Silly Games - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The trip back to London...again, was slow. Laura had opted for the train as the roads on a Friday, but once she arrived at Paddington she’d had to endure the tube and bus to get to her parents. These repeated trips were getting expensive; she couldn’t waste her money on a taxi.

Her mother was flustered when she opened the door, dressed elegantly in an off white dress that flowed from her body.  She was flawless, but there were lines of tensions that marked her face in places that had been unadorned the previous week.  Their hug was longer than normal and Laura felt she needed that moment with her mother more than any other time in her life. They both did.

                “You ok?”

Her mother nodded, “I’ve had a caterer in since lunchtime, your father is coming home for seven with...”

Laura nodded, neither knowing how to refer to the man who was suddenly part of their lives from nowhere. “So I’ll go get changed...is he staying here?”

                “No, apparently he is staying in a place in Fulham, I don’t know if it’s a hotel or apartment.”

Her mother seemed less nervous as she sat on Laura’s bed in her childhood room and watched her daughter tidy her hair and apply some make up. She described animatedly the meeting earlier in the week where she’d met the man, Laura didn’t even know his name, and that he seemed genuinely nice. Laura knew she’d be sceptical, she’d not been interested in finding her birth parents, she had all she needed here, but she couldn’t help but wonder if her father’s status and wealth had been an influence in all this. Would this mystery son have contacted Stafford Marshall if he had been unemployed or even a less senior worker? No, she had a sneaky suspicion that her father being CEO of one of the biggest manufacturing conglomerates in Europe made him a very attractive Daddy figure.

A small voice warned her that things were never that simple, and that not everyone had the same happy and comfortable life as she had, maybe this man had had a hard life, felt unloved.

She shook her head, no, she couldn’t believe that. He was older than her, presumably in his thirties, that wasn’t the age for a man looking for a father figure, a stable male influence or someone to love.

Male voices in the hallway alerted her to the fact that they’d arrived. Suddenly there was a pulsing in her throat; Laura found it difficult to swallow. She hoped he’d be some geek, lacking the social skills her education had given her, or the natural charm that people always talked about. She wanted to shine in this stranger’s presence just so that her parents’ appreciated her, valued her.  When had she become so self conscious?

Maggie Marshall clapped her hands trying to look enthusiastic, but the chinks in her armour were there for all to see, they were having dinner, at home, a quiet evening, but this stranger had precipitated caterers and dinner attire. Her mother had never gone to theses lengths for parties they’d hosted for more than fifty people. This nervousness in her mother scared her, it hinted at a weakness in a marriage she’d almost mocked for being so stable. Everything she knew hung by a balance, all because of the emergence of one man.

                “Whisky, beer or wine?”

Laura could hear her father in the lounge and had heart raced. Her mother reached out and took her hand, and suddenly appearing as a united front meant everything.

Her father was at the bar that took up one corner of the huge lounge, his head stooped as he poured whisky into two glasses, adding a couple of cubes of ice. Hearing them approach his head snapped up and he smiled at the two women.

For Laura she saw a transformation from the stunned and broken man of the previous weekend, and she didn’t realise until that moment how much she was dreading seeing him like that again. Her father was the strongest man she knew and the broken version and caused her real pain. Instead today he looked healthy, happy and there was pride in his eyes as he smiled at them.

                “Girls! There you are!” He rushed over and gave her mother a quick kiss, then pulled Laura into his arms for a lengthy hug. It was just what she needed and she smiled at him as he released her. “This is my son Laura, Adam, Adam this is Laura, my daughter!”

Laura turned slowly to the right in the direction her father had gestured to see a man leaning casually against the door frame, he was tall, dark and very handsome, but had an intolerance of dogs that irked her more than a lot of things, she knew that because she’d seen him before.

As he walked towards her she tried to process that information and took the hand he offered for a firm shake then murmured a subtle “pleased to meet you” in an American accent that Laura was unable to place more specifically.

Adam had watched her float into the room serenely, with the equally beautiful Maggie, and wondered desperately how the next few hours would pass. He’d intended to observe her from a distance when he visited her Welsh home the previous week, but she had seen him, that damn dog! She was studying him intently, but as her eyes met his and she shook his hand, he saw recognition then confusion. She had remembered him, his face had triggered a memory and she was trying to place his face into her life, working out how their paths had crossed. He could almost tell the moment when she did work it out, did know that he was the man from the beach. He braced himself for her wrath, for anger or recrimination. But there was none, she merely smiled, then retracted her hand. The one thing she hadn’t done was ‘out’ him straight away. He respected her for that.

He turned to the magnanimous Maggie. He’d never met a woman like her before and it pleased him that his father had created such a stable loving home and such a solid marriage. He had already guessed at how well rounded Laura was, and that was due to this great couple.

                “Maggie, you look divine as always!”

Laura watched her mother blush and felt a twinge of anger, this man had been outside her home just the other day. Why? For what purpose? It didn’t make any sense. Now he was flirting with her mother. Instantly she had a great fear that he was about to destroy everything that was close to her...her parents. Over her dead body. As they all sipped drinks genially, she stole sly looks at this Adam, and started to plan how she’d stop his intentions at every turn. She’d never been overdramatic, but all she saw at the moment was him spying on her, infiltrating her life, then flirting obscenely with her mother. That to her spelt danger, and she had no intention of letting him rip this family apart.  She’d already doubted his intentions at contacting her family thinking her father’s wealth may have been a large incentive. Now she had the fear that he was after some sort of revenge, and she had no idea what that intended or how far this man would go.

