The Final Chapter
Janey was jumping up and down for joy when Heather confirmed that the wedding was still on. “I knew that couldn't be it,” Janey sang down the phone. “You guys are made for each other. Besides, I've never been a bridesmaid before.”
“Well,” said Heather. “It's time we went out for some much needed retail therapy. It's time I bought the dress.”
Janey yelped in the background but Heather's mind went back over the two days she and Yuri had just spent after he had finally told her all about his past. Yuri had been quiet; she’d seen his eyes staring off in the distance and didn't want to question him. Instead, she spoke weddings and dresses and didn't ask Yuri how his plans to get rid of Lemar, once and for all, were going.
Lemar, she thought, would be unaware of the changes in their arrangement and Yuri had told her not to pick up his phone calls under any circumstances. But, when it came to the day of picking out a wedding dress with Janey, Heather's mind was still very much preoccupied. She met Janey early in the morning and by the afternoon; they had been to practically every bridal shop imaginable.
“I swear you'll have to have something especially designed for you, Heather. Nothing you've seen has been good enough,” Janey sighed as she sat out in the show room of one of the largest wedding dress shops in the city, while Heather tried on yet another dress.
Heather could not decide on the right style. Everything seemed to suit her but nothing seemed right. She knew full well that her mind wasn't entirely on buying a wedding dress but there was no way she could confide as much in Janey. Heather was going through the motions, keeping occupied until her problem had been resolved.
“We're running out of places to try,” Janey said. She was sipping yet another glass of complimentary champagne, her third of the day.
Heather came out of the dressing room in a lace, figure hugging dress with a fish tail. It trailed far behind her and the assistant helped her onto the small platform on the show room floor. It was surrounded by three full length mirrors. Other shoppers stopped their shopping, in awe of how beautiful Heather looked.
“I love it,” Janey said. “What do you think, Heather?”
Heather pulled a face.
“I knew it.” Janey stood, throwing her hands in the air. “Okay, we've been at this for hours. We're never going to find the right dress.”
The shop assistant scowled at Janey. Heather stepped off the platform and looked at her apologetically. It had taken ages for the girl to fasten all the diamond clasps at the back.
“Why don't we give Yuri's personal assistant a call?” Janey suggested.
“Susan? Why?” Heather tried to hobble her way back out to the changing rooms.
“Because,” said Janey, “from what you tell me about her, she knows everything and everybody in this town. If there's some shop or designer we've missed, she'll have the answer. Go on, call her.” She gestured for Heather to hurry on back and pick up her cell.
Reluctantly, Heather made her way to the back room to find her cell. She dialed Susan, but was nervous about speaking to her. Since the last time they met for dinner at Yuri's apartment, the atmosphere between them had grown extremely frosty. Heather hadn't been looking forward to the next time they met or spoke. She was sure that Susan had her down as a gold digger and, therefore, bad news for Yuri.
But, Heather didn't want there to be any animosity between them because she was well aware of how valuable a friend Susan was to Yuri. If this was a time of coming clean and keeping all their cards on the table, then perhaps it was time to try to make amends with Susan. She couldn't have their last conversation hanging over their heads, especially as the wedding was well and truly on. It was time to build bridges.
Heather emerged from the changing room with a smile on her face.
“Well?” asked Janey, who was draining the last of her champagne while waiting for Heather to change back into her own clothes again.
“She's directed me to some place not to far from here. Apparently, it's a little known boutique but she said at least three actresses have gone there to buy their wedding dresses.”
“What are we waiting for?” Janey asked, grabbing her hand. She pushed the empty champagne glass into the bridal shop assistant's hand and they left.
Just about half a block away and down a side road, they came to the place that Susan had recommended. Janey wasn't too impressed by the exterior of the shop when they first arrived but after being let inside and saw the styles of the dresses, she felt the search may finally be over.
“This one!” Janey said, holding up a dress with a broad grin on her face.
Heather gave her a knowing smile and nodded her head. The whole business with Lemar and the money he was trying to extort from Yuri left her for that moment.
“I think we're on to something,” she said as she headed for the changing room, hotly pursued by the dress fitter and her assistant.
