Race (9 page)

He continued to drink more and more shots as he watched the dancers dance on the dance floor happily. The way some people were dancing was not a pretty sight. Soon, he was flushed out of his thoughts when Alice walked up to him.

"Cheers," she grinned. She was also drunk. They clunked their glasses together and then she stared at him. She looked very nice, in a very revealing blue dress, and her make-up was done perfectly. "You know, Noah," she began, "my thoughts are that a girl is a lucky girl, