Miss South

by Kay Williams

  “It'll probably take a few weeks for the paperwork to be processed and the money to be credited. The claim will go through Lemon Grove as part of your contract with them, my fee will be deducted at that time. Rosemary will be able to keep you abreast of developments and confirm your share of the compensation before it is paid.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Any time. Hold on for Rosemary.”

  I was popped on hold for several seconds before Rosemary picked up the call.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  “Where did you decide to hide in the end?”

  “Business lounge at the airport.”

  “No press. Good call.”

  “Why?” I winced.

  “Simon had made a full statement as to why he did what he did and absolving you and Heronsgate of any blame. They haven't mobbed the office or your home in the same numbers, but they are just as persistent as before.”

  “Perfect,” I complained.

  “I think the best thing you can do right now is get away for a few days.”

  “Run? Seriously?”

  “You don't have to leave London if you don't want to, but I think it would be good for you. Get some separation between you and this. Just for a couple of days, catch your breath, go shopping, or see some family or friends. You haven't taken a break all week.”

  “All good points.”

  “Obviously the longer you are out of work the harder it is to get back in, but you have a good reason to be out of it right now, and getting some good character building experiences can be just as valuable in an interview as a long work record. A few more days isn't going to make any difference, people will still know your name when you get back.”

  “And I'll get plenty of interviews from people curious about my book and experiences.”

  “Probably more than most.”

  “Right.”

  “Just think about it. Stay in touch.”

  “I will.”

  “Bye.”

  I hung up and frowned at my computer, then out of curiosity went looking for Simon’s statement. I didn’t have my headphones but he had the whole of it printed on the website of his law firm, and I learnt something about him that I hadn’t known before.

  Simon wasn’t just Wildling. He was Alpha. Like any animal on the two worlds some Wildlings possessed stronger inherited traits from their animal natures, animals that would form a pack or a herd would be ruled in a hierarchy with the Alpha animal running the pack. In Wildlings, Alpha’s were known for having the ability to magically bind willing Wildlings together in a Pack.

  Fallow was a tigress and her animal's nature was so inherently powerful that it had begun to assume control over some of her human behaviour, which explained the snarl when we had first met. Given the occasion and the company an unhappy pout would have been more socially acceptable than the snarl she had issued. Fallow had been reluctant to join in a Pack after some undisclosed abuse in her childhood that left her distrustful of Simon’s intentions. Simon spoke about how he had been attempting for some time to soothe her fears and have her join with him in a Pack, the bond between her and his Alpha abilities would help her manage her beast desires more effectively.

  Simon continued to stress that neither I nor Heronsgate had been aware of his offers to make Fallow Pack, and that we had not known about what was going to transpire at the event and had not been involved in any way. He explained that at the hotel Fallow had said she would join in Pack if he stole one of the exhibits.

  The dare was made because Fallow had assumed that as a lawyer Simon would never break the law, not even for her psychological well-being. If he was capable of doing so her animal instincts had judged he would be worthy of supporting her no matter how difficult the situation might be.

  Fallow had misjudged Simon’s determination to win her trust and snatched at the nearest item, not realising that the piece was deeply embedded in the sculpture and would cause the rest of it to collapse as they ran.

  Simon was settling his debts with the hotel and the artist directly, and he was grateful that once the details had been fully explained that neither parties were pressing further charges.

  My phone was ringing and I picked it up.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi. Sorry! I had a League thing this morning, I’ve only just got out,” Lucy apologised swiftly.

  Another of her ‘League things’. Leagues where primarily institutions were magic users shared Spells, but non-magic users could sign up as well if they shared in the League’s mandate and mentality. Lucy had been part of one for almost three years now, she wouldn’t tell me which one or what she did for them, it wasn’t often we kept secrets from each other and when we asked for one, we supported the other and respected the request.

  “Decided on your champagne yet?”

  “Not yet,” she chuckled. “Is everything okay? Are you stuck at home?”

  “Nope. I got out when there was only one reporter and escape was easy. I’m at the airport.”

  “Business lounge?”

  “Yep.”

  “Hiding in plain sight. I like it. About the papers?”

  “All true,” I said running through the details of my conversation with Anthony and Rosemary, and a brief visit to Simon’s statement.

  “I think getting away is a good idea,” Lucy said eventually. “Catch your parents up maybe, or come here, don’t go to the farm cottage though, Sebastian is already snarly over the way people are harassing you. He would never let you go back to London.”

  I laughed, Sebastian had been first of the seven of Sharp siblings; he was argumentative, over-protective and had a bossy nature that could be hard to handle on a bad day. He didn’t let his siblings forget he was the oldest and should be treated as if he was in charge; I wasn’t Wildling so his over-protective nature went double for me.

  “A visit to you but not going to see your brothers or your parents? My life wouldn’t be worth living if I tried that. Is Burton letting you use his taser yet, and can I have the lend of it?”

  “Not yet, doesn’t trust me not to aim at my brothers.”

