“Oh really?”
Dorothea’s sarcastic drawl was
the first thing to greet Jon as he came out of the bathroom in the guest house.
Jumping slightly he looked up to see her leaning against the kitchen door, her
arms folded in obvious disapproval.
“Just when things were starting
to get quiet around here, you show up! Smart Jon, real smart!”
Rolling his eyes, he breezed past
her to pull a bottle of water out of the fridge. “Hey Dot, nice to see you
too.” Draining half the bottle in one long swallow, he wiped his mouth with the
back of his hand and leaned against the counter top. “I can’t get anything done
in town while all this media crap is going on so here I am!” Raising his
eyebrows defiantly, he dared her to challenge him. To his surprise she merely
shrugged.
“Okay, so you’re here for a few days
I guess?”
Jon nodded, “Looks like it, the
formal ‘announcement’”, inverting his fingers he grimaced, “is being released
later this morning so things might get hectic again for a while.”
She bowed her head, quietly
studying the ornate floor tiles they’d imported specially from France when
they’d built the place. She murmured without meeting Jon’s eyes, “And then
it’ll all be official I guess.”
“I guess so.” Jon nodded mutely;
it was a strange feeling, like balancing on the edge of a cliff, afraid to step
forward yet terrified to go back. A strained silence hovered between them as
they both took in what was about to happen in their lives.
Dorothea eventually looked up
with a small sigh. “Jessie stayed home from school today; he doesn’t want to go
back until things calm down.”
“I don’t blame him, I’ll spend
some time with him later, make sure he’s doing okay with all of this,” taking
another swallow of water he tossed the empty bottle in the trash. “How about
Jake and Romie?”
“They seem okay, the school’s
been great about keeping an eye on them”, she eyed Jon somewhat hesitantly,
“Have you talked to Steph today?”
“No, not since yesterday morning.
I’m gonna head over there now while everything’s quiet.”
“Can you bring her laptop with
you? I forgot it last night.”
Jon nodded, inwardly wondering
why she was refusing to meet his eyes again. “Sure, she was okay last night?”
“She was fine, just fine. I’ve
got some stuff to do in the house; can you call over for it before you go?” She
started to turn for the door, hastily ending the conversation. Jon eyed her
with suspicion, something wasn’t right here.
“Dot, is everything alright?”
“No Jon, of course everything is
not ALRIGHT! How can it be?” Running her hands through her long dark hair that
hung loose around her shoulders, she snapped in frustration at him. “I’ve gotta
go, I’ll see you later.”
He stared after her, watching as
she marched down the path, hair swinging behind her. At one time in their
lives, he could have read her every mood like a book. These days, it was pot
luck and more often than not he got that wrong. Turning back to the counter he grabbed the keys to the
studio. At least he was guaranteed some peace and quiet there.
~~~~~~~~~~
Taking her foot off the accelerator, Jenn let the car slow
to a gentle cruise down the road. Checking the directions once again, she
silently cursed as they made no sense whatsoever. Damn Paul and his stupid sense of direction! Scrunching the paper
into a ball with her fist, she flung it to the seats behind her and hit the accelerator
again. She had to be close, she was sure she was on the right road, the river
glistened to her left which according to Paul’s directions, meant the house should be on her left anytime now.
Trouble was, he had forgotten to specify exactly which house it was. She had passed several huge sets of electric gates
with imposing avenues leading off to mansions just hidden from the naked eye. None
of them unfortunately had given her any clue that they might be the one she was
looking for.
Continuing down the road she contemplated pulling over to
ask one of the several people out jogging until she spied a small cluster of
people taking pictures at the next gateway. Straining her eyes, she slowed back
to a crawl as she struggled to figure out exactly what they were doing. Her
heart skipped a beat as she realised they were tourists, happily posing for
shots and laughing as they swapped places behind each other’s cameras. This had
to be it.
Indicating left, she cautiously pulled up before a
magnificent set of wrought iron gates, her heart beating a little faster as the
group of tourists started squealing excitedly and snapping pictures of her car.
