Forgotten Love (Derrien Island Trilogy) (8 page)

“
I thought that you were going to tell him earlier Natasha?” said a voice from the other side of the taxi.

“
I tried to but I couldn’t, Lucas!” she replied to the other male occupant.

“I thought that he was going to rip the door off the car or follow us at some point but it seems that he has given up,
” said Lucas with a slight smile.

Natasha’s only response was to blow her nose loudly into the tissues in her hands.

“Are you sure that you know what you are doing?” he asked.

“Yes. I’m sure. I need to know how my life would have turned out if I continued on the path I
chose for myself. When I saw you at the restaurant six months ago, it was as though my prayers were being answered. I really need to see this opportunity through, for my own sanity.”

“Well
, I spoke to the executives at the record label yesterday and they loved the demo I sent them. They are looking forward to your audition tomorrow evening. You do come highly recommended by me you know,” laughed Lucas sounding slightly arrogant.

“I know and I can
not thank you enough for giving me this second chance at an international singing career.”

“Well, you have already convinced me
, but when you put on your best effort for Mr. Calderon and the board and then you would have taken a step closer.”

“True! I need to
rest and focus, and the last thing I need to be doing right now is crying and messing up my voice,” said Natasha trying to sound as though she was in control, but failed miserably.

“You got that right,” replied Lucas.

The truth was that she was absolutely terrified.
All she could think about was the look of utter agony on her husband’s face as she left him standing in their driveway moments before.  Now, here she was in a taxi speeding toward the airport with Lucas Johnson, the talent director who had set up her singing audition with the Pacific Sun record label six years ago. It was a miracle that he still thought that she could make it on the international circuit. She had all but given up any hope of an illustrious singing career or even finishing her art and advertising degree years ago after she married Marcus so quickly.

A
lthough her upcoming meeting with Mr. Calderon was supposed to be at the front of her thoughts she could not seem to get past the dull ache that flooded her heart and abdomen as she recalled the hurt, anger and disbelief on Marcus face. It was as if someone had engraved that final memory into her brain and she felt more than terrible. Despite all that happened she knew he did not deserve being told like that! She procrastinated, being unsure about how to broach the subject with him not knowing how he would take it. Not wanting to be on Derrien Island for an extra two weeks with Marcus or her parents possibly trying to talk her out of the thing that could give her back a modicum of self – respect.

As the car continued along its path, Natasha saw Lucinda’s place through the semi-frosted glass all dark and closed for the night. Being so far out in the mountains, her restaurant mainly served breakfast and lunch so that she could take evenings off to relax at her own home. Lucinda had been so good to her from the first day that they met and she knew that when she found out what she did to Marcus she would be so disappointed. Natasha felt the full conflict of what she was about to do rise up in her so powerfully that she thought she would throw up. Once th
e plane left Derrien she would have to stick with her decision, one she prayed that she would not regret anymore than she did already.

Arriving at the airport twenty minutes later, Lucas went to get a trolley for their bags, while Natasha walked to the ticket counter to hold a space for check-in.  As she prepared for her turn, rummaging in her shoulder bag for her passport and transit documents, she heard a familiar male voice call out to her with surprise and she froze with recognition.

“Natasha?”

Busted
!

Natasha wou
ld know that voice in her sleep, having heard it so many times over the years. Lifting her head slowly she looked over her shoulder behind her to where Marcus’ best friend Sheldon was standing. Sheldon Archer was the last person that she wanted to see tonight and she had secretly hoped that he would have been off-duty given the late hour and the volleyball tournament in the morning. He was head of security at the airport and managed their team of over one-hundred and fifty security personnel.

As he walked over to her she did not miss the look of s
hock on his face at seeing her there. A look that demanded answers!

“What are you doing here
? Marcus didn’t tell me that you were travelling tonight. I thought you guys went to Courtney’s and Ramon’s vow renewal? ”

“Uh
, hi Sheldon, no, um this trip was a sudden thing that came up,” she hedged.

“Is
everything’s alright with you? You look terrible by the way, what’s up?” he said with his eyes taking in with growing suspicion her slightly dishevelled appearance, and red puffy eyes with dark smudges, considering how neatly she was usually attired.

“I’m fine Sheldon, thanks for asking.”

“Okay Natasha, I got
us
a trolley and the bags are secured, hey who is this?” asked Lucas as he approached Natasha and Sheldon.

“Us?” echoed Sheldon. “
Okay, Natasha, you have some explaining to do before I have to represent my boy Marcus up in here! Who the heck is he?” asked Sheldon pointing an accusatory finger at Lucas.

“Sheldon, you don’t understand
,” began Natasha.

“Like hell
, I don’t understand Natasha! But I sure am listening right now!” responded Sheldon forcefully.

“Listen, this is Lucas Johnson, a talent scout from the US!”
said Natasha trying to diffuse what could become a volatile situation without giving away too many details. Sheldon was fiercely loyal to his friend Marcus, in fact they were more like brothers and he could make her departure from this airport very difficult if he chose to.

“Talent scout
?” Sheldon replied sounding very unconvinced as his narrowed eyes locked in on her shifting ones examining their movement with practiced sharpness. He could pick up on a lie in seconds so she didn’t dare tell him one.

“Yes, and you are
?” replied Lucas extending a handshake to Sheldon, seemingly unaffected by the barely veiled hostility emanating from him.

