Red Collar (26 page)

She glanced through the window. Grandma Connie’s painting was proudly displayed on a wall.
Sitka was only a dream. And she now was living another.

It was four
months now before their restaurant,
The Pantheon NY
, officially opened its doors to their first customers. People poured in and their popularity spread like wild fire.

She didn’t know what it was
though. Was it perhaps the adaptation of the totem poles in her décor just like the ones she saw in Sitka. Or was it Lorenzo’s charm? Whatever it was, it was certainly working.

A month ago, her returns from the restaurant
even enabled her to afford a bigger and better apartment. Of course, Lorenzo followed them with his own family moving into the vacant one right across the hallway. It hadn’t taken her long to discover that her business partner had fallen head over heels for her sister. She could only appreciate the positive influence Lorenzo had on her family. Libby was tamed and Rudy had a male figure in his life to model after.

She put her hands in her pocket and drew out her wallet. She pulled out the check she still contained within it. It was stained and worn-out from the multitude of times she had stood like this in her loneliness studying it.

“You know that’s stale now.”

Her eyes shot up into the darkness. She saw only his dark outline but she knew it was him.
Her body froze, her hands tingled with nervousness.

“Clayton?” she said, her mind refusing to believe that he
could be there.

He drew closer. He looked thinner and a
ged. He hadn’t shaved, his stubbles grazing his once clean jaw. His suit, however, remained as immaculate as always.

“You do know chec
ks expire after six months?” he said

She folded the check and put it back into her wallet. “Why are you here, Clayton?”

He shrugged. “Just stopping by to ask why you never cashed that.”

She glared at him. “I’m busy.”

“Perhaps when you’re free, we could grab a coffee together. I really want to talk to you.”

“Our business is done. There is nothing to talk about.”

“Yes, there is,” he said, sternly. “I was wrong. I was terribly wrong.”

“I am not your confession box, Clayton,” she said, walking away.

He grabbed her arm. “You never intended to cash that check.”

Sh
e shook him off angrily and walked on.

He followed her. “I won’t give up on us.”

She hesitated briefly and then continued on towards her restaurant. “You already did,” she muttered to herself.

“I won’t give up on us,”
he repeated more loudly.

She
began closing the doors in his face. “We’re closed.”

“I’ll be back tomorrow then,” he said stubbornly.

And he did. Every night. For the next two weeks.

*****

He wanted her from the very first moment he had laid eyes on her at Madame Madge’s parlor. He had watched her silently through the one-way mirrored walls of Madge Harris’ office.

“Who is she?”
Clayton had asked Madge Harris.

“A new recruit,” she had replied. “And highly qualified too. Educated, intelligent and skilled. ”

She surveyed him seductively. “You sure you don’t want someone to attend to you? You look like you’re in need of some rest.”

He had smiled at her. “Thank you Ms Harris. But I’m only here because of Bob.
I’m sure he intends to retain your services. I, on the other hand, prefer to find my own playmate. I’ll just take that regular massage.”

It was only when he reach
ed home did he realize how he could have her without lowering his standards.

He missed her. It had been three months since he had dropped her off rudely at the subway station. But he didn’t have the fortitude to take her home. He would never have had the courage to let her simply walk out of his house.

“Mrs R
eid called again,” announced Evan.

“Which Mrs Reid?” he grumbled.

“Your mother, Clayton.”

He groaned. He might as well call her back. He knew his mother could get quite persistent, to the point of stubbornness. He had successfully avoided them all this while, but there were only so many times any one could do that with family.

He scrolled down for her number on his phone. “Hello, Mother?”

“Clayton!” she growled. “Do you know how many times we’ve called you?!
How long are you going to do this? Do you know that I’m your mother?! I can be a bigger and better ass than you can ever be!”

Clayton groaned again. “What is it,
Mom?”

“What is it?! You took off after all that fiasco which
you
created and I haven’t seen you since. We need to talk. It’s gonna happen, Clayton, like it or not. You can’t keep running like this.”

He supposed she was right. He was only avoiding the lashing. He might as well get it done with.

“We’re coming tomorrow. And you better stay put when I get there,” she commanded.

“Wait, who’s ‘we’?”

“Both your grandmother and your sister’s coming with me,” she put flatly.

Damn! He was c
ertainly in trouble. One Reid, he could handle on his own. But three Reid women were no match for him. Especially when his mother started referring to Grandma and Leah as
his
grandmother and sister.

Evan walked in with a silver Samsonite suitcase.

“Is the
re anywhere you want me to put this?” he asked.

Clayton glanced at the suitcase and frowned. “Are they here already? I thought you were going to pick them up at ten o’clock?”

“It was in the trunk of your Bentley. I thought to make some space for luggage. Women tend to travel with a lot more.”

Clayton arched his eyebrows. “It doesn’t belong to me.”

Evan studied the suitcase. “Do you want me to open it?”

“No, that’s fine,” Clayton waved him away. “Go get the girls.”

Clayton stared at the bag. She couldn’t have, he thought. 

He opened it carefully and there contained within it, were all of Kate’s clothes and shoes. No, he corrected. Only those which he
had paid for.

Clayton fiddled with his pen awkwardly.  He averted his eyes, refraining to look at the women seated sporadically in the lounges across him. He didn’t need to because he was already feeling the heat of their fiery glares burning into him.

His father sat in an arm chair, shaking his legs anxiously. He had come too. And this surprised him more than anything else.

