Yesterday`s flower - Michelle Tarynne (fun to read TXT) 📗

helped Colin set up the barbecue. When she looked again, they were engrossed in conversation with a few other men, loading charcoal from five-kilogram bags.

‘What happened?’ Madeleine asked when he was out of earshot.

‘What can I say? He can’t resist me,’ Erika laughed.

 

But Madeleine detected a note of concern in her voice. ‘Are you okay, love?’ ‘He apologised. We’ve moved on. It’s not that big a deal.’ ‘But?’

 

‘But nothing. We’re fine. Other than the fact that I’m worried about Max. I haven’t seen him since I moved into town.’

‘What did you expect, Erika? Isn’t that what you wanted?’

 

Erika bit her lip. ‘I didn’t expect to miss him so much,’ she admi ed. ‘And my feelings are hurt, I suppose.’

 

Madeleine motioned Erika towards the kitchen. ‘God, you’re a complicated being, Erika,’ Madeleine said, extracting tomatoes and le uce from the fridge. ‘You’re just as confused as the men in your life. Colin may be a li le predictable at times, but at least he’s mine.’

‘Jared’s mine,’ Erika said.

‘You think so?’ Madeleine replied.

‘Actually, I don’t know what to think.’

 

Madeleine handed Erika a cucumber and a few avocados, then pulled a bo le of olives off a shelf. They moved to the sink, where Madeleine had placed a few chopping boards and a big wooden bowl for the salad. Without any discussion, they washed and cut the vegetables. Madeleine fetched a container of feta cheese, cu ing hefty white blocks and dropping them into the bowl. She looked at Erika.

‘Does Jared love you?’ Madeleine asked.

 

‘I don’t know. He’s not so much a man of words as of action.’ ‘Do you love him?’

 

‘What’s with the twenty questions?’ Erika asked, the pitch of her voice rising. ‘I’ll take that as a no.’

 

Madeleine’s son, Kyle, ran into the room, still wet from the swimming pool. ‘Mom, Dad wants to know if the firelighters are finished.’

 

‘Look in the cupboard in the scullery,’ Madeleine said. ‘I bought some yesterday. And how many times have I asked you to dry yourself before you come inside?’

Kyle rolled his eyes. ‘Only a thousand, Mom. I’m just helping Dad out.’

 

Erika watched Kyle vanish. ‘I’m scared to fall in love, Mad. Think what happened last time. That doesn’t mean I’m not crazy about him. What’s not to like?’

 

 

 

Grinning, Madeleine looked out the window to the back garden. ‘You’re right of course, Erika. He’s sex on legs, that one.’

Erika laughed. ‘Madeleine,’ she said, ‘you don’t know the half of it!’

 

As the sun dipped towards the ocean, couples stood outside cha ing. The older kids had walked down to the beach, and the li lies were already fed and seated in front of a cartoon in the lounge. A baby cried, and a mother to whom Erika had been introduced but whose name she’d forgo en got up, glaring at her husband, who was on his third beer and had seemingly acquired a hearing defect. Erika looked at Jared and he gave her a lascivious grin. He walked over, placing his arms around her, and kissed her gently.

‘Can I get you another drink?’ he asked Erika. ‘What about you, Madeleine?’

 

As they both sipped their G&T’s, the smell of the braai billowed into the house and Jared went outside to play pool cricket with the children, who’d returned from the beach. Dancing around him, the kids yelped when Jared bowled, diving in all directions as Kyle swung the bat, hi ing the ball with a solid thud.

‘He seems like a nice man,’ Madeleine commented.

‘He makes me feel whole again.’

‘And that,’ Madeleine said, ‘is nothing to sniff at.’

 

♥

 

They returned to Donald’s house just before midnight, and Jared looked at his watch with a dramatic flourish.

‘Have you been a good girl this year?’ he asked.

‘Well, if I haven’t been good, then at least I hope I’ve been good at it.’

 

Jared smiled. ‘I’ll vouch for you,’ he said, ‘when Father Christmas comes down the chimney.’

‘Don’t you think you’ll be asleep by then?’

 

‘Asleep? I’m completely wired Erika. I don’t think I’m much in the mood for a sleep.’ Erika shook her head. ‘I just don’t know how you manage.’

 

‘Pure luck, I suppose,’ Jared replied. ‘Come on, tiger. Let’s go and sit outside on the patio. I want to give you your present.’

 

‘What about tomorr–’ Erika stopped herself. Go with the flow, Erika. ‘I can’t believe the nights in this place,’ she said instead. ‘Who’d have thought I could be outside on Christmas Eve?’

‘Christmas, actually,’ Jared said, tapping his watch. ‘Happy, happy.’

 

He handed her a cylindrical parcel wrapped in red tissue paper and tied with silver ribbon.

She shook it, smelt it, then held it to her ear. ‘Any hints?’ she asked.

‘It might have something to do with your new venture.’

‘A paintbrush?’ said Erika.

‘Not quite.’

 

Erika pulled off the paper, pulling out a tube that resembled the one that once contained her Fine Arts degree. Popping off the lid, she extracted a sheaf of papers, her forehead crinkling in confusion. She moved closer to the light to read it, and as understanding dawned, she felt a warm glow seeping through her.

‘A whole hotel?’ she said.