Sheldon grasped his hand briefly and
replied, “Sheldon Archer,” before he returned the full weight of his attention to Natasha.

“So where is Marcus? Why isn’t he here with you?
This doesn’t seem like him to let the one person he loves most in the world just leave the country without being here to see her off!”

“That is a long story Sheldon,
I think you should ask him that,” she said without looking him in the eyes.” The less Sheldon saw the better for her!

Sheldon was getting a bad feeling about this scene. Natasha
was looking extremely nervous, as though she would rather be anywhere else but there talking to him. She was clearly giving him half-answers and now some guy called Lucas Johnson was here with her to catch the late night flight together to the US? Something was not right at all. He did not want to jump to conclusions but Natasha was not helping him to see things any differently.

“Look Sheldon, I know that you are surpr
ised to see me but I really cannot explain what is going on right now. Just trust that everything is going to be okay!” pleaded Natasha.

“Natasha, it’s
our
turn!”said Lucas as he wheeled their suitcases up to the counter and lifted the bags on to the scale.

“Natasha if that man says “
our
” or “
us
” to you again in my presence I am going to deck him on Marcus’ behalf,” said Sheldon.

“Sheldon
no, please”, pleaded Natasha “I’m sorry but I have to go, I really can’t explain right now,” repeated Natasha to her friend as she walked away from him and joined Lucas at the travel desk. Natasha cringed inside as she repeated to herself that everything would be okay.

Sheldon
, despite his usual fun-loving and competitive nature was Marcus’ best friend and she could see that he did not like what he was witnessing here one bit.  She also instinctively knew that Sheldon hadn’t moved an inch from where he was standing and she could literally sense his eyes boring into the back of her head like two red-hot steel pokers. All through the check-in process she knew that he was still there and it took all of her resolve to continue pretending he wasn’t. Seeing Sheldon was the last thing that she needed now. She knew that any moment he would call Marcus and let him know about where she was, when she had painstakingly tried to conceal it from him. She had hoped that her trail would have had some time to go cold first before anyone could figure out where she was. She’d hoped that Marcus would check in with her parents first and then perhaps hotels on Derrien, which would have given her enough time to leave quietly. What was worse, she could see both of them coming to all the wrong kinds of conclusions about her relationship with Lucas.

Although Lucas was an e
xtremely handsome man and he did express more than a platonic interest in her, she had made it clear that this was a business arrangement and nothing more. He was fifteen years older than she was at forty-one and stood about the same height as Marcus but had a lighter brown complexion with steel grey eyes. Like Marcus, he too had a muscular youthful physique and it was clear that he took a lot of care in managing his appearance. Right now, he was wearing a pair of dark blue slacks and a long sleeved grey shirt slightly opened at the collar creating a picture of male success and affluence. Despite all of his charms, she just was not interested in him romantically. In fact, when she did compare him to Marcus she always found herself preferring to think about the things she did like about her husband instead. That thought always unnerved her because no matter how much she tried to push Marcus out of her thoughts he still dominated them, and she knew that she still loved him, still wanted him and that no other man would probably ever compare.

Waves of guilt and shame began washing over her heart because she knew that she w
ould be hurting a lot of people, people that she had grown to love over the past six years. One of them was now standing behind her looking on at the scene unfolding before him with incredible confusion. Someone she now considered to be one of her closest friends.

As if reading her
anxious thoughts, Lucas moved to stand behind her and placed both of his hands on her shoulders massaging them gently. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, “It’s going to be fine, just relax,” and Natasha groaned inside because she was now sure beyond all doubt that Sheldon would think she was having an affair with Lucas.

She was right!

That intimate play was all Sheldon needed to see! Shaking his head he slowly walked backward before turning and walking briskly back over the security station where he had left his duffel gym bag earlier in the day. If he hadn’t forgotten it earlier, chances are he might have missed this sickening display. As he walked briskly toward the station, he pressed number 2 on his phone and it speed dialled Marcus’ number. He listened to the phone ring and disconnect and called again and again until he had dialled his friend’s number at least ten times and left ten messages. Now he was officially worried. Should he drive up there and check on him now? Feeling the tiredness of the day in his muscles he decided that first thing in the morning he would drive up to Manderley and find out why Marcus’ was not answering his phone.

Forty
minutes later as she boarded the plane, Natasha breathed a sigh of relief that she did not run into any other people she knew. Her nerves were frayed enough and she just wanted the plane to take off. She was leaving behind her life, her friends, and many memories. This was a hard trade off in her attempt to reconnect with who felt she really was inside. Completely exhausted, she leaned against the window, and within minutes fell asleep into the land of dreams.

July 13
th
,
Eight months earlier

Exhausted, frustrated and dirty were all words Natasha us
ed to describe herself as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror in her bathroom.  It was a far cry from the image that she had imagined for herself and the reflection looking back at her felt like she was somehow having a kind of out of body experience.

As much as she loved art, t
eaching it part-time to preschoolers was not what she had envisioned at all.  However, it was the next best thing to do to keep her occupied during the day and to keep her parents off her back. Sometimes she swore they forgot that she wasn’t a child anymore.

Sure she still painted on weekends but somehow every
time she allowed herself to feel that she could do that full-time, a little voice always reminded her that she’d already missed her chance. So her art pieces were only seen by her and sometimes Marcus before they were stowed away in the storage room.