A Family Affair Chapter 14 to 17

A Family Affair

Marilyn McPherson




Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2011 by Marilyn McPherson

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Books by this author:
A Family Affair
A Family Affair - First Born
A Family Affair - Next of Kin
The Faithful Watcher
Lottie’s Patch
Stray


Note to Reader
Please note that this book is written in Australian English.

Chapter Fourteen


Desperately hoping for a friendly reception, Colleen entered the revolving glass doors of Satinol Cosmetics. She moved slowly, supporting a sore left arm which ached with every step. Back at the train station, she had foolishly made a mad dash to board the train as its doors were closing. As a result, she had been temporarily caught, her arm squashed by the heavy doors. This had amused a group of young boys who sniggered as she pushed her way inside, cursing at the train in a loud voice and nursing her sore arm.
Feeling uncomfortable and out of place in the foyer of Satinol, Colleen spotted a large directory for the building and quickly shuffled over to it, dragging her bag on the ground behind her.
She had barely begun to scan the large notice board when all of a sudden, there was a hand on her shoulder and a fierce, deep voice from behind, “Ma’am, can I help you?”
Colleen spun around to face a very tall and fair-skinned 
security officer. He kept his hand firmly on her shoulder and Colleen realised that he was probably not here to help her, after all. “No, I do not need help, thank you,” she replied.
The security guard was not deterred, and went on, “Ma’am, I'm going to have to escort you from the building. Please come with me.”
Annoyed by his aggressive tone, Colleen unsuccessfully tried to push his hand off her shoulder and fiercely erupted, “Let me go! Let me go right now, Mister!”
The guard was not put off, and signalled to a nearby officer for assistance. “Over here,” he called out. Colleen's arm was casually twisted behind her back causing her to shriek in pain from the injury.
Somehow she managed to call out through the pain, “I am here to see Tom Bradley. He is an old friend who would be very upset if he knew that I was being man-handled in this way.”
The guard let go her shoulder and looked her up and down slowly, suddenly a little unsure of what to do.
“What is your name?” Colleen demanded.
The guard was now uncertain as to whether or not Colleen was telling the truth. “Ma’am. Do you have an appointment with Mr Bradley?”
“Well, um, no,” explained Colleen tentatively. “I thought that I would surprise him.”
Suspicious again, but also wary of upsetting a friend of the CEO, the guard looked towards the reception and back to Colleen. “Okay, come over to the desk and we'll see if this is true. If it's not, you're out of here.”
The guard requested the young lady at reception to make a call to the CEO's office.
“What's your name?” the receptionist asked roughly, looking up only briefly.
“Colleen Watson,” she replied while thinking to herself. What if he doesn't want to see me after all this time? God help me if he won't help me out.
The receptionist mentioned her name to someone upstairs and was then momentarily silent. While still holding the phone and looking Colleen up and down, the girl said in a quieter voice, “Really? Is he sure?” The phone call was ended, and the receptionist nodded to the security guard.
The guard turned to Colleen. “Well, Ma’am,” he said incredulously. “He has agreed to see you. I cannot believe it. That man never sees anybody without an appointment. Come with me please.” The guard was obviously surprised by the fact that Tom knew this woman. He walked her over to an elevator, swiped a card and pressed Level thirty-six. Once Colleen was inside, he said in a friendlier voice, “Have a nice day, Ma’am. Sorry about the mix up earlier on.”
Colleen breathed a sigh of relief once the doors were closed, and tried to compose herself after catching a glimpse of her image in one of the large gold mirrors in the foyer. It was no wonder the guard had asked her to leave. Her hair was dishevelled and her clothing very plain. Ideally, she would have put some lipstick on before meeting Tom again after all these years. But the situation could not be helped today.