  “Clever man, what is he doing dating you exactly?”

  “You are so funny!” Lucy complained.

  “Remind him of my threat. If he doesn’t propose to you this year he has to marry me instead.”

  “I will,” Lucy sniggered.

  “If that doesn’t frighten him into making an honest woman of you, nothing will.”

  “You aren’t that bad!” Lucy laughed. “Besides, what would you want Burton for when you could have Henry Heronsgate?”

  “Try that one again?” I laughed.

  “The papers were saying that you and Heronsgate were in on the theft, obviously you weren’t but you guys must have been together for them to point the finger in the first place.”

  “We were talking, yeah.”

  “I am going to die!” Lucy complained. “Tell me everything!”

  “You are a total fan-girl, can you squeal any louder?”

  “Shut up. Come on! What is he like?”

  “Nice,” I settled for eventually, knowing that it would only infuriate her.

  “I hate you,” Lucy laughed.

  “He likes my book.”

  “Poor man.” Lucy teased. “Give me something interesting.”

  “He had a good sense of humour but it is tempered by his work and his position which can make him seem a little standoffish,” I added, remembering the difference in his personality between our meeting at The Pavilion and last night.

  “But that is understandable, he has got to be careful. What else?”

  “He seems cheerful but there has to be a ruthless streak in there somewhere. He gave me a lift home last night probably putting himself miles out of his way so I’d say he is definitely kind and compassionate,” I continued as a cup of tea was put down on my table, I looked up and felt myself blush. “And he is listening to every word I’m saying.”
/>   Heronsgate grinned, put down his own cup and sat in the free chair on the other side of the table.

  “He is there?” Lucy started laughing. “Put me on speaker phone I want to know how you are going to talk your way out of this one.”

  “Goodbye!”

  “Call me!”

  I hung up.

  I sat there blushing and frowning at the computer screen, how did I keep getting into these situations? It didn’t take Lucy long to change tack, a private message popped up on the computer screen.

  ‘What shade of red are you right now?’

  I hated her.

  “Sorry,” I said.

  “For what? I like compliments, what else were you going to say?” Heronsgate laughed when I had to put my face in my hands and he continued more kindly. “Good friend, is she?”

  “No,” I shook my head and reached for the tea grateful that I wasn’t the same colour as a tomato any more. “Good would imply that Lucy would be easy to replace.”

  “Sounds like the kind of person you would want to hang on to.”

  “I won’t tell her you said so, her ego is big enough as it is,” I smiled.

  “I read your publisher's statement. Have you spoken to Simon?”

  “Pretended not to know him,” I confessed.

  ‘Forget coming here! Book this!’

  I frowned at the message and at the booking reference that Lucy had sent. She didn’t know that I had decided to leave home without a properly co-ordinated bag, but I couldn’t travel without even a toothbrush to my name.

  “Is she messaging you?”

  “Yeah. I told her that my publisher had advised me to get away, that this week has been rough and I haven’t really taken a break. She said that a few days to let Simon sort himself out wouldn’t harm my job prospects.”

  “I’d agree with that.”

  “So she asked me to go and stay with her, but now she had changed her mind and is sending me links for a stand-by package.”

  “Some travellers like to book last minute,” Heronsgate explained. “Some airlines talk to hotels, especially if they are owned by the same company, and if flight times and empty rooms match in availability they sell them as a package. What has she sent you?”

  “Flight to New York leaving in an hour, four nights at the Laddamont in a three star room, and an afternoon flight home.”

  “Bad hotel.” Heronsgate adamantly shook his head and began scrolling through information on his phone.

  “Really?”

  “Trust me. I’m in New York all the time,” he smiled. “And your book is popular in the States, you are going to want to ignore the star rating of a room and be more concerned with the security of it.”

  “Five stars on the ground floor is still going to leave me mobbed?”

  “You wouldn’t find a five star room on the ground floor, but yes,” Heronsgate chuckled.

  I typed out that response to Lucy and waited for her to pick another package for me, while scanning for my own. I could go home, pack a bag and be back in time for an overnight flight and there were tons to choose from; Egypt, Rome, Africa and a variety of US States.

  “Here,” Heronsgate said, showing me the details on his phone. “This one.”

  I typed them out to Lucy, this one was five nights at an all-inclusive hotel called Meridiem in New York, based in one of their secure rooms on the twenty-sixth floor. The bill included access to the spa, gym, swimming pool and the secure restaurant and bar. Considering the amenities and the flights I thought it was a reasonable price.

  Until Lucy’s return message caught my eye and I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  “What?” Heronsgate asked. “She doesn’t think it’s a good deal?”

  “She says. ‘I never thought I would say this, but the man is a dolt, there is no outward flight. How does he expect you to get there?’.”

  “Dolt?” Heronsgate grinned. “Really? She has put that?”

  I turned the screen and after reading the message for himself he took a picture of it and chuckled softly.

  “How do you expect me to get there?” I asked curiously, I doubted that Heronsgate would have missed something so obvious.