‘I took Lars to the gallery when you were out last week. He was bowled over. With any

 

 

 

luck, you’ve got enough work to support yourself for the next six months. And that doesn’t even include anything you might sell in the gallery.’

‘You knew about this and you didn’t tell me?’

 

Jared pulled her closer. ‘Don’t you think I wanted to? With all this work, you’re going to have to hire yourself an assistant. And the great thing is, Lars has given you free reign. Obviously he wants you to look at the hotel and the interior design storyboards to get an idea, but pre y much the whole project is entirely up to you.’

 

Erika couldn’t believe her luck. No financial worries, and a man who cared enough to back her the way Jared just had.

 

‘And that’s not all,’ Jared said, pulling out another wrapped box. The necklace was a shower of sapphires and tourmalines, more exquisite than anything Erika had ever seen. Jared fastened the catch at her nape, kissing her as he did so. ‘Gorgeous,’ he said. ‘Like you.’

 

Erika looked at Jared, feeling tears of surprise and joy beginning to well. ‘Thank you, Jared,’ she said, embracing him.

‘You’re more than welcome.’

 

She stood up from the lounger where they’d been si ing, holding out her hand to him.

‘And since we’re exchanging gifts, mine for you is in the bedroom,’ she said.

 

Jared raised an eyebrow. ‘Darling Erika,’ he said, a naughty look on his face. ‘I thought you’?d never ask.’

 

♥

 

It didn’t ma er that she woke just after five, the darkness still present but edging silently away as the sun began to lift.

 

Jared was gone. She knew it before she’d even rolled over to switch on the bedside lamp. Erika tried to block her disappointment, but it gnawed at her. She was still wearing her necklace and not much else, and though she’d felt sensuous and sexy last night, now she just felt abandoned. What was wrong with her? Jared hadn’t said he’d leave so early, but she knew his habits by now. For all she knew he could have driven back to Franschhoek at three, crossing Cape Town at its most secretive and seductive.

 

Jared’s holdall was gone; Jared was gone. But the painting she’d given him last night was still next to the bed, where he’d left it after thanking her. He didn’t like it, she thought. How humiliating. Erika got out of bed and stretched. Subconsciously, she’d probably hoped to wake before Jared left, but she was not actually an early bird. Lunch with Madeleine and Colin was only at twelve thirty. She had a whole morning to kill on her own, but strangely enough, she didn’t feel like sleeping any longer. Especially on Christmas Day, which was all about being with people you love.

 

As she passed the bedroom mirror, she looked at herself, studying her new necklace. So he’d left early. What did it ma er? She’d stay in Scarborough just for today – she wasn’t about to let Madeleine down, and she’d be lonelier spending Christmas in Franschhoek without either of the De Villiers brothers.

 

Resorting to what she always did to fill the void, Erika pulled out her paints to soothe her negative thoughts, and when her phone rang at eight, she was completely engrossed in depicting a stream where she and Max had stopped with the horses.

‘Hello?’ she asked, her fingers leaving brown streaks on her mobile.

‘Good morning, sleepyhead; happy Christmas!’

 

 

 

‘Jared!’

 

‘I’m sorry I left without saying goodbye. I couldn’t sleep.’ ‘That’s okay. I missed you when I woke up though.’

 

‘Well, I’ve had almost all night to think about you. So I might just have missed you more.’

 

Erika could hear the smile in his voice. ‘Please come back to Franschhoek tonight, Erika. I know you’ll be with Madeleine today, but I need to be with you.’

‘Okay,’ Erika said immediately.

 

‘Okay?’ Jared sounded relieved. ‘And Erika, please bring my present with you? I didn’t want to move it last night because I didn’t want to rustle the wrapping paper – I thought it’d wake you up. Then when I was driving home, I realised how that might have seemed.’

‘I’m not that precious,’ Erika lied.

 

‘Well, please bring it. I’m counting down the hours. Let me know when you’re on your way and I’ll meet you at your flat.’

 

And Erika’s spirits lifted: this could still turn out to be the best Christmas she’d experienced in a long, long time.

Chapter 17

Jared left for Hong Kong towards the end of January.

 

In some ways, Erika was relieved. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t miss him – over the last few weeks they’d spent so much time together that when she wasn’t with him, she felt unfinished. It was rather that she was behind on her deadlines and, if she was honest, completely exhausted. Jared kept a pace she wouldn’t have thought she was capable of – certainly not since she was a teenager. A social animal, he wasn’t content kicking back in front of the telly, or listening to music for an entire evening. When they spent an evening in just each other’s company, there was always an event planned afterwards: Heinrich’s having some mates over to play 30 Seconds; do you think we’ll make it by ten? or I promised we’d drive into Cape Town tonight; Susana says there’s a really hip salsa bar opening this week.

 

Erika had probably seen and experienced more in the last month than she normally would have in a year. But with this came a sensory overload: music pounded in her ears for days after an all-night dance session, her eyes hurt in the sunshine after too much to drink, and though she wasn’t a prude, she wasn’t sure she liked the casual a itude to drugs that characterised Jared’s circle. Like the fact that 30 Seconds wasn’t entertaining enough without a spliff or a sniff of something. Jared never pressured her into anything, but she knew very well what her choice was – either she went with him, or he went alone. And she preferred driving him home safely than le ing him find his way wound up, inebriated or high. She tried a few new things, but not everything about this high-rolling