Miss Spelled

by Sarah Belle

  Thankfully we get to lay on the ground for a short rest, although for me it’s more of a collapsed coma. The mat squelches underneath my weight, which is absolutely gross. I am hoping that breathing is an automated response from the body, because right now, it’s a struggle. My water bottle is nearly empty and the temptation to steal someone else’s and pour it all over my head, is almost too much, as is the desire to run out of this room screaming. But that’s not going to get me closer to Aiden.

  Please, someone put out my fire! Open the frigging window!

  During one pose, which requires our arms to be outstretched like aeroplane wings, our fingers accidentally touch. Zillions of shivers shoot through my fingertips, up my arms and kick-start my heart. Billions of tiny stars float around the inside of my body because for the briefest moment, the most beautiful moment, my skin caresses his.

  I turn to look at him, and see that he is looking at me, just for a second before he mouths the word ‘sorry’ and returns to the pose. Unable to look away from him, my mouth opens in a smile and my eyes tear up. He noticed me. Maybe all we need is the touch? Perhaps that will cure his memory loss?

  Although it is over in the briefest of moments, it gives me enormous hope, the familiarity of his fingers on mine, that everything will be okay. It just has to be, because there is no way I can live the rest of my life without him. Majique’s suggestion of her casting a memory deletion spell on me is a viable alternative, but is still a last resort because I have to remain positive that everything will work out.

  By the end of the class 30 minutes later, I have overheated to the point of wanting to vomit, pass out and die. Not necessarily in that order. The instructor turns the lights down again and encourages us to stay in the room to cool down. Is she freaking crazy? How the hell can anyone cool down in a room that is hot enough to liquefy rocks into lava?

  Mel scrambles to her feet and wobbles her way out of the room, bumping into the wall and doorframe on her way out. Poor thing is probably delirious.

  Aiden is staying in the room, which means I am too, even though it appears that blessed relief is waiting for me outside. I will stay in here for as long as he does, because he might notice me again.

  * * *

  Eventually, after ten or so minutes, Aiden quietly stands up and rolls his mat. Of course I do the same, but the sudden change in position, combined with the mini furnace that is smouldering inside of me, causes dizziness and leaves me swaying in what has become black space.

  My hand flies out to grab something, anything to keep me from falling over. It latches onto something, wet and warm. Then, even though my vision is gone, the familiarity of the hands holding me up are unmistakeable. One hand is on my arm, the other around my hips as he takes my weight and sits me back on the ground. Aiden.

  ‘Are you okay?’ he asks.

  My tear ducts want to crack open in happiness that he is touching me and talking to me.

  ‘Here, just sit down again,’ he says as he eases me back down to the floor.

  By now the extreme dizziness has passed and my vision has returned. I open my eyes to see him crouching down beside me, his hand still on my arm. There is so much hope and happiness inside me that I am unable to speak.

  He smiles and it is as though the clouds are parting after a cyclone. His kind honey eyes are looking at me, only a short distance away from my face. His lips shift into a generous smile, one that matches the warmth in his eyes.

  ‘Is this your first time?’ he asks.

  My voice is not working, because my eyes have stolen all available energy so that they can linger on him, but I force an answer.

  ‘Yes. It was hotter than I expected.’

  He smiles again. ‘It can be a bit like that at times. You probably need to bring more water in next time,’ he says, motioning to my empty water bottle.

  I nod, mesmerised by his beautiful face, so close to mine. My entire body is buzzing, just like the first time he kissed me, slowly, tenderly. At that moment, my body was more alive than it had ever been. Every sense was on overload, every part of me desperate to have him, for him to have me. It was then that something passed between us, the way he looked at me after that kiss. It was as though we had both been struck by the energy between us, that perfect balance where true happiness resides. I knew then he was the one. The only one. And I know now, that it will be like that again. It just has to be. True love has to win.

  ‘Come on, let’s get you out of here and outside where you can cool down. Can you walk, do you think?’

  Oh my, is he offering to carry me? Because if he is, I will gladly fake passing out.

