that the promises we made, had meant nothing.
Soul Mates. The Beginning. Page 30