Until I Met You (18 page)

I called m
y mum as soon as I unpacked and she was itching to know if Seth was with me.  I of course, told her no, and she didn’t hide the disappointment in her voice.  I could tell she wanted us together—like—yesterday.

As the da
y progressed into evening I was starting to get a little suspicious of my lovely young Jerry.  I could have sworn I heard him say ‘Bollocks’, but I put it down to me just feeling a little tired.  When he said it the third time though, I knew I wasn’t hearing things.  I had to give Jonathan a call.

In no time at all, Jonathan answered, his cheerful voice on the other end.  “Angelina, so nice to hear from
you.  Did you have a nice time?”

“It was great, thanks.  I just wanted to ring and let
you know how grateful I am to you for looking after Jerry whilst I was away.”

“Don’t mention it sweetheart, an
ything for you.”

With the pleasantries out of the way, I thought it was time to dive straight in.  “Is there an
y chance you could explain to me why Jerry is cursing so much?”

“What?  I don’t know what
you mean.”  I could hear the edge of seriousness in his voice.

“He keeps sa
ying the word ‘Bollocks’ all the time.  I can’t think of where he got that from.”  Just as I said the word, Jerry as loud as anything, shouted, “Bollocks!”

“See!  Did
you hear that?”  I could hear some rustling sounds in the background and it sounded as though Jonathan fell over.

“Bollocks!” he shouted down m
y ear.

“
You are the worst liar in the history of liars, Jonathan.  You’ve corrupted my bird now.”

“I don’t know what
you’re talking about, Angelina.  Listen, I have to go.”  I could tell he was panicking a little now.

“Oh no
you don’t, not so fast, buddy.  I have a bone to pick with you.”

“What is it?”

“Seth Jacobs.”  That was the only two words he needed to hear.  He went silent for a moment and then I heard him speak.

“
Yes?” he asked cautiously.

“Care to explain how he knew so much about m
y family—and not only that—he also knew where my parents lived?”

It wasn’t long before he answered.  “I put m
y hands up to telling him about your mum and dad, but not to giving away your parents’ address.  You know I would never give out that information to anyone.  Ever.”

His tone was so serious, so determined, that I knew he must have been telling me the truth.  Seth must have got the address somewhere else. 

“Okay, keep your silver hair on.  I believe you.”

“He turned up at
your folks’ house?”

I sighed.  “
Yep, as bold as brass, carrying two great big bouquets of flowers for me and my mum.”

“What happened?”

“Well, my mother, sister, and her best mate all thought he was the best thing since sliced bread.  My dad fell in love with his car, and I was left feeling completely overwhelmed.”  And I was overwhelmed.  I still am.

“Wow, I knew he had a thing for
you, sweetheart, but I didn’t think he would come following you down to Cornwall.  He must really like you.  But the biggest question here is... do you like him?”

I sighed heavil
y down the phone and I knew he could tell what the answer was before I even opened my mouth.  “Yes, Jonathan.  I like him.  Is this going to cause me problems at work?”

“I don’t see why, as long as
you both keep it strictly professional when you are working.  I could ask him if he would like someone else to take over the viewings with him if it causes too much angst between the two of you.”

“I don’t think he would go for that somehow.”

“No, me neither.  You know the penthouse is going to be ready in a couple of weeks?  I took the liberty of booking a couple of viewings for his apartment in Belgravia.  Are you okay to deal with that tomorrow?  I’ve left a message on Seth’s answering machine so he knows all about it.”

In my despair over Seth I had completely forgotten about that.  “
Yes, of course.  That’s fine by me.  Thank you, Jonathan.”

“Don’t mention it, Angelina.  I’m not sure what’s going on between
you two.  It really is none of my business, but if he hurts you—”

“I know, I know,
you’ll chop his balls off.”  I laughed loudly down the phone and could hear the same from Jonathan.

“He told
you?”