Sweet Jesus what in hell am I doing here?
From a quick glance she reassured herself that there didn't seem to be any
reporters among the group, she had completely forgotten that yesterday there
was a load of them camping out here. Desperately scanning the brick pillars she
spied a discreet keypad nestled in the one on the driver’s side. She really
hadn’t thought this through at all; she was going to look a right idiot if
Dorothea refused to let her in. Pulling the car as close to the pillar as she
could, she stuck her arm out and nervously hit the call button. As she waited for
a response, she noted the small security cameras perched atop each gate pillar.
She could already feel eyes on her and they didn’t belong to the excited people
behind her still getting snap happy with their cameras.
Just as she was about to admit defeat and back the car up, a
stern voice crackled over the intercom.
Yes?
Her mouth dried up as nerves threatened to overcome her and
she stuttered to get the words out.
“Eh…it…it’s Jenn…….Jennifer….O’Neill?”
When her response was met with silence, she closed her eyes
and silently prayed for an escape route. This was such a bad idea! Staring desperately at the gates, she held her
breath. Chances were pretty good that Dorothea had a sniper trained on her
right now. Suddenly without any further noise from the intercom, the giant
gates started to silently open and glide inwards. Taking this as her cue to
enter, she put her window back up and nosed her car through the opening gates. A
quick glance in her rear view mirror showed the gaggle of tourists, all women
she noted, eagerly running to the pillars to crane their necks for a better
view as she made her way up the brick laid drive way. Tall trees proudly lined
the avenue leading up the huge house, their discarded leaves carpeting the kerb
on both sides in a brown and orange mat.
As the house loomed large in front of her, her first
thoughts were how neat and tidy everything was. A perfectly square large area
of cream bricks formed a large open space stretching the width of the house,
framed by foot high box laurel hedging. Stone flower basins dotted the corners
and the middle of the square giving an open plan feel to the grounds. Slowly
rolling up to the end of the drive, she spotted cars parked through an archway
to her left. Driving through she found herself in another bricked courtyard,
flanked by garages and what seemed to be another wing to the main house.
Recognising Dorothea’s car from the night before, she pulled up beside it and applied
the parking brake before killing the engine. Now what? Nerves were charging around her bloodstream, even making
her calves tremble as she slowly unclipped her seat belt. Remember what you came here for Jenn, pull it together! Berating
herself, she stepped out of the car, zipping her coat up as the cold air hit
her. As she turned to face the house, what appeared to be a back door of sorts
opened and Dorothea emerged, her face stony and stern. She stood silently,
offering no welcome of sorts as Jenn quickly strode towards her.
“Steph is not with you?” Dorothea’s face registered surprise
as she looked over Jenn’s head towards her car when she reached the door.
“No, she’s busy with the horses.” Jenn instantly realised
how she’d been admitted so easily at the front gate. “I came to see you, in
private.”
“I see.” From her perch on the back step, Dorothea made an intimidating
sight. “You better come in then.”
Standing back to allow Jenn past her, she closed the door
and motioned for her to go through to the kitchen. Upon entering, Jenn was
blown away by the sheer size of the room. Spacious and tastefully decorated, it
was exactly the type of kitchen she’d always dreamt of her fantasy house
having. Under normal circumstances, she would have been gushing forth with
compliments but she was not here for small talk. Wheeling around, she waited
for Dorothea to follow her in, breathing deeply to control her emotions.
“So?” Dorothea closed the kitchen door behind her and stood
at the opposite end of the kitchen space to Jenn, arms folded and her face
defiant.
“Whilst I don’t expect an apology for your behaviour last
night, I most certainly do expect your reassurance that it will never happen again.” Jenn forced her
voice to remain level and firm, her eyes never dropping their contact with
Dorothea’s for a second. Her pulse quickened at the look of outrage that
flashed across the older woman’s face. She had hit a nerve already it seemed.
“Putting our personal differences aside, I would hope for
the sake of your daughter that she never has to witness a spectacle like she
did last night.” She was gratified to see the look of outrage change to one of
surprised guilt as Dorothea blinked back at her. “She made no mention of it,
but I know she heard every word that was exchanged between us last night and
for me, that is unacceptable.”