“How could you Clayton?” his mother started.

He puffed annoyingly. “I didn’t think. I just did it. It just happened.”

“It’s not like you got her pregnant! On second thoughts, that would have been better in comparison to this.”

“Mom, calm down,” Leah said.

“Calm down? Does he hate Matt so much he had to hurt us?” his mother sobbed.

“I don’t see why he has to hate Mat
t. He is a far better man than…” his father growled.

“Enough,” Grandma Connie interrupted. “That’s enough. What’s between Matt and Clayton, let’s leave it between them. They’re both intelligent men and I believe in them to sort things out. What Clayton did
, has nothing to do with Matt.”

“What are you talking about, Mother?” Frank scowled. “He’s a business man and he claims he’
s one of the shrewdest there is. Then how did he not foresee the stupidity of his actions? How could he have been so bloody short-sighted?”

“That’s only because he’s in love,” Grandma sighed. “Love conquers all, even a coldhearted
, stubborn business man who doesn’t lift a finger without mapping his course of action for the next ten years. And Clayton fell so hard it knocked all his business savviness out of him.”

“Grandma,” Clayton started to protest.

“It’s true, Clayton,” Leah spoke up. “I don’t get why you didn’t see it. We all did. And we saw it in Kate too. So when all this stuff popped up about you and Kate doing this engagement charade, Grandma wouldn’t believe it. She knew there was more to it. So we called in Bob Whitton, like you said and asked him.”

“You spoke to Bob?” Clayton asked.

Olivia nodded. “Right after you left. Clayton… Kate was never an escort. Bob discovered the truth a few days later after he had employed Kate. He didn’t tell you because he didn’t think it mattered. Since she described herself as one, he presumed she was now working as one.”

“Kate’s mother was dying,” Leah explained. “She was an alcoholic and was severely stricken with c
irrhosis. She also had four half-siblings to support. So when she became redundant from her last job, she had no other choice.”

“And you know all this because…,” Clayton asked, his face grown ashen.
It was suddenly making all sense. Her tightness when he first had her, her refusal to kiss him, her shyness… the money.

“We did a b
ackground check,” his father finished severely. “Which
you
should have done from the very start.”

Olivia gave
Frank a threatening glare.

“I need to go see her,” Clayton said, turning to move towards the door.

“No, you won’t,” Olivia ordered.

“You can’t tell me
who I can and cannot love, Mother,” Clayton snapped.

“Kate lost her mother soon after leaving Sitka. But she’s trying to put back the pieces of her life. The last we heard, she leased a store and she’s turning it into a restaurant. Give her some time
, Clayton. To heal. To be the woman she can be. If you suddenly turn up at this time, she will never accept you.”

“I need to see her,”
Clayton muttered, as he stormed out of his study.

He watched her in the distance, in the dark. He watched her work late into the night. And for the next five months, he stood by her in silence, never letting her know of his presence.

*****

“How long has it been?” asked Libby, leaning against the bar, watching the man eating silently at his table.

Rudy, Bridget and Lorenzo also lazily hung over the bar counter, their eyes keenly resting on the man.

“Two weeks,” Rudy groaned.

Bridget smiled as the disgrunt
led rest pulled out ten dollars from their wallets and thumped it into Bridget’s waiting palm.

“You all should be ashamed of yourselves,” Kate scowled. “Taking bets on him.”

They ignored her.

“How long do you think he’
ll continue with it?” Rudy asked, curiously.

“Three weeks,” Bridget said, watching him closely.

“How much?” Rudy challenged.

“Ten dollars,” Bridget smiled slyly.

“I say it ends tonight,” Lorenzo said. “Put my ten bucks on that.”

“I’m with Lorenzo,” Rudy announced.

“Me too,” said Libby.

“Well then, it only means more money for me,” Bridget sneered.

“You all are just too much,” Kate grumbled. “Bridget, tell him we’re closing. He needs to leave.”

“Why me?” Bridget glowered.

“Because you’re the only reason he’s still sitting in my restaurant. If it weren’t for you, I’d had him out on the first day,” Kate growled, slapping the bill folder onto the counter.

“Fu… shit,” she ended, as Kate’s threatening gaze pierced into her.

She picked up the bill folder, wiped off her scowl with a smile and then headed over to the table.

“Mr Reid,” she said. “Your bill, sir. I’m sorry but we are also closing now.”

He gave a small glance towards the bar. Kate was watching him intensely.

“Is there any chance of paying it at the register?” he asked.

She grimaced. “Not unless you want a restraining order.”

He nodded and placed a sum of money into the bill folder.

She turned her back so Kate couldn’t see her face. “You’re doing well so far,” she smiled. “She’ll come around.”

He smiled back. “Thanks.”

Bridget thumped the bill folder onto the bar. “Happy?”
she said sarcastically.

“
Bella dama,
” Lorenzo turned to Kate. “How long are you going to keep this up? You don’t expect him to be patient for the rest of his life. The man is sincerely repenting his errors. You’re simply being a little too hard on him now, don’t you think?”

“Are you saying I should forgive him?”
Kate retorted defensively.

He shrugged. “I’m just calling it as I see it,
bella dama
. You let him come in here. If you really didn’t want him, he’d know it. He’s not a fool.” He nudged her fondly. “Besides, our reputation’s at stake. Our ten dollars’ riding on it,” he teased.