She managed to observe the group without really getting involved; her mind was far too active for small talk. But as her mother led Adam through to the dining room, her father came to stand beside her.

                “You’ll like him Laura, just give him a chance, get to know him!”

Laura raised her eyebrows, “really? Have you checked he’s definitely your son? I mean DNA and all that? He could quite easily be an imposter, a con artist!”

She hated how childish she sounded, but she really was concerned that this man was not all that he seemed, her logic could only come to that conclusion and she was the only one actually thinking it all through! Her parents usually so suspicious had been duped. Instead of concern her father laughed.

                “I thought you’d outgrown the jealous child thing!”

Laura fought her anger at those words, she was being forced to accept a stranger as family, this wasn’t her being paranoid of childish, this was her being realistic, instead she rolled her eyes, “as if! He’s come from nowhere and you’re just accepting all he’s saying?”

Stafford Marshall nodded, “yes, frankly. Because he is what he says he is darling. You’ll see!”

With that he left her to enter the dining room. Laura needed a moment to compose herself, this was her idea of purgatory, she was unable to hide her anger and disgust at this man, the man her parents wanted to open her arms to. A week ago no one even knew he existed, now she was supposed to welcome him and like him as though she’d known him all her life. She wasn’t naturally suspicious, but she was ill at ease with the whole situation.

The huge dining table sat twelve, but there were only four places laid tonight, her parents sat next to each other at the centre of the table, and Adam sat opposite her father, it left the only place next to him, facing her mother.  She tried in vain not to appear like a skulking child, but she wasn’t happy and was unable to hide that fact. As she sat in the seat left for her she made a valiant attempt to hide her scowl, but as soon as Adam turned to her and grinned at her discomfort, she dropped the charade and let her face contort with the anger she felt.

He chuckled then turned back to her father.

                “So golf is at twelve tomorrow? I am so looking forward to meeting your golf buddies!”

Her father beamed, “we’ll play fours with my good friend and his son, you’ll love it!”

                “I’m just glad I came here in the summer, I think it’d be a different kind of trip if I was here in December!”

Her mother laughed that little tinkle that Laura usually loved. But now it was all a sign that he was winning them over.

                “Do you normally come to the UK much?” Maggie watched him intently as he chewed some bread that accompanied the scallops being served as a starter.

                “There’s a company apartment in Fulham, I come over occasionally. Generally when I’m not at work I descend on the beach. I live real close to the coast, have you ever been to California Maggie?”

Her mother nodded, “I spent a couple of summers there when I started to model in my late teens, and didn’t we take Laura to Los Angeles when she was what five Staff?”

Her father nodded, “we sure did, I was there on business but we managed to skip our little Princess down to Disney, didn’t we?”

Laura met his eyes and shook her head pitifully, he’d never called her a little Princess before, but then it seemed that the arrival of this man had set off bizarre behaviour in both her parents.  Despite that the food was good, and as conversations about golf courses in Britain compared to the US, morphed into her mother’s early modelling career and Adam’s education, Laura devoured her three course meal.

                “So what about you?” a voice to her left caused her to pause from her raspberry pavlova and glance at Adam. She had no idea what the conversation was about, she was more concerned with getting out of the room as soon as she could.

She looked at Adam and he was smiling at her, overly confident, he knew she wasn’t listening. “What about me?” She snapped defensively, and that was rewarded with a chuckle from this annoying man.

                “Work! I asked what you do.”

She sighed, “I have my own business, and I help my friend run his business.” It was the vague answer she gave to everyone, and her parents had never questioned further. But as Adam kept his eyes on her, she knew that he wouldn’t settle for vague. So before he could ask anything else, force her to expand, she smiled at him, “but I’m no jet setting golfer, I don’t really matter.” Smiling at her father she asked, “who are you golfing with tomorrow?”

Stafford beamed and started to answer her and Adam slumped back in his seat, she was good, very good. Playing her parents like this. He was trying to force her to admit she’d met him, push her to see how far he could, but she wasn’t having any of it. He had struggled to work out where the daughter of a multimillion pound business man became a hobo like her. Yes her dog business seemed busy, she paid her bills, but one call to Daddy would probably eliminate the need for any work. Then there was her education, her college grades had been tantamount to perfect, she’d aced every paper. He’d seen that evidence in black and white. Yet there she was living as she did, never challenging that intelligent mind.

Adam glanced at her again, there was a smugness to her that he found unsettling, he wasn’t used to getting played at his own game, but that was exactly what she was doing. He knew nothing more about her now than when he’d walked into the apartment a couple of hours earlier, that he already knew a lot about her was incidental, there was only so much a search or PI could dig up in her, he knew nothing about the person outside that. And it irked him.

Her mother left to get the coffee, and in typical chivalrous fashion her father accompanied her, he always carried the coffee tray, and it left the two alone for the first time.