The doors slid open and there he was, standing there, obviously waiting for her. They had not seen each other for many years, and yet it was unmistakably him. Those eyes had not aged one day. Colleen moved forward, but stood there without saying a word, hoping that Tom would break the silence.
It was as if he was initially stunned into silence by her very presence, but then he gradually noticed her greying hair, the lines on her face, her dropping sore shoulder, her overfilled small bag and her dishevelled clothes. The two of them could not have aged more differently.
“Colleen, my God. I didn't believe it when Elizabeth said you were here. I always wondered if we would meet again.” Tom moved forward to embrace her.
Tom’s cologne was a woody, musky  scent and his arms were warm as they held her tight. Suddenly, Colleen realised how overwhelmed she was feeling. Besieged by his kindness, and those eyes that she once knew so well, the tears started to well. The barrier she presented to the world was ready to give way, and unleash her feelings at any minute. This was not something that she had expected.
“So, tell me, Colleen, how have you been?” asked Tom, now holding both of her hands in his.
Colleen took a deep breath, and fought back the tears. “It’s been tough,” she replied, thinking about how rough the past ten years had been.
Tom looked a little taken back by her words.
“Would you rather I said that everything has been fine or would you like the truth?”
 “Hmmm, I think maybe we had better go into my office and have a cup of tea.” He led her along a corridor finely decorated with pictures, plants and expensive-looking ornaments. “Elizabeth, we'll have some tea and coffee please,” Tom instructed a young lady who sat outside his door, as he led Colleen into his office, shutting the door firmly behind them.
Colleen noticed the young woman's disapproving glance as she walked in.
“Please take a seat, Colleen,” Tom said in a kind voice as he pulled her chair out and brought another chair over to sit next to her. “Now, tell me,” he continued. “What has been happening in your life that is so bad?”
“Well, where do I begin?” Colleen asked herself loudly. He seemed to be genuinely interested. “I just can't get a break these days, Tom. Do you know what I mean?” Colleen looked at Tom and then realised that he probably didn't know what she meant, but continued anyway. “Whenever I find a guy who says he'll look after me, something always goes wrong and he goes to jail or gets beaten up or loses his job.”
Colleen proceeded to describe her previous two failed marriages, how Ted ended up in jail, her evictions, her money problems, recent time in jail and other various circumstances that came to mind.
The more she spoke, the more uncomfortable Tom started to look.
The two of them drank cups of tea while Colleen continued to explain the details of her troubled life. “So I guess the real reason that I'm here is to ask for help,” she finally concluded.
“Help,” Tom echoed. “Okay, then. What sort of help do you have in mind?”
“Maybe five to ten thousand dollars’ worth of help.” Colleen paused briefly to study his expression, but she could not read anything from his blank stare. “I promise this is a once-only type of deal. I just need some cash to get back on my feet. Find somewhere to live, that sort of thing. This last jail sentence really took a lot out of me.”
Tom was quiet. He stood up and paced slowly around the office, before turning back to face Colleen. “I must say Colleen, this is not the reason I thought you were here today. I thought you might want to talk to me and hear how I’m going. But you haven’t asked anything about me. I also thought you might like to discuss ‘her’,” Tom said pausing.
“No,” Colleen fiercely spat back. It hurt her that he would say that. Couldn’t Tom see how tough things were for her? It hadn’t even crossed Colleen’s mind that the two of them would speak about ‘her’. Colleen tried to explain, “You know that I don't know what happened to her, and I think it's best for the past to stay in the past.”
Tom looked thoughtful. “Well, regardless of the past, I don't feel comfortable just giving you money. I'm sorry Colleen, but I don't think that I owe you anything. I'm sorry to hear that you think I do.”
“I didn’t say you owed me anything.” Colleen took a deep breath and tried not to look angry. He was unlikely to give her anything if they had a fight. “It's just that I know you are so rich and, well, I was hoping you could share the dough with a friend.”