While Heather was inside the changing room being dressed by the staff, Janey was waiting in the main shop after having been served with yet another full glass of complimentary champagne. She accepted without hesitation and started looking at veils.
“How's it looking?” Janey called in to Heather.
“So far so good,” Heather called back.
The shop assistant had finally fastened the intricate line of buttons up the back of her dress and Heather stopped to look at herself in the mirror before going out to show Janey.
“It's beautiful,” a voice just behind her said. Heather looked up and saw Susan inside the dressing room. “Could we have a moment?” Susan asked the dress fitters.
They smiled and nodded and obediently left the two of them alone. Heather turned to face Susan.
“You came,” Heather said, allowing a smile to spread across her face.
“Yes, I hope you don't mind,” said Susan, blushing. “I didn't want to fall out with you, Heather. I really like you as a person and I know Yuri loves you. And, well, he told me about...”
“What?” Heather asked fidgeting uncomfortably from one foot to the next. The dress bunched up on the floor around her as she was in bare feet.
“He didn't think you'd mind but he told me all about... your past. I suppose the most important thing was that you'd come clean about the money,” said Susan, lowering her voice.
Heather was on her guard again. “So you came here because now you know all about me and you want me out of his life? Is that it?”
“I'm not a judge, Heather,” she said.
“Well, you've certainly been judging me.”
“Only because I was afraid for him. You see, I already knew about his past. He took me into his confidence a long time ago. But he came here and turned his life around completely, all on his own. I have a lot of time and respect for that man as you can imagine. His childhood was...well, you know all about it,” Susan said.
“Yes, I do and he and I have an understanding, Susan. Have you come to give me your opinion on that too?” Heather smoothed the front of her dress.
“Not at all, Heather, look, please, don't hate me.” Susan stepped closer. “Yuri needs people on his side; I know you are and you know I am, too. But I want us all to be on the same side. It's important that you and I get on, don't you think?”
“I don't have a problem with you, Susan. I would be protective of my best friend, too.” Heather's voice softened. “What you said to me was right; I shouldn't have lied to Yuri. But you have to believe me when I say, I lied because I couldn't stand to lose the one precious thing I've ever had in my life. I would give my life for that man and by lying to him, I thought I was fighting for him, to keep him. But you showed me I was doing it wrong.”
“So you don't think I'm a complete bitch?” Susan cracked a smile.
“Not in the slightest. I'm glad Yuri has someone watching out for him the way you do, Susan. He's a lucky man.”
“Well, more so now that he has you.”
Heather walked to Susan and took her hands. “Friends?” she asked, smiling.
Susan put her arms around her. “Of course we are and I'm very happy to be your friend, Heather.” She stepped back and took in the design of the dress. “You look beautiful, by the way. I think this could be the one.”
Heather turned back to the mirror. “I'm still not sure.” Then, turning to Susan. “I suppose Yuri told you about how he's going to put an end to the blackmailing, right?”
“Only an outline,” said Susan. “The less I know about it, the better, he says. And that goes for you, too.”
“So when is it all supposed to be happening?”
“Well, judging by what I overheard while he was on the phone earlier, I think it's tonight. By tomorrow, your problems will all be over.”
“Thank God,” Heather said. “Then we can get on with our lives. I was dreading tomorrow. That was when I was supposed to meet Lemar in that seedy bar with the money. You have no idea how glad I am that I don't have to ever go back there.”
They both smiled.
“Come on,” Heather said. “Janey will think I've fallen asleep in here.”
***
A few hours later, with her wedding dress bought and waiting alterations, Heather was back at the apartment, eating dinner with Yuri.
“I finally got lucky on a dress. It's simple but unique looking – well, I think so anyway. The girls agreed.” Heather said, pouring Yuri some wine. He said nothing but picked up the glass, put it to his lips and placed it back on the table without drinking.
She carried on talking to him but Yuri seemed preoccupied. It was as though he looked through her rather than at her. Heather put it down to the stress of what would be happening with Lemar and whomever Yuri had paid to see him off that night. She was worried stiff and so must he, she thought. Her remedy was to keep on talking, staying off the subject as much as she could, but Yuri was obviously running the whole sordid matter over and over in his head.
