Jonathan
The tabloids had the photo of my fist connecting with Evan’s jaw on all the front pages, and just as Helen had predicted the phone had been ringing off the hook with constant calls for comments and interviews.
I felt bad leaving her in the lurch and escaping to The Hamptons, but I couldn’t face the curious stares from my staff because I knew I’d messed everything up, and the stern but slightly exhausted voice of my mother on the phone earlier was enough of a wakeup call as any.
I had to speak to Kate, I knew that much, but today I had other things to deal with—things that I couldn’t cancel.
Anna was coming around.
I pushed myself away from the desk in my study, giving myself a break from reading the same news stories over and over again and seeing all the different angles there possibly was of my fist connecting with Evan’s jaw.
I knew I had a lot of making up to do with him and Kate—an exceptional amount, as the press had eagerly been searching around for any information they could find on her.
They’d assumed she’d come in the middle of Evan and me, but it couldn’t have been further from the truth, and now in the cold light of day I knew it. I saw it. I remembered her already tear-stained face as she pulled away from Evan’s arms and everything slotted into place. I just wish that I’d had that clarity when she was pleading with me to calm down. I should have taken a step back and realized that all she needed at that moment was comforting.
I’d never had to beg forgiveness from a woman before, as usually they accepted everything I did wrong and came back for more, which was what I liked so much about Kate. I wasn’t perfect, and she expected me to work just as hard as anyone else to put things right. The name Davenport and my charm weren’t enough. Not this time.
I heard the sound of the front gate buzzer from where I sat in the study and several minutes later the doorbell rang.
I took a deep breath, downed the rest of my drink, and put the newspapers away.
I knew it was Anna and her gang before Loria, my housekeeper, came in to get me. Even though I’d been anticipating her arrival from the minute she got into contact with me, I knew this had the potential to go sour fast, and suddenly I felt worried that I was about to make a big mistake, but it was too late to stop now. I’d gone too far.
I wandered out of the study to the sitting room where a number of people sat looking around the room excitedly, and I felt slightly flat that she’d exceeded the ‘few’ that she’d told me about.
“Hi everyone!” I said, as upbeat as I could.
They all turned to me like vultures and a chorus of ‘hello’, ‘your house is amazing’, and ‘thanks for having us’ echoed around the room. I waved politely until I saw her sitting behind everyone, perched on the edge of the sofa. I knew it was her because of her eyes—large, bright, and deep.
“Anna?” I said walking forwards, my arm outstretched. “So glad you could make it.”
The room fell silent as she stood up, walking towards me and ignoring my hand as she pulled me to her in a tight embrace. She buried her face deeply into my chest, catching me off guard.
The room erupted into laughter at my surprise, and when she finally let go she reached up and put her hands on either side of my face and smiled warmly.
“Thank you, Jonathan. You don’t know how much this means.”
“Like I said, I’m so glad you could come here. All of you!” I turned to the others, despite wishing it were just Anna and I.
“I owe you an explanation…” she said, taking my arm and leading me out to the hallway. “It’s been on my mind for years and I just didn’t know what to do about it. I didn’t know how to go that one step further.”
“You don’t need to explain to me. Save it. You’re here now and we’ll keep in touch. I won’t let this lapse. You have my word. I have a confidentiality agreement here for everyone to sign and this meeting today stays with us, okay? Well meet again, just the two of us, once you get confirmation and I’ll make sure not to mention anything to her until then. I don’t want to tell her something that isn’t true. I don’t want to cause undue hurt.”
She nodded, her eyes still bright and friendly.
“Jonathan? Sorry to interrupt you both…”
I looked up to see an overly made up woman with large tits and crazily botoxed lips looking at me.
“No, no. Go ahead.” I offered.
“I couldn’t see your maid and didn’t wanna go snooping. Can you show me the right direction to the lavatory, please?”
“Just next to the front door.” I pointed behind us and she nodded.
“Thanks sweets!”
I watched her walk off and turned back to Anna, my eyebrow raised.
“She’s a cousin,” she whispered. “Extremely confident and outgoing. She’s the opposite to the rest of us, but she means well.”
I nodded.
“Anna, do you understand the importance of the fact that we have to keep this a secret until you get the go ahead. All these people can’t breathe a word until we’re ready to go. It’s really important. I have a lot at stake here. More than you can imagine.”
“I know, I know. It’s important to me too, I promise you,” she squeezed my hand reassuringly.
“Good, then let’s all have something to drink. I have some food being served shortly, and then I’d like to go over my plans.”
“Sounds perfect.”
I offered her my arm and we walked back to the sitting room together. I just hoped my plan was going to work. It had to.