Alex practically ran with me across the reception to the elevator. As we waited for the lift, he stood behind me, one arm wrapped tightly around my waist. After only a short time of waiting he pressed the lift call button several times.
“Hey,” I said. “Calm down. What’s the rush?”
“I want to get you in the lift, and seriously attack you Ella.” He spoke huskily against my ear. “I can’t do it in front of everyone. It’ll be more than X-rated.”
I was about to respond, when the lift doors opened. Alex shuffled forward with me, both of his arms now wrapped tightly around my waist. Luckily, there was no-one in the lift as we stumbled into it. Alex reached behind him, hit the console and pressed the 'zero' button for the ground floor.
“Lift going down,” a posh voice announced over the speakers.
His lips crashed onto mine. His tongue urgently pushed into my mouth as he pressed his body against me, forcing me backward into a corner. His hands immediately went to my legs, lifting the bottom of my dress up as he purposely thrust his hips against me. I had a strong suspicion what he was insinuating with his actions, but it was too risky. We’d just been told to keep a low profile, and he was behaving as if he wanted a lot more than just a kiss in the lift. I wriggled against him, managing to break away from his demanding lips.
“Alex! Someone might stop the lift, get in on another floor,” I protested.
He sighed, backing away from me steadily. I watched his face, waiting for the look of pure need and desire to wash away from it. It did none of the sort. He slowly licked his lips, his eyes never leaving mine.
“I want you,” he practically growled. “I really, really want you.”
I whimpered at the demanding way he spoke, but shook my head.
“No. We can’t. It’s too risky.”
The lift stopped and the doors opened.
Alex leaned over me, shielding me in the corner whilst he had his back to the person who had got into the lift. As the doors pinged shut, he kissed me, not caring about there being anyone there.
When the lift stopped again the friendly voice announced we were on the ground floor. Alex grabbed my hand and spun around before pulling me with him into the foyer.
“Now,” he said. “Let’s get to that damn pub I was on about? I think we both have something to celebrate.”
The car that had collected me and Alex from his house was waiting for us outside the offices, and we quickly stumbled into the back of it. He placed his arm across the back of the seats, behind my head, and I nestled into his side.
“I know you’re going to like this place,” he said.
“What place? The pub?”
He nodded. “It’s not just any pub though. It’s a special one.”
“Why?”
“You’ll see.”
He didn’t say anything else, and I didn’t push for information, my head was already full, my mind running at a hundred miles an hour. It was all a bit of a blur. Alex had seemed certain of the result of the meeting before we arrived. Although I was positive he hadn’t expected Pierce to drop his bomb-shell about being the child of Amy’s aborted baby. He seemed to be coping with the news okay, but I was worried he may think back to it later.
I was still shell-shocked about what my future entailed. Everyone had been so supportive with their decision for me to star in Solarflare. I had to pinch myself yet again to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I was petrified of letting them down but I was confident that with Alex by my side, guiding me through everything, that I’d be okay—maybe I’d be more than okay.
I glanced out of the front window and realised we were heading away from London.
“Where is this pub?” I asked as I turned my scrutiny back to Alex.
“Just outside London.”
“So, you just pop there for a quick drink. Just outside of London?”
“No. I happen to know the landlord pretty well. He’s a good friend of mine. I occasionally stay there to escape city life.”
I frowned. “Do I know him at all?”
“I doubt it. But, I think you may have heard of him. He’s the man I bought my shares off the other year.”
I recalled the conversations from this afternoon. They mentioned that Alex had bought shares from the man who originally sided with Pierce.
“Ben?” I asked.
“That’s the man. He’s another person that I trust. There aren’t many of them, but he’s an absolute star.”
I failed to see how.
“Trust me, Ella. When we get there, I’ll explain everything, I promise.”
* * *
The car eventually parked outside the most beautiful and quaint pub I had ever seen. The building was whitewashed with a thatched roof, and a flurry of colourful roses climbed around the door. It was like a picture postcard of a traditional English pub. Who’d have thought that Alex would come to a place like this?
“Wait there a minute,” he said before climbing out of the car. He walked around the back of the car, and pulled something from the boot, before opening my door. He held out his spare hand for me to take.
“Come on, Ella.”
“When did you put that in?” I asked, seeing the familiar holdall in his other hand.
“This?” he said, holding the bag up.
I nodded.
“I asked Megan to ring Anthony and pick a few things up for us from mine. I hope you don’t mind.”
I frowned.
“Come on, please. Out you get. I’ve told you, I’ll explain everything.”
Alex wrapped his arm around me as he led me to the side of the building. I walked beside him, confused as to why we weren’t going through the main door of the pub. Was it because he was worried he’d be recognised? But then why did he say he came to stay out here?
