The Billionaire Saved My Life - PART 2 (2 page)

Kurtis closed the main doors and ran his hands through his hair. He took a deep breath. This was not the way the party should have ended. Tanya should be in his arms now. The night was ruined. But he thought about Catherine. Thought about the ordeal she must have been through after all that time of having amnesia. She had a chance to get her life back, was it fair for him to deny her that? After all, wasn't he the one who took her life from her in the first place?

*

“Come on, Tanya, open this door. We know you're in there.”

Mae and Kaya had spent half an hour trying to convince Tanya to open up for them. Her father had dropped by her apartment on his way home to hold and comfort her. She allowed herself to be held but she could find no comfort in his words or actions. The sadness and desperation she felt would not go away that easily. And especially not while Catherine was around. Her father did everything he could to try to tell her that everything would be all right. But after he left, she cried and cried for hours and fell asleep with exhaustion.

When the girls started ringing the doorbell to the luxury apartment Kurtis had bought for her, Tanya thought it was a dream. She thought the knocking on the door, the sound of the doorbell and the constant ringing of both her phones would stop but the girls were relentless.

“Tanya, honey, we brought breakfast,” Mae said. “We thought that right about now you could do with a friend. And here we are, your two best friends who love you and want to know you're all right.”

Tanya unlatched the door for them, viewed them through the mess her hair was in and walked back to the living room to resume her place on the sofa, her legs under her body and clutching a large cushion to her chest.

“Girl, you look like you haven't slept a wink all night. Come on, let's wash that puffy face.” Kaya grabbed Tanya's hand and marched her to the bathroom. Mae ran the taps of the shower while Kaya stripped Tanya out of her clothes. She was still wearing the dress she'd bought especially for the party. The only thing that Tanya had removed the night before were her earrings and her shoes.

“Come on, in you go. We'll get breakfast ready and see you in five.” Kaya held up five fingers, raised her eyebrow and let Tanya get on and have a shower.

The water was comforting. Tanya tried to relax but the events of the night before only made her want to cry more. She screwed up her eyes and kept her hands on her face as the water ran over her skin.

“No,” she whispered under her breath. “You must stop crying.”

Eventually she got out of the shower, dried her body, wrapped her hair into a toweling turban and put on a warm dressing gown. She joined the girls in the kitchen. They brought coffee, pastries and chopped fresh fruit.

“That's better,” Mae said. “Now, come sit down, you need to eat and keep your strength up.”

“Just pour me a coffee,” Tanya mumbled.

“That's all? Don't you want to eat?” Mae insisted.

“Don't bully her, Mae,” Tanya snapped. “She's had enough of an ordeal.”

Mae poured the coffee and the three sat around the dining table in the kitchen, Mae and Kaya waiting for Tanya to speak. Finally she did. “I wonder what happened. Kurtis had to go in and speak to Catherine. Do you think they ended up sleeping together?”

“No!” both girls declared at the same time.

“He wouldn't do that, Tanya,” Mae said. “He's an honorable man, I can tell that about him.”

“An honorable man with two women in love with him,” Kaya said nodding. “How many men do you know would be able to resist such an opportunity?”

“Well, if he goes with her I'll just have to accept it.” Tanya lifted the cup of coffee to her lips.

“Aren't you at least going to fight for him?” Mae asked.

“But she doesn't have to.” Kaya said. “Catherine is old news. Kurtis is in love with Tanya and they're engaged. There's no getting away from that. Don't doubt the power you have over him, Tanya.”

“I don't want to control him. I want him to make his choice, unless...”

“Unless what?”

“Well, you remember that guy, James?” Tanya said.

“How could we forget.”

“I didn't tell you this before, but he told me that he believes Kurtis could never love anyone the way he loved Catherine and that anyone else would be second best.”

“How the hell does he know?” Kaya demanded.

“They were best friends a long time. James knows everything about Kurtis and Catherine. Probably more than anyone.”

“Can't you see?” Mae said. “He's just trying to make trouble for Kurtis.

“True, but there's proof. Apparently Kurtis has a picture of Catherine – it's the only one he kept. Why would he keep that picture, locked away, hidden in a drawer in his study, unless there was some truth in what James said?”

“He has a picture because she was his girlfriend.” Mae said.

“But why keep your ex-girlfriend's picture?” Tanya looked desperate.