Because of her, he'd had to resort to a world he wanted to forget. She was close to running to him and begging forgiveness for bringing all of this trouble to his door but she knew full well Yuri wouldn't see it like that.
They barely spoke all evening and Heather sat on a large armchair in one corner of the room, reading, afraid to bring up the subject, afraid to say anything at all. Heather looked at the clock for about the hundredth time that night. She had no idea what time things would happen but on looking at the time, she saw it was almost midnight.
Heather was sleepy but remembered something Susan had said earlier: “Tomorrow your problems would be over.” If they slept, now, the two of them, tomorrow would come around sooner. No more waiting to see what their immediate future held.
“I'm going to bed,” Heather said and stood up to stretch. She walked to the sofa where Yuri lay looking up at the ceiling. He had not moved from that spot for ages. “Coming?” she asked, looking down at him with a fake smile.
“Hmm? Oh no,” he said. “Actually, I need to pop out for a few hours.”
Heather panicked and stood looking at him with absolute horror on her face. “What do you mean you're popping out?” she asked in a shaky voice. “You think I don't know what's going on tonight?”
Yuri looked at her open mouthed. He knew exactly who'd given Heather that snippet of information. He sat up. “Susan wasn't supposed to say anything about tonight.” Yuri ran a hand over his hair and got to his feet.
“Well, maybe she wanted me to stop this happening.”
“What?”
“Since when did you decide you were going to go along tonight and get involved?” asked Heather. “This isn't what you're about anymore. I'm sorry, Yuri, I have to stop you. We're close to having Lemar leave us alone so we can get on with our lives once and for all. You just leave all of this to whomever is supposed to be dealing with Lemar, please.” There was desperation in Heather's eyes.
“I have to make sure everything goes to plan,” Yuri said, avoiding looking at her now. “They've gotten in contact with Lemar. They've lured him to secluded port under a bridge in a quiet part of town, making him think he's there to be part of a big drugs deal. He thinks he's in with some big gangster types who've heard about his reputation. He was so conceited, he bought the whole thing.”
“That sounds like Lemar, but I don't get why you need to be around,” she said.
“It's part of the deal, Heather. I asked that I saw the operation in action. They're going to be wired, I'll be out of sight but I get to listen in. It's a precaution. I just didn't want anything coming back to us, okay? So I wanted to know it all went well. Then I could sleep – finally. After this we're back to you and me, Heather.” He gently held her arms. “We move on. That crook was a glitch in our lives.”
“I'm coming with you.”
“Oh no, no you don't Heather. This is exactly what I didn't want.” He held up open palms and started putting on his shoes, then his jacket.
“Forget it, Yuri,” she said. “You and me start now: for better or worse, we're in this together and you won't get me to back down.”
Yuri looked at her, pursed his lips together and shook his head. “Are you going to be this stubborn when we get married?”
“Worse,” she said.
“You've got one minute to get ready.”
Yuri and Heather drove across town in the dead of night. Yuri parked the car just to the side of a strip of warehouses that were either disused or all locked up for the night. In front of one of them was a large pile of old storage boxes. Yuri parked the car so that it was obscured from the boxes but had a view on the river just on the other side of an empty walkway. Just overhead was a bridge over which cars and vans trundled noisily along. Other than the traffic passing, it was quiet.
Yuri turned off the headlights and the engine. Heather thought she saw a figure approaching on foot but couldn't sure. She put it down to her imagination because the lone figure seemed to disappear somewhere by the water's edge.
“Where are they?” Heather asked, looking from one side of the walkway to the other.
Yuri put a finger on his lips. “Heather, it's one thing that you're here, but you have to listen to me now. You say nothing and you keep perfectly still.” He said these words directly into her ear, she felt his breath hot on the side of her face. She nodded.
Immediately after they settled back in their seats Heather heard the wheels of another car approaching the desolate warehouse buildings. It rolled in slowly and parked opposite them, by the river's edge. It was only when the headlights of the dark car cast its beam on the river that she noticed the tall, skinny figure of Lemar by the stone steps leading to the cold water below. That was the figure she had seen arriving. She swallowed hard and flicked an eye at Yuri who was putting an earpiece firmly into his right ear.
