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“I’m here for you.
Can I finally start calling you my girlfriend?”

I nodded.

“Do you want to tell Ben, or shall I?”

“I’ll see him first.
It’s
best to tell him straight away.
He has his suspicions.”

“If you’re sure,” Sam k
issed my cheek, smiling. “My girlfriend, Claudia.
I like the sound of tha
t.” He walked off, whistling.
I looked at the spot where Mart
y had disappeared from my life.
This was the next best thing, I told myself.

Sam dropped me off at my rehearsal, his red Audi capturing the attention of all the students outs
ide the theatre, including Ben.
S
am waved at him and roared off. I was on my own on this one.
Ben walked over to me with a face like thunder.

“I knew you were fucking him.”

“Shut the fuck up!” I figured if he was going to swear at me, I would swear right back.

He laughed.
“I guess I shouldn’t use that language in front of my future step mother.”

“Nothing like that happened.”

“Not yet.”

“
He’s been a good friend to me.”
I hadn’t told my friends about finding out I was adopted –
that was my personal secret.

“A good friend who stays the night?”

“And?
Does
Sofia
not stay the night with you?”

“What’s your point?”

“Your dad deserves happiness.
Look, we were just friends before, but now he’s my boyfriend.”

“Boy?” Ben gave a sarcastic chuckle. “He’s old enough to be your father.”

“That’s not a problem for me.”

“It’s a problem for me.”

“Why?”

He was quiet for a few moments.

“Ben, why is it a problem?”
I wanted to know the cause of his anger.

He walked a
way without answering.

The show approached, with my apprehension about the costumes fading in comparison to the fact that neither Ben,
nor Sofia, were talking to me.
I immersed myself in my character, doing nothing for myself except sending some ticket
s to Sam.

Every time I tried to make amends and speak to either Ben or S
ofia, they walked away from me.
I was so busy that Sam had taken to phoning me last thing at night, knowing
I would answer my phone then.
I hadn’t had time to go into the office, so phone conversations were o
ur only way to stay in contact.
He said he preferred calling me at night as he liked my voice to be the last one
he heard when he went to sleep. I enjoyed speaking to him too. He made me feel safe.
I loved that he’d made mistakes in life, but had come through them a
nd was a better person for it.

I missed Marty, like oxygen, but I had to try to forge some
kind of existence without him.
I figured I couldn’t find a better man than Sam.

The first night of the show loomed and m
y nerves took a hold of me.
Somehow I got through the performance and received a riotous applaus
e from the audience at the end.
Sam was ready to meet me ba
ckstage after the performance.
I removed my make up in time to see him get blanked by both Ben and Sofia.

“Why won’t they talk to you?”

“They don’t like that I’m in love with someone younger than both of them,” he kissed the tip of my nose. “You were amazing.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

“And that outfit…”

“Shhh…” 

“If that outfit is your idea of foreplay, I totally get it.”

I smacked his arm.

“Sorry, too much, I know.”

“Why won’t Ben and Sofia talk to me?”

“They think you’re being a fool and that I’m taking advantage of you.”

I stared him in the eyes.
“Do you think you’re taking advantage of me?”

“Not at all. I fell in love.”

I couldn’
t reply to him.
I allowed him to collect
me up into an intimate embrace. He drove me home in his car. He didn’t stay the night.

After a few nigh
ts, the show was over and gone. No more ‘
Starlet
’.
No more listening to songs that reminded me of Marty.
I felt sad inside.

Sam attended every performance an
d drove me home after each one.
After the final performance, he took me for dinner at one of
the best restaurants in town.
Jessica, one of the other girls who was also in the show, was in the restaura
nt with her parents.
Sam spotted them, he knew her father from some business deals, and told me
he’d better go and say hello.
They were only two tables away from us, I didn’t f
eel threatened when he left me.
I could hear their conversation.

“So, Sam, what did you pay to get your daug
hter the lead role in the show?
Clearly, I didn’t put enough in our donation for Jessica.”

“Claudia is my girlfriend.
She got the role on her talents.”

“Oh…oh, she did brilliantly.”

Sam stomped back over to me and grabbed my h
and, pulling me from the table.
He led me to his car and drove to his house in an immense temp
er.

I was scared to speak.
I’d never seen him so angry.

“Claudia, are you scared of me?”

“No?” I meant it to be a statement but it came out as a question.

Sam pulled me close and
held me as he whispered to me.
“I didn’t mean to upset you, baby, I just
hate this prejudice against us.
My own son…”  He shook his head.

He got out of the car and opened my door, lea
ding me to the beautiful house. I followed willingly.

He led me by the hand into the living room, pressing a button on a remote control to fill the room with exotic, arousing music. He beg
an dancing with me on the spot. It was sensual, sultry.
The heat of our bodies movin
g together was almost stifling.
Part of me thought, if this is the best I can hope fo
r, my life would be just fine.

“Claudia, you drive
me crazy.
Haven’t I proved how much I love you?”

I nodded.

“Stay the night, let me show you how much I love you.”

I was wordless.
His love for me wasn’t a t
enth of what I felt for Marty.
But Marty wasn’t coming ba
ck. He was gone. I liked Sam.
Sam was safe, secure.

“Claudia, I
know you had your heart broken. I won’t do that to you.
You c
an be my wife, if you want to. I’d like nothing more.
Don’t you th
ink we’re meant to be together?
I’d love nothing more than to spend the rest of my life making you happy.”

I’d never hea
rd a speech like it in my life. Not from a human, at least.
I shrugged off my reservations. He wanted me. Forever.
I wante
d to be able to love him back.
I wanted to be what he deserved.

Chapter 32

“OK,” I said.

Sam looked at me, stunned for a moment.

“So I can kiss you properly?” He waited for my nod then he kissed me, months of pent-up passion spilling out of h
im.
I felt no bu
tterflies, but it was pleasant.
“And you’re staying the night?”
Sam asked, slightly breathless after our kiss.

I nodded.

“As my girlfriend?”

The unspoken implication o
f his question hung in the air.
He’d w
aited so patiently for so long.
Now that I’d decided to commit to him, it seemed
almost deceitful to hold back.

I nodded again, unable to speak anymore.

“Then this calls for chilled champagne – there’s some in the cellar, I’ll go get it.”

“OK.” I squeaked, comprehending what I’d just agreed
to as I watched him walk away.
I stared out of the window at a couple in the park opposite Sam’s home.
They were out for a last stroll with their dog – he was a big Labrador-style dog,
jumping like he was on springs.
The woman was a redhead like me, but
probably ten years or so older.
The dog sprinted off and the man kissed the woman before running afte
r the dog.
When she turned sideways, it was
clear she was heavily pregnant.
Had I really been willing to give up that opportunit
y to spend my life with Marty? I surely had.
Was I willing to en
ter a life like that with Sam?
I wasn’t completely sure – perhaps it
was because I was still young.

“Claudia?”
Sam’s voice sounded concerned.
I turned around and smiled at him, watching the fear leave his face – I could tell he’d be
en worried I’d changed my mind.
He continued: “There’s no champagne in the cellar – I’ll bet Ben and
Sofia
drank it all.
I’m going to drive to the nearest decent shop and buy some.”

“Is it worth it?”

“Of course it is for y
ou, Princess Claudia.
Just stay here
and stroll about your palace.
I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

“If you’re su
re.
I’m happy with diet coke.”

“My princess doesn’t drink diet coke – she drinks champagne.”

I smiled and
he left out of the front door.
My phone started ringing, e
choing around the empty house.
I hadn’t been expecting anybody to phone me, so I waited for the caller to speak first.

“Miss Lee?” an unknown male voice asked.

“Yes. Who is this?”

“Steve Perkins, I
work with the police service.
We’ve been doing some foren
sic work on your parents’ car.
It was delayed because the cause of the accident was presumed to be the other driver.”

“He was on drugs, right?”

“Yes, but that wa
sn’t the reason for the crash.
I examined both c
ars involved in the collision.
Your parents’ car had just been serviced, yes?”

“Two weeks before the crash, for its one year service, why?”

“I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your parents’ car had its brakes tampered with – the cable was cut, rendering them useless.”

“Who would do such a thing?”

“That’s where the real
police officers do their work. I just examine the cars.
Could be mistaken identity – we picked up a known criminal driving a Volvo, just like the one owned by your parents, two weeks ago.”

“Thank you for calling.” I w
anted to get him off the phone.
I’d accepted my par
ents dying in a freak accident.
I couldn’t cope if their de
aths had been caused by murder.
I didn’t want Sam to see me upset, he would definit
ely think I’d changed my mind.

I looked about the kitchen and instinctively tidied up, seekin
g something to occupy my mind.
This could be my kitchen if I wanted it to be,
if I wanted to be Sam’s wife.
I picked up my coat, which was hanging off the back of one of the chairs and moved it into
the cupboard under the stairs.
I noticed Sam’s jacket hanging o
ff the opposite chair to mine.
I picked it up to m
ove it.
I wondered if the smell of his clothes would evoke the same reactions in
me as Marty’s scent had done.
I lifted his jacket to my nose and heard something crash
to the ground from his pocket.
Embarrassed, I bent down to pick up the offending item and saw a car key lying on the floor.

I picked it up
and examined it more closely.
It was a Volvo key and tied to
the key ring was a brown tag.
The brown tag had the name ‘Bells Motor Group’ and underneath, in rushed pen ink, was my parents’ car’s number plate.