“How the hell does this guy, James, know about the picture? He's probably just making it all up because he wanted you and Kurtis to fight. Now, he's played his trump card. The real deal is here and he won't need to try so hard,” Kaya reasoned.

“Which means,” Mae, said, “that if you give up on Kurtis now, not only will Catherine get him back but James' plan would have succeeded, too. Maybe not in the way he planned but he wins all the same.”

“But the top drawer in Kurtis's desk is locked and James knew where the key was kept. He must know what he's talking about.”

Mae was not convinced; she crossed her arms. “And did you ever confront Kurtis, ask him about the picture? Get him to show you if there was a picture of Catherine?”

“Well, no, I...”

“You believed James and went ahead with the party with doubts in your mind. So you ran away when you saw Catherine because you've already convinced yourself that Kurtis is lost to you, right?” Mae said.

“Right.”

“Well, all I'm saying is James could be lying and you could be wrong in believing that he wants Catherine over you,” Mae said. “And if that's the way you feel, Tanya, then you better give up this apartment, return the ring and move on with your life.”

Tanya said nothing, put her head down and could feel warm tears coming to her eyes.

“If you want him, Tanya,” Mae continued, “you got to fight for him. You got to fight your own insecurity, James and his big mouth and the dead person, herself. I truly believe that his love for her is dead. It must be. I've seen how he looks at you. Do you love him or not?”

“I do,” Tanya sniffed, and the tears rolled out onto her cheeks.

“Well don't just sit there. Eat your breakfast and let's plan how we get Catherine out of your way, out of New York and out of your lives altogether. It was bad what happened but she needs to move on.” Mae dropped a pastry onto the plate in front of Tanya.

“Jeez!” Tanya said, looking at Mae in amazement. “When did you get so damn direct?”

“Since our friend needed us,” Mae said. “Now you shut up, the both of you and eat. We've got a wedding to plan.”

Chapter2

The girls spent the rest of Sunday with Tanya, trying desperately to stop the tears. It was hard but they succeeded. The telephone kept ringing and ringing, but Tanya had refused to answer it, convinced it was Kurtis but she wasn't ready to speak to him.

The next day he showed up outside her apartment when she was just on her way to work. She saw him leaning on the side of her car, just looking at the ground, waiting for her.

“You shouldn't have come,” she said and continued walking to the bus stop.

“How could I not come, Tanya? We can't just leave this up in the air.” He began to walk alongside her and she slowed to a stop.

“So? What happened with you and Catherine? You must have been glad to see her,” Tanya said.

“Well of course I was glad to see her, but only because that meant she wasn't dead. Surely you'd expect me to be happy about that?”

“Sure, of course I would,” Tanya said. “But it still doesn't change the fact that the person you were going to spend your life with is back on the scene. It's not as though you can ignore it.”

“And I'm not. But I'm also not ignoring the fact that this is about you and me, Tanya. It's what
we
do next that counts.”

“Kurtis, that was a bold statement Catherine made by turning up at our engagement party, don't you think?”

“I don't know you mean by that.” He knotted his brow.

“Of course you don't, which is why you can't see how upsetting this is for me. It was our engagement party, she knew that, right?”

“Yes, she said as much.”

“She came right in the middle of our evening. Couldn't wait a day or a quiet moment to announce her rise from the dead. That tells me she means to stop you moving on. She wants you back and she's challenging me to a duel. Well, I won't be taking her on, Kurtis.”

“You mean you won't fight for me.” He gave a weak laugh, trying to make light of the situation.

Tanya was not amused. “I shouldn't have to,” she blasted at him.

“Tanya don't rush away. How are we going to sort this out if we can't even talk about it?”

“We'll talk,” Tanya stopped walking again. “I'll come over to your place tonight after work and we'll have this out once and for all.”

“Good, I'll see you later, Tanya.”

He watched her cross the road, turn a corner and then disappear.

***

That evening Tanya arrived at the penthouse suite. Kurtis wasn't in the living room and she looked in the kitchen to see if he was there, cooking her a meal, by way of an apology. She couldn't smell food cooking.

“Kurtis? Where are you?” Kurtis didn't appear to be at home, a quick look in the bedroom and the bathroom proved this to be the case.