From what she could see, there were two men in the parked car opposite. She saw Lemar move towards the dark car. She noticed that familiar bobbing walk he did when he was approaching people he wanted to impress or to show he meant business. She knew he moved like that when he was scared, too.
Lemar walked towards the dark car and shielded the beam from the headlights with his hand. He was wearing gloves, she noticed. He was also wearing a dark, hooded jacket. The hood was up over his clean shaved head and he wore scuffed jeans that sagged at the knee. He said something to the men but she couldn't make out what. Heather took another look at Yuri. He was stock still with eyes fixed ahead.
The men in the car turned off their headlights and finally got out of the car. The two stood for a moment and then both slammed the doors shut and approached Lemar. He was grinning; idiot, Heather thought to herself.
“What are they saying?” Heather whispered, turning to Yuri.
He swung around, eyes bulging and jammed his forefinger against his lips. She pulled her lips in and mouthed the word, 'Sorry'. She could see Yuri was silently fuming.
Heather sat as still and as quietly as she could. But something in the way Lemar was moving around and the body language of the other two men made Heather sit up straight and squint out across the deserted river walk trying to work out what was happening. Something didn't seem right to her.
She turned to look at Yuri. He was squinting too in the dim light. He pulled out the earpiece and shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he had lost sound. Heather looked back at Lemar and saw his gloved hand reach inside his jacket. What was he reaching for, she wondered. A weapon? Money? What was this deal he thought he was getting into? Surely, by now Yuri's men were telling Lemar why he was really there. That he had to back off from the couple or else. Why was it taking them so long to get the message across?
Before Lemar could get whatever he was reaching for in his pocket out, the other two men had pulled out guns. They just held them to their sides and the three of them continued to talk and then the two men slowly moving towards Lemar.
He edged his way backwards. Heather could just about make out the look on Lemar's face. He was petrified. Surely, the message must have reached him now – loud and clear. Was he so stupid that he would refuse to back off? Surely now he'd take that damn hand out from inside his jacket and just raise them up and give in to common sense.
Lemar began stepping backwards again and still seemed to be talking. He was getting closer and closer to the water. The moon was lighting the ripples in the river with silver while cars continued to pass over the bridge high above, unaware of what was going on several feet below. As if in a flash, Lemar's hand emerged from inside his jacket. He held a gun in one hand, pointing it the men. His other hand he was holding out and making animated gestures with it as he spoke but now the two men both raised their guns in cool easy movements, both pointing them straight at Lemar.
Lemar backed away more, still talking. Trying to talk his way out of this, Heather thought. She looked briefly at Yuri and then at the three men by the river. Her heart began to make the sound of thunder in its cavity and the next few seconds seemed to move in double slow motion for her. Turning her eyes back to the scene, her first thought was: They will kill him.
She opened the car door and bolted towards the water in dreamlike speed and heard nothing at all.
“Heather, no!” Yuri shouted.
The three men looked over and saw Heather running towards them. One of the men turned his gun towards her and Lemar took aim at his turned back.
“Lemar! Don't!” she yelled at him.
Both men swept around towards Lemar who had moved too close to the edge. And, before any of them could take another breath, Lemar fell backwards into the black river. Still, to Heather, without sound. She stopped running. Her world was spinning out of focus as she stumbled around to see Yuri waving his arms at the men and calling something out in Russian.
Yuri hooked Heather's arm. “Go back to the car.” He blasted the words into her face but she could not hear. Yuri rushed to the riverside and looked down.
Again he spoke in Russian and the two men got into the car and sped away. Yuri got to his knees and looked down, far down into the water. Heather had dragged her leaden legs over to where Yuri now knelt.
“Is he?... Can you see anything?” Heather asked in a shaky voice behind him.
He did not look round at her. “I thought I told you to go back to the car.”
“He's dead,” Heather kept repeating. “He's dead.”
Yuri stood up and squeezed her close to him. He supported her weight back to the car. He helped her sit down and then got into the driver seat.