“What I could do is offer you a job, and you could earn your own money. How does that sound?”
Colleen stared at him blankly.
“What sort of skills do you have?” Tom said, continuing down this path.
Raising her voice and feeling more and more irritated by his manner, Colleen finally snapped. “I don't want a job from you. I'm not here for a job interview. I haven't asked you for a job, have I?” Colleen stared at Tom for a couple of seconds and then continued, “Working in a building like this is not for me. I would think someone as smart as you could plainly see that.”
“Colleen, please!” Tom was shocked by the tone of voice she was using with him. She seemed so angry and he wasn't sure why. “I just don't think it's fair that you come here, after all this time, and demand money from me.”
“Well, I don't think it's fair that you have a big home, a fancy job and a young girlfriend that's half your age I might add, while I could be sleeping in the streets tonight.”
Tom was unsure what to do or say, and let out a deep sigh to show his exasperation.
Colleen went on, “I'm right about your pretty young girlfriend, aren't I. I saw it in a magazine in jail. You wouldn't want her to find out about our little secret now, would you?
“Colleen, you're blackmailing me now?” Tom said, in a shocked and frustrated tone.
“I'll tell her, I will,” she screamed.
“How do you know that I haven’t already told her?”
Colleen was thoughtful. Could he have done that? It hadn’t even occurred to her that he could have been honest with his girlfriend about the past. Colleen wasn’t sure if he was bluffing. “Well, have you told her?”
Tom looked away. “Actually, to be honest, no. I have been meaning to tell Ellen about the baby you gave birth to all those years ago. Our baby. I just haven't found the right moment.”
Tom seemed so hurt and fragile to Colleen all of a sudden and she nearly told him that she didn't mean it, that she was sorry. But she didn’t.
“I can't believe that you would come into my office like this and try, and try to blackmail me. I really thought that our shared past gave us a special connection in some way. But I can see that you have changed beyond recognition. You are nothing like the girl I remember so fondly.”
“I’m the same person, but Ted and I really need a break, that's all. It’s not easy living on the streets. I’ve had to fight for everything I have.”
“I know who you are, Colleen. And this woman in front of me, this is not you.” Tom's voice was stern. “I will give you the money, but not because of what you have threatened, but because I want to see you return to who you once were. Can you do that for me?”
The tears were finally showing in Colleen's eyes and she felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders. “Thank you, Tom, a million thank yous. I’ll be anyone you want me to be for ten thousand dollars.”
Tom opened his wallet and counted the notes in there. “Here is five hundred dollars, that's all I have on me at the moment.”
Colleen’s eyes bulged at the sight of so much cash.
“I will arrange for you to pick up the rest of the money from my bank in the next couple of days. Take this card.” Tom had written some details on the back. “I’ll have someone I trust take care of this matter tomorrow. How will he contact you?”
Colleen wrote her mobile phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to Tom. She took Tom's five hundred, folded it into her bra and stood up to leave. She had one more question though. “Tom, what do you know about our girl?”
“Not much. Only that she is healthy and happy with her adoptive family. I'm not sure where she is living at the moment.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I had an associate of mine look her up some years back and find out if they ever told her she was adopted. Her adoptive parents obviously thought it was best not to tell her. We gave up our rights a long time ago, so I thought it was best to keep my distance and leave well enough alone.”
“I'm glad to hear that.” Colleen had often wondered about the girl's looks. “Do you know what she looks like?”
“No, I've never even seen a picture.”
Colleen nodded. It didn’t really matter. She had her life to worry about right now. “Well, thanks again, Tom.” Colleen scurried out quickly before he could change his mind about the cash. For the first time in months, Colleen was excited about her future again.