The apartment was deserted for all she could see. It was quiet, peaceful. Had he forgotten their arrangement or did he just get held up? She found that strange but decided to wait in the living room. Just before settling down and waiting for him, Tanya remembered another place she hadn't looked yet. She walked back into the corridor and looked in the direction of the study. Kurtis might be in there. She tapped on the door; there was no reply. She pushed the door open and stared at the empty room and the desk by the window.

Remembering the night she tried to find the picture of Catherine in the desk drawer but got interrupted by Kurtis, she walked slowly towards it. Running her hand along one side and moving towards the front of the desk, she looked back at the door.

“Kurtis?” she called again.

Her eyes took her to the picture of Kurtis's mother by the window and knew the key to the drawer would be there. There was no going back. Before her showdown with Kurtis about the whole business with Catherine, she needed something to back up her fears that Kurtis was still in love with Catherine.

She pulled the small key off the back of the frame, eyeing the top right hand drawer one more time before unlocking it. It slid open easily with a soft hiss. Inside, she saw papers and files. There wasn't a photograph in here; James had tricked her into believing the worst. She went to push it closed but something caught her eye. A metal edge, bronze in color, was wedged far back under the files and papers. A picture frame.

Tanya pulled it out and as it came she saw Catherine's face. It was a close up of her, her hair was longer and the cream colored top she wore showed off her tan and her green eyes. In the picture, Catherine had one hand resting on her shoulder, Her left hand, on the third finger of that hand was the engagement ring that Tanya was still wearing.

“Tanya?”

She looked up and saw Kurtis standing in the doorway.

“What's the matter?” he said. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Tanya did not speak. She turned the picture around to show him.

“What is that? Is that a picture of Catherine?” he said walking quickly across the study floor. He grabbed it out of Tanya's hand and stared at it.

A stony silence fell on the room. Tanya looked up at Kurtis and fumed with anger. Kurtis could not take his eyes off the picture and looked startled.

“Well?” Tanya said.

“I'm speechless,” Kurtis said and put the photograph face down.

“Kurtis, why am I even here? Is this some kind of a game to you?” Tanya stood up and walked to the other side of the desk. The two stood facing each other.

“Tanya, I know what you're thinking but I swear to God, I've never seen this photograph of Catherine in my life before.” He reached out to touch her but she stepped back.

“What are you doing to me, Kurtis? You're breaking my heart. I can't play this game with you, any of you, any longer.”

“Which game? What are you talking about? I've never been anything but honest with you and I swear I'm being honest now. I don't know anything about this.”

“But, Kurtis, she's wearing the ring.”

“I can see...”

Tanya began pulling the ring off her finger.

“Tanya. No! Please don't take it off. There has to be an explanation for this.”

“You told me, you swore to me you'd never proposed to Catherine. And look how happy she is wearing that ring.”

“There has to be an explanation,” Kurtis pleaded but Tanya had already worked the ring off her finger. She took Kurtis's hand and placed it in there, trying to make him hold it. He pushed it back into her hand, closed her hand in a fist and held it there. “You can't do this, Tanya. Not if you love me and you trust me.”

“How can I when the evidence that you still love Catherine and that I'll always just be second best is sitting right there on your desk?”

“What's that supposed to mean? Second best? You were always the best thing that ever happened to me. What I feel for you is way and above what I've had with anyone else. I told you that before and I mean it now. Where is this coming from?”

“It's what James said.”

“James? When did you see him?”

“I ran into him before the engagement party. He told me about you keeping a secret photo of Catherine that you could never get rid of because you still loved her.”

“And you believed that lying bastard?”

Tanya put her head down, looked at the ring in her hand.

“So, wait a minute,” Kurtis said. “This photograph was in this desk. That's what you were looking for the other day, right?”

She didn't answer.

“Tanya I don't even use this study – you know that. How did it get here?” he asked. “Do you believe me when I say I had no idea it was there?”

Tanya opened her mouth to speak but the door to the study was pushed open. Catherine stood in the doorway. Tanya and Kurtis both swung around.

“What are you doing here?” Kurtis asked her.

“That's a nice way to talk to someone who's come back from the dead.”

“But you weren't dead.” Tanya said.

“Judging by the look of you, I can see you wish I was.” Catherine swayed her hips as she walked towards them both. “Am I interrupting anything? From out there it sounded like you two were having some kind of a domestic. Do go on.”