“This way,” he said, pushing open a high gate connected to the side of the pub. As we walked through the gate, my confusion grew even more when Alex didn’t turn toward the main building. He guided me away from it, through the gardens, and along a track that meandered down a gentle slope.
“Alex, where are we going?” I asked as our journey continued.
“Not far now, Ella.”
I stopped when a sign stating, ‘PRIVATE PROPERTY – KEEP OUT,’ appeared before us.
“Alex,” I hissed, pointing to the sign.
“I know,” he replied. “But that’s not for us. Ben’s quite happy that I come down here.”
A high stone wall climbed in front of us, but Alex carried on, heading to another wooden gate. Lifting the latch on this gate, he eagerly pulled my hesitant body through the opening before shutting it again.
Another thatched building stood before us. This one was covered in even more roses, but was significantly smaller than the main building we had left behind. The walled garden made this area incredibly private, and all the trees and plants that surrounded it created the perfect camouflage.
I couldn’t help but gasp. “It’s beautiful,” I said.
“We’re staying here tonight,” Alex whispered, as he kissed my ear.
“What?”
“Ben and his wife finished decorating this cottage last year. They were going to rent it out to holiday-makers. When I saw it, I offered to pay them for the whole year. It’s the perfect get-away for me if city life gets too much to cope with.”
“But, you said we’re staying here?”
He nodded. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? You wait until you see what’s inside.”
I stumbled forward as he continued to the front door at a faster pace.
He pulled a key from the side pocket of the hold-all and unlocked the door.
“Let me just put the bag in the bedroom, and then we’ll wander down to the river.”
My eyes darted around the room that I’d stepped into. It was cosy and small. But the size of the cottage added to its charm. There were beams running across the ceiling, an open fireplace, and a huge sofa that practically filled the room. A vase of coloured roses sat in one of the tiny windows and was responsible for the sweet perfume that filled the air. Alex disappeared into a door at the far side of the room, but soon came out.
“You ready?” he asked.
I nodded.
He walked toward me, and pulled me into his arms as he kissed the top of my head.
“Come on, then. Let’s go and sit outside. I’ll attempt to explain things a bit better.”
He led me along a different path to the one that led to the front door, and we hadn’t; gone far when a river came into view. I squinted as the sun reflected a glint from something shiny. A few strides forward through some overhanging trees and our destination came into view. A wooden jetty stretched over the water, two chairs and a small table were on the side of the deck, and as we got nearer, I saw a silver bucket, the item that had caught the sun’s glare. The table had a white cloth over it and a huge vase of roses positioned in the centre. There also appeared to be what looked like two tall wine glasses.
Alex’s arm snaked around my waist as we stepped onto the deck.
“I asked Ben to do this, but I think he got carried away. I just asked for the champagne.” He guided me to one of the chairs. “I hoped we’d have something to celebrate. Luckily, we do.”
He stood behind my chair as I sat down.
“Ella, are you sure you’re okay. You’ve not said a word since we got here?”
“I’m fine,” I reassured him.
“Fine’s nowhere near good enough,” he joked as he sat down and pulled his chair next to mine. “You do realise what’s happened today. We managed to secure you as the actress to star in Solarflare with me. Amy’s pimp got thrown off the board. She’s not going to have anything to do with the promotion of Starshine. We never need to deal with her or Pierce again. It’s just us two.”
He reached for the champagne bottle, pulling it from the bucket of ice. He strained to open the bottle, eventually pushing the cork off, letting it fly out into the garden, lost forever in the foliage and plants. The fizzy liquid flowed out of the top of the bottle, spilling on the deck before Alex poured it into the glasses.
He handed me a glass of champagne, and continued explaining things, but I was hardly listening. My head was struggling to register anything. My brain was too full. I just wanted to stop and recharge.
“Ella? Are you sure you’re okay?” Alex asked.
I took a deep breath. “My head’s a mess. I’m not sure how much more I can take of today.”
Alex placed his glass down on the table before taking my hand. “Bring your glass with you,” he said. “Let’s go for a little walk.”
I nodded, letting him lead me along the jetty. When we got to the end of the wooden walk-way, he crouched down and sat on the edge of it, his feet hanging over the edge. I joined him, sitting closely, and he placed his arm around my shoulders.
“Ben’s done us proud,” he said before sipping his champagne.
“How do you know him?” I asked. “I thought he’d be number one enemy up there with Pierce. Didn’t he vote with Pierce to have you take the blame for the break up with Amy?”
