Scarred Beginnings (10 page)

Chapter Ten

“For goodness sake David! You are meant to be helping me.” Ellen was more than frustrated. There was clearly something bothering him but she didn’t have a clue what it was. She thought he’d be pleased that Geraldine had turned up unexpectedly early. She was obviously completely wrong about the situation.

Every morning for the last week David had wolfed down his breakfast, barely letting his bacon and eggs touch his plate before he’d dashed out into the grounds and disappeared for the day. A lot of the time he was up at the zip wire or canoeing down the river. He never bothered with lunch and every night he came home exhausted, ate a huge dinner and then went straight to bed.

Now, a week into his residency he was about to leave the ch
âteau on some wild goose chase yet again. Ellen had had enough. There were still a million things to do before their opening on New Year’s Eve. The latest problem had arisen when she was about to make up all the beds in the rooms. They had forgotten that the specialist sensor mattresses were a lot thicker than normal ones and most of their fitted sheets didn’t reach far enough down the sides to tuck under the bed. The facilities were another thing to recheck and the stress was getting to her.

“I need you to
start checking out the gym David. There’s a lot of new equipment in there. Our personal trainer is coming next week to take a look over everything but I want you to check it first and then the pool guy is coming later today to take a look at the water and make sure that’s perfect too. We both need to know what we’re doing. We can’t open with a green pool so he’s going to show me how to regulate the water. You don’t have time to go messing about on that blasted zip wire. I’m almost sorry I installed it now.” She bustled about picking things up and putting them down distractedly. “Delphine and Nicole are coming to give me a run through on some of the treatments and I need you to be there with Geraldine so that you two can offer advice on our therapies. You are going to have a facial and a massage so I know what to suggest to guests. I don’t want any guest to feel left out or embarrassed because I go and suggest or say the wrong thing.”

David looked up from where he had been trying to escape through the kitchen doorway.

“Can’t you and Geraldine do that? I’m sure that you would prefer a facial to me.” There was no way he could be in the same room as Geraldine yet. He still hadn’t yet come to terms with her having a boyfriend. He couldn’t bear the thought of anyone else putting their hands on her and if he saw her with bed hair or kiss swollen lips he knew that he’d go completely mad.

Ellen frowned at him
darkly, her lips set in a determined line and he realized that he wasn’t getting out of this one.

“Okay, okay, I’ll be there. What time do you want me?”
He asked resignedly.

“Three, but before that I want you to go to the stable block and check on Jean-Paul. He’s meant to have finished by now but there looked to be a lot to do at the end of last week. Just check on his finishing schedule as I have the place booked out for the ball.” She turned on her heel and left him standing in the doorway.

He plodded along the wooded path towards the stables. It wasn’t far and he could hear the men working well before he arrived. They greeted him cordially and Jean-Paul gave him a tour, pointing out where they needed to finish light fittings and plug sockets. It was almost all done but they didn’t want to finish the electrics before the decorating had been done. He reassured David that two weeks was plenty of time so long as Theo and his team had the painting completed by the end of the week.

David thanked the man
, rang Theo to confirm that he was arriving the next day and then trudged back up the path to the ravine. He had spent hours up there since his first day. Ellen thought he spent the time whizzing down the zip wire but he didn’t. He sat down on the edge of the cliff and dangled his legs over the precipice as he rummaged through the dangerous thoughts that crowded his mind.

He sighed deeply. There was only one thought really.

‘How the hell was he going to go on living here under the same roof as Geraldine when she’d clearly been stringing him along all the time?’

T
he emails and the texts had meant nothing to her! He should have guessed that he and all his friends were kidding themselves about the flirting in the summer. She probably thought he was some weird idiot and just kept it up so that Ellen would think well of her. He puffed out big breaths into the cold air, feeling slightly ashamed that he could even accuse Geraldine of being so calculating. It wasn’t fair and he knew it. He was the one who had blown mere flirtation into a full scale love affair. It wasn’t her fault that he had invested his heart and soul into their online chats.

He stared down into the abyss at his feet and longed to throw himself over
the edge but he knew that would be selfish. Ellen would be devastated. She’d probably never set foot in the place again and he would have ruined everything for his fellow servicemen if he did anything so foolhardy. He was just going to have to man up and get over his disappointment.

He thought about the word.
Disappointment! Jesus, that was the understatement of the year. It didn’t come anywhere near describing how he felt. Furious, angry, bitter, despairing, desolate, just plain sad!
It was all and none of them. It was so much more. His chest had felt completely hollow since he had found out about the fabulous, tyre changing Jules.

Jules!
The anger came to the fore.
God! Who the fuck was called Jules?
Even the man’s name made him want to vomit.

He grabbed up a stone at his side and threw it venomously into the abyss below his boots. It clattered on the rocks as it
dropped to the ravine floor, the sound echoing back up at him and then it was silent again except for the sound of the river gurgling in the background.

He rubbed his hand over his cheek and cursed the scars that met his fingertips before he suddenly remembered that he was meant to be having something done to his face.

He glanced down at his watch and raised his eyebrows. He had sat there moping far longer than he’d thought. He stood up again and took another long glance over the rim of the ravine. Tempting, but not tempting enough. He’d get through this rejection the same as he’d got through a lot of other stuff. He just needed some time to face reality.

