I think everything is in the car now. You can bet your life the minute I pull up at Mom’s, I will have forgotten something. Although I have been preparing for this weekend ever since I had been invited, I still had a funny feeling that I would fall short in some way of someone normally escorted by ‘THE’ Brandon West. There are so many beautiful girls he could have chosen, I still don’t know why he chose me. I’m not exactly free from baggage am I, maybe he just likes the thrill of the chase and I will be sent packing when he’s bored. How could I be thinking these things, he has never treated me with anything other than the utmost respect. I must stop this negative thinking, ‘relax and enjoy’, that was my Mom’s little pearl of wisdom.
The car arrived exactly at the time I was given and I felt like a princess straight away, the driver holding the door and loading my suit case into the boot, ‘the boot was almost as big as my car’. I couldn’t help feeling nervous even though I was now a regular visitor to his home, but this time was somehow different, maybe spending a night away with him was having this effect on me.
Brandon was waiting on the steps when I arrived, the biggest smile on his face I have ever seen. “Welcome” he said, holding both of my hands at the same time kissing my cheek like a teenager on a first date, he looked wonderful, so handsome and dressed to kill. I began to relax and enjoy the moment. They are rare now that I no longer have William. I made a pact with myself to stop reflecting on the past for just a short time and take being spoilt as any other woman would be happy to do.
Brandon left my luggage in the car and the driver collected his from the hallway. I was ushered into the dining room where his Mom and Dad were awaiting my arrival. “How are you, my dear,” his Mom asked and rang for some tea, “will tea be okay for you?” she asked.
“Certainly,” I replied, “nothing better.” I was feeling at home when Brandon’s younger brother Philip arrived.
“Shall we go in the same car?” he began. He stopped when he saw me, turning towards me, he smiled, “Sorry Lorna I didn’t see you there, you look good enough to eat,” he remarked.
“Just watch it,” Brandon said, “she’s with me.”
“Ok Ok, I know my place,” he laughed. I stood up and kissed his cheek. He was a quiet unassuming young man, not at all what you would expect from a man of obvious means.
“Yes, let’s go together it will be more fun, I can’t wait for Lorna to see the surprise I have in store for her,” Brandon said.
“Me too,” his Mom said with a laugh that she knew would make me even more curious.
Brandon asked his chauffeur to change the car for the larger limousine to enable us all to travel together. I still had no idea where we were going, but, as everyone was happy, I soon fell into the rhythm of the moment. “Shall we take a walk around the garden?” Brandon asked, “there is still time before we have to go.”
Although I was anxious to find out what all this was about, I agreed, “That would be lovely,” I replied.
He asked for my coat to be bought through to the dining room and, after calling the dogs, we walked down through an orangery to lawns that spread out and down to a lake at the bottom. It was the most beautiful garden I had ever seen, flower beds and fruit trees that formed arches over the walkways, all full of blossom. The dogs ran ahead, tails wagging as they disappeared into the trees to the left of us.
“Come on you two,” Brandon called out, “we have to get back now. We don’t want to be late,” he laughed.
He must be reading my mind, I thought. Although I was enjoying every moment of our walk, curiosity was getting the better of me regarding the surprise.
After travelling just a short distance we turned into a small airport. A Lear jet was standing on the runway, the name on the side was a giveaway as to the owners, ‘Westwing International Airways’ in bright blue lettering across the side.
“You impressed?” Brandon laughed.
“How could I not be?” I replied.
“I can’t wait to fly you away,” he said with a look I recognised all too well, if I didn’t have the pretty woman syndrome then I had no idea what the feeling was I had in the pit of my stomach. We leaned back into the seats, cream leather with dark blue trim. As I recall this, was how he liked his cars trimmed also, thinking back to the limousine that collected me for one of our previous outings.
Inside, the jet it was luxurious, flowers and champagne on ice just to complete the atmosphere. Not only am I in the sky, I think I am in heaven.
