CORAL - Forever (A Romance Trilogy, Book 3) (8 page)

“It’s true,” I croak, tears pooling in my eyes again. “I
can't go on, not without you.” Tristan closes his eyes for a moment, when he
opens them they are round, wide and full of fear.

It’s unnerving. I can see his fear, it’s reflected in my
eyes, my fear, his fear, the fear of us losing one another.

“Let’s just make sure nothing like this ever happens again,”
he says hoarsely. “Honesty, always...we have to talk to one another Coral, no
secrets.”

“No secrets,” I agree.

“Oh baby, I have missed you,” he says pulling me into his
embrace.

“And I you Tristan,” I sniff.

He takes in a deep breath, moving my cheek against his chest
as he does, and slowly blows it out, then kissing the top of my head he says,
“Come on baby, let’s get finished up in here so we can eat.”

“You’re hungry,” I mumble into his chest.

“Yes,” he sighs. “I think my appetite has come back with a
vengeance,” he adds. I look up into his dark, weary, fearful eyes and slowly
nod. “Turn around baby,” he softly says. “Let’s get these beautiful locks
washed.” I smile and turn my back to Tristan.

I hear him pick up the shampoo, squirt some into his hands
and begin his slow, meticulous massage...

I
AM SAT, CROSS LEGGED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BED,
as Tristan sits
behind me, slowly drying my hair. He’s being very meticulous about it, one
strand at a time...
Jeez we’ll be here all day at this rate!
But I can't
do it myself, so I guess I just have to be patient. I feel warm and cosy, I’m dressed
in another new pair of dark blue sweats, and a light blue long sleeved t-shirt
to go with it –
I am being spoiled!

Finally, he switches off the hairdryer. I’m instantly drawn
to the song that’s playing, Sade’s By Your Side, and I wonder for a moment if
Tristan is playing it on purpose. If he’s trying to tell me this is how he
feels – It’s certainly how I feel. I already know I’ll never leave him, no
matter how hard it gets. I am his, forever.

“All done,” he softly says, kissing the back of my head.

“Thank you baby,” I say and turn to kiss him –
Pain!
I wince and turn back around.

“The nurse will be here at twelve,” he says, wrapping his
arms around me, pulling me back against his chest.

“Good, I'm starting to hurt,” I say, relishing the feeling
of his arms wrapped around me. In fact, now I’ve showered and feel lovely and
clean; I feel sleepy again.

“Come on sleepyhead, food and back to bed,” he says kissing
my temple.

“Food and then talking,” I tell him.

“Talking?” He questions.

“Yes, we have a lot to talk about Tristan.”

“Yes,” he agrees. “We do, but food first.” I groan and sit
forward, Tristan moves, but I stop him by placing my hand on his shoulder.

“What?” he says.

“Come here baby,” I say. He cocks his head to the side and
scoots towards me so his one leg is behind me, the other in front. Then looks
up at me with those puppy dog eyes.

“Have I done something wrong?” he questions.

I shake my head at him. Tristan must have his player on
shuffle, because the track changes to Biffy Clyro’s Many Of Horror. I feel
myself choking up again, I swallow hard against the lump that’s formed. I lean
forward and take his face in my hands.

“I want to look at you,” I say swallowing hard again.

I start examining the gash on his forehead. I probe softly
with my fingers and trace the cut all the way into his hairline – I suddenly
feel overwhelmed with rage...
Maybe Susannah can just rot in hell for this...

“Hey,” Tristan says. “Less of that.”

“Of what?” I say between gritted teeth, staring at the nasty
gash, the few stitches I can see.

“Anger,” he softly says, stroking my cheek. “Your breathing has
kicked up and I can see it in your eyes Coral.” I close my eyes in frustration.

“I'm sorry,” I whisper. “I just...I hate seeing you like
this,” I add.

“Know the feeling,” he retorts light heartedly.

I open my eyes and stare at his wide eyes, they are
sparkling with humour, but it has no effect on me. I feel moody and glum. I
guess a lot’s gone on lately, and I just need some time – Time to sit and be
still, and try and get my head round it all.

