Angel (NSC Industries) (23 page)

Succeeding
in my mission I sat on the toilet seat, taking deep breaths and motivating
myself to get through the night. The restroom door opened and shut and I
remained sat on the seat with my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands.

Taking
a deep breath I stood up, righted my dress, flushed and opened the cubicle
door.

Nate
was stood, hands in his trouser pockets leaning against the vanity and I halted
in the doorway. His face was like thunder and his lips were in a tight line on
his handsome face.

“Liv”
he merely said chewing on his bottom lip. I swallowed severely “Nate?”

He
tipped his head and scrutinized me “Why didn’t you let me know what happened
yesterday?” he demanded.

Oh
Shit!

I
dropped my eyes to the floor. “Well?” he asked, still angry and I walked to the
sinks, turning on the tap and washing my hands. “Liv?” he persevered.

“Because
it has nothing to do with you, Nate” I sighed and took a towel to dry my hands.

 His
eyes widened and he huffed “
Nothing to do with me
?” he spoke menacing
low and I gulped. “Is that how you feel, Liv?” he now had sadness in his eyes.

“Who
told you?” I asked him, I was going to kill somebody.

He
gave a bitter laugh. “The police came to see me just as I was getting in the
car to come here. Apparently they had to question your
Boyfriend
, their
words not mine” he clarified and I nodded slightly as I reached for the door
handle.

 He
gripped my arm, “Why don’t you come and stay with me, Liv? I’m worried about
you” he asked, fear marring his beautiful face.

I
turned to look at him, searching into the depths of his pure blue eyes and then
shook my head, “I’m not your responsibility anymore Nate, you made that quite
clear. Don’t worry about me” I said softly and walked out of the door as a
woman walked in and gasped as she saw Nate.

“Mr
Carter” I heard her greet as the door swung closed behind me.

The
awards had been presented and I received one for ‘Commitment to the Company’
and ‘Colleague of the year’ much to the delight of my table and lots of
overwhelmed tears. It had been awkward to collect the glass trophies from Nate,
but I just smiled and didn’t look him in the eyes.

I
was starting to get annoyed as Nate wouldn’t take his gaze off me all night and
it was suffocating me.

He
was situated at the next table to us with Eleanor who never left his side all
night, constantly touching him and laughing hard at his jokes; she caught my
glance once or twice and each time she gave a smug ‘I told you so’ smile and I
just smiled sweetly back.

My
phone rang in my bag and I checked the display to see it was withheld. “Excuse
me, I have to take this, it could be the police” I smiled to the others, stood
and walked over to a now quiet part of the bar.

Sliding
the accept icon on my phone, “Hello” I said.

“Hello
Darling” his voice purred down the phone.

My
heart stopped, my breath halted and I swayed as my legs gave way. Trying to
grab hold of the bar for support I felt my legs give way and I slid to the
floor, my hand still trying to take hold of something as my brain was 30
seconds behind me.

“Nice
to hear your voice again, Darling. Have you missed me?” his arrogant tone came
down the phone.

I
couldn’t get a breath and my lungs were screaming as a white mist surrounded my
vision as sheer terror coursed through me. “Not got a hello for your Husband,
Olivia?” he cackled as I was vaguely aware of people’s voices in the distance
as the line went dead.

A
hand rested on my arm and a blurred image came in close and I scrambled back,
trying to fight for breath as I attempted to escape the distorted figure.

Air
suddenly slammed into my lungs and I screamed; a high-pitched blood curdling scream
as Nate’s voice and face registered in my brain. “
LIV!!!!”
he yelled, “
LIV!!!
Please, baby”
his heart wrenching voice came into my head and my foggy
brain emptied.

I
somehow found his terrified eyes. “
Liv”
he breathed, relief flooding
through him as I focused on him, “Baby? What’s wrong?”

My
vacant eyes searched his, trying to decipher if this was a safe person. “Angel?
Please! Talk to me” the fear was evident in his voice as he softly spoke to me.