“What do you think you were doing?” he asked after letting Heather sob for a few moments.
“I-I didn't want them to kill him.”
“They would not have killed him. You just needed to let them do their job. They knew what they were doing.”
“I'm sorry,” she said between her hands as they covered her face. “I'm sorry.”
Eventually, Yuri started the engine. Heather looked straight ahead the entire time. The view in front of her seemed perfectly normal now. A quiet, river walk beside the closed up warehouses. Tomorrow, people would be working here, walking by the river. No one would know what happened, no one would have witnessed what she just saw.
*
Weeks after the incident, Heather and Yuri had struggled to come to terms with what happened. Being able to tear their thoughts away from that night under the bridge and to concentrate on arranging flights for the wedding guests to the Caribbean island destination had been a lot to ask of both of them but they had had to continue as though none of it had happened.
Each day the newspapers would arrive, and each day the couple would scour the pages for news of a man being washed up onto any of the shores that surrounded the Hudson River. They had even gone as far as looking at a map to see how far the river ran for. If Lemar's body was going to be found, it could be anywhere. And, if it were found, then there would be nothing that could relate his death to either of them. They had finally been able to accept that in their attempts to rid themselves of the past, a terrible accident had happened but not of their making.
It had not been the ideal end to a part of their lives that both of them had tried to put behind them but at least it was over.
***
Sitting on Yuri's private jet as they flew out to his villa in the Caribbean, they could finally let out a sigh of relief.
“I can't believe this is finally happening,” Heather said as she looked across at Yuri.
“I know, we haven't known each other that long but it seems as if we've known each other for ever.”
“Strange, you should say that,” Heather smiled to him. “You know I got that feeling on the first meeting you, remember that day?”
“How could I forget?” Yuri asked.
“Despite the up and downs of the last few months, that never really changed for me.”
The warm air swept over them as they got of the jet. In three days, they would be married and they could start a new life together. No more secrets; no more lies.
***
Yuri couldn’t take his eyes away from Heather as she appeared at the end of the short row of chairs that their guests occupied. First, Janey had walked towards the makeshift altar in her lemon colored dress. It was a breezy day and the skirt flapped at her calves. She worried the cluster of flowers clipped to the side of her hair might fly away. She held tight to the bouquet she carried, more from nerves than worrying it might blow out of her hand. She made it to the front without tripping; it was one of the things she was worried about, she'd told Heather earlier. Then Janey caught the look in Yuri's eye when he'd seen his bride arrive.
Heather hesitated before walking up the aisle. It had been covered in crimson and yellow hibiscus petals, so typically tropical and so in keeping with the colors in her theme. Her dress was pure white in a simple design: thin straps at the shoulder embedded with crystals that glittered in the sunlight and contrasted against her skin tone. The bodice was all silk and fitted, and the waist band, also with embedded crystals, nipped in tight to show her figure and flared out to the floor with a tiny train behind her. Her large bouquet was in deep red and speckled with tiny white flowers, and her short veil just reached the nape of her slender neck.
Yuri, who had been spoiling her since they arrived, had promised her a special surprise. And no matter how much she questioned him about what it could be, he said she would find out on the day. She even called Susan but she knew nothing about the surprise.
As she gathered her thoughts, about to make her entrance, Heather spotted Laura Madison. She had seen the large hat from further along the beach and thought that only she could carry it off. Laura turned to look at Heather and blew a kiss. Heather smiled and wondered how many weddings Laura got invited to since her time as matchmaker at the club
She also saw that a large canopy with tastefully decorated chairs had sectioned off the wedding ceremony area and an altar was covered in bright flowers. As Heather took a breath and began to walk towards Yuri, she found she also couldn’t take her eyes off him. As she got closer, she noticed a slight flicker in his eye as they turned, just briefly towards the guests. Her eyes quickly followed his and she saw two people from her past, she'd never imagined seeing again: her parents, smiling. She stopped in her tracks for a second and could not pick up her feet until she saw her mother nod to her in a way that told Heather, everything was all right. The past had been forgiven.