                “So why didn’t you tell them?”

When Laura looked at him he was lounging back in his chair studying her intently. His eyes were expressive as he studied her, she’d thought him good looking back on the beach where he’d been sat bare-chested. And what a chest that had been. It had detracted from his face, but now he was close, she could see him in the bright lights of the dining room.  He’d looked a little too well groomed to be one of the beach bums that hung out at the cafe, she’d known that instantly, but other than that she’d not thought much about him. Here in an expensive suit, his dark hair well groomed, his chiselled jaw clean shaven he was a million miles from the man she’d first seen. But what had been a mild interest in a new handsome face, was now fear, anger and animosity for a man who threatened her family.

                “Why haven’t I told my parents that you were stalking me last week? Because Adam, if that’s even your name, I’ve got your number, and there are some things that I feel will work in my favour when I out you for the fraud you are!” She stood, and stared down at him. “If there’s one thing I am, it’s patient. I have every belief that you are nothing but damaging to my family, and I will fight that with every ounce of my body. So be prepared ‘brother’ dearest...be prepared!”

Then she turned and left the room.

Silly Games - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

By the time her mother called that evening, Laura had had a lot of time to think about her predicament. She’d spent the afternoon teaching the local life guard club some basic surf techniques, and she loved time with the kids. This group were all between eight and ten and throughout the summer they came to the beach every weekend morning for two hours to work on various components of their life guard skills. They were enthusiastic and well behaved. It was a pleasure teaching them.

Laura had realised during the afternoon that Alana was right, her parents had loved her last weekend, the emergence of some ‘brother’ didn’t change that. It couldn’t. So after a shower, she was about to call her mother when, for the second time in a weekend, her phone rang and it was her mother, beating her to it.

                “Hey darling, how are you?”

Laura sighed, her mother sounded terrified, and it was only at that moment that she took into account her mother’s insecurities. She couldn’t have children and how much of a stark reminder must this new child be? She’d always been told that her mother was the parent desperate for a child, her father wasn’t that bothered, but now she couldn’t begin to imagine the insecurities and pain that must be immense, she should be supporting her, not stropping like a petulant teenager.  

                “I’m good Mum, busy but good. How are you?”

She heard the whimper in her voice but she also knew that Maggie Marshall was the least likely person to break down in front of her daughter, calling her for help when Stafford had disappeared would’ve taken every ounce of her self-respect.

                “I’m good...”

Laura smiled, “Mum, you are allowed to be upset, stressed...I don’t know. It’s taken me a while to not hate this ‘brother’ of mine, and I’ve not even met him...”

She was rewarded by a chuckle, “your father is so...confused. He is excited, disappointed, and then he thinks of me and then he tries to pretend it’s not happening.”

                “Well if we find it hard, then how the hell must he feel. Are you cool with it though, really?”

There was a pregnant pause and Laura could tell her mother was desperately trying to find the right words. “I just want your father, and you of course, to be good, happy, that’s all I care about.”

                “So has Dad met him yet?”

               “Yes, today. He wants me to meet him tomorrow, and I know he wants you to meet him, he wants to do stuff next weekend, can you make it?”

Groaning Laura faced the realisation that she no longer had her own life. She’d not been home for months, now next weekend was looking like being the third consecutive weekend that she’d gone to London, and whilst she wanted to refuse to absorb herself with her own life, this was a large headache that wasn’t going away. And her mother needed her, she’d never before, her life had been easy until now, relatively, she owed her parents for that. So she smiled sweetly and made her mother promise to call with the details later in the week.

In denial until she had to face the reality, Laura devoted herself to her dogs.

The day before she was due home for a ‘family’ dinner was the return of Dan Martin to the area. Laura had found reliving their kiss a welcome relief from the trauma of her life at the moment. It had been special and the two weeks would have dragged by had it not been for the drama of her family. Michaela was excited, she liked going out with Laura, and it seemed that Paul from the Sheep’s Head was meeting them at the Pilot. He was working until nine, but had promised to meet them there.

This pub was in walking distance of her home, and so she planned to leave and walk along the seafront, Michaela lived the other side of the town a few blocks away from the beach. But as Laura was walking out the door she heard Alana call to her.

                “We’re going to try and come to the show later, will you keep us seats?”

Laura groaned a confirmation then left, knowing that Ben and Alana were only interested in seeing her squirm, prior to Michaela blabbing about her snog with Dan they’d have found something else to do. Instead she had more witnesses to her torment!

Michaela was almost floating with anticipation of seeing Paul, and the five minute walk to the pub was littered with an in depth description of their two dates since the gig they’d met at, but again to Laura it was all a distraction from seeing Dan again, and of course the coming weekend with her family.

The pub was packed, and unlike the last gig this wasn’t a stage in the corner of the lounge, they had a marquee attached to the building with a permanent stage erected, there was live music most evenings, and the benefit was they could gather anywhere in the huge beer garden and watch from a bench or the floor, or standing. For Laura as far from the stage was the most important thing, she was feeling a little self conscious partly because it had been a while since she’d last seen Dan, and it had all been left hanging in the air, but also because for a moment she was questioning her identity. She didn’t really feel she belonged anywhere at the moment and it really was wrong footing her.