  ‘I…I’m not sure,’ I whimper. It’s not meant to come out like that, but being so close to him, and the possibility of him picking me up has turned me into a blathering fool.

  ‘I’ll help you, okay?’ he asks. ‘Put your arm around my shoulder.’

  I nod and do what he says. There’s no arguing from me. He can be as gentlemanly as he likes. What sort of deranged woman wouldn’t let a knight in sweaty armour come to her rescue?

  His skin is hot to touch, sweaty but not in a gross kind of way. My hand shakes slightly as it rests on his shoulder. My heart does little flip-flops in my chest and if a mirror was handy, there’s no doubt my pupils would be fully dilated and my lips swollen, red and parted.

  Aiden puts his arm around my hips again and pulls me upwards to my feet.

  ‘Just leave your mat, I’ll come back in and get it for you,’ he says as we make our way slowly towards the door.

  His muscles are tense under my hand, strong and fully able to support my weight, as they have done so many times in the past. He smells delicious, all sweaty and sexy, and hot and yummy. It’s amazing how, even in this state of near unconsciousness, my girly bits are singing the Hallelujah Chorus.

  He opens the door and we move outside where the temperature drops to almost arctic conditions in comparison. The breeze is enough to turn my hot skin into goose bumps and instantly, my wet clothing sticks to me, chilling my body to the point I need a towel to wrap around me.

  Mel is sucking back another large bottle of water, only a small amount remaining. She looks like a dried up chip in need of a good dousing of water. She looks over at us and her eyes widen. She chokes on her water and splutters as it spills down her chin and chest.

  ‘Lou!’ she says. ‘What happened?’

  ‘She nearly passed out when she stood up,’ Aiden says.

  ‘Well, it’s a good thing you were there to catch her,’ Mel says, smiling.

  ‘Can you pass her a water, please?’ Aiden asks her as he gently sits me down on the wooden bench. ‘How are you feeling?’ he asks me.

  Speak Lou, speak!

  ‘Better, thanks,’ I say.

  Please take me home with you, throw me on your bed and do rude things to me.

  ‘Good,’ he says. ‘Do I know you? You look familiar, that’s all.’

  Yes, yes! You do know me! You love me, I love you. We are engaged and mad about each other. We are planning on spending the rest of our lives together, making each other happy, raising a family and growing old together.

  It’s so hard not to say everything that is running through my mind. It’s what I want to say. It’s what I want him to hear because it might just spark some memory of us.

  ‘I work at the bank,’ I say.

  He looks at me, as though he is searching the database in his mind that will match my face to someone he works with.

  ‘Only temporarily, until the merger is settled,’ I finish. There is no need to mention Hunter. Why spoil the moment?

  ‘Oh, yes,’ he says. ‘Of course.’

  For a moment hope fills inside of me, but is then flattened when it becomes clear that he is only being polite, again. He can’t remember me at all, but Aiden would never be so rude as to say that. It makes me love him a little bit more.

  ‘So, I think you look all right now. You’re feeling better?’ he asks me, nodding.
/>   Taking my cue I reply, ‘Yes. Much. Thank you for, well, for catching me. It was very kind of you.’

  My eyes linger on his for just a little too long and he shifts further back, away from me.

  ‘That’s okay. I’ve got to go. So, I’ll probably see you at work,’ he says.

  I nod. ‘Yes, you will. Thanks again.’

  He smiles and walks away.

  My heart is working again. It’s mending. Just from his touch and smile and conversation. With renewed hope, I know this will work.

  Chapter 14

  The next day is Friday. Only two days to go until, one way or another, this situation is resolved. In two days’ time, either Aiden will be in my arms, or at least out of Geneva’s, or he will be ready to leave for a very expensive honeymoon. The thought weighs heavily on my mind and limits the brainpower otherwise available for work-related activities.

  After lunch, Hunter enters my office. He has the complexion of a waxed piece of fruit and seems to be sweating profusely. He grunts and groans with each footstep as though he is a sole survivor of a Mount Everest expedition that has ended in tragedy.

  ‘Hunter? Are you okay?’ I ask.

  Oh my God! What have I done to him?

