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I don't have a car
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2024-10-29 19:42:56When he stopped talking Irene had a fair idea of the gist of the negotiations he was undertaking as well as a familiarity with the territories they covered. It would be a huge coup for Fullbuster Grey if they scored this breakthrough into the Chinese market, she realized.
Then he glanced at his watch and drained his beer.‘I should get going. Thank you for your time, though.’ He stood up and retrieved the cooler bag from the bar and a colourful bunch of gerberas, white daisies and asparagus fern wrapped in cellophane.It was when they got to the foyer and she collected her bags and jacket that he said humorously, ‘I hope you haven’t parked too far away, Irene?’ He ushered her into the lift.‘I don’t have a car.’He frowned and hesitated before pushing a button. ‘What do you mean?’ ‘I don’t drive.’He looked at her for a moment as if she might have escaped a lunar landscape, and Irene had a secret desire to laugh.‘So how do you get about?’‘Buses,’ she said gravely. ‘I also have a bicycle. And, very occasionally, taxis.’‘Where do you live?’ She told him.‘That’s on my way.’ He pushed the basement button and the doors closed. ‘I’ll give you a lift.’‘You really don’t need to do that, Mr Fullbuster,’ she protested. ‘I’m quite used—’‘Irene,’ he said with his eyes glinting, ‘a piece of advice, don’t argue with me. Especially not when I’m being at my best because it may not last that long.’The lift came to rest at the basement floor and the doors slid open. ‘Well—’ She temporized.‘Besides which,’ he added, eyeing her carrier bags, ‘you’ve got an awful lot of loot on you by the look of it, all paid for with my money—you could get robbed, mobbed, anything, and I wouldn’t appreciate that.’‘Are you saying so long as the “loot” was OK, you wouldn’t mind what happened to me?’ she demanded.‘Now that is putting words into my mouth,’ he drawled. ‘But enough of this chit-chat, let’s go!’Irene had no choice but to follow him as he strode across the garage towards a gleaming navy-blue Bentley that looked brand-spanking new.‘Wow!’ She pulled up and couldn’t help gazing at the car admiringly, her ire dissolving somewhat. ‘I don’t know much about cars but this is something else!’‘Yes, a beauty, isn’t she? So damn classy—if she were a girl I could marry her.’Irene had to laugh as he unlocked the boot and they deposited her bags, the flowers and the wine in it, then he unlocked the doors and she climbed into the cream leather and walnut interior. It even smelt beautiful inside.‘Is it a conscious decision not to drive?’ he queried as he nosed the car up the garage ramp and onto the street. ‘A “greenie” decision?’Irene wrinkled her nose. ‘I would love to say so, and I do think too many of them are wrong, but it’s a practical decision. I don’t have a garage and I’m so used to taking buses and so on.’ She waved a hand.‘What is your economic situation?’ he asked with a sudden frown.Irene watched the city street slide beneath the bonnet of the Bentley. It hadrained while she’d been upstairs and the slick surface was reflecting myriad lights as the tyres hissed over them.Related chapters
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‘My parents did have a nest egg that came to me,’ she told him. ‘After—’ she stopped for a moment and swallowed ‘—after the accident they died in, my Mother Superior was appointed my trustee. My school fees were paid out of it, and my university expenses et cetera, and there was enough left for me to buy a terrace house, so I’m actually a woman of some substance even if I don’t have a car!’ She turned to him with a cheery grin.But Murad Fullbuster noticed the added sparkle to her eyes behind her glasses, tears, he suspected, and felt a spark of pity for this orphan.He said only, though, ‘Good on you! Is this it?’ He pulled the Bentley up outside a row of terrace houses in the inner suburb of Spring Josephine.‘Yes. Thank you very much for this. I suppose I’ll see you again at…’ Irene glanced at him enquiringly ‘…well, the cocktail party tomorrow afternoon?’‘Yes.’ He paused. ‘What have you got on tomorrow morning? I just thought you might be interested in the state-of-the-art confer
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Come to think of it—he steered the Bentley round a roundabout—he hadn’t taken a female companion there for ages, although it had not been so much the lack of females to escort around. No, there had been a plethora of upmarket social events on his calendar, and several perfectly groomed, expensively dressed, perfumed women on his arm, one at a time naturally, to share them with him, but looking back had it all seemed curiously—empty?Which raised the question—was the way that Irene Josephine seemed to be beckoning him an indication he was tired of the high life or perhaps specifically ‘glamorous, sophisticated women of the world’—to quote Miss Josephine herself.He frowned suddenly because that, of course, led him straight back to the thorny question of one particular sophisticated, glamorous woman of the world…But although Irene was not privy to Murad Fullbuster’s rather surprising train of thought, she was still puzzled as she closed her front door on the wet night.What had she sen