Pausing for breath she held up a hand when Dorothea made to
interject. “I’m not finished, you had your say last night, now I’m having mine.
Quite frankly my relationship with Jon, is none
of your business. Unless it directly affects you or your children, which up
until last night it hadn’t, I don’t expect to ever have this conversation with
you again. I highly doubt you and I will ever be friends, and I don’t need us
to be but as adults, I would hope you
can manage to be amicable. I’m prepared to make the effort if you are.”
The
little speech that she had rehearsed in her head on the drive over hadn’t come
across nearly as well as she’d envisioned but judging by the rapidly changing
looks on Dorothea’s face as she had rattled it off, it was having an impact of
sorts. Stuffing her hands in her pockets, she waited for a response.
~~~~~~~~~~
Idly strumming a guitar, Jon’s musings were interrupted by
the peal of his cell phone. Steph’s name flashed across the screen, instantly
making him smile.
“Hey baby girl.”
“Hi Daddy, are you okay?” Her sweet concern instantly melted
his heart.
“Sure I am, how you doin’?”
“Good, busy with the horses. Are you coming over here today?”
“Yep, sure am. Your Mom wants me to bring your laptop over.”
Nestling the phone to his neck, he carefully put the guitar back on its stand. “In
fact, I’m heading over there now. Anything else you want?”
There was a short pause before she replied. “You talked to
Mom this morning?”
“Well yeah, I’m gonna stay here in Jersey for a few days. I
saw her just a little while ago, why?”
“She didn’t say anything about last night?” The worry in her
voice made Jon sit bolt upright in his chair. He knew something was up with Dot earlier.
“No she didn’t, what’s going on honey?”
Steph was silent on the phone causing Jon to urge a response from her. “Steph
honey, whatever it is you know you can tell me.”
“I don’t want to cause any more trouble but….”
Jon’s face grew stormy and angry as he listened to his
daughter recount what had gone on between Dorothea and Jenn the night before.
While he knew he wasn't getting all the details, Steph told him enough for him to
be able to figure out the rest.
“Steph baby, listen to me alright? I don’t want you to ever feel like you can’t tell me
something. You’re not causing any trouble, I’m just sorry honey that you had to
hear all that.” His calm voice betrayed the fury that was seething in his
veins.
“Daddy honestly it’s okay, I’m just worried about Jenn. I
don’t want her to go.”
“Go? Go where?” Panic was added to the mixture of emotions
in his head as he fought to figure out what she meant.
“I mean I don’t want her to go home, she was so quiet after
Mom left last night and again this morning. I’m afraid she might leave.” Steph’s
voice quavered slightly.
Jon was on his feet now, reaching for his coat as he headed
for the door. “Don’t worry Stephie, I’m on my way over there now, I’ll talk to
her okay?” Her next words stopped him dead in his tracks.
“She’s not here Daddy, she said she had some stuff to do
this morning and left about an hour ago. She didn’t say how long she’d be.”
Even more panic coursed through his body as he frantically
ran through the possibilities in his head. She
wouldn’t just pack up and leave, would she? Pulling the door to the studio behind him, he
soothed Steph’s fears with the promise that he’d find her. Ending the call, he
speed dialled Jenn’s number only to swear in frustration as her voice mail
message came through. Jamming the phone back in his pocket, he angrily stormed
down the path to the main house. It was time to sort this out with Dot for once
and for all.
Thanks you for the quick chapter...but...how can you stop there??? The real fireworks are coming next and I just can't wait to find out how that goes! You're an evil Emerald!! :)
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping for another quick chapter, cause I seriously can't wait much longer!
C
What she said! I'm on the edge of my seat!
DeleteWow! Hurry up and let us in on what happens next!
ReplyDeleteLoving the story so far!!!
P
I'm hanging also...I have a feeling it's about to get hot in that kitchen...and not in a good way
ReplyDeleteAhhh...Showdown
ReplyDelete