Chapter Fifteen

“Hello, I would like to speak to prisoner Ted Blake,” Colleen requested calmly, using her mobile phone while walking down the street.
“Who is calling please?” the officer enquired.
“Colleen Watson.”
“Colleen, please be aware that your call will be monitored by a correctional officer and terminated if that officer deems it appropriate. The maximum call time allowable is ten minutes. Do you understand these instructions clearly?” The officer spoke quickly, as if she had repeated that statement many times that day.
“Yes,” Colleen responded. She knew the drill well enough as this was certainly not Ted's first stay in jail.
“Please hold the line. It will take between three to five minutes before this call can be connected,” stated the officer dryly.
It was just past two o’clock on a Friday afternoon. Phone calls to prisoners being held at the Lindifern Correctional Institution were allowed on Tuesdays and Fridays between two o’clock and four o’clock. Colleen had not spoken to Ted since he was arrested, and she was anxious to let him know about the money from Tom.
“Hello.” Ted sounded very despondent as he picked up the phone.
“Teddy, it's me,” replied Colleen eagerly.
Ted was silent. Then he said, “Well, if it's not my fuckin' girlfriend! Where the fuck have you been?” His tone of voice was very cold. “The other guys in here get brought ciggies and food by their wives, but not me.”
“Baby!” Colleen was hurt and surprised by his words. She tried to explain quickly, “They had me in jail until two days ago and I couldn't call until today cause of all their rules. But I wanted to. I thought about you every day.”
“What happened?”
“They caught me collecting the cash.”
“Shit. So it's all gone then. Oh, well, hmmm. I didn't think they could touch you on this one,” Ted replied, sounding a little sorry for his harsh words, but not quite ready to apologise.
“So, how long are you in for Teddy? No one will tell me anything.”
“Eighty-eight days left. Then I'll come find ya.”
Colleen snorted, but then remembered her good news. “Now Teddy, I've got some excellent news that should cheer you up.”
Sounding suspicious and concerned, Ted raised his voice, “Wait, you know that they are recording all of this. Everything we say...”
Not put off by his cautious demeanour, Colleen snapped, “Yes, of course I know but..”
“So don't say anything stupid, okay,” he said, cutting her off and groaning at the same time.
“It’s nothing illegal, relax. A friend of mine has given us some money, that's all,” explained Colleen.
“What's the catch?” Ted asked cautiously.
“No catch!”
“Then, whose the friend with all this spare money?”
“You remember I told you that I used to date this rich guy. Well, he wasn’t rich back then of course, but anyway it was years ago that I knew him.”
“Er, maybe. Keep going.”
Colleen continued, “I’m sure you’ve heard of him - Tom Bradley - the makeup guy from that big company in the city. Well, anyway, as it happens, he is super rich now and, as it happens, he could spare a few dollars for little ol’ us.”
“Really?” asked Ted. “And why would he give us money?”
“‘Cause I asked nicely, that's why.”
Ted was silent for a few moments as he processed this news. “So, how much could he spare exactly?” he asked, sounding a little more interested.
“I'm on the street now, walking to the bank to pick it up. I’m not sure exactly how much, but I reckon it will be something worth seeing, Teddy.”
As she was talking, Colleen walked past a magazine stand. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a picture of Tom with his new girlfriend. Colleen recognised the young woman because she had seen her picture in numerous magazines over the past two days. The picture was a close-up of the two of them kissing in a park somewhere. Colleen stopped walking to take a closer took. She sure was pretty.
Suddenly the world froze still. Colleen could not hear what Teddy was saying and she found herself not breathing for a moment. “Oh, my God!” cried Colleen.
“Are you listening to what I’m saying?” Ted asked feeling annoyed.
“Oh, my God,” repeated Colleen. This time her voice was louder and more desperate.
“What is it girl?” asked Ted. A warning sounded over their call. The ten minutes was nearly up.
“Ted, it's my daughter!” shrieked Colleen. “Tom is dating his own daughter!” Colleen was panicky and breathing erratically.
“What are you talking about?”
“The baby I gave up for adoption years ago. It’s her, in the picture with Tom.”
Ted was obviously trying to piece Colleen's words together. “That was Tom's baby was it? Tom was the baby’s daddy?”
“Uh huh,” Colleen replied weakly.
“Hmmm. Very interesting. You haven't mentioned this little piece of information to me before. No wonder he gave you the cash! You must have blackmailed him.”
“Maybe a little.”
“Maybe you aren’t so silly after all.”
“Focus, Teddy. Don't you understand? It's her!”
“Come on, Col,” Ted said, trying to reassure her. “You haven't seen your daughter since you gave birth to her. It's probably not her.”
“Ted, she's got a birth mark on her neck. I could never forget my baby's mark. Shaped like a crown on the left side of her neck. My God! How could this happen?”