“Come on,” Tristan says jumping up off the bed. “I want to
introduce you to Edith.” I watch him walk over to his player, he unplugs it and
walks back over to me, his hand held out.

Reluctantly, I gently scoot off the bed and place my hands
in his...

TRISTAN
PLACES ME DOWN
on one of the breakfast stools after carrying me down
the stairs again – I guess I'm just going to have to put up with being an
invalid for a while. Then he walks over to the stereo and reconnects his player.
Stereophonics’s It Means Nothing starts paying, I bite my lip and hide my smile
– I really love this song.
It’s freaky how similar our tastes are!

Tristan walks back over to me. “Back in a sec,” he says
pecking my lips. Then turns and walks down the entrance hall, towards the utility
room. “Don't you dare move,” he admonishes, as he looks back at me over his
shoulder, then he winks and smiles at me.

I can't help the goofy grin that spreads across my face, his
answering grin is breathtaking...
Oh Boy!
I place my hand on my chest in
an effort to calm my racing heart.

Moments later, he returns with a woman following him. I take
a good look at her. She’s short like me, quite plump, has curly black hair and
piercing green eyes, her face is soft and round, and as she walks past Tristan
into the bespoke kitchen; I see she looks naturally at home.

“Edith,” Tristan says his grin is infectious; she smiles
warmly at him as he comes and stands beside me, wrapping his arm around my
waist. “I’d like you to meet my future wife, Miss Coral Stevens, Coral, meet
Edith.”

“Well hello lass,” she says. I’m surprised, she has a strong
Scottish accent and I love it. “I won't shake your hand, I don't want to hurt
you,” she adds.

I smile back at her. “Hello Edith, it’s really nice to meet
you,” I say.

“Ah, same here, glad to see you back home,” she says
grinning widely at me – I'm already warming to her, she’s so nice and cuddly,
just like Gladys.

“Thanks,” I whisper shyly and look up at Tristan; he’s
grinning like a fool.

“Now, what would you like to eat?” She asks looking directly
at me. “This one looks like skin and bone,” she says pointing to Tristan. “So
it’s a proper man’s breakfast for him’ – Tristan chuckles at her – ‘How about
you lass?”

I giggle along with them. “Um...breakfast sound good,” I
say, not wanting her to go out of her way.

“Now, if you want something lighter, you only have to say,”
she adds with a school teacher air about her, her hands placed firmly on her
hips.

“Ok, but a breakfast sounds good,” I say.

“Right you are, go on...off you go the two of you. I’ll bring
you a drink...well actually I know Tristan has coffee. What would you like?” she
asks. I like her, she’s funny, dominating, like a mother figure who will tell
you off, I can see why Tristan hired her straight away.

“Coffee would be great,” I say, smiling broadly at her.

“Alright, off you go now and relax; both of you,” she says
waving her hand at us. Tristan lifts me up off the breakfast stool, still chortling
to himself, takes hold of my hand and we walk over to the large sofa.

“She’s great,” I whisper as we both sink down in the corner.
Tristan picks up his controller and turns the music down a little just as the
track changes to Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars.

“Yeah,” he smiles. “She is.”

“Kind of like a mother figure who’ll scold you if you
backchat her,” I whisper, still chuckling.

“Yeah...she’s done that with me enough times!” He laughs.

“She has?” I say surprised.

“Yes, well jokingly of course, but she says those kind of
things because she cares,” he says, his eyes warm with memories.

“What did she say?” I whisper, not wanting her to overhear
us.

“Well, she mainly tells me off for working too hard, and if
I don't eat regularly and well... she was the one that got me out and about
again after Gran died...” Tristan trails off his cheeks flushing again.

“Hey, don't talk about it baby, I can see it upsets you.”

“It does, but...I want you to know me Coral, inside out,” he
says, his knuckles skimming my cheek.

“Ok,” I whisper and wait for him to continue.

“Edith was...a tower of strength for me. Maybe there is a
little of that mothering instinct that I gravitate towards...I mean I loved my
folks, of course I did, but I don't think it’s the same as having your real
parents, your biological mother and father raise you, as you well know. So, I
guess what I'm trying to say is she felt like another mother to me. I was in
pretty bad shape, not working...moping around the house, grieving of course,
but also feeling sorry for myself. Edith kicked my arse into gear, told me I
needed to get up off my backside and out into the world again, no matter how
painful it was.” Tristan smiles at me, then drifts off for a moment, he’s never
talked about anything like this before, not how he truly felt, or what he was
doing with his life, what he was going through...

