A Chance Encounter by Rae Shaw (e manga reader TXT) 📗

She had propped him up on her sofa under a blanket. The shivering had stopped.

‘I thought you were concussed. I nearly called an ambulance.’

‘I can feed myself,’ he said with a quirky smile. She wiped his chin when the juice dribbled out of his mouth.

‘I know,’ she said coyly. ‘I want to look after you.’

‘Tastes nice.’

‘Well, it's nothing special. Came out of the freezer,’ she said.

‘I really need to change out of these clothes. I think I stink.’

‘You do smell ripe.’ She laughed. ‘I’ll bathe you in the shower. Did you take the painkillers?’ The migraine explained his silence in the car.

‘Yes, nurse Julianna. I didn’t realise the significance of my speech failing until Nicky pinned me to the wall and not a word came out of my mouth in protest.’

‘Nicky didn't follow through, so I’m not going to either. I’m shattered and so are you. We’re going to shower and go to bed.’

She took the empty dish away. The pleasant exchange masked all the things they weren't saying to each other.

‘I want to apologise,’ he said, in her bedroom an hour later. ‘For everything. For not being honest about my feelings or emotional state. Keeping things from you and from Ellen too. I used you, both of you. I wanted help but was too proud to ask.’

‘Mark, we’ve been using each other. I wanted to work for Opportunitas and this, you and your family, became my pet project for achieving it. Let’s face it, we’ve been unable to articulate our anger at others. You're not Alex, and you don’t talk to me like him.’

The room fell silent.

‘I've not been gentle with you, when we’ve, you know…’ he said quietly, easing himself upright and touching his temple, massaging it with his fingertips.

She quashed a chuckle. She didn't see it the same way. She had asked for sex to be like that – passionate yet detached from love-making. The way animals mated when in heat. ‘I can over-power you, if necessary.’

‘I witnessed that out in Dublin. You’re quite violent when you have to be. How did you learn to do that?’

‘Oh. I’ve been doing martial arts since I was a small child. Dad's an instructor and he started me young. Lots of competitions and he made sure I learnt to maintain discipline. Not go wild with it.’ Except, she had in Ireland. Her father would be disappointed with the lack of self-control.

By the time she had undressed, the warm colours had displaced the cold tinge of paleness on his face. He smiled and this time, she let him embrace her. He had salvaged his relationship with Julianna, but what about Ellen? And Jackson? His presence in the company was a potential liability with Zustaller still in operation. Did he still have a job, and more importantly would Jackson consider him a friend?

She dreaded Monday morning. Jackson wouldn’t wait long to give him an answer.

  33

Mark

MONDAY

The message appeared on Mark’s monitor the moment he fired up his computer. He stood for a few minutes mentally preparing himself by staring out of the window at the glazed offices situated on the other side of the bustling London street. Bright sunlight bounced off numerous glass facades, dazzling his still sensitive eyes. Ellen had been with the Haynes family all weekend. What had she told them?

He straightened his tie, headed for the lift and hit the button for the top floor. It was too early for Diana to shoo him into Jackson’s office so he rapped his knuckles on the door.

Jackson gestured to Mark with a wave of his forefinger. ‘In.’

Mark wasn’t offered a seat. The formality didn’t surprise him; it only disappointed. He hovered before the vast desk, waiting for Jackson to occupy his chair.

‘How is Ellen?’ Mark asked.

‘Confused, tired,’ Jackson said vaguely. ‘She gradually opened up. Not about Friday, too early for her to deal with that trauma.’

Trauma – an appalling word. Mark swayed onto the heel of his shoes. ‘She wasn’t badly hurt? Drugs—’

‘No drugs in her system. She’ll heal quickly. She understands that she has to move on with her life. However, Zustaller is still out there. That has been hard for her.’

Mark swallowed a hard lump. His throat ached. ‘Will he come after her? Me?’

Jackson picked up a pen, then let it go with a spin of his wrist. ‘I don’t know. He’s a delegator.’ Like me, Jackson didn’t add. ‘He plays a long game. He can’t risk exposing himself too soon. I don’t get the impression that he’s impulsive. He’s left Bill intact, because it serves a purpose to make your father sweat it out in prison, indefinitely. Punishment, not execution, is his style.’

‘So… I shouldn’t worry too much.’

His boss guffawed. ‘If he wants you, Mark, he’ll find some way, maybe not immediately.’

Mark felt the blood drain from his face. ‘I’ll have to move. Again.’

‘I’d advise it. And Ellen, she'll have to leave London and go somewhere quiet, somewhere like Scotland.’

‘I don't think she'll miss London, and Derek seems a decent guy.’

‘Yes.’ Jackson leaned back and the chair tilted with him.

‘Whatever I can do to help, I'm here for her now.’

‘The best thing you can do is leave her be, don't you think? You need to resolve a few things with your father. And your mother.’

‘I'm not going near them.’ Heartless maybe, but he was past caring. Pain shot across his forehead.

Jackson rose from his seat and came within an arm’s reach of Mark. His pupils were black dots in a sea of blue; finely tuned, razor sharp around the edges. Mark flinched.

‘I... don't want to speak to her.’

‘You’ve always known your father’s guilt, haven't you?’ Jackson spoke with the enviable confidence of a boss in his place