“It's okay,” Ted started to say, but the line went dead. She would not be able to talk to him again for another four days.
“Shit,” Colleen exploded, as the situation started to sink in and the sweat dripped down her forehead. It wasn't a particularly hot day, but all of a sudden, Colleen was overheating in her jacket and skirt. She found a park bench and sat down to gather her thoughts. He must know, she thought. But what if he doesn't know? It struck Colleen that Tom hadn’t actually seen the baby when she was born. Maybe she hadn’t described the birth mark. She racked her brain trying to remember, and wondered if she should call him straight away. Would he even believe her? The questions buzzed around her mind relentlessly like flies.
Colleen sat there thinking for what seemed like hours but was probably only minutes, before deciding on a course of action. She would have to go visit him again. Or maybe a phone call would suffice. In any case, it was probably best to call him after she had collected the cash, just in case he thought she was trying to cause trouble. She hurried along the street as fast as her weary legs would allow, and minutes later, Colleen found herself at the City Bank Tom had instructed her to visit. She was to collect the contents of safety deposit box number 181EQ that had been arranged for her.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Colleen thought she recognised the same man she had seen two blocks back. He was tall with a black jacket and black hat. Is he following me? Colleen thought. She remembered the man because he had tipped his hat and said a polite “Good afternoon, Ma’am,” as he walked past. Colleen had found this very unusual and thought the man strange. Seeing him again caused the hairs on the back of her neck to prickle. It couldn’t be a coincidence.
Although suspicious of the man in black and feeling alarmed by his lingering presence, Colleen was driven by a desire to see the contents of her safety deposit box. She moved through the queue of people until she was face to face with a short, balding bank clerk with black rimmed glasses. The man requested Colleen's identification and box number then returned with a key and led her into a long rectangular room filled with many boxes.
“Your box is here, Ma’am. Have a nice day,” he announced as he turned and headed towards the exit.”
“Thanks,” replied Colleen, a childish excitement apparent in her voice. But the man was already gone and probably had not noticed.
For a few moments she forgot about the situation with her daughter and the man in black outside. Colleen slid her key into the lock and pulled the long box out of the wall. There were five stacks of notes bound together, more money than Colleen had ever seen. The notes were all fifties, by the look of it.
“Tommy, if you were here right now, I'd give you a big fat kiss,” she squealed with pure delight as she carelessly threw the cash into her empty backpack.
The next few minutes moved very quickly for Colleen. She left the security area feeling slightly paranoid. People in the bank seemed to be watching her. Calm down, she told herself. Nobody is watching. It is just your imagination.
Not looking where she was going and in her haste towards the exit, Colleen bumped into an elderly lady.
“Watch where you're going,” the old lady remarked grumpily as she struggled to stay upright.
“Sorry,” quickly exclaimed Colleen, not stopping to say anything more.
The old lady continued to mumble something after her, but Colleen was already out of earshot.
The doors of the bank were in sight and Colleen was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the man in black stepped in front of her. He was here and waiting for her.
“What do you want?” she stammered, now feeling afraid for the first time.
But the man didn't respond to this question. He quickly pulled a ski mask out of his jacket and placed it over his face. He abruptly pushed Colleen to the ground and roared, “This is a hold-up! Everyone on the ground!”
Almost instantaneously, large metallic shutters slid down from the ceiling along each counter, effectively blocking access to the bank's money. People screamed in fear and huddled together in groups against the walls. The man in black had a gun and began shooting at the shutters in a crazed fashion.
“Open ‘em, or I'll shoot someone,” he demanded in anger and frustration.
Colleen was face down on the floor with her hands over her head. She held her backpack with a strong grip and kept it close to her body. Just do as he says, and we’ll get out of this alive, she told herself.
The man in black was still yelling all sorts of crazy things. Strangely though, he had not moved away from her.
Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in her right shoulder and shortly afterwards another pain somewhere else. It was difficult to work out where the second pain was coming from. Everything blurred from that point on. The last thing Colleen felt was her hand being unclenched and the backpack being ripped from her clasp.


