Abandoned but Not Alone (5 page)

When the
door closed behind a quick exiting Aviva, Jason remembered that they had not
been alone. An intense quiet had descended, enshrouding the room. Turning his
head Jason found the two other occupants staring at him, looks of wonder as to
what they had just witnessed. He felt no need to explain himself; instead he
winked at them and took a seat in the exact place his little minx had vacated;
certain that she would be back very soon, and he couldn
’
t wait to see what was next.

Aviva
’
s rapid departure led her to her bedroom
where she closed the door and sat down on the bed with rapid breathing and a
panicked look on her face. 
'Okay now,'
she thought to herself,
'that
huge man was not looking at you like he wanted to gobble you up.
Remembering
what Hope had said about his preference in women,
Aviva placed that thought
in the forefront of her mind. With that thought established her heart-rate
began to slow to its normal tempo.

With the
lowering of her pulse Aviva got a bit miffed. She knew she was being a coward
exiting the room so abruptly,
but
she was determined that Jason not have a chance to view her as such.
Standing up she started
pacing the room. There was no way in hell she was going to be the sort of woman
who ran away from a man who she had considerable doubts that she could handle.
As she continued pacing, she got an idea; rushing across the room she pulled
out the bag that contained two of the wedding gifts she had purchased for Steve
and Hope. Pulling the wrapping paper off the gifts she opened her door and
looked out. Seeing the coast was clear she quickly made her way down the stairs,
past the door where she had left the others and entered the kitchen.

Drake was
sitting at the table polishing a set of crystal glasses.
“
Ah Mr Drake, just the person I was
looking for, I need your help please.
”

“
Of course Miss, how may I be of assistance?
”

“
Put the kettle on to boil for me please,
we
’
re going to have a tea
party.
”

“
A tea party Miss?
”

“
Yes Mr Drake a tea party and we are going
to use the tea set I have here.
”

“
Miss, may I suggest coffee for Mr King
and Mr Blackman, neither of them has a liking for tea.
”