Dan’s set was far more lively than the one he’d performed in the Sheep’s Head a few weeks earlier, and it was appropriate, the crowd was louder, younger and probably harder to please, so he sang newer numbers, Oasis, Elbow and the Arctic Monkey. Whilst Laura loved this genre of music, she still thought she rathered the other set, the one that appealed to all ages, maybe that was the legacy of her father. He always had music on, she was as familiar with the Beatles as she was Dire Straits or Eric Clapton, and the variety of Dan’s ‘other’ show was perfect in her eyes.

Still this version had people up dancing, the crowd singing, and most importantly girls swooning. Sometime well into the set Ben and Alana had arrived, holding hands and being all dreamy eyed. Either they had stopped en route to the pub for a quickie, or he’d taken Laura’s advice seriously and was starting to show Alana how he felt.

Alana leaned into her as Dan was straining over a Foo Fighters song and whispered, “I forgot just how hot he was!”

Laura had no control over the blush that caused, “he’s ok!” She whispered back, but her eyes didn’t leave the stage. Every now and again his eyes scanned the crowd, and those snatches of intimacy were all she had to hang on to until the show ended.

During the encore Ben emerged from the bar with a full round of drinks, Laura tried to ignore the feeling of being a gooseberry, Paul was also there by then and he and Michaela were equally struggling to keep their hands off each other.

                “Is it the sun or something that’s making everyone around here horny?” Laura snapped knowing that she may create awkward feeling, especially in the fledgling relationship of Michaela, but she was feeling a little swamped by it all.

Ben giggled immediately diffusing the moment with his comment of, “spot the girl who ain’t getting it! Chill out vixen, your turn may be coming!”

Huffing and rolling her eyes Laura stormed off leaving them alone, knowing that her anxiety was building like the crescendo of the show. She was out the front of the pub drinking her beer when she heard the music end. But instead of seeking out Daniel, she kicked off her shoes and jumped down the banking that took her onto the cool sand. Walking a little way towards the sea, she dropped down to the sand, uncaring of the effects it would have on her white jeans. There she took a slug of beer and watched the moonlit waves breaking on the horizon. She’d surf in the morning, it was her turn, and her only chance before returning to the big smoke and the hell that entailed the following evening.

She’d been there ten minutes of more when she felt rather than heard feet on the sand behind her. She refused to look up; figuring if it wasn’t someone she knew that split second of warning would give her little chance to defend herself. Laura was justly rewarded with a warm “hello”, and a body lowering itself beside her.

                “You ok?”

She looked up to see Dan’s face watching her, illuminated in the bright moonlight, “fine, was just outnumbered by couples back there!”

                “Needed some ‘me’ time?” he smiled as he asked her.

She laughed, “like you wouldn’t believe!”

                                 

                “It’s busy here tonight!” He murmured before lifting a bottle of beer to his lips.

Laura nodded, “it’s busier than usual for this time of year, and to be honest you’re quite the name around these parts!”

He laughed, and she felt he was genuinely flattered.

With that, his hand cupped her cheek and directed her lips to his, and for Laura she was lost in a haze of lust and passion. Within seconds she was lying back on the sand, him almost on top of her, their lips and tongues clashing like an exciting sword fight, for every parry, there was a riposte, as the control swung between them. It was full of passion, aggression, dominance. What the kiss lacked in romance, it had in red hot desire.

                “Wow!” he murmured against her lips, “you’re amazing, so...hot!”

It was a corny line and she should have felt embarrassed, but she wasn’t, she was too fired up for that. She took a few steadying breaths, really concerned that she’d end up naked and indecently behaving on the beach, she may be getting carried away, but she was neither a stupid teenager or voyeuristic. There were some things that were definitely private. Plus she’d only spent fifteen minutes with him two weeks earlier, she wasn’t cheap or easy, even though she wanted no long term commitment, she insisted on respect, and a quick shag on the sand may be the name of a tropical cocktail, but it wasn’t a benchmark that she lived by.

                “So are you!” she reciprocated the smile.

He rolled to lay beside her, propped on his elbow, the fingers on his free hand twirling a blonde curl that rested on her shoulder, “and you’re beautiful especially in this light.”

She laughed, wondering if he realised how dark it was, “I’m sure that’s meant as a compliment...”

It was his turn to laugh, “maybe I should stick to singing, I don’t tend to fuck up then!”

With a smile she craned her neck to kiss him again and he groaned before devouring her again.

His hands were surprisingly soft as they snuck under her t-shirt, caressing her waist and ribs, and her skin tingled as he touched her. Her moans were only encouraging him as his lips descended to her throat. 

A car door slammed in the distance and Laura bolted upright, pulling her t-shirt back over her body and straightening her hair. This was all a little too quick, and she needed a little space, a little free thought.

Dan looked like he’d been slapped, his face was contorted and he was fighting obvious anger.

                “Timing hey?” she offered limply.

He took a few steadying breaths, “you could say that.”

She was relieved to see him calm down a little, “sorry!”

Smiling he took her hand, “no you’re right, this is a little reckless...and illegal!”

                “Imagine THAT headline!” she grinned. “Are you staying locally?”