Alex nodded. “Yes, he did. He didn’t have much of a choice, though. He was employed by Pierce at the time. Pierce gave him the money to buy the shares. You see, no-one can hold more than a forty per-cent share in the franchise. Pierce wanted more, so he gave one of his employees enough money to buy fifteen per-cent. That ensured that Pierce had a fifty-five per-cent share whenever decisions were made. If Ben had voted against him, then he would have been fired.”
I quickly did the maths. “But, don’t you hold sixty per-cent now you’ve bought Pierce’s?”
He leaned toward me and kissed my cheek. “No. Because I signed twenty per-cent over to you.”
“Me?”
“Well, I can’t hold sixty per-cent, can I? When I knew what was going on, that I was going to have to buy Pierce out, I instructed Megan to transfer ownership of my twenty per-cent to you. Between us, we’ll have the casting vote on any future decisions with the Starshine machine. It’s perfect.”
I frowned. “That still doesn’t explain how he became your best buddy.”
“Ahhh, no it doesn’t. Well, what happened was that I sort of pulled him to one side and had a word with him after one particularly shitty meeting. We argued, but I could see the regret in his expression over everything I was having to go through due to Pierce’s stupid plan.
“We took our discussion out of the building and to a local pub. He admitted everything. How Pierce was basically blackmailing him into making the same decision as him. How Pierce was making him give tip offs to the paparazzi about where I’d be. He’d just got married; first baby was on the way. He couldn’t lose his job. It would have been a disaster for him and Julia, his wife. I asked him to think hard about what he wanted, what had always been his dream. Apparently, he was a qualified chef that was stuck in an office job working for Pierce’s company. His dream was to escape with Julia to the country and run a pub restaurant.”
I nodded, seeing where this was all going.
“You helped him buy this place?”
“Not quite. I paid him enough for his shares to enable him to be able to buy this place. Well, maybe I paid a bit more. A sweetener, if you like, to help with everything else. Luckily, he’s made a huge success out of it all.”
I snuggled up to him, bowled over by his caring nature and his ability to find solutions to help people.
“He’s been a great friend ever since. He’s a great man, and his wife Julia is a star. Their baby daughter is beautiful as well. I’m her godfather. Maybe you can meet her tomorrow.”
“I’d like that,” I said. I was eager to meet them now that I’d heard the complete story.
“We need to make plans for going back to Sao Miguel. Well, if you want to,” Alex said.
“I’d love to.”
“Are you sure you’ll not get bored with me if we stay there for a full month?”
“I promise to only get bored with you, if you do with me.”
“We’ll be fine then.” He turned to kiss me, and his hand not holding his glass sneaked under the hem of my dress. I shivered, not from his touch, but from another chilly breeze.
“Are you cold?” he asked.
“Just a bit. I’m tired as well.”
“Let’s head back to the cottage then.”
He jumped to his feet, extending his hand out to help me up.
“Are you okay now?” he asked as we wandered slowly back to the cottage. “You seemed to have a bit of a mini-melt-down back there.”
“Yeah, I think so. I think I’m having trouble taking everything in. Your secret hideaways; all this dealing with people to get peace of mind. Then there’s Amy.”
“Amy’s a very sad and lonely woman.” He paused, stopping our walk back to the sanctity of the cottage. “I meant to ask you something. After what Pierce said earlier, it made me wonder. Am I crap in bed, is that why everything went wrong for me?”
“Seriously?”
His sombre face told me he was very serious.
“Oh, Alex. You are the most selfless lover I could ever imagine having. You give so much. You turn me on so easily. You are an amazing lover and you are definitely not crap in bed. And your tongue . . . If they could somehow market what you can do with your tongue, women would be clambering over themselves to buy one, maybe two.”
“Urghhhh! That would be gross.”
I chuckled at his reaction. “Believe me, it would be very popular. And how can you even think that you’re crap?”
“Well, it wasn’t just what he said. I mean, I still struggle to understand why Amy slept in the other room. Was that the reason?”
“I doubt it. It was probably because she was too exhausted from fucking Pierce.”
He nodded. “Yeah, well, that makes sense. She had so many other lovers as well though. Why?”
I shrugged. “Perhaps, they were her way of making her feel good about herself, boosting her confidence. Her way of repaying them for something.” I shivered with the thought. “How can she ever justify that sort of existence?”
Alex shook his head. “Let’s not worry about her.”
We walked for a little longer before the cottage came in to view.
As Alex unlocked the door, I slipped in front of him, mischief on my mind. I was determined to let him know he wasn’t a crap lover.
“I seriously need a soak in the bath and a massage,” I said, rubbing the side of my neck. “Know anyone who can assist?”
He nudged my hand away from my neck before kissing the exposed skin.
“Your wish is my command.”