31 Days of Autumn (23 page)

‘Ellie, they get bigger and more bonnie every
time I see them,’ she smiled.

‘I know, even Eva is growing up so fast, pretty
soon they won’t be my babies anymore. You look lovely Florie, how are you?’ I
asked, leaning over the boys to kiss her on both cheeks.

‘All the better for seeing you all,’ she
nodded. ‘Jenny, how are you?’

‘Wonderful, thank you, Florie.’ Jenny kissed
her as well, as I asked the boys to go and sit on one of the leather chairs
around the circular table.

‘Is she awake?’ Florie asked, looking at the
pram.

‘Not yet, but if she can sleep through her
brothers racing around screaming, she won’t notice you having a look,’ Jenny
advised, turning the pram around and pulling it up next to the table.

‘Ellie, she’s so beautiful,’ Florie nodded,
reaching up to wipe a tear from her eye. I rubbed her arm. I thought I’d
understood her loss when we’d turned off Moira’s machines that day, but I
couldn’t possibly. I had three children and I’d be devastated if I lost one of
them, but at least I’d still have two to love. Florie had lost her only child.

‘She really is and she’s so sweet as well. I
thought Oliver was the perfect baby and Jonas the cheeky trouble maker, but Eva
steals Oliver’s crown hands down.’

‘I don’t have a crown, Mummy,’ he called,
tucking his napkin into his school jumper. Jonas tried to copy him, making us
all laugh.

‘Make the most of these years,’ Florie advised,
squeezing my hand. ‘They grow up so fast.’

‘Dan sends his love. He wants to come and see
you and Theo next week, he has a surprise for you.’

‘He’s a good man,’ she nodded, taking her seat
with Oliver and Jonas either side of her. ‘He spoils us.’

‘It makes him happy, so please accept, whatever
it is,’ I asked, sitting next to Jonas and pulling the pram into the space on
my left that Jenny had cleared for me.

‘I’ll be over by the fire, within calling
distance,’ she said quietly.

‘No you won’t, you’ll be sitting here, next to
Eva.’

‘Ellie, Dan wouldn’t be happy,’ she objected.

‘Let me worry about Dan. What difference does
it make where you sit? I’m not going to tuck in to the most heavenly afternoon
tea and enjoy myself, knowing you’re sitting alone. I booked for all of us.
Sit,’ I ordered, pointing at the chair.

‘You’ll get me fired one day, Ellie Davenport,’
she smiled. ‘Fine, but I need to face the entrance.’

‘O for goodness sake. You’re one woman, Jenny.
What can you really do if someone wanted to hurt us? You could face the door
and someone could shoot at us through the glass window behind you. Sit and relax.
Honestly, you’re worse than Dan. We’re surrounded by people, no one’s going to
try anything here.’

Damien
Daniels

I nearly spat my tea all over the white linen
tablecloth when I saw Ellie walk in carrying Oliver, followed closely by her
bodyguard and two other kids. I shrank into the high-backed leather armchair,
shielding me from sight as they headed over to the window behind me. Thank God
the Ospreys were old and wanted one of the tables next to the roaring fire.
What were the bloody odds of us both having tea here on the same afternoon? I
shuffled my napkin in my lap to cover my sudden erection. She looked fucking
hot. I loved women in leather, it brought up connotations of kinks and
perversions, not that Ellie seemed to have any. You’d think they’d have made
their bedroom glass two-way, so they could see out but no one could see in. I’d
masturbated a number of times watching through my infrared binoculars at night.
The time he’d pressed her up against the glass and fucked her from behind, putting
her whole naked body on display, had been a particular highlight. Lucky
bastard.

‘I’m sorry, what was that?’ I asked, as I
realised Mr. Osprey had said something.

‘Damn fine tea here, wouldn’t you say, old
chap?’ he nodded, shovelling in another macaroon. ‘Some good-looking young
fillies, too. If I was twenty years younger, I’d give that brunette a shot.’