***
The couple had enjoyed a celebration dinner at the end of the ceremony with the rest of their guests. There was music and dancing, and the champagne and rum punches were overflowing. There were also lots of tears when Heather finally got to reconcile with her parents. As the night wore on, Heather and Yuri slipped away before the carousing was fully over. They could still hear the music in the background and Janey singing loudly after taking the microphone away from the singer. They heard everyone applauding loudly when her song had mercifully come to an end.
It was pitch dark as they walked back to their villa by the sea. When Yuri and Heather arrived, the veranda was lit up by hundreds of multi colored fairy lights, courtesy of Janey and Susan. Also on the veranda was a scattering of hibiscus petals of varying colors.
“This is beautiful,” Heather said. “Did you arrange these petals?”
“As much as I'd like to take the credit, I have a feeling this is the mastermind of one certain personal assistant of mine,” he said smiling.
Yuri picked Heather up; she let out a tiny squeal as he carried her inside. There were petals inside the front door as Yuri stepped in. The couple smiled when they saw that the petals seemed to continue in a swirling trail around the living room furniture and towards the bedroom at the back of the villa. The scent of the hibiscus flowers was subtle and welcoming. Inside the bedroom, the petals continued to the wooden floor around the bed and stopped there. The bed itself was also surrounded with tiny fairy lights around the ornate metal frame.
Heather looked at Yuri, who still held her. “That personal assistant of yours is good. I think you should keep her,” Heather laughed. The pinks and blues of the lights lighted their faces but otherwise, the room was in shadow.
Yuri carried Heather to the bed. They stood beside it. He kissed her deeply and she moaned softly in the warmth of the night. They had made love so many times before in the past but for Heather, everything about that night seemed new somehow, like a feeling of starting over.
She wrapped her arms around Yuri and pulled him closer to her for another deep, long kiss. She could already feel him, hard against her with the heat rising from him reciprocated by the growing heat between her legs.
He turned her away from him and eased the zipper of her dress down, taking the straps of the dress down off her shoulders so that her dress slipped effortlessly to the floor. She stepped out of it as he took her hands and led her to the bed and into a seated position. There he knelt on the floor. He placed his hands on either of her thighs and spread her legs apart, squeezing on the soft skin. He kissed the skin of her thighs.
Heather's head was tipped back now, her eyes closed as Yuri's tongue slid gently along the inside of one of her thighs and further still as Heather became increasingly wet. She lay back, running her hand over his hair and the back of his neck as Yuri worked a slow circling and flicking of his tongue over her clit. She could feel his warm breath on her lower tummy and felt the excitement rising in him as it was in her. She gripped his hair now and arched her back. He began to generate more heat in her as he sucked and licked, his tongue circling with a greater intensity but only just the right amount.
He placed a thumb at the either side of the entrance of her pussy and manipulated the wet, folding skin, until she was silently crying out for him to be inside her. His tongue had sent her to a height of stimulation now. She grabbed each side of his face and squeezed her legs together as she screamed out with the ecstasy of her orgasm.
“Get up,” she said to him.
He rose, tugging at the belt of his pants. She helped him drag them off and pulled him on top of her on the bed. His tongue sank into her mouth as his cock thrust deep inside her, her legs circling his waist, her pelvis tipped up as she bucked her hips up and down. His movements responded with hers, hard and fast until an explosion of pleasure overcame Yuri and he growled as he thrust deeper into her, having an orgasm, which ended just too soon for him.
It grew hotter in the room, their skin moist and fusing in the heat as their orgasms subsided and they lay tangled in each other's arms. They slept only briefly before making love again until they were at a point of extreme exhaustion.
The next morning, before Yuri and Heather woke up, the sun began to heat the room with warm rays. It began by lighting the foot of the bed and gradually creeping up over their naked bodies so they could almost feel it in their sleep. They lay side by side and as the warmth of the sun began to intensify, little by little, Yuri and Heather began to wake up.
They turned to each other and smiled, a knowing smile that needed no words to qualify what they had been through. From surviving all they had in their lives before they met, to overcoming the pasts they had hidden for so long, they were now both ready to take on new and wonderful experiences together.
Gently their lips touched in a soft kiss. They snuggled closer as their eyes closed again.