She wasn’t fishing to ‘go back to his’, but she did wonder on how his life worked.

He shook his head, “I’ve got to go back to the Midlands, have some work stuff on tomorrow.” He pulled himself to his feet, then offered her a hand, helping her up. “What was that about timing?”

They walked back up the sand to the paved walkway that flanked the beach, the lights of the bars and restaurants gave a healthy back drop to their goodbye.

                “So I’ll see you again?” she half asked as he took her hands and pulled her to look at him. He’d not given her a telephone number before, and she wasn’t going to ask again.

                “Two weeks, back here on a Friday, and then I’m opening the West Beach Festival! So we’ll have plenty of chance to see each other.”

After a chaste kiss Laura watched him head towards his car that was already loaded with his guitar and gear, then he drove off leaving her no better off than at the start of the evening.

Silly Games - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

All Ben could hear when he entered the apartment after closing the cafe was banging, or was it clunking? Following the sound, he froze when at the kitchen door. Laura, who he didn’t realise had returned home, was tossing cutlery over her shoulder grunting with anger as each piece flew over her shoulder.

                “Laura? What the hell?”

She didn’t even look over her shoulder, and Ben suddenly realised this was bad, and he silently cursed the fact that Alana had gone out for the evening. He was useless at things like this. Mentally he tried to remember all that she’d said the previous night. All he knew was her mother had begged her to come home, the fact that had never happened before had sparked warnings, and now she was wrecking the house.

                “LAURA!” He still didn’t have her attention.

He turned to him with a snarl, “EVERY bottle of wine these days has a screw top! The second I NEED a glass and it’s a bloody cork...and quelle surprise I can’t find the bottle opener anywhere! I am about to explode!”

Ben hid his laughter, instead reaching for her shoulders and forced her to the table and into a seat. The bottle of Spanish red sat in front of her, the firmly wedged cork a constant taunt, reminding her that as yet she’d failed to break into it.

                “Ben...” Her voice carried such a warning that again he hid his laughter; instead, he turned to the work surface and retrieved the corkscrew from a pot of utensils.

                “If you look in the right place...” he took the bottle and expertly opened it with a rewarding ‘pop’, then you find it with ease!”

She growled as she snatched the glass he’d filled and gulped at it, hoping for a hit that would take the pain and confusion from her brain.

Ben opened a bottle of beer and sat opposite her, “what’s up L?”

She sipped at the wine, a little more delicately this time, then shook her head, how did you verbalise all that was going on? She didn’t know how she felt, where there had been simple boundaries and obvious relationships, there was now a purple haze, blurring all the margins.

Her simple shrug would have been enough to satisfy most, and Ben usually would have given up, instead he sat there patiently waiting.

Where do you start? Everything she knew was wrong. She’d sat with her parents for a little while the previous night, but she knew they also needed to deal with things themselves, as a couple. It was always at times like this that she wished she had a brother or a sister, and ironically now she did. But she had no idea how that made her feel. She’d barely slept, tossing and turning, confusion replacing the serenity of sleep. When she woke early she found her parents still trying to talk. She wasn’t sure they’d been to bed...she’d forced breakfast down her throat, then left as soon as she could, needing the safety of her own world.

But the traffic had been horrendous, the world and his wife seemed to want to spend a sunny Saturday at the beach. So she sat fuming in the heat and stationary traffic wanting only to be home. Then it had been too hot and too early to turn to drink, but the surf was flat. So she’d walked and walked, maybe three hours, along the coastal path, her feet eating up the miles without any awareness or fatigue. Her mind rolled in circles and she couldn’t find any answers.

On her way back to the cafe, she’d picked up a bottle of her favourite red and was holding out hope that she got some respite from drinking it. ‘You shouldn’t drink for a reason, it’s a social pleasure’ or so Miss Timpson her house teacher had preached in school, but she intended to ignore that warning. That was until she couldn’t get into the bottle.

When she looked up, Ben was still smiling at her.

                “I’ve apparently got a brother!” When his mouth fell open in shock she added, “And I had to hear about my father’s sex life before he met my mother to boot...some things should never be said to a daughter.”

Ben slumped back in his seat, “well that was the last thing I expected to hear.”

She laughed dryly, “ditto. But there it is.”

Laura told him of the few details she knew, before she bolted. And then slumped opposite him in silence. He was as stunned as she was, “its wild mate, really wild. What you going to do?”

She shrugged, “I rarely see my folks, does it have to change anything?”

Ben was contemplative as he took another slug of his beer, then he half smiled, “I’d agree if you didn’t give a shit, but you are absolutely floored by this revelation. So pretending you don’t care won’t get you very far!”

She almost snarled at him indignantly, “I’m not ‘floored’ by it.” But she knew the denial was weak to her own ears, then with a deep sigh, she was reduced to whimpering into a hankie.

Ben scooted around the table and put an arm around her shoulder, “I wish Alana was here, she’d be good at knowing what to say...I’m way out of my depth.”

Laura looked up and gave him a watery smile, “You’re doing a grand job Ben, better than you think.”