He continues. “So I started socialising again, you know
charity events, functions...I guess I realised how down I’d become, everything
seemed monotonous. Always the same people, the same conversations. I knew then,
I needed to take a good look at my life. I guess I hadn’t realised how bored
I’d become, how dreary my life had become. I started looking at going abroad
for a while...travelling maybe, but I quickly brushed off the idea. I had
responsibilities, companies to run, so I started going back into the office...and
then one day I hear through the grapevine that John had died.

“I’d met both John and Joyce on several occasions, they
always came across as a happy respected couple, and they still looked at each
other like...I don't know,” Tristan laughs at himself, runs his hand through
his hair, then continues. “I can remember being at a function, it was a couple
of years ago now, and as I stood there watching them from across the room. I
could see how happy they both were, they still looked so into each other and it
suddenly became clear to me, that what they had was what was missing in my
life, Gran had been saying it for years...” Tristan breaks off again and takes
a few deep breaths.

“So I send Joyce some flowers as she did to me when my folks
passed on, then I get a call from her, we talked for a while. I understood what
she was going through, then a couple of weeks later she invites me down to see
her, so I come down to Brighton, and we talk all night.” Tristan stops as Edith
is coming over to us, tray in hand, she places the tray on the coffee table,
smiles at us both and wobbles back into the kitchen.

“Tristan, I didn’t know you knew Joyce before...well buying
the company?” He turns and smiles at me.

“Yes, we knew each other. I didn’t want to tell you though,
well not at the time. I was afraid you would think that it was all set up, you
know, what happened between us...” I nod my head in agreement. He’s right! I
would have freaked out about it –
It’s spooky how well he knows me!

Tristan smiles at me, his dimples deep, then continues. “Joyce
told me of the difficult decision she had to make, to stay or leave as John had
asked her to do, I offered to help her in any way I could, and it was left like
that. A month later I get a call from her, she wants to know if I'm interested
in branching out...and well, history tells the rest.

“But what I didn’t expect for a single second was for you to
come walking into my life, with your crazy talk, bad temper and hypnotic eyes. That
day we met, I felt like you could see straight through me, right to the heart
of me, I was under your spell. That’s why I pursued you, I had to know what it
was about you that made me feel so good, like there was a fire ignited in me
and only you could tether the flame. And suddenly my life became crystal clear,
I knew what I wanted, what I needed and it was you. I think I knew I loved you
the moment I met you Coral, you’re my lifeline baby, always will be.”

“Oh Tristan.” I start sniffling again and rest my head on
his shoulder, wrapping my arm around his waist to comfort him.

“That’s why I keep getting this nagging feeling like I...I
just wish I could bring my folks back, just for one moment, so they could see
how happy you make me.”

“Tristan,” I croak. “Me too, I would have loved to have met
them.”

He leans forward and softly kisses me. “I know baby. Now how
about a coffee?”

“Yes please,” I grin like a fool.
Did I ever have a
chance at avoiding him?
I don't think I did, and I'm glad, look at us
now...so happy. Pretty messed up, but very happy.

“Here baby,” Tristan passes me a mug and I take a welcome
sip.

“So can I ask you something?” I whisper.

“Anything,” he says.

“When I looked you up online and found images of you, well
this is two questions really,” I say biting my lip, wondering which to ask
first.

“Go on baby, don't be shy,” he softly says, stirring his
coffee.

“Ok, well, why so many blondes?”

“Blondes?” He questions, his one eyebrow quirking up.

“Yeah, you always seemed to have a Blonde on your arm?”

“Did I?”

“Yes.”

Tristan shrugs. “Couldn’t say, maybe there’s more blondes
than brunettes working in law?”

“Maybe,” I whisper.

“And your other question?” he asks.

“Well...you’ve kind of answered it actually,” I say, feeling
shy for some reason.

“I have?”