Chapter Thirty-One
Waiting for the weekend seemed like forever. I had great difficulty concentrating on the eggs this morning, not surprising in the circumstances. Paul and I were about to start reaping what the Wests had sown. Revenge seemed only a few days away and this was just the start of what was in the pipeline. ‘I’ll give them revenge with a capital ‘R’.’
Everyone was in a good mood at work which helped to pass the time quicker and, with Paul working hard to perfect our next plan, I got stuck in counting more eggs than ever.
“What’s up,” Andy said, “you will meet yourself coming back at this rate, I don’t think my chickens can lay fast enough for your recent burst of energy,” he laughed.
“Just got counting fever, I guess.” If only he knew, ‘revenge fever more like’ I wanted to say, but I just laughed with him. “It’s the first time I’ve been hauled over the coals for working too hard,” I jested, “but then I have never worked for anyone like you.”
“Good job too, you would have been bored.”
“Too right,” I quipped. ‘I love this job!!’
Friday night came around and I was exhausted, what with how things were going at home and working like mad for Andy to help pass the time. I was ready to drop into bed straight after arriving home, but Paul had other ideas. I was glad none of them involved dancing and drinking as I’m not sure I could make the dancing bit, the drinking maybe, but even that would have to be in moderation. I think after just the one, I would be asleep. However, this was not to be. One beer and Paul was off on one again. “I have come up with the next part of the plan,” he said excitedly.
“I’ve been counting chickens all day?” I said wearily.
“I know but wait till you get this little beauty,” he replied.
“What now?” I said almost falling to sleep on the spot, “I haven’t had food yet,” I said grumpily.
“You’ve seen nothing yet,” he laughed.
“Okay, give me the spiel,” I said, lifting my head up a little from a sleeping position.
“I have come up with a plan for the hotels. I have spent the afternoon writing a program that can be put into action anonymously to all of the hotels in their portfolio. I have written various versions that describe in detail the many reasons why no one in their right mind would visit their hotels, these I can send using made up dates and times from fictitiously named persons. The hotel managers will find out fairly quickly if they monitor their websites that they have been scammed but, by this time, any punters wanting to use their hotels will be thinking twice before booking.”
“What do you think?” he asked, but before I could answer he quickly added, “to make it look more authentic, I can alternate the messages, dates and times, with just a small amendment to the program.”
Before he had time to finish explaining his latest scam, I was wide awake. “You don’t have to convince me,” I said. “I’m already convinced, sounds great, but don’t forget to use the women of ill repute (one of Walter’s little sayings),” I said. Then after giving it a second thought, “To some punters that would be a reason to go and not the other way round.” So, we shelved the idea.
Paul replied, “The only idea I’ve come up with and we have to shelve it right away.”
We must have been up from the crack of dawn on Saturday. “More like D-Day,” Paul quipped, as he set the cameras up on my laptop. We ate bacon on hash browns with maple syrup, “That should set us up for the day,” Paul said, stuffing the la
st of the bacon into his mouth.”
“Just coffee then,” I said, as we sat down to watch ‘the show’ as Paul called it. There was a kind of frenzy going on when we switched on. “Must be something going on today,” I said.
“Perhaps the Lord Mayor of Grand Cayman,” Paul laughed.
“We will give him a reason to return if our plan works as it did the other day,” I said.
“It will work better than the other day,” Paul retorted.
“Only joking,” I said, “I’ve the utmost faith in your scamming abilities.” I could tell from the offset this was going to be one hell of a day.
“More cleaning, more flowers, more champagne!” Paul shouted to me as I went for the second cup of coffee.
“Perhaps the King is coming,” I joked, “the more, the merrier.”
Let’s give the Wests something they won’t forget in a long while,” Paul said.