The conversation was rapid and diverse as they both settled into a sort of symbiosis, as they sat and drank. Initially they dropped the topic of her family, talking about the weather, the plans for the summer, the weather was predicted to be warm, not an obvious given in that part of the world, and the diary was getting fuller. They were already fully booked for the start of July, only a few weeks away, and that wasn’t the start of the holiday season.

                “I’m so glad you’re able to help out Laura, I’d never find someone as flexible and talented as you!”

She laughed, “the flip side is I live in your home!”

He grinned, “there aren’t many I’d allow to do that!”

                “Other than Alana...of course. She does qualify as the only woman you’ve dated more than ten times!”

Suddenly, and quite surprisingly, some of Ben’s insecurities snuck out, and Laura was amazed to hear his anxieties over Alana, he had this ingrained fear that he wasn’t good enough for her, yet she followed him across half the globe to live with him in this often cold and wet environment. He didn’t seem to realise that that was a testimony of her love for him, more he saw it that she had somewhere far better to return to when...not if things turned out.

                “Why don’t you marry her then?” Laura pushed him a little, knowing that Alana wanted that more than anything. “If she says no then at least you know where you stand. Otherwise you live in this place where you don’t know how she feels. Force the situation.”

He looked at her his eyes filled with emotions she could barely describe, “what if she leaves?”

They’d exhausted wine and beer supplies and were now reduced to shots of neat gin left over from a recent attempt to be sophisticated, and for both Ben and Laura drinking gin had seemed to epitomise that. Now they merely glugged shots grimacing after each one.

Giving a shudder as the overwhelming taste hit her taste buds, she took a second to regain what left of her composure, “Ben, it is better to know, and to move on, that to live your life in limbo, isn’t it?”

He shrugged, “does that mean you’re going to go meet your new family member next weekend?”

Laura groaned, he’d caught her out there, “no. That’s different. I don’t care about him, you care about Alana.”

                “But this is your family...”

Laura felt the tears she’d fought all day threaten to cascade down her cheeks, “but it isn’t is it? He’s blood to my father, I’m not.”

Ben shrugged, “as if that matters to anyone, your parents are devoted to you! Your father has been trying to bribe you to get involved with his business for years, because he wants you, his daughter, to take it all on.”

                “That’s before he knew he had a biological child Ben. He loves my mother, he licked her when he could have had anyone else in the world, but not me. I was all that he could get when it came to children. What if he doesn’t love me anymore?”

Ben looked at her with his jaw hanging open, and Laura would have laughed if she hadn’t suddenly realised why she felt so bad. This was her real fear, this is what she’d been hiding from all day, this is the bad place sleep was taking her all last night. Without the family she’d pushed away all evening, without her father, her mother, she was nothing. She’s snubbed any attempt to find her birth parents, and they’d never tried to find her, as far as she was concerned her family were Stafford and Maggie Marshall. But now what did all this mean? And who was she? Nothing was simple anymore.

The pain of her life was only trebled by the addition of the hangover from hell. Sunday morning and she was stuck with a five am start watching the world, or so it seemed. Everyone was surfing, the early morning sun providing a stunning back drop for the waves. And the cafe was busy, which meant that she didn’t have time to nurse her head pain.

By nine am most of the patrons had headed home to sleep or get breakfast, and the tide had turned and was revealing miles of fresh sand as it withdrew. Alana had looked amazing on her board earlier, Laura would love to be half as good as her, she’d given up the opportunity of trying to compete on the amateur circuit in Hawaii to follow Ben to Wales. But she could easily compete, in fact she’d entered the inaugural Surf Competition that was to be  a huge part of the First West Beach Summer Festival. It was looking like being their busiest weekend to date...as long as the weather lived up to the billing.

Posters for the event adorned every wall of every building up and down the coast, and as usual it was the topic of many conversations that morning.

                “So I hear you have a new family member?” Alana offered grabbing a mug and filling it with coffee before sliding into a seat opposite Laura. A huge plate of toast sat between them, and Ben turned his chair back to front before joining them.

                “Sorry Laura, she wanted to know why I was so pissed when she came home last night.”

Laura smiled, she was a safer topic that his concerns over Alana, and it wasn’t a subject she would keep a secret. “I was going to tell Alana anyway, don’t worry!” She filled the other woman in briefly, and then added her more recent concerns that she felt threatened.

                “In the cold light of day it does sound a little more stupid!”

Alana smiled, “not stupid Laura, I think it must be hell as an only child to suddenly be usurped by an older sibling.”

                “Especially when your father has been more than a little disproving of your life.” Ben added.

Nodding, Laura reached for a piece of toast, “and then there’s the fact that I’m not really his daughter...”

Alana immediately laid a hand over hers and responded quickly, “your father doesn’t think less of you because you’re not biologically his child! Since you came into his life he and your mother have loved you. And that won’t change now. He has no link or connection to this man, and it’ll take time for that to develop, and it definitely won’t be at the expense of his love for you. Just remember that.”

Laura wanted to believe that so badly, her father had always been devoted to her, spoiling her repeatedly. But she also knew that a huge part of her running away, leaving her family so quickly after the revelation was purely self protection. She needed the cocoon of her friends and her life away from London. 