“
Yes he did.  I felt touched that you were defending my honour.”

“Well, it’s onl
y what you deserve.”

We both fell silent for a few seconds as his last words sank in.  “Thank
you again for everything you did for me this weekend.  I really appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it, sweetheart.  Have a nice evening.”

“You, too.”

After that I rang Shelly.  I knew she would want to hear all the gossip and I also wanted to hear what happened between her and Brad.  The amount of gasps and squealing she did over the phone was too much.  I told her to calm down, but she thought Seth was the bee’s knees after what he did.

“Brad and I did go for drinks on Friday night,” she said, after finally getting her off the subject of Seth and I.

“Oh really?  Did you shag him this time?”

“Angelina, you’re disgusting,” she said, giggling down the phone.  “We talked and it turns out that we both thought the other wanted something out of this, but we don’t.  Once we laughed about it, we were okay.  We’ve been friends for a while now and I don’t want to lose that.”

“I understand, Shelly.  We’ll have to find you a distraction.”  She laughed, but told me that she was quite happy being single for now.

I started thinking about that word ‘single’ for a while.  It is something I have always been.  Now with Seth in my life, I didn’t know what status I was in.  The whole thing was new territory for me.  I wasn’t sure how Seth felt about it and what his intentions were with ‘us’.  I was quickly getting to that stage where I wanted to find out, but was too scared to mention anything to him.  If I did, he would definitely see the cracks forming then.

“Are you okay, Angelina?”  There was concern in her voice and it made me realise I must have been daydreaming a little too much for a moment.

“Yes, I’m fine thanks.  Just a little tired.  I’m going to have to go.  I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay, sure.  Have a good evening.”

The minute I put the phone down, it started ringing again.  I was beginning to think I wasn’t going to get any peace.  Little did I know, my whole world was about to cave in.

“Angelina, it’s Jack.”  His voice sounded panicked.

“Jack, what’s wrong?  Is Julia okay?” 

“She’s fine, listen—your mum and dad don’t know about this yet, but I found out something.  He’s out, Angelina.  The fuckers out!”

I nearly dropped the phone.  My hands started shaking and I could quickly feel the sweat forming at my fear.  I immediately began pacing the floors and checking that my door was bolted shut.  I didn’t normally double lock my door, but tonight I was going to.

“How do you know about this, Jack?”

“I have a good police friend who found out.  He knew about what happened and told me.  The problem was he only found this out today, but Jaden was let out last week sometime.”

The sound of his name immediately had me on edge.  I clutched my side, instinctively.  The side that bared a scar from all those years ago.

“Angelina, do you want me to come?  I can get to you in no time.  I don’t mind.  I want to make sure you’re okay.”

“No, don’t be silly, Jack.  You have yourself and Julia to take care of.  She’s your priority now, especially now you have a baby on the way.  I’ll be fine, honest.  What are the chances he knows I’m in London anyway?  It’s you and David I’m more worried about.”

“Don’t worry about David, he already knows.  We can take care of ourselves, kiddo.  It’s you I’m more concerned with.  Can’t Seth stay with you for a while, or you stay with Seth?”

Panic was forming again, but for a different reason.  “No, I can’t.  He doesn’t know anything, Jack.  I can’t just spring this on him.  Look, I’ll be fine.  I have two doors separating me from the street outside.  Both are locked tight and that’s the only way in—unless he likes climbing windows in full view of everyone.  I doubt he’s stupid enough to do that.  Besides, he doesn’t know I’m here.”

I tried to sound as calm as possible, but I was terrified on the inside.  I had managed to bury my terror a long time ago.  I had been living perfectly well, without any incidents these past eleven years.  I wasn’t prepared to go back to that. 

It suddenly dawned on me that Seth’s entering into my life and now Jaden’s release from jail was all too parallel for my liking.  It felt as though I had a warning sign ricocheting around my head.  I had let Seth in and now look where I am?