I
opened my mouth and my throat was so dry I couldn’t get the words out.
“Somebody fetch a glass of water” he barked at the spectators and somebody
scuttled off.

“Baby!
Tell me!” he asked more firmly.

My
eyes cleared and I held his, “He… he… he’s out!” I managed to squeeze out and I
heard Nate’s lungs empty as he slid down beside me and pulled me to him,
ignoring the crowd of people that had come to observe the show.

“Shush,
Angel. Everything’s going to be okay, I promise.
I promise, baby
” he
vowed, but I knew with everything I was, that everything was not going to be
okay, everything had now changed forever.

I
was hazily aware of water running; a trickle and splashing registering in my
foggy brain. My head was pounding as I sat up in the vaguely familiar bed and I
took a look at my surroundings realising I was in Nate’s bedroom.

I
couldn’t remember getting there or actually remember much of anything after the
phone call.

I
looked at my body, I was in just my underwear and I presumed Nate had stripped
me before putting me into his bed and was now taking a shower.

Looking
for something to wear and not finding anything I slipped on Nate’s dress shirt
that was hung on a hanger over the wardrobe door and made my way downstairs,
slowly dragging one foot in front of the other as I groggily made my way to the
kitchen.

As
I stepped off the last stair and was walking through the entrance hall a huge
glass covered wall art caught my eyes and I halted, staring at it.

I
gasped and advanced towards it, my mouth hung open as I came to rest before it
and slid my finger over the glass, observing the piece. It measured about 3
meters by 3meters and in the very centre was photographs of me and Nate when we
were at university together; laughing in some, kissing in others or just stood
together on various trips we had made.

Around
the edges were all the photos from the ‘Daddy box’, hundreds of pictures of
Jay; the ones from his birth, birthdays, Christmas and all the mile-stones from
his birth through to the day he left for university and after. Nate had arranged
them in chronological order around the photos of us. It took my breath away.

I
had started the ‘Daddy box’ as soon as Jay was born. It was full of photos; my
first scan picture, Jay’s life in pictures and scrapbooks of everything he ever
drew and made. His first tooth and shoes, his first lock of hair and the babygrow
he came home from hospital in.

The
father’s day and Christmas cards Jay had made his Daddy every year, and one for
each of Nate’s birthdays.

There
were DVD’s full of messages I had recorded, from Jay to his Daddy, such as on
each of Jay’s birthdays telling his Daddy how old he was, what he had got for
his birthday and the cake ceremonies were even on them.

Every
single Christmas had been recorded, each with a special message for Daddy
thanking him for his special gift... the present I had bought Jay every year
specifically from his Father.

There
were even Jay’s old music cassettes and Cd’s as he had gone through different
genres of music through his life, photos of him with his first girlfriend and
his friends so Nate would have an image of them if Jay ever talked about them.

There
were letters from Jay to his father, every year from the age of twelve,
updating Nate of everything that had happened that year in Jay’s life. There were
important education documents from Jay’s life; His school and university
acceptance letters, his school and college certificates and his exam
certificates and lastly the photos of him, laying in hospital fighting for his
life.

It
was Jay’s life in a box, every single aspect of it and it was all done from me
and Jay, purely for Nate so he could have some of the memories along with us.

“Thank
you for those,” I heard Nate say quietly behind me and I turned to face him,
“For the box… it helped” he added and I nodded.

I
didn’t know what to say to him to help the pain of it all, “I’m so sorry Nate,
I…” I swallowed, not having the words to express how I felt.

He
walked towards me and cupped my cheek “Baby, I’m sorry for the things I said, I
was… I was drunk and angry and stunned” he said sadly.

“I
know, Nate” I sighed “What you have done, it’s beautiful” I uttered pointing to
the wall frieze.

He
smiled softly and swiped his thumb over my cheekbone “That’s because it
contains my beautiful family” he said tenderly, gazing into my eyes. “Will he… will
Jay still meet me?” he asked nervously and I frowned.