“How did you even get up here, Catherine?” Kurtis said, rounding on her.

“You forget I practically lived here once, Kurt. Benny on the desk recognized me, asked if I was here for the dinner party.”

“What dinner party?” Tanya glared at Kurtis.

“I just brought home a load of groceries. I was going to cook for you,” Kurtis said, smiling down at her.

“I don't mind staying for dinner,” Catherine said. “I am hungry.”

“You should go, Catherine. Tanya and I have things to discuss.”

“Well shouldn't these things concern me? Kurtis, I was with you for the best part of three years. I gave you everything. I devoted my life to you. Watched you build your empire and supported you. I was there when you came home, stressed from a meeting, pouring your drinks, cooking for you, making sure you were satisfied in every way imaginable and you think I should just step aside?”

“That's exactly what you should do,” Tanya said. “Kurtis has already grieved you and worked you out of his system.”

“Oh really? So why did I hear you both agonizing over whether Kurtis loves me or you the most?”

“You are way out of line, Catherine,” Kurtis said. “You should just go.”

“You said we could talk,” Catherine whined like a child. “I have to speak to you, Kurtis.” She put a hand on his chest. Tanya bristled and picked up the photograph.

“If you want to talk so much, Catherine,” Tanya said. “Maybe you could start by explaining this.”

Tanya pushed the picture of her wearing the engagement ring in front of her face, causing her to step backwards.

“How did this get here?” Catherine stuttered.

“I think you need to tell us,” Kurtis said. “How did you find this ring and who the hell took this photograph anyway?”

Again a stony silence fell on the room. Catherine looked anxiously from one to the other.

“James took it,” Tanya said. “Isn't it obvious?”

“Explain this, Catherine. Was James here with you?”

“It's not like that,” she replied. “This has nothing to do with those vicious rumors about me and James having an affair. I never cheated on you, Kurtis, not ever. And you have to know that about me. I was completely yours. Utterly devoted.”

“You haven't explained this photograph.” Kurtis cheeks were burning.

Catherine took several steps backwards and left the room, almost running. Tanya and Kurtis followed her to the living room where she'd stopped in the middle, looking out onto the roof garden.

“You remember that day your father came to visit?” Catherine said, still not facing anyone. “A few years back, he had a business meeting and dropped by here? We had dinner, the three of us.”

“Well I heard you two whispering outside, smoking cigars and leaving me out of your conversation.”

“Get to the point, Catherine.” Kurtis sat down but Tanya and Catherine remained standing.             

“The point is, I saw your father give you something. You were acting suspicious all night after he left. I walked into the bedroom later and I could tell something was up. I thought you'd hidden something in the back of the closet and it killed me trying to figure out what it could be. But you went away. The next morning you were going out of town for meetings and I couldn't ask you why you were acting strange. We made love and you fell asleep.” She shot a look at Tanya.  “Making love to you makes me forget everything, Kurtis, you know that.”

Kurtis said nothing , Tanya looked over at him.

“But later, I got to thinking about what you were hiding. I just had to take a look. It didn't take me long to find the box. And the ring was so beautiful. I got really excited. I couldn't wait for you to come back because I knew you were going to propose to me.” Catherine paced the room and made her way to the windows. “Anyway. In my excitement, I put it on and then I heard the elevator doors open. I nearly jumped out of my skin because I thought you were back. But it was James.”

“How did he get past security?”

“You two hadn't fallen out yet. You and he were still friends, security would have no reason to stop him.”

“So, how often did he come over when I wasn't there?” Kurtis sat up with a straight back and then stood, pushing his fists into his pockets.

“Don't get like that, Kurtis.” Catherine shook her head slowly from side to side.

“Get like what?”

“Suspicious about James being here. He didn't even know you'd left New York. He came to see you.”

“Really?” Kurtis wasn't buying it.

“You have to believe me, Kurtis. Don't tell me that after all those years together you didn't learn how to trust me.”

“I trusted you.”

“Well, trust me now when I tell you that what I'm saying is the truth. The ring was a little snug and I couldn't get it off. I ran into the living room to see if it was you and was relieved to see James for once in his life. The ring wouldn't come off and he started laughing at me, saying he'd tell you. Said he'd take a picture and email it to you so you'd be furious that I spoiled the surprise.”