‘What was that, darling?’ Mrs. Osprey asked as
she returned to her seat from the ladies.

‘I was saying how hot the tea was, darling,’ he
winked at me. Randy old sod. I wondered if despite his balding head and
extremely portly physique, his extreme wealth would make someone like Jenny
want to fuck him regardless.

‘Lovely tea, very hot,’ Mrs. Osprey agreed. I
smiled politely and tried to focus on their inane conversation. The kid I’d
spent nearly three years staring at on my notice board, planning to kidnap, was
sitting about ten metres away from me. It didn’t even have to be him anymore,
any of the brats would do. Maybe a baby, a girl no less, would bring us an even
better payout. My heart was racing as adrenaline spiked in my system when Mr.
Osprey thanked me for the work I’d done and said it was time for his wife’s
afternoon nap. Fuck, I’d hoped to sit here until Ellie and her entourage left.
I tried to stall the old man, but he stood up and offered his hand. I didn’t
have a choice but to stand to shake it. They headed off towards the exit as I
pulled out my wallet and dropped some notes plus a tip on the table, then
quickly stepped out to catch them up.

Ellie

‘Mummy, need a wee wee,’ Jonas moaned. I wasn’t
surprised. He’d guzzled about three cups of tea, he loved the stuff.

‘I’ll take you,’ Florie offered.

‘No, want Mummy,’ he replied stubbornly. I
grimaced at Florie, then looked over at Jenny.

‘Stay with Florie, Oliver, and Eva. I’ll only
be a minute.’

‘Ok,’ she sighed, knowing that it was
unreasonable for all six of us to have to go to the bathroom at once. I dabbed
some strawberry jam off of Jonas’s mouth with his napkin and lifted him off of his
chair, sitting him on my hip.

‘No more tea,’ I warned. ‘And slow down on the
cakes, you, I don’t want you being sick,’ I reminded Oliver, ruffling his hair.

‘Ssssshhhh, not allowed to say sic when people
are eating, Mummy,’ he replied, his eyes wide with horror.

‘Sorry,’ I giggled, grateful that he at least
listened to my advice. I turned around and headed across the room, kissing
Jonas’s forehead, and bumped into someone as they moved from their table by the
fire. ‘Gosh, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going,’ I uttered,
steadying myself with a hand on his arm. I took a sudden shocked gasp when I
saw the man in front of me, a man I hadn’t seen in years. ‘Zac?’

‘Hello, Ellie. What a surprise! What are you
doing up in Scotland?’

‘Me? I live here. I thought you were in the Philippines.’
I couldn’t believe it. I hadn’t seen him since the day I resigned from my job, flew
up to Scotland, and met Dan for the first time.

‘I came back a few years ago, I’m doing
consultancy work now. In fact, I’m here seeing a client. How are you?’

‘I’m great, really great,’ I nodded, trying to
get over my surprise. He looked good. He’d always been good-looking, not in
Dan’s league, but I doubted anyone was. But his hair had greyed a little and
his physique had filled out.

‘You look it,’ he smiled, ‘but then you always
did.’

‘Still a charmer, I see,’ I retorted, narrowing
my eyes. I’d got over my anger of his treatment of me a long time ago, but that
didn’t mean I had to gush with joy to see him.

‘You’re married? This is your son?’

‘I am. I have three children, this is the
middle one.’

‘I’m really pleased for you, Ellie. You always
wanted a family, it looks like it suits you.’

‘It does, thank you. What about you?’

‘Me?’ he shrugged. ‘Not a lot to tell. You know
what a mess I was back then, I hit bottom around the time you left me. It took
me a long time to get out of the hole I’d dug myself, but I’m clean now, I’m
doing well for myself again. When you have no money, suddenly it becomes a
powerful motivator.’

‘Mummy, wee wee,’ Jonas moaned, tugging my
hair. Zac laughed and reached up to ruffle Jonas’s hair. In seconds, Jenny was
at my side.