“Of
course he will, Nate. He’s waited 19 years to meet you” I told him and walked
into the kitchen.

Nate
followed me and switched on the coffee machine, taking the cups from the
cupboard. “He knew all about you, Nate. There wasn’t a single day that we
didn’t talk about you. You know he’d come running in from school, showing me
something he had drawn especially for you and asking me to put it in ‘The Daddy
Box’” I smiled sadly.

“He
would always talk about you like you were at work or something ‘when my Daddy
gets home will he play Lego with me mummy?’ or one time when he was 6 when
James had beaten me, he’d listened… to my screams and then curled up in bed with
me and he said… and he said ‘Shall I look for my Daddy? He’ll help us mummy, he
loves us’” I sobbed and Nate came to me, pulling me into his arms.

“Oh
Liv, I’m so sorry” he whispered in my hair as I trembled.

“He’s
back, Nate” I sobbed “What am I gonna do?”

He
pulled me across to one of the stools and onto his lap “I’m here baby, I won’t
let him hurt you” he murmured, “I promise” he added with certainty.

“No,
Nate!” I stood and looked up at him, the fear in me pushing me into what I
needed to do. “I can’t be with you Nate, not now” I declared, shaking my head
at him in horror, “You can’t be with me, Nate.”

He
shot of the stool and took hold of my arms, “Liv!” his own fear written on his
face, but not for the dread of James but the panic in what I was doing. “Baby,
no” he cried, shaking his head desperately, “Don’t do this Liv, please.”

I
thumped my fists on his chest. “He will fucking kill you, Nate” I screamed,
hitting my fists into him again, “He hates you with a passion Nate, because of
how much I loved you. And I do Nate, I love you too much to risk losing you.”

I
was now pummelling him and he just stood there and let me, let me get it out
and let me sob horrifically as I punched him, over and over until I was spent
and he pulled me to the floor, pinning me in his embrace.  

I
was in Nate’s shower, the soothing water enhancing my senses back to life, my
eyes closed in the ecstasy of its warm embrace.

What
the hell was I going to do? I couldn’t let Nate suffer for me, if I left him it
would rip him in two and if I didn’t he’d still suffer but at the fate of
James’s hands.

A
part of me wished I’d never dragged him into my pathetic life again; he’d be
content and running around chasing various women, probably Eleanor and the
thought of that nearly ripped
me
in two.

I
was afraid for the kids, glad they were on holiday and where James couldn’t get
to them.

I
was worried about Jay been at university alone because James had hated Jay, for
the reason that he was Nate’s son. He’d always been cruel to him and I tried my
best to compensate for that when I was with him, always showering him with love
and time.

We
had had to keep the ‘Daddy Box’ a secret from James and hid it away, always
adding things like videos and letters when it was safe to do so.

I
started to panic, I had to ring him and let him know James was out. Scurrying
from the shower and into the bedroom I started looking for my bag and began to
freak out when I couldn’t find it.

 “NATE”
I yelled, “NATE!!” I was losing control as he came rushing up the stairs and
stopped dead in the doorway, watching me rip his bedroom apart completely and
utterly naked, water dripping off me and all over his expensive plush carpet,
looking for my bag.

“Where’s
my bag, Nate?” I yelled at him and he frowned at me.

“Baby,
what’s wrong?” he asked calmly walking into the bedroom.

“My
fucking bag, Nate! Where is it?” I shouted at him.

He
held his hands up I front of him trying to quieten me down. “Liv? It’s in the
kitchen, baby” I stormed past him and ran down the stairs, still entirely
stark-naked.

“Liv?”
he shouted as he scuttled after me, “Baby?”

I
came to a halt in the kitchen, my gaze urgently scanning the area. “I need my
phone, Nate” I shouted to him, thinking he was still upstairs and jumped when I
turned and he was stood behind me.