Silly Games - 6

Chapter 6

 

                “Buster! You really are a menace! Come on!” Clipping his lead to the collar around his neck, Laura dragged the large Boxer away from the stream and after the five other dogs who meandered around her in a far more leisurely manner. “Right guys, call ALL of you behave?” She looked between the faces of the six animals and laughed at their expressions of confusion. “Ok! You win! We’ll all have a splash in the sea, ok?” Leading them down onto the sand, she kicked off her flip-flops and started to run for the sea.

All six loved a dip, and as soon as they realised that Laura was racing for the water’s edge, they all broke into various speed sprints as they beat her to it. As she ran in to the water, up as deep as her knees, she laughed at Marco, a tall standard poodle; he loved the idea of the sea, but hated the cold water and was backpedalling as soon as his claws touched the sea. Buster was still lolloping behind, since she’d been walking both him and Chardonnay, the overweight Golden Retriever had started to lose weight. They were never going to be as fast as Diego, the greyhound, but then running was his thing, or had been. He’d been rescued when a foot injury and meant he could no longer race for his owner, prior to the rescue Diego Goes! had been a Champion of the short sprint distances at many a dog track.

She laughed as Diego bounded past Peachy and Ozzie the two mongrels, they were both so nervous of the waves, but not so nervous that they didn’t try to follow the others. Laura kicked at the surf splashing the animals and they all bounded around her yapping. Chuckling she jogged through the water, following the coastline, splashing Marco who trailed them from the shore.

                “Come on Marco!” She bent down and patted her knees trying to entice the animal to join them, but he was too scared. After a few minutes she led the dogs back to the beach, dropping down to sit on the hard packed sand. The dogs, after shaking themselves all settled beside her, stretching out in the warm June sunshine.

Once her legs were dry, she stood and the dogs all uncurled themselves and made for the car.

Adam was sat a little further the sand watching the woman enjoy herself immensely, and it was intoxicating, he almost felt like a voyeur. He knew she was brought up in London, but as she cavorted carefree in the surf, he could see that she loved where she was, and she was so happy in her own skin. That was such a reflection on a happy childhood. He was so tempted to walk over to her, to be a part of her excitement, but he couldn’t do that. He’d meet her soon enough, but now wasn’t the time.

He was due in London, the shit was about to hit the fan and he needed desperately to be there when that happened. There’d be time to deal with Miss Marshall later, and he would deal with her. It was part of the plan; it was really inevitable that their paths would cross again.

His daydreaming and longing meant he’d not processed fully the scene in front of him, he’d wandered onto the beach to catch a few waves, but within moments the surf flattened, so now he was sat half out of his wetsuit, next to his board eating a sandwich...and it was that sandwich that had attracted one of her many mutts.  A poodle of all things was bounding in his direction with a hungry look on its face. Behind it came ‘her’, Laura, her long blonde hair flapping behind her as she ran, her long bare legs under ridiculously short denim shorts were athletic and expert over the uneven sand.

                “Marco! NO! Marco! STOP NOW!” Something she said worked because the animal that would tower over Adam’s seated form skidded to a comedic halt just a few metres from him. Adam’s heart was pounding, from the surprise of the attack he told himself and nothing to do with the breathless, flushed woman running towards him at a rate of knots.

                “I’m so sorry!” she breathed swatting at the dog playfully, “he’s normally so good...are you ok?”

Adam nodded, muttering “I’m fine”, then climbed to his feet. With his board under his arm he left the beach.

Rude bastard! She thought, as she watched the man disappear along the sand, and scratched Marco’s ear.

                “I know it was an accident sweetheart, ignore the horrible man. Ok?”

The six dogs were all excited after the run to catch Marco, so it took her a little time to get them back to her van, all the time she was emanating hatred for the unforgiving man on the beach. There had been a split second when she’d realised that there was a tall, tanned and muscular stranger on her beach and a large part of her pricked up in interest, but his poor tolerance of Marco - he was a bloody poodle for god’s sake, had quashed that. Sorry, but Dan Martin was STILL the only MOI (Man of Interest) around. And he was away for another ten days.

Laura had a few mornings of great surf that week, and by the time Friday rolled around, she had almost forgotten her trip to London. Mid June and the diary was picking up, there were quite a few lessons booked for the coming few days, they’d be flat out, what with the cafe and shop too.

She’d gone to bed early, the tide was going to be perfect at six the following day, and she was planning to get out in time for it. It was Alana’s turn to open up the cafe.

She had barely fallen asleep when she was woken by Ben calling her. Climbing sleepily out of her bed when she realised he wasn’t going away, she lumbered into the lounge. Alana was stretched out on the sofa, her bare feet resting on Ben’s lap, his free hand massaging them tenderly, his other hand holding out the phone to her.

                “It’s your mother!”

Her father had taken to emailing her, her mother never phoned her, this was unchartered territory.  Taking the handset she smiled a thank you then headed into the kitchen.

                “Mum? What’s up?”

She reached into the fridge for the carton of orange juice and was pouring a glass when her mother answered.

                “Laura? Oh thank god I found you!”

The desperation in her mother’s voice made her panic, “what’s wrong Mum? Is Dad ok? Are you ok?” Suddenly there was a pulsing in her ears that made it difficult to hear.

                “We’re all well darling, honestly, it’s just...well I need you to come home. Now.”