‘Ellie, you’re needed back at the table. Ollie
wants you.’

I whipped my head around to look at her, my
eyes wide with surprise. She never called him Ollie, only Dan did. Calling him
Ollie was the sign we’d agreed on when she was concerned for our safety. I
immediately stepped back from Zac as he reached into his upper jacket pocket,
my heart starting to race. What was happening? Why did she think Zac was a
threat?

‘I’m sorry, Zac, I really need to go. I’m glad
you’ve managed to get your life back on track again,’ I nodded, noticing Jenny
carefully positioning herself just a step ahead of me. If I’d been surprised at
seeing Zac, then Jenny pulling out the code word, it was nothing compared to
seeing Chris race through the restaurant doors. I’d thought he was at home. He
halted, one hand behind his back. He was reaching for his gun. What the hell
was going on?

‘It was great to see you, Ellie. I’m really
happy for you. After the way I treated you, you deserve everything you ever
wanted. Here’s my number, call me next time you’re in London. I’d love to catch
up with you.’ He held out a business card, which Jenny took immediately.

‘You have your hands full and Jonas needs the
toilet,’ she stated, flicking her head towards the exit.

‘I was heading out, I’ll walk with you,’ Zac
offered.

‘Actually, I’d like a word. I’ve been looking
for some advice and any friend of Ellie’s is a friend of mine,’ Jenny smiled,
catching his arm.

‘Bye, Zac’ I mumbled, not looking back as I
virtually ran towards Chris. ‘What the hell is going on?’ I hissed,
unbelievably angry.

‘I’m not at liberty to say, Mrs. Davenport, but
don’t worry, we have everything under control.’

‘Mummy,’ urged Jonas, grimacing. ‘Really need
to go.’

‘God, he needs the toilet, what do I do?’ I
asked Chris. He clicked his fingers and Rod, one of the doormen, appeared.

‘Accompany Mrs. Davenport to her husband’s
office, then pull the fire alarm on the wall opposite. Lock yourself in and
type in the code. Don’t open the door for anyone but Andy, Mr. Davenport, me,
or Jenny, got it?’

‘Yes, Sir,’ he replied.

‘Chris, what about Florie, Jenny, Oliver, and
Eva?’ I suddenly felt close to tears. Four of my loved ones were back there and
something serious was happening.

‘Just trust me, Jenny and I have it under
control. Do as I ask,
now
,’ he urged. I felt helpless as I was ushered
out of the restaurant. The biggest part of me wanted to run back, but common
sense told me if we were all in danger, we were better separated, we stood a
better chance apart. I felt tears rolling down my face and barely registered
the loud noise of the fire alarm ringing as Rod pushed us into Dan’s office,
suite 14 on the ground floor. I quickly headed to the bathroom and undid
Jonas’s jeans and sat him on the toilet, holding him as I tried to fight my
tears, wondering if they were ok.

‘Done, Mummy,’ Jonas called, looking up at me
strangely as I sniffed. I tidied him up, wetting a facecloth to wipe his hands
clean. ‘Watch TV?’

‘Sure,’ I nodded. He raced into the bedroom.
Dan had turned it into a comfortable meeting area for when he saw clients, so
Jonas scrambled up into one of the armchairs, remote already in his hands. I
heard Rod talking to him, then the sound of cartoons. I clung to the sink and
tried to take some calming breaths, grabbing another face cloth to wipe the
streaked mascara from my face. I heard my phone ringing and snatched it out of
my bag. It was Dan.

‘Baby, where are you?’ he shouted over the
sound of an engine.

‘Your office with Jonas and Rod. I got
separated from Oliver and Eva. What’s happening?’

‘They’re ok, Jenny already has them in the
server room, which is as secure as my office. I’m with Andy, we’re a minute
away from mooring up there. Put Rod on for me.’

‘No,’ I shouted, my whole body starting to
shake. ‘You tell me what’s going on. I don’t even know if Florie’s ok or why
everyone freaked out over me running into Zac.’