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Simon reached for a folder. ‘Fullbuster Grey faxed through a confidentiality clause. I’ve had our lawyer have a look at it and he sees no problems, but it means that anything you learn during these negotiations has to stay confidential.’ He handed her a pen.Irene signed the document with a flourish. ‘Of course.’‘And they faxed through the programme of engagements you’ll be required to attend.’ He pushed another piece of paper across the desk to her.‘Cocktail party tonight, lunch tomorrow at the Sovereign Islands, then a three-day break until a golf day at Sanctuary Cove, a day out on a boat on the river, a day at the races and finally a dinner dance—Sovereign Island again,’ Irene read and ticked off her fingers.Simon looked a question at her.‘I have seen this—Mrs Paxton went through it with me. I was just going through the outfits we got for each occasion,’ she explained and added, ‘I think I’m going to enjoy the three-day break after tomorrow’s lunch. But what’s at Sovereign Isl
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The last time she’d visited the curtains had been closed on the side of the lounge that led to a pool deck. Now they were open and the pool sparkled with underwater lighting. Not only that, the deck had been screened from the cool night air and bore a startling resemblance to what could be a set of the musical South Pacific.There was a dugout canoe bobbing on the pool, there was a small sandy beach, tropical foliage—real palm trees and hibiscus bushes. There were waiters and waitresses wearing leis, sarongs and grass skirts, there was the lovely music playing softly in the background. The tables that bore the canapés and drinks were covered in palm thatch and strewn with frangipani blooms.It was all so professionally done, so real, you could imagine yourself on an island in the South Pacific.Irene closed her mouth and turned to find Diane Paxton at her elbow. ‘This is just brilliant,’ she breathed.Diane smiled. ‘We do our best. Now, let me look at you.’Irene looked down at hersel
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‘I—’ she began tentatively. ‘That is…look—’ she gestured frustratedly ‘—it must be a “girl” thing. I mean, it must be the one area where I really don’t know what I’m doing.’ She paused and gathered composure. ‘I couldn’t help wondering if I’d ended up looking completely wrong,’ she told him tentatively.‘No. The opposite.’Irene gazed at him wordlessly for a long moment. She’d never thought much about men’s tailoring before and was not to know his suit was made from the finest wool/cashmere blend, but anyone could see it fitted perfectly. The smooth charcoal-grey fabric was beautifully stitched along the lapels and he wore a white shirt with a broad stone stripe and a tie with tiny emerald hexagon motifs. Gold cufflinks glinted at his wrists.His shoes simply looked as if they had cost a fortune. And add to the whole his dark good looks…Talk about stealing the show, she thought suddenly. Murad Fullbuster could be the one to do it. So why wasn’t he married? Why had he eluded it until
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But as the last guests departed Irene looked wordlessly at Murad Fullbuster and drew a deep breath she let out very, very slowly.His eyes crinkled at the corners. ‘That was quite a performance, Ms Josephine. I salute you. But would I be right in thinking you’re exhausted?’‘I feel as if I’ve been through a wringer,’ she said candidly.‘Then go through to the green room,’ he instructed. ‘I’ll bring a restorative.’ Irene hesitated. ‘I should be going home.’‘In a while. Here we go.’ He scooped two glasses of champagne from a passing waitress. ‘After you.’She hesitated a moment longer, then did as she was told. This time, her second visit to the green room, she sat down on a settee and removed her shoes with a genuine sigh of relief. ‘Sorry,’ she murmured as she arched her feet and accepted her glass from him. ‘New shoes.’ She studied her feet, then lifted her head to him. ‘That was quite a party. I guess it’s going to take some deconstructing.’‘Diane and Jake are experts at it—they’r
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She’d never mentally undressed a man in her life before! It was enough to make you blush hectically, just the thought of it—and she swallowed nearly two thirds of a glass of champagne in one long mouthful as she thought of it again.Then she breathed deeply, put the empty glass down and laid her head back. Murad Fullbuster got to her, she acknowledged. He sent her senses reeling in a very physical way and he destabilized her peace of mind.She lifted her head suddenly. She could not afford to let this get out of control, she reflected. On one hand, could a man who’d regarded her legs as a cause for annoyance be attracted to her?But on the other hand, what had been going through his mind while he’d stared at her so intently? Almost as if they’d both been caught in a sensual little moment that had blotted out the rest of the world—or had it been her imagination?She stared unseeingly across the room for a long moment, then shook herself. Most likely, she decided, but with a frown of co