Chapter Sixteen

Some weeks later, Ellen was enjoying a morning coffee with one of her new office friends Ryan. They had worked together on a project a few weeks earlier and quickly become friends. Ryan was studying the new summer range of Satinol lipsticks that had just arrived. He was young and funny and very gay. He called her “sweetie”, which she liked, and he made her laugh with the way he talked, and the stories he told about the people working at Satinol.   
A knock was heard on Ryan’s office door.
“Come in,” said Ellen, giggling at Ryan who was applying lipstick to himself. He was puckering his lips and pretending to be a woman.
“I have your mail, Ellen,” said a shy young man who entered her office. “I heard you might be in here.” The same young man had delivered Ellen's mail for the past two weeks, and Ellen suddenly felt guilty and silly for not remembering his name.
He seemed amused by Ryan’s antics too.
“I'm so sorry,” Ellen told the man. “What's your name again?” she asked tentatively.
“Cameron,” the man replied, handing her a neat pile of letters.
“Sorry, Cam. There are just so many people here. I find it so hard to remember all the names.”
“It's okay, don't worry about it. Looks like more fan mail today,” he said pointing to the letters.
“Thanks, Cam, see you later,” Ellen called out as he left the room, writing the words “Cam” and “mail” neatly on her writing pad. “That ought to help,” she told Ryan.
“All right my sweetheart! I'm off too for a meeting.” Ryan wiped his face clean and handed Ellen a neat pack of the new lipsticks to take home.
“Bye, Ryan,” she told him light-heartedly.
Ellen looked over the new lipsticks. This was one of the best perks of her job. She and Chloe had now accumulated a large collection of makeup at home and it was getting better every week.
Soon after he had left, Ellen left for the central lounge area to skim through the letters. They were generally short and friendly notes from young girls, however one of the letters looked a little different from the rest. It was addressed to 'Tom Bradley's young girlfriend, Satinol Cosmetics', and appeared to have been hand-delivered. It looked a little creepy to Ellen, but she read it first, anyway.

Dear girl

I am planning to slip this note to one of the boys getting out soon, as it would never get through them nannies who reads our mail. Anyway, I hope it finds you.
You don't know me as we have never met but I have a piece of information that you need to know. The only other person who knew this information was killed – killed because she knew too much. I was speaking to her before she was killed, so I could be next. I hope not.
You were adopted as Col was too young to be a mother. This is understandable. The makeup guy, Tom someone is your father. Col says you are dating him. She wasn't happy about this!!! She thought it was disgusting. You should respect your mother's view. In fact, I think it is disgusting too. You should hook up with someone who is not your father - I will look you up when I get out. You can get to know me better. Your mother's name was Colleen Watson. We hear about all the murders in here. The makeup guy probably did it. When I get out of jail, I will kill him, maybe. Don’t show this letter to the coppers.
A friend