“Yes.”

“And are you going to tell me?” he asks, smiling at me,
teasing me.

“Ok...well I can remember thinking you looked...well I
thought you looked miserable and moody – but now I know why,” I add dryly.

“Miserable and moody?” He titters, his head cocked to the
side.

“Well, you weren’t smiling in any of the photos, you
looked...” I stop and take a sip of coffee...
are we really having this
conversation?

“Go on,” he chuckles.

I sigh inwardly. “Unhappy...you looked like you wanted to be
anywhere but where you were when the photos were taken.”

“That’s a keen observation Miss Stevens,” he teases. I smile
shyly at him. “But you’re right, I wasn’t a happy chap,” he says, taking a sip
of his coffee and staring out at the view.

“And what about having a P.A in every office? It’s pretty
unusual Tristan, most bosses only have one?”

“True, but my P.A’s aren’t just my P.A’s,” he says.

I frown at him, my heart sinking to the pit of my stomach. “What
do you
mean
?” I say a little breathlessly.

Tristan turns the full glare of his unhappy face on me. “Coral,
when are you going to get it into your head that I don't sleep around and even
if I did, it would never be with a member of staff,” he barks.

I start to grin. He rolls his eyes at me. “Yes...well,
except you,” he says in frustration.

“So what
do
you mean?” I ask tentatively.

“My P.A’s are my eyes and ears of the company. They tell me
when cases are won, lost, who’s performing, who isn’t. They are not interested
in anything but the company, no office gossip, no late night partying, they are
serving as me when I'm not there. You see, if you had stayed my darling,
technically it would have been you running the company – if I was out of office,”
he adds.
Holy Crap!

“Well I'm glad it’s not me,” I scoff.

“Why not?” He asks lightly.

I laugh sarcastically at him. “Isn’t it obvious?”

Tristan frowns at me. “Not to me, but I'm sure whatever ludicrous
thing you’re about to say will prove me wrong,” he says, sighing heavily.

“Well, no one likes me Tristan. I don't talk to anyone. I
avoid the male solicitors like the plague, and as for the other secretaries...well,
I know they bitch about me behind my back...but I can't blame them. I'm
weird...a freaky fuck up.”

“Will you please stop referring to yourself that way!” He snaps,
glaring at me.

“Ok!” I squeak.
Jeez, keep your pants on!

“Seriously Coral, you have got to stop it,” he adds, running
his hand through his hair. “So you’re not very sociable, so what? Lots of other
people are like that, but I doubt they walk around calling themselves a freak!”

“Ok, Tristan. I get your point, calm down.” He shakes his
head several times and takes a sip of coffee, right at that moment Edith comes
over to us.

“Come on you two, brunch is ready. Where would you like to
sit?”

“Coral?” Tristan asks, still frowning at me.

“I don't mind,” I mumble.

“The table please Edith,” Tristan says putting his cup onto
the coffee table so he can help me up. Edith sets up the table for us then
walks over to the stairs.

“Stuart!” She shouts at the top of her voice. “Breakfast!” I
hear his footsteps come barrelling down the stairs. “You’re over there dear,”
Edith says pointing to the breakfast bar. Stuart pats his taught stomach in
appreciation, winks at me and takes a seat.

Tristan helps me sit at the table and brings our coffee’s
over. The smell of bacon and eggs is making me feel ravenous!

“There you go,” Edith says placing our meals down.
Oh my
god!

“Wow, thank you Edith,” I say looking up at her in total
appreciation. Tristan kisses her on the cheek before taking his seat.

“You’re very welcome, now tuck in...I don't want to see a scrap
left on those plates!” I swallow hard.
Is she serious? I can't eat all this?

I look down at my plate. I have two sausages, two bacon, egg
in fried bread with an extra egg on the side, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, black
pudding (yuck!) and what I think is bubble and squeak. Then Edith comes over
with a rack of toast and places some butter and jam beside it, then walks back
into the kitchen.
Ok, I think I'm going to burst just looking at it!

“Is she serious?” I whisper to Tristan with wide eyes. He’s
already eating, typical!

“Just eat what you can,” he firmly tells me –
He’s still
mad about what I said, great!