  ‘I…urgh…’ he mumbles.

  He staggers over to my desk, grabs onto the side of it and manoeuvres himself into a chair.

  ‘I don’t…urgh,’ he starts, but is cut off by what appears to be agony. Within seconds, the wall of stench hits me. It’s possible I may pass out.

  ‘Hunter?’

  ‘H-h-hosp…I need a hospital,’ he manages to say as he slumps his head forward onto the desk.

  Oh my God! How many capsules has he ingested? Is this an overdose? Is he going to die? Have I just killed him? I’m such a horrible person. How could anyone do this?

  I launch out of my chair and run around the desk to check his pulse. His skin is cool and clammy, his pulse light and rapid. By the feel of it, my heart is just as fast, but is pounding on my rib cage as panic spreads through me. What the hell have I done to him?

  Thankfully, Ella comes into the office.

  ‘Hey chickadee, I’ve got these for you…’ She stops in her tracks when she lays eyes on Hunter, slumped in the chair.

  ‘Eeewww! Jesus! What’s that smell?’ she asks.

  ‘I think Hunter is sick. Can you call an ambulance, please?’

  She reaches for the phone. ‘Hello, yes, I need an ambulance, please,’ she starts before she gags. Quickly, she finishes the call. ‘They’re on their way. I’ll just let security know,’ she says.

  In the meanwhile, I find a cloth, run it under cool water and wipe Hunter’s face with it. He is semi-conscious in the chair, groaning and moaning, and clutching his abdomen.

  Within 10 minutes the ambulance officers, Mack and Dana, have arrived and I have given them an account of what happened. An account, not necessarily the account. I did mention he is lactose intolerant and may have accidentally ingested some recently, so it may be a cause of his illness.

  Hunter is scraped out of the chair, poured onto the stretcher and wheeled out into the lobby as they await the elevator. I scurry alongside, overloaded with guilt, worry and remorse at my actions. Do the ends justify my means in this case? Is trying to win Aiden back worth hurting someone else, even if it is Hunter?

  A small audience has gathered, probably enjoying seeing Hunter leave the building under these circumstances. Some may even wish he was in a body bag.

  He points to me and wiggles finger to draw me in.

  ‘Not a word of this to anyone…urgh…got it?’

  He looks as though he’s about to give birth, and yet is still attempting to bark orders at me.

  ‘Are you crazy? Look at you.’ I say.

  ‘I’m…arrrrrgh…fine. I’ll be back tomorrow…’

  ‘But Amelia’s in Sydney. She can come down and help out,’ I say.

  He reaches out and with a strength that can’t possibly be his given the situation, grasps my wrist in his bear paw hand.

  ‘No!’ he says.

  ‘But, look at you, Hunter! You just need to get better. Amelia can pick up where you left off,’ I say.

  ‘No! This is my show, not…urgh…hers. Don’t touch…arrrrgh…a thing until I get….urghhhh…back. Do you hear me?’

  His stare is intense to say the least.

  Pain relief is administered and soon the elevator doors ding open. Mack and Dana get ready to move him inside, but are stopped by a booby blonde putting the finishing touches to her lipstick. Geneva.

  She tears her gaze away from herself and sees Hunter, lying in contorted pain on the gurney.

  ‘Hunter!’ she gasps. ‘Oh my God! What’s happened?’

  No one answers.

  She throws herself at his side, nearly bowling me out of the way in the process. Her taloned fingernails are running through his hair. It’s The English Patient meets Days of our Lives.

  ‘What the hell happened? What’s wrong with him? Answer me!’ she yells.

  ‘Geneva,’ Hunter warbles as the pain relief kicks in. ‘Baby.’

  ‘Oh, Hunter! Who did this to you?’ she asks, eyeing everyone off, especially me. Hunter shakes his head.

  ‘Was it the little short fat one? I’ve told you before, don’t shag the underlings,’ she says and then looks me up and down. ‘What were you thinking?’

  Short fat one? Underling? Really? I maybe vertically challenged but since when does having hips and a bum constitute fat?

  ‘Uh, hello? I can hear you,’ I say.