  “I’ll show you.”

  Heronsgate’s mischievous grin was utterly infectious, and I found myself picking up my few possessions and following him to the window of the lounge, outside on the private runway was a small plane. It was emblazoned with the Heronsgate Industries' logo and was being tended to by several ground crew.

  “I leave for New York in half an hour. I know the hotel well, it’s an excellent package you can purchase it on the way.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  Pouting really shouldn’t have made him look so handsome.

  “I brought my passport so I could get into the lounge, but I didn’t come here expecting to travel.”

  “You have no luggage?”

  “Not a thing.”

  “You were using the lounge to hide from the press?” Heronsgate was grinning again.

  “There was one reporter on my door step this morning, I wasn’t waiting for the rest to turn up; I escaped out my back gate and ran away. My name is next to ‘cowardice’ in the dictionary.”

  “Alright. Before we get distracted with that, let’s try for some perspective.” He chuckled softly. “If you come with me you won’t have time to shop here but New York is behind England, you will be flying back into this morning. I am sure that any mall or shopping centre you can find in New York will sell what you need.”

  “That is a very good point.”

  Not that I had intended to overhaul my underwear or sock drawer, but those things were hardly going to break the bank, and how often was it that multi-millionaires came along offering me free rides in their luxury planes? I found myself worrying about how to pay him back, what would he want in return, I couldn’t give him anything he couldn’t get anywhere else on the two worlds.

  “I’m being a little brutish,” Heronsgate apologised softly. “I’m not thinking about how strange this must be for you. If you would like to pack a proper bag, book a different package and catch a later flight then I would understand, you have already given me your number in the most unusual way so I can text you later tonight and we can hook up for dinner.”

  Because Henry Heronsgate casually texting me and asking me out to dinner wasn’t strange in the slightest.

  Live a little, I told myself, he was probably interested because I was new and different, and once my novelty wore off and my popularity blew over I’d only have memories like this to prove that for a few short weeks my book had given rise to the kind of lifestyle that I would never experience again. I didn’t want to look back and regret the decisions I made or spend the rest of my life wondering ‘what if’.

  It wasn’t as if no one would know where I was going, I’d text Lucy and Rosemary and even if Heronsgate had unfriendly designs on me he hadn’t been stupid enough to attack me in his car last night, so I doubted he would get violent on his private plane.

  “Alright, if you honestly don’t mind me interloping on your journey, I’ll book this package and I’ll come with you.”

  “If I minded,” he smiled, “I would never have offered.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Thank you for trusting me.”

  I booked the package and received my confirmation, I was glad I had spent the early hours checking to tax payments and squirrelling most of my earnings away, it gave me the confidence to spend money when I would otherwise been loathed to before the end of the tax year.

  I took a quick picture of the plane and sent it to Lucy, I confirmed my travel plans with Rosemary and followed Heronsgate out of the lounge and through the airport, we didn’t use the regular boarding terminals and it was fun in its own way to be swept past the crowds of holidaymakers and through private and quiet corridors. We were ushered across the tarmac and Heronsgate led me up the stairs and onto his plane.
>
  It wasn’t as lavishly decorated as I had assumed it would be, simple plain colours gave a sense of space to the cabin. Cream coloured leather sofas framed lightly varnished wooden tables on one side, while the other was dominated by a large desk. Heronsgate shook hands with the cabin crew and the pilot while introducing me to them, and from their familiarity I guessed they had been employed by him for some time.

  We were buckled in, had the safety procedure and were waiting to be taxied into place when I checked my phone. Rosemary expressed her jealousy for my destination and wished me a good trip, surprisingly making no comment on my outbound method of travel.

  Lucy wasn’t so discrete.

  ‘It’s a good job you don’t write romance, being kidnapped by the multi-millionaire is so cliché.’

  ‘I’m hardly being kidnapped!'

  ‘Bring me back a present?’

  ‘Better send me a shopping list.’

  ‘Take lots of pictures.’

  I was distracted from her messages as his phone started ringing, and he shot me an apologetic look as he answered it. The look was kind, but unnecessary, considering the job he managed to hold down I was surprised that his phone didn’t ring more often, and I had hardly been a good guest.

  The plane began to roll forward and I watched out of the small window as we took off.

  We were served sandwiches and little cakes not long after take-off and I was hungry after my early morning. Heronsgate was surprisingly chatty, he wanted to talk about what I had studied at school, holidays, my parents, Lucy and her family, what music I like listening to, favourite books and what I did to relax. I would have felt interrogated if he hadn’t given himself up willingly in return and we spent most of the flight sharing little stories and making each other laugh.

  There was something about his company that was comfortable, there was no pressure to give more than I wanted and no awkwardness during the silences. It had been a long time since I had connected so instantly with a stranger or felt the compulsion to make them my friend so quickly. I was usually more careful because my hobby had a way of inviting ridicule; but he already knew my darkest secret and approved of my writing.