“I don’t like it, but I’ll have to take your word for it.  You do realise once your mum and dad know—”

“Yes,” I said interrupting him.  “They’ll probably be down here like a shot.  I know they are going to have to be told, but could you please tell them that Seth is looking after me?  I know it’s a lie, but they won’t worry about me if they think I am with him all the time.  They’ll probably want to leave me alone then.”

“I don’t like lying to them, Angelina.” 

I could hear the frustration in his voice and it killed me to ask this of him.  “I know, and I’m sorry, Jack.  Please, just do this for me?”

“Fine,” he sighed.  “Only because it’s you.  Listen, I’m going to have to go.  I’m outside the house and freezing my butt off here.  I haven’t told Julia yet.  I wanted to let you know first.  Expect some phone calls shortly.”

We said our goodbyes and I found myself slumped into the sofa.  I could feel a lump forming in my throat from the unwelcome memories now swimming around my head.  The last time I cried was that night.  I cried so hard and so much that I vowed I would never do it again.  I would never put myself in a position of grief like that—ever.

About twenty minutes later I had a very panicked Julia on the phone.  I told her I was fine, that I had Seth with me—liar—and that the flat I was staying in was like Fort Knox, so I was as safe as houses.

A further twenty minutes after that my door buzzed.  I looked at the camera and found it was Jonathan, so I let him in.

“Let me guess why you’re here,” I said, after unlocking the door.

“You can’t blame Jack, Angelina.  He’s just concerned for you.  We all are.” 

I noticed he had a bag with him and immediately I understood his intentions.  “You can’t stay here.”

“Oh come on, Angelina.  Jack would beat the shit out of me if he thought you were left on your own.”

“I’m not a little girl anymore, Jonathan.  What happened was a long time ago.  Besides, he’d be stupid to come after me again.  It will only send him back to the same place he’s just been released from.” 

I knew that was a lie.  In court on the day of sentencing, Jaden—with one eye shut—did a sign of a shooting gun in my direction.  He’s had eleven years of plotting my demise.  I just hoped that prison had managed to rehabilitate him since then.

“I’m worried about you.”  His face was so soft and sincere that the anger I had built didn’t last long.

“I know.  I appreciate it, Jonathan, I really do.  But you have to think of this logically.  What would people think knowing that you stayed with me tonight?  I already have Hyacinth and Victor out for my blood; I don’t want to give them reason to think I’m sleeping with the boss.  They’ll put two and two together and come up with, ‘she’s sleeping to get ahead’.  That’s just not happening.”

“Hyacinth and Victor?”  He looked completely confused, which caused an unexpected laugh from me.

“Daniela and Timothy,” I explained, giggling.

“Bollocks.”  Jerry had obviously heard Jonathan’s voice so decided to give him the only welcome he knew how.  I looked at Jonathan, pursing my lips.  He looked sheepishly down to the floor like he’d just been caught in the cookie jar. 

Cookies—I must not think about cookies!

“See, you’ve corrupted Jerry.”  Jerry quickly flew from his cage towards Jonathan, giving him what looked like a little peck on the cheek.  “He likes you.”

Jonathan smiled and looked at him.  “Well, Jerry and I have become firm friends.”

“I can see that.”  I turned away and headed for the sofa.  I felt exhausted all of a sudden.  Especially now the phone was ringing again.  I looked at it and saw it was coming from home.  I told Jonathan it was them ringing and he just nodded his head and carried on playing with Jerry.

“Hey, Mum,” I sighed.

“Angelina, darling—I’ve just heard.  I’m so worried about you.  Your father and I want to come and see you.”

I knew this would happen.  “No, Mum, I’m fine.  I have Jonathan with me now and Seth will be back in a minute.  Don’t worry about me.”  I looked over at Jonathan’s shocked expression.  He pointed to the door to ask if he should leave, so I waved my finger at him to stay.  I would explain in a minute.