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And Cathy, probably one of the most heartbreakingly beautiful women Irene had ever seen, murmured, ‘Without her shoes? I wonder. But you always did have good taste in women, Murad.’That was when, as Irene stared at the other woman incredulously, a very harassed-looking Diane stepped out of the lift.‘He’s fine, he’s asleep,’ she said immediately to Murad, ‘but I just remembered Miss Josephine. She looked so peaceful I let her sleep, but I didn’t get a chance to tell anyone and when you and Ms Spencer—’ she gestured towards Cathy ‘— decided to come upstairs to—well, discuss things, I suddenly thought I should do something…’ She trailed off awkwardly.At eleven o’clock the next morning, Irene waited nervously in Murad Fullbuster’s outer office.It had been Diane who’d called a taxi for her last night. A perturbed- enough Diane to lose some of her infinite discretion and even murmur distractedly, ‘How could she just turn up with him? I couldn’t believe it. And he won’t be parted from Ne
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EDWARDSI walked out into the hallway, ensuring Kristen I’d be right back.“Hi Charlie.”“How are you doing, bud?”“Fine, considering. What’s up?”“I’ve got great news for you. Custody is yours, obviously. Amber will be in jail for a long time after this. They’re thinking at least fifteen years. And she won’t be allowed near the kids once she’s out.”“She deserves more than that.”“Ain’t that the truth. But listen, this also means, you won’t have to write another child support check in your life.”I grinned cheek to cheek. My kids were mine, fully mine. Finally. But then my grin fell, remembering the bomb that had just been dropped on me. The last thing Charlie had said wasn’t necessarily true. I didn’t know what the future held with Kristen and my child that she was carrying. I knew what I wanted, though. I wanted a family, one that was complete and whole.I thanked Charlie and hung up. I rushed back into Kristen’s room, knowing what I needed to do.“So?” she asked.“It’s official.
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EDWARDSI fought with police officers for what seemed like hours, as patrons continued to stream out of the bar. I stopped to examine each one. None were my daughter.“She’s still in there! What are you guys waiting for?”I just kept screaming and they just kept ignoring me. I tried to run in myself a few times, but each time I was caught by an officer and dragged back behind the wall of squad cars they had formed in front of Rita’s.“We have to do this strategically, so no one gets hurt,” the commander told me after my third attempt to get in.After some discussion, they decided to call the bar, in hopes that Amber would answer and that they could talk her off the ledge. I jumped nervously back and forth on my feet as he tried to reason with her. He hung up.“She wants money.”“What else is new? How much?”“A million.”“What?!”“You won’t be giving her a penny. Now that we know she won’t reason with us, we’ll come up with a plan to force entry and remove your daughter as safely as p
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KRISTENI pulled up to Rita’s just fifteen minutes after Edwards and I had spoken still reeling from my conversation with Wally. I had to find a way to stop Carter from purchasing the house, but I had larger priorities right now. I took the handicap spot out front. I figured if I didn’t find anything, I’d be gone before anyone knew it. And if I did find Candace, then I had bigger things to worry about than illegal parking.I ran inside, leaving my purse and phone in the car. I burst through the front door and scanned the bar area. It was filled with burly men in flannel and jean jackets. Almost every single one had facial hair. The bartender was an older woman, with a heavy spray tan and wrinkled skin.No sign of Amber or Candace yet, I walked in further. As I walked forward, my flip flops squaked on the sticky, tiled floor. There was squished popcorn and spilled beer coating most of it. In the middle of the room was an aged pool table and nailed to the wall were a couple slightly ti
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EDWARDSI hung up with Kristen, hopeful that we might be onto something. I called the cops right away and updated them. I told them that Kristen would be to Rita’s very soon, and that they needed to meet her there ASAP. I was fairly certain Kristen had been right that Amber wasn’t dangerous enough to hurt her, but I didn’t want to take any chances. They assured me they’d have officers on the scene as quickly as they could.I gave Samson a rub on the head.“We’re gonna find her, bud.”He whimpered beside me. I didn’t want to consider the fact that we could be way off. Amber and Candace could be well past Rita’s by now, and potentially even out of the state. I had tried the phone tracking app several times, but Candace’s phone was still off. Amber must have taken it from her.No matter how hard I tried to rationalize it from Amber’s perspective, I just couldn’t understand why she’d do this, unless she really had just gone off the deep end. Nothing she gained from this aligned with any