  ‘I don’t…urrrrrgh.’ He winces again.

  ‘I’m sorry, Miss, but we have to take him now,’ Mack says. ‘We need to get him to the hospital.’

  ‘What’s wrong with him?’ she asks again.

  ‘Abdominal pain, could be a number of things,’ Dana answers, as she pushes the gurney into the elevator. ‘But we need to go now.’

  Geneva looks at Hunter, her eyes a little glassy. Either she’s upset at seeing him in pain, or she’s just snorted lunch.

  ‘I’m coming too,’ she says. ‘Oh baby…’

  Hunter still has a grasp on my wrist, so I move into the elevator with them, unwillingly. He drags me down to his face and hisses, ‘You do anything to jeopardise this assignment and I’ll make sure you never work again. I am not missing out giving it to that little twat Aiden because of this.’

  ‘But you’re sick, Hunter,’ I say.

  ‘I’ve waited for years and travelled halfway around the world to ruin him, and no one is going to take that away from me. Especially not a half-witted, plebeian slut like you.’

  He throws my wrist back at me as though it’s covered in weeping sores. The expression on his face is one of pure disgust. A picture paints a thousand words, a facial expression even more. Never in my life have I ever been made to feel so worthless. The humiliation is crushing.

  Geneva gives me a dirty eye as she returns her attention to Hunter.

  ‘Are you coming too, Lou?’ Mack asks.

  Feeling my resolve harden again I answer, ‘No, I’m not,’ and then whisper to myself, ‘I’ve got phone calls to make, things to do and a heart to win back.’

  * * *

  I work up the courage to again knock on Aiden’s door, which is odd, considering our relationship, but this Aiden is not my Aiden. This is the Aiden he would have been if we’d never met; the one who would have married a socialite instead of a schoolteacher.

  His door is closed and this time there are no voices from inside, which gives me renewed confidence. Before it’s possible for me to chicken out, I raise my hand and knock.

  ‘Come in,’ he says.

  Upon entering the room and seeing him at his desk, my heart beats like crazy. His honey-coloured eyes turn to me and it takes all my strength not blurt out everything that’s happened.

  ‘Yes?’ he asks.

  ‘Oh, hi, umm…I’m Lou.’

  His expression tells me he is trying to place me. I
s there some vague memory of me he is recalling? I hold my breath in hope, but his expression doesn’t change.

  ‘From yoga last night. Mr Wincott’s assistant,’ I say to help him along.

  He shakes his head. ‘You were at yoga? Hmmm. How can I help you?’ Nope, nothing. He doesn’t remember me. Majique’s spell certainly is strong.

  ‘I thought you should know that Mr Wincott has just been taken away by ambulance.’

  Aiden perks up and now gives me his full attention.

  ‘Is he okay?’ he asks.

  ‘He’ll be fine, it’s nothing serious. Looks like abdominal pain, appendix, gall stones, lactose poisoning, hard to say really.’

  ‘Lactose poisoning? That’s odd.’

  My mind has gone blank. In fact, it’s completely empty.

  ‘And you are telling me this because?’ he says.

  ‘Oh! Because if you were to call Amelia, she will come here to take his place. I hear that she has finished her current merger assignment and is returning to London tonight.’

  A smile creeps across his face.

  ‘So, if you were to call her now, on this number, no doubt she’d fly here instead and take over from Hunter,’ I say, handing him her number on a Post-it note.

  ‘How long will Hunter be out of action?’ Aiden asks.

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe not too long, so you’d better ring Amelia now.’

  He picks up the phone and then puts it back down again.

  ‘Why are you telling me this? You work for him.’

  Because I love you. He wants to ruin you, he’s been waiting for years. He’s shagging your fiancée and wants to destroy the company you work for because he hates you so much.

  But I can’t say any of that. So, what is my answer?

  I put a USB on his desk.

  ‘These are Hunter’s plans for the merger; the names of every person he plans to get rid of, including you and your entire team.’

  Aiden’s eyebrows shoot upwards.

  ‘All of my team?’

  His eyes wander around the room as this new information sinks in.