Keeping one eye on the screen one on the beach and sea through the window of the condo, we were feeling a lot more relaxed than we had in a long time. Most of our endeavours would be realised over the next few days, it was just a matter of time before the stuff would hit the fan in the shipping office where the computer servers were due to go down one at a time. We would see the start of our next scam going live in front of us, the roulette wheels would soon be rolling and the West’s money would be rolling out of the door.
We didn’t expect the fireworks to start for some time yet so we took the laptop onto the veranda. “We can take it in turns to keep an eye on the screen,” Paul suggested, “and the other can go for a swim.” The idea of the warm blue Caribbean Sea was a temptation too far. I ran as fast as I could across the white sand and dived in.
“Don’t be long, I can’t wait for my turn, all this work means I haven’t swum in a long time,” he complained.
I called back, “Sorry, what did you say?” pretending I hadn’t heard.
After all the swimming was out of the way, we concentrated on the laptop, watching with fascination the flurry of activity. We still hadn’t worked out who on Earth could be arriving. “They’re preparing for our arrival,” Paul laughed.
“We will be there in spirit, make no mistake about that,” I said.
“You can bet your life on it,” Paul replied.
“Bet is the right word,” I laughed.
We couldn’t wait for the ball to get rolling. It was countdown to releasing our virus into the computer of one of the largest oil tanker businesses in the world.
“Such an undertaking must not be taken lightly,” Paul joked, “it may involve the loss of billions with a bit of luck. Depends how quick they locate the source. Once the financial computer server goes down, they will lose the ability to track their invoicing and cash collection over however many days or even weeks it takes for them to stop the circle of events. In turn, this will determine the extent of their financial losses.”
“Quite right too,” I said, “they mess with my head one way, we mess we theirs another - sounds fair to me, an eye for an eye. Let’s start the ball rolling,” I said raising my voice, remembering the pain and anguish I had suffered.
“Time for action!” Paul shouted back.
With the press of a key, the start of a set of events began one after another just as we had planned. “No going back now,” Paul said. We watched in amazement as the program kicked in. This was a first for us both and the biggest. “I’m not sure what the penalties are for this type of thing,” Paul added.
“Don’t worry, they can’t hang a dead man” I quipped. I really have no idea what happened to the meek and mild man of yesteryear. There was little point in staring at a screen that was only showing rows and rows of flashing numbers and alpha characters, so we turned our attention back to the cruise ship activities, just keeping one eye on the other monitor. We would find out later from the news flashes how the shipping company was getting on without a computer.
Chapter Thirty-Two
On-board, the “Westward” was not going as we thought. There was very little activity now following the flurry of waiters and waitresses all dressed in cream and dark blue outfits. “Where are all the punters? Something special must be happening today, what a day to choose.” Then as if by magic the door opened and an array of what appeared to be cat walk models began to arrive. We both looked closer at the screen, “I think I recognise some of these people,” I said,” they look like Hollywood ‘A’ Listers, I have seen some of them when G&F plc. held a spectacular a few years back.”
“You could be right,” Paul added, “I think that one is George Clooney. Wow, we certainly have chosen a good day to screw the Wests,” he laughed. The guests continued to arrive, but no one was using the roulette tables but drinking champagne and eating canapés.
“I hope they don’t leave it too long,” Paul said, “they don’t know what they’re missing.”
“There’s big bucks to be won today, courtesy of Alberto West and Sons,” I laughed.
We sat watching for what seemed like an age, in reality it was only a short time before all was revealed. “Of course,” Paul said, “it looks like the Royal West family themselves are the mystery guests, and with that, Paul went deathly silent. As I turned to make some smart arse quip, I saw the colour drain from his face.
“You o.k.?” I said. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He made no reply but tried to shield the screen from my view. “Come on, ‘old chap’,” I said trying to sound like he did when he called me ‘old boy’, “what’s the big deal? Have they got ‘horses’ heads’ or something,” I said thinking of the mafia-style implication in my remark.
“You better sit down,” he said pulling my chair over.