“
Excellent, that
’
s exactly what I was counting on. Not Steve, don
’
t get me wrong, I love Steve but this
time he
’
s gonna have to take
one for the boys.
”

~~~~~~~~~~

“
Ready?
”
  Aviva asked as she looked over her shoulder at Drake who was
holding a large tea tray and sporting a devilish look in his eyes that more
than matched her own.

“
Oh yes Miss, I
’
m very ready, shall we
…”

“
Okay Mr Drake, game on,
”
Aviva said with a wink to her
co-conspirator at which she opened the door with a grand flourish and plastered
a huge smile on her face, announcing to the room at large that tea was served.
Holding the door open for Drake, Aviva asked him to place the tray on the end
table, positioned along-side the large couch on which Jason was sitting.

Hope caught
on immediately as she spotted the tray which contained a teapot, milk and sugar
bowls, saucers and the tiniest tea cups she had ever seen, except for when she
was a child playing with her dolls. Hope was amused that Aviva was going to
make these huge men drink tea, which they both hated, from those tiny cups. Not
even their smallest finger would be able to get through the handle of cups.
Hope just knew this was going to be fun.

Steve
opened his mouth to no doubt refuse the offer of tea and Hope gave him a quick
jab to the stomach to keep him quiet.
“
Just what we needed, you must have read my mind.
”

“
Mr Drake, would you please pour the tea,
Mr King first I think, he looks a bit parched.
”
Aviva refused to look at Jason although she could feel his eyes
boring into her. Drake turned his back in order to obscure his movements as he
prepared Jason
’
s tea. Once
it was ready, as per Aviva's instructions, she took the cup and handed it to
Jason still not meeting his eyes. Jason refused to take the cup and saucer Aviva
offered until she looked at him. Once she met his eyes as he silently demanded,
he slowly reached out his hand and accepted the tea cup. Aviva blinked
innocently to dispel her laughter as the little cup all but disappeared in his
paw like hand. In the meantime Drake had prepared and delivered cups of tea to
both Steve and Hope. Turning to Drake, he presented her with a cup of tea and
left the room. Aviva had promised him she would fill him in on Jason's reaction
to the five spoons of sugar that had been heaped into his drink.

What was
the little minx up to this time, Jason wondered. Drake knew that he didn
’
t drink tea, couldn
’
t stand the stuff. Looking down at the
liquid, he rationalized that it couldn
’
t be anything harmful as they were all drinking from the same
pot, plus it had milk in it, he couldn
’
t stomach milk. Oh well, he thought, I can drink the stuff, the
cup was so small it would only equate to one mouthful and further there was no
way on earth he was about to wimp out. A challenge had been thrown down and he
had every intention of meeting it. Very aware that Aviva was watching him
peripherally, he slowly raised the cup to his lips, never taking his eyes from
her face. Just about to take the first taste, Drake knocked at the door to
inform him he had an urgent telephone call. 
“
Ah, saved by the bell
”
Jason said
lowering the cup into its saucer, a grin on his face. 
‘
Damn! This was the most fun he had had in a long time
’
.  The look on Aviva
’
s face was priceless as her plan went up
in flames. Jason grinned so wide his dimples creased his face as he excused
himself to take the call.

Jason and
Steve sat in the living room, awaiting the arrival of the women so they could
leave for Steve and Hope
’
s wedding
reception. With drinks in hand, the men sat in companionable silence, each
swirling the amber liquid of their single malt whiskey, light glistening off
the crystal glass. Glancing at his friend Jason broke the silence.
“
So your last night as a single man
–
how does it feel?
”

“
It feels good man, who would have
thought, you and me sitting in a house like this, with me getting married
tomorrow and to a supermodel no less. After the thing we
’
ve been through, to be given all
this...we
’
re really
blessed.
”

“
Blessed, if you say so; but I have never
been given anything in my life, everything I have, I worked my butt off for, so
did you, man.
”
Jason wasn
’
t a particularly religious man so he felt
unable to comment on that part of Steve
’
s statement. His belief was grounded in two things: his ability
to make things happen; even if some of the things he had done in the past may
not always have been, what many would consider sticking to the letter of the
law; and Steve, the only other human being in the world he considered a friend,
someone he would lay down his life for. When he had sunk to his lowest ebb, it
was Steve who had appeared as though out of nowhere and pulled him up kicking
and screaming, somehow managing to save him from himself.

“
Come on man, you
’
ve got to believe in something other than yourself. We all need
something or someone to lean on from time to time. If we internalize everything
we end up making a lot of questionable decisions.
”
Steve gave Jason a meaningful look meant to remind him of what
he had done in the past by way of retribution on the men who had crossed him.
He felt no remorse and knew that given the same set of circumstances he would
do exactly the same things again. With a shake of his head, Jason relegated the
dark thoughts back to the deepest compartments in the back of his mind.

“
That
’
s why I have you my good man, you
’
re my moral compass, or who knows where I
’
d be.
”

“
Whatever man, I
’
m not always gonna be here Jason; the risks you take sometimes
–
they worry me.
”

“
When the hell did you turn into my auntie
Gurty? Worry about that woman upstairs that you intend to marry tomorrow and
all the little long legged babies you want her to pop out, and I
’
ll take care of me.
”
A pained expression passed across Steve
’
s face so quickly, Jason was unsure if it
hadn
’
t been his
imagination.

“
You did discuss having children, right?
”

“
Get out of my business, man.
”

Jason felt
foreboding settle over him, the fine hairs at the back of his neck rising up,
he had learned the hard way not to ignore the feeling. Something wasn
’
t right, Steve was holding something
back.
“
Steve, have you or
have you not spoken to Hope about having kids?
”

“
We talked.
”

“
Well, what did she say?
”

“
I told you already, get out of my
business
…”
Looking at
Steve, Jason was aware of the moment he changed his mind and decided to confide
in him.
“
She said she may be
willing to have one, later on, when her career was over.
”

“
But you always said you wanted a big
family, you did explain that to her didn
’
t you? Get mad at me if you want to but, I have to say this
…”

“
If you know it
’
s going to make me mad, then don
’
t say it Jason, you put it out there and you can
’
t take it back.
”
Springing to his feet, his agitation clear by the swiftness of
his movements, Steve paced over to the bar and poured himself another drink,
throwing it back in one gulp.

Turning
back, Steve squared his shoulders and from the tension rolling off his large
physique, Jason decided to keep his thoughts to himself. Steve was an adult,
and as such was more than able to make his own choices
–
right or wrong. However something had shifted between Steve and
Hope. This wasn
’
t the same
smiling, happy-go-lucky man that had gone upstairs to dress for the reception,
but it wasn
’
t his place
to pry; if his friend wanted to confide in him, he knew where to find him.
Jason just hoped Steve wasn
’
t making a
huge mistake in marrying Hope. There was something about her that didn
’
t sit right with him. She was an
extremely confident woman which was to be expected by virtue of what she did
for a living. She was smart, a good conversationalist, funny and very
beautiful. She was also one of the most narcissistic and conniving women Jason
had ever met.

The first
time he had been introduced to Hope he felt as though every comment she
directed at him was done in an attempt to gauge his reaction, to size him up
for something she had planned for later. Her interactions with him in the first
instance reminded him of a documentary he had seen as a child of a lioness
stalking its prey, waiting for the right moment to pounce, to devour.

He hadn
’
t had to wait too long for her to make
her move. His mind ran back over the weekend all three of them had spent
together months ago. He recalled that a friend of Hope
’
s should have been joining them but had unexpectedly canceled at
the last moment. Jason wondered if the friend had been Aviva. If it was, he
fantasized that by now their relationship would have been well established.