Ellen sat looking at the note in her hands for quite a while, trying to work out what to do with it. She wanted to take it straight to Tom and have him tell her that it was just a sick joke. Of course she wasn’t adopted. Of course Tom wasn’t her father. Of course Tom didn’t kill anyone. None of it made any sense. Ellen decided to show it to Chloe first, to see what she thought.
Ellen made a frantic call to Chloe's desk which promptly brought her friend to her side within minutes.
“Sweetie, are you okay?” asked Chloe, as she walked towards Ellen. “You sounded a bit frantic on the phone.”
“I'm not okay, Chloe. I received this in the mail today,” Ellen said, thrusting the note firmly into Chloe's hand.
After quickly scanning through the note, an expression of amusement came onto Chloe's face. “Well, Elle, this person is obviously crazed. I think we should frame it for kicks. It makes absolutely no sense,” laughed Chloe as she screwed the note up and threw it into the nearby trash can. “Why aren't you laughing too?” she asked realising that Ellen still looked shaken up.
“Why would someone send me something like this? I mean, I'm not even adopted!” said Ellen, thinking through the facts, and retrieving the note.
“People are completely nuts in the city. The man is obviously in jail right? So let's just hope that he stays there.”
“What happens if he tries to hurt Tom?” said Ellen weakly, not liking the thought of anyone being hurt, especially Tom. “Do you think that we should give this note to Tom's security, or maybe even to the police?”
“Hmmm.” Chloe thought about it briefly. “Yes, I think we will need to give the note to security, but first, I think we should find out if there is any truth in this matter.”
“What do you mean, truth?” asked Ellen tentatively. “There's no truth to find, is there?”
“Well, first thing is first. Let's ask your parents if you're adopted.”
“I'm not adopted, Chloe! You know my parents, remember,” Ellen insisted.
“Ah huh, but remember how we always used to joke about your being adopted when we were little?”
Ellen did remember of course.
Chloe went on, “Because both your parents have red hair and freckly skin, and you have dark hair and olive skin.”
Ellen must have looked very concerned because Chloe came over and gave her a quick hug. “Look, Elle, I don't think you’re adopted okay, really I don't. I'm sorry for upsetting you. But you've been saying for ages that it's about time we went back home to visit the folks. Let’s do it this weekend. If there's no truth to this part of the crazy letter, then there's no truth to the rest of it, and we can just forget the damn thing ever arrived. And we don't want to bother Tom unless we have to. He's really busy at the moment, and it just wouldn't be appropriate.”
“I think Tom would be very interested in this letter,” said Ellen, annoyed at her friend for thinking otherwise. “Because he cares about me.”
“He just has a lot of important meetings today, and I don't think that we should be bothering him with crank fan letters.”
Ellen was thoughtful for a moment. It did make sense. “Okay. I guess the folks might get a laugh out of the letter too. They might know what we should do with it too.”
“It's decided then!” exclaimed Chloe. “Now I have to get back to my desk in case Tom needs anything. But I'll see you tonight okay. We should hire a movie and order pizza like we used to. Bit of a “girls’ night in”. What do you think?”
“I can't. I have plans with Tom tonight.”
“Oh, you do?” Chloe sounded a little disappointed but smiled in any case. “I don't feel as if we get to spend very much time together anymore.”
“I'm sorry,” said Ellen. “But we'll hang out this weekend, okay?”
“Ellen, what will happen to your job here if the two of you break up?”
It was a ridiculous question. “Why would you ask that?” Ellen found herself feeling a little defensive.
“Because I'm concerned about you, that's why I would ask,” responded Chloe sternly. “Relationships don't last forever. Tom knows a lot of women, a lot of models. I know because I updated his address book yesterday.”
“Listen, you don't need to worry. Everything is going perfectly between us, except for this letter and all.”
“I'll try not to worry, okay. I just don't want to see Tom get hurt.”
Ellen looked at Chloe, surprised by where her loyalty apparently lay.
“I mean, I don't want either of you to get hurt, of course.”
“Sure.”
Chloe was already standing up, ready to leave. “Listen, I have to get back to Tom, in case he needs something. I probably shouldn't have left my desk like this,” Chloe said, trying to sound cheerful as she quickly left the room.


Chapter Seventeen

Tom Bradley sat at his desk quietly thinking over the past couple of months with Ellen. She had breathed new life into his world. He woke each morning with a renewed sense of excitement and possibility.
Suddenly, there was a knock on his door, which dragged him back into the reality of his business world. “Come in,” he said, surprised at himself for having daydreamed during a work day.
Hayden entered the room. “Good news, Tom,” he said. “The Clidewell account from Germany has just been confirmed.” He sat down on the couch in Tom’s office, looking very pleased with himself.
“That's excellent news, Hayden. Well done.” He paused briefly. “I'm glad you're here. I want to talk to you about that little financial matter you took care of recently.”
“Which