“What’s up?” I said.
“Don’t ask, just look. I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am.”
As I began to look carefully at the screen I felt my legs go from under me, the emotion I felt at that moment could have easily killed me, no I’ll rephrase that, I wanted to die. I staggered back into the chair my head in my hands. “It’s her, isn’t it?” I said, hardly able to breath.
“I think it’s a great possibility,” Paul said, trying to comfort me with his arm around my shoulder. I felt like a kid because I couldn’t help the tears coming into my eyes, I wiped them so that I could once more study the picture of loveliness that I knew was my Lorna.
Paul ran to the drinks cupboard and poured me the biggest rum I have ever seen. Well, it would be if I could only see it. There was a mist in front of my eyes and I felt I needed to be sick but I was paralysed by the implications of her arm over Brandon West’s. “It may not be what it seems,” Paul said as he tried to pacify me.
“What could it possibly mean then?” I asked as fury replaced my paralysis. “She’s obviously arrived with him, how can it mean anything else. There’s something going-on between them, it’s obvious,” I said in desperation.
At that, Paul was unable to answer me. I knew he thought the same their body language said it all, they were an item. I couldn’t bear to look again after seeing everything I needed to, I was losing her, how could I have let this happen, at that moment I wished I could take back that day in the office when I made what I now, no, was a fatal mistake, not just my injuries, but the fact that my life as I had desperately wanted it to be was disappearing before my eyes.
I couldn’t think let alone watch, neither could Paul. All the other things we had set up palled into insignificance by comparison to the unfolding tragedy that was my life. “What am I going to do,” I said over and over. Even Paul with all his normal smart ideas could not begin to placate my misery. “I want to die,” I went on, “without Lorna and the kids I might as well be dead in reality as well as in Lorna’s mind.”
We sat for what seemed like forever. Nothing in the world was going to make this right. How could I do anything? I felt trapped by my own stupidity. Sleep evaded me until I was exhausted and dropped where I sat on the floor of the condo, with Paul looking at me
without speaking. When I finally came into the real world, Paul was still sitting by my side. I think he was on suicide watch, he had every reason to think that I may do ‘something silly’ as he put it, as that’s exactly how I felt. I lay on the bed not caring where I was. Paul had called Andy and told him I would have to stay home as I had been unwell over the weekend, unwell was an understatement.
True to form, Paul carried on checking the West’s demise as he put it with more conviction than I had ever heard before in his voice. “We’ll finish the bastards off,” he kept saying as he watched the television news waiting for the all-important newsflash about the West’s computers. “Lo and behold,” he said as he ran into the bedroom with news that I once would have jumped up and down about, “it’s worked!” He shouted out the words in the newsflash - ‘considerable disruption was caused today when a shipping magnet’s financial business was sent into chaos following an unknown computer meltdown. Mr. Alberto West issued a statement that his computer specialists were working non-stop to rectify the problem a further statement would be issued later today, a communiqué would also be sent out with immediate effect to all of his business associates.”
I couldn’t help feeling some relief that our hard work was having the desired effect. It also meant that there would be less time for that bastard Brandon West to fawn over my Lorna. It was cold comfort but it gave me a glimmer of hope that it may not be too late to salvage something of my marriage if we acted quickly.
I convinced myself ‘this thing’ as I put it to Paul that they have, meaning Lorna and that bastard may be in the early stages. I feel sure Lorna would not make a move before considering every step. Was I dead, what would the children think, and so on? Paul looked at me sympathy on his face. He knew I was just trying to find a way out of the misery I was feeling. He was right, the more I tried the more sad I felt. If the next part of grieving was anger, I couldn’t wait for it to start. “Maybe you should try,” Paul said, “sometimes when people are angry they become motivated into action, we have lots still in the pipeline for the Wests, do you think you would be able to concentrate on those for the time being the extra aggression you feel may help take your revenge to the next level?”
Conscious Revenge Page 16