                “What? I was only there last week and it’s ten o’clock on a Friday night! I’m a three hour drive away. What’s happened?”

Her mother hushed to a whisper, “I can’t tell you on the phone, but I need you here, you NEED to be here. As soon as you can.”

Laura took a deep breath, they were approaching the busiest few weeks of the year, the weather and sea were all set to behave and be perfect for tourists this weekend. They would be rushed off their feet. It was more than an inconvenience to think of making the four hour trip to London.

                “Mum! I’m so busy...”

Her mother sighed, “I’ve never asked this of you before darling. It’s really important.”

Laura closed her eyes for a moment and took several deep breaths, “I’ll be as quick as I can.”

                “Thank you darling.”

An hour later she was on the M4. Ben had sensed her anxiety after the phone call, and he was as aware as Laura that her mother never called her.

                “Take my car,” he’d insisted, “you can’t think about driving that hunk of junk you call a van. I don’t need the car this weekend; I’ve got lessons all day tomorrow!”

                “I was going to help you!” She had protested.

But Ben was insistent, “something is obviously wrong. You HAVE to go. We’ll survive without you.”

She’d contemplated waiting until early morning to travel, but if truth be known her curiosity had got the better of her. She was desperate to know why her mother needed her home. And at eleven pm at night, there was no traffic on the motorway.

And there was no answer at her parents’ home either. Laura glanced at her watch. Admittedly it was after two in the morning, but quite frankly her mother had asked her to come home as soon as possible. And that was all that she had done. With a groan she took out her phone and rang the apartment. Eventually her mother answered the phone, sleepily.

                “Hello?”

Laura raised her eyes to the sky, this was typical of her mother, she lived in a parallel universe most of the time, she could swear. “Mum, it’s me, I’m outside!”

Her mother gasped, “oh darling! I didn’t think you’d come tonight!”

She groaned again, she didn’t remind her mother that she’d begged her to come as soon as she could. She was hardly able to wait until the following day, was she?!

Climbing the stairs, she hated the lift at the best of times; she found the door open when she got to the top. Her mother was pale, sat on the sofa in the lounge, looking forlorn and sad. Laura felt bad for cursing her earlier, and rushed to her side.

                “What is it Mum? I’ve never seen you like this!”

                “That would be my fault!” Both women’s heads snapped around to see Stafford Marshall, her father stood in the doorway.

                “Staff...where have you been? You took that call then disappeared; I thought you had left me, that you’d met someone else.”

Laura looked between the two with shock, they had the strongest relationship she knew, only the previous weekend they’d been like love sick horny teenagers.

                “Dad! What’s going on?” Her mother wasn’t used to being abandoned, since she’d met her father she had occupied an almost Princess like role in the family, and her obvious bewilderment was indictment to that fact.

Her father ran his fingers through his hair, and sighed, “you both need to sit down.”

Nothing he was saying was making any of this appear easier for Laura. She was twenty eight, she was hardly dependent on her parents, she hadn’t lived with them for ten years...but the thought of something happening to them, or their relationship scared her.

Her father sat opposite them and sighed, “I had a phone call at around half past four; we were supposed to be flying to Paris at eight, but what I heard meant I had to return to work.” He smiled affectionately at her mother. “And I haven’t called since, sorry Maggie! That was so wrong, but I‘ve been kind of tied up!”

Laura wanted to shake him and shout spit it out, but she bit her tongue and waited patiently.

                “Toby my solicitor called me, he’d been contacted by someone...” he bowed his head and shook it for a moment. When he looked up his face was taught and he looked a lot older than he had before, his eyes were haunted and his brow wrinkled. “Before I met you Maggie, I had a life...” he laughed, “well so did you...a man has turned up and claimed I’m his father!” He blurted it out and looked at them both earnestly.

Both women sat with slack jaws staring at the man who’d been the controlling influence in both their lives.

                “Say something...someone?”

Laura tried to moisten her dry mouth, then asked, “is he your son?”

Her father shrugged, “thirty something years ago, well before I met your mother I remember the situation that he has referred too. I was flying to Chicago, and...well I became more than friendly with an air stewardess.” He looked at Laura, “this is hard to say in front of you...but I spent time with her, then she told me she was married, and I never saw her again. Apparently that was his mother, and he is the product of that evening.”

Laura wanted to retch, her father...there were things a daughter didn’t need to know about, and then there was the fact that he had a child other than her...that scared her. She had no idea how to react, but when she saw her mother pale beside her, she realised that her concerns were the same as her own.

It was before her time, before both of their times, so neither could feel hard done by, or put out, but then life wasn’t that straight forward. Laura knew she had to make a gesture here, so she stood and moved towards her father and gave him a hug. He buried his face in her neck for a moment, and when they pulled apart her shoulder was wet from his tears.

                “I’m so sorry; I really hope you don’t hate me for it.”

Laura smiled, “of course not, Mum could never hate you, and neither can I, we both love you and this changes nothing.”

Her mother nodded, suddenly pulling herself out of the stunned silence. “Of course she’s right Staff, we love you regardless.”

The man pulled them both tight knowing that this wasn’t going to be easy, but he had a son, and he had to meet him, make things right.