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KRISTENI got back to the motel around noon. I applied for a secretarial position very close to here last evening and got a call back almost immediately. They seemed desperate, and so was I. I scheduled an interview for the next day and here I was. I thought the interview went quite well, actually.The job didn’t pay anything special, but it would do. After a few weeks there, I’d have enough to start making rent payments. I’d be out of this motel in no time, or at least well before the baby came. I wasn’t immensely excited about typing memos and completing invoices all day, but work was work. I didn’t have the luxury of being picky right now. I also called my landlord and got out of my lease in San Francisco. I told them to scrap anything I had left, which earned a few curse words.I hung up and sat back on the motel’s floral print couch that I thought was probably from the seventies at the earliest. There were several stains that could have been from any decade quite honestly. I tho
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EDWARDSI woke up the next morning, forced to remember for a split second everything that had happened the day prior. I laid in bed and crossed my arms over my face as I thought of Kristen and her betrayal. I saw what Dudley had written, how Kristen was supposed to get her inheritance. Her newfound interest in apples made all too much sense now.I knew she was probably desperate after losing her job, but that didn't make it right. What hurt me the most was that after all we had shared with one another and all that trust I assumed we had built, she still didn’t trust me enough to let me help her. I had wanted to provide for her and I would have gladly helped her get back on her feet. She was just too stubborn to let me.I pushed my sheets back and got out of bed, more determined than ever to get full custody of my kids back. After getting ready with Samson hovering by my side—he knew something was wrong with me—I called Candace.I tried several times, but her phone kept going straight
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“It’s none of your business.”Before I could reach over and grab it, Edwards picked it up, sifting through the worn yellow pages.“Did Dudley write this?”My face had gone pale white. I gulped and nodded. It was the second half of the journal, the one that detailed most of Dudley’s plan to steal TruFruit’s patent.“To you?” He asked, continuing to scour it.I nodded again, having no words for him at this moment. How dare he? This argument is about him and his lies.“So, we were right then? He was fired.”I didn’t respond to this inquiry. He didn’t even look up to see if I had answered. After a few moments, he found the note that had fallen out of the journal when I first found it. I stuffed it back in between the pages, so I wouldn't lose it. I watched his face morph into despair.“He wanted you to rip me off?”I stood still.“Were you going to do it?”I was frozen in place.“How could you?”I wasn’t going to bother telling him that I hadn’t planned to go through with any of it. The f
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EDWARDSI walked into the other room and talked to Charlie in a hushed tone, hoping to make Sabrina squirm a bit. As I did so, I heard footsteps on the stairs. I looked over to see Candace running down them with a duffel bag.“One second Charlie.” I put the phone to my side and approached my daughter who was angling toward the front door.“Where do you think you’re going?” I asked her.“My friend’s house.”“Who gave you permission to do that? We have some things to talk about, Candace.”“Not interested.” She reached for the knob.“Hey!” I yelled to her, in a firm tone I rarely used. She turned on her heels, one arm on her hip and the other clutching her overnight bag.“You know, maybe you should save the parenting for all of the kids you haven’t told me about yet.”“Candace!”She opened the door and I ran out after her, Charlie still waiting on the line.“Sweetheart, wait! Let me at least explain!”“No! I’m sick of being constantly disappointed by you and mom!”Candace ran towards a b
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I responded to Kristen’s text, telling her I’d be over in a couple hours. I wasn’t expecting a package, so it was either a mistake or a ruse to get me into bed. My heart sped up at the thought.A couple hours later, I was on Kristen’s doorstep ringing the doorbell, ready for whatever surprise she had waiting. But when the door opened, I found myself completely caught off guard. A small boy stood below me, looking up with piercing blue eyes. I looked up and a small blonde came out from the kitchen.“Sabrina,” I gasped. “What the hell are you doing here?”“They lost the keys to the house. It’s been lovely meeting your fiancée and son, Mr. McLean,” Kristen said to me from the living room, her tone ice cold.“We have a lot to talk about, darling. And I’ve been waiting for you all day.” Sabrina grabbed her purse and the backpack from the hangers by the front door and met me outside. “Thanks for your hospitality, Miss?”“Washington. Kristen Washington. And you’re welcome,” Kristen responded