He
dashed across the kitchen and into a door and came out of it with my bag.
“Baby, don’t you think you ought to put some clothes on?” he grimaced and I
realised he was turned on as he shifted himself in his trousers.

Glaring
at him, I rummaged through my bag and retrieved my phone, quickly selecting Jay’s
number and tapped my foot impatiently as it connected.

“Hi,
Mum” his voice suddenly calmed me and I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes. “You
okay?” he asked hesitantly.

“Jay…
Jay, I… sweetheart” I stuttered, I couldn’t get the words out with the relief
of hearing his voice. “Sweetheart… I…”

“Mum!
You’re scaring me, what’s wrong?” he urged as Nate appeared beside me as he
realised I wanted to warn Jay.

He
held out his hand to me and gestured for me to hand him my phone so I passed it
him slowly “Jay, it’s… your… its Nate. Your mum wanted to tell you that… well… James
is out Jay!” he finally declared.

I
heard Jay say ‘shit’. “Yeah, I’ve got her here with me, she’s fine” he sat on
the kitchen stool as his legs shook, finally talking to his son. “I won’t let
anything happen to her I promise, Jay” he paused as Jay spoke and nodded to Jay
or himself, I wasn’t quite sure. “I know, I know” nodding again.

A
slight smile twitched his lips “Yeah I’d like that.”

He
looked away from me, his gaze through the window and he nodded to himself again
“We can come up to you if you want. It would give your mum a break from what’s
going on” he paused again, “Okay. Tuesday then, I’ll send you my number and
text me a time” nodding again he ended the call and sat staring out to the glorious
scenery outside.

I
walked over to him, lifted his chin and wiped the teardrop from his cheek,
placing it on my lips then kissed him tenderly, giving him all that I had to
offer him in that kiss, telling him how much I loved him and needed him.

“You
know,” I whispered, tilting my head a little in contemplation “I never did
manage to finish my shower” I gave him a pout, “Struggled to wash my back.”

His
lips rose into a lazy grin “Need help with that, baby?” he chuckled and pulled
me up the stairs and into the huge bathroom situated on the landing.

He
spun me round and kissed me greedily, as if he couldn’t get close enough and
needed to be inside me.

I
kissed him back with the same lust, passion and craving. God! I loved this man,
he was my life and there was no way I could ever let him go again.

He
spun me round to face the huge mirror resting above the low vanity, me naked
and pink, him behind me with his chin on my shoulder, hard and bronzed but it
was the look in his eyes that grabbed my attention; it was pure lust, carnal
and primal and it made my insides quiver.

His
hands came up to cup my breasts and his thumbs brushed over my nipples, making
them pucker in his touch. “Look how fucking beautiful you are, Liv” he
whispered in my ear, “Look how utterly sexy you are when you’re turned on.”

I
sucked in a breath, my core lighting up at his words. His mouth moved down my
neck, goose bumps rising in its wake and I closed my eyes, utterly aroused.

“Open
your eyes, Angel. See what I see when you come” his hand slid down my stomach
and cupped my mound. My breath was shallow and slow as I opened my eyes and
watched every move he made; one hand still teasing my breast and his other
stroking my groove as he continued kissing and licking my neck, his eyes locked
onto mine in the mirror.

Slowly
he traced my clit with his thumb and I moaned, grabbing hold of the edge of the
counter as he ground his jean encased erection into my bottom. “You make me so
hard when I look at you, Angel” he said on a small groan and he slipped two
fingers into me and I bent my head back onto his shoulder as I continued to
watch his face, the hunger and desire painted across it.

His
hand continued to work me as his other hand came down and slipped to join the
other, taking over from the other to rub at my bud and I felt the onslaught
that was going to hit me hard.

His
fingers slipped out of me and made their way towards my bottom, spreading my
arousal that was slick on his fingers. His other hand took over and sank into
my sex, I gasped and my eyes flew wide as his finger pressed against my anus.
“Shush Baby, trust me” his fingers worked inside me as his other inched into my
behind.