He had a few things still going for him.
He face was a mess, his body was worse but he felt bloody lucky he still had his genitals left and he thanked God for small mercies. He’d heard horror stories of some men having them blown off and he was mightily glad that hadn’t been the case for him…not that he expected to use the damn things again for anything other than everyday bodily functions. No one was going to look at him willingly as a sexual partner.

He wondered if there was anyone locally who he could pay to come and
help him burn off a bit of the excess frustration. He doubted it highly but he would have to look into it. He couldn’t face the idea of never having sex again. He was only thirty, far too young to give up thoughts of that sort, though he’d not even considered indulging with anyone else since he had met Geraldine. He gave a shiver of revulsion at the thought of paying for someone to come and service him. It didn’t bear thinking about and he hung his head for even momentarily considering doing such a thing.

His face contorted as pain lanced his already broken heart and a lone tear trickled from his mangled eye. He
couldn’t think beyond the flirtatious French woman whose perfume filled the château corridors and whose gentle singing wafted out at him from where she bustled about in the bedrooms helping Ellen hang drapes and position cushions.

How on earth had he ever thought someone as beautiful as Geraldine would ever want to be with
someone as destroyed as him? 
He almost gagged as he thought about how she would view him.

H
e calmed his raging heart and stopped thinking about it. He had to. He had to face her that afternoon for the first time since discovering that she belonged to another man and there was no way he could break down in front of her. It just wasn’t going to happen. After all, he still had his pride. Maybe it didn’t count for much but he couldn’t ever let Geraldine think that he was weak in any way.

He pulled back his shoulders and began marching back to the ch
âteau. If he kept up a good pace he’d be there just about in time for the torture of spending an afternoon with the woman.
Facials?
He didn’t have a clue what that might entail and wasn’t sure that he wanted to find out given the state of his own features. A massage he could probably cope with so long as he didn’t disgrace himself by becoming aroused. Any woman touching him and he would instantly be dreaming of Geraldine’s gentle, oiled hands sliding all over his body. Sweat broke out on his brow as his imagination suddenly went wild. The thought was just too much. If he had to have a flipping massage then he wanted to make damn sure that the masseur was a man. That thought sobered him up and was suddenly a deep consideration, one which he bet neither Ellen or Geraldine would think of.

There was no way that their ch
âteau could be caught up in anything remotely sleazy. Offering treatments sounded very relaxing but if any other guests were thinking or felt the same way he did then there were going to have to be some very strict rules in place to protect not only the serviceman or woman but the masseuse themselves.

He began puffing hard as he came through the woods to the ch
âteau. The beautiful old place gleamed with freshly cleaned stone. It really was the most wonderful place to live. He only wished he was living with the most wonderful woman too.

He pushed open the front doors and stopped as he saw Ellen and Geraldine standing side by side in the hall. Geraldine had a pile of towels in her hands. She smiled at him radiantly as Ellen spoke up.

“David! At last. Delphine was becoming worried that you had chickened out. She needs you for the facial right now. Nicole is coming in an hour to test out her massage on you too. It looks as though you are going to be in for a relaxing afternoon.”

David scowled at her as he desperately tried to ignore Geraldine.

“Do I even want to know what a facial is? You know that my skin is tender still, don’t you? I’m not sure that I want anyone messing about with it.”

It was Geraldine’s turn to speak.

“That’s why we need to test the facial out. Delphine hasn’t given any scarred person this treatment before. She wants to know how she may ‘ave to advance her skills. You are the perfect candidate.” She frowned and looked quizzically over his face as if searching for something.

David grunted at her words.

“I’m perfect because I’m covered in the damn things? Thanks!” He spoke bitterly and Geraldine took a shocked step backwards as he stomped off towards the door that led down to the cellar.

“David?” Ellen followed quickly after him. “What’s the matter?” She was clearly concerned.

David ignored his sister’s shouts and peered into one of the treatment rooms. He found a blonde haired woman dressed in a long white jacket laying out some oils on a counter.

“
Delphine?” David asked and the woman nodded as she looked up.

She held out her hand to him and he grasped it quickly before depositing himself in the chair by her side.
She shook her head and indicated a cubicle to the rear of the room.

“If you would go to the changing room and remove your clothes. Put on this robe and then lay on the bed if you please Monsieur.” She patted the thickly padded couch.

David looked momentarily confused.

“I thought you were doing the facial and
Nicole the massage.”

Delphine
nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes, that’s right
but the creams tend to spread down your neck and shoulders. It’s very relaxing too. You might fall asleep and it’s so much more comfortable if you are free from any restriction. Just take off your clothes and then come back to the bed. You can keep your underwear on if that makes you any happier. Nicole may want you to remove them for the massage but I will be fine either way.”

David’s confusion deepened but then he shrugged and moved into the cubicle. He heard the outside door open and then Ellen spoke.

“He found you then? Sorry he was late. I have no idea what he’s been up to. Do you still have time to go over things?”

Delphine
answered quickly.

“Of course Madame, I need to learn from this. If Geraldine co
uld just sit by quietly and take any notes that would be most helpful.”

Ellen excused herself as she was about to see the pool guy.

David threw back the curtain and stomped out of the cubicle wearing a thick white dressing gown tied tightly at the waste. His metal legs looked strange poking out from beneath the gown and for just one moment he wished he’d gone for the latex covered ones. They didn’t have the mobility but they looked a whole lot more normal. He thought about ordering a pair and made a mental note to call his technician as soon as possible.

He ignored Geraldine again as he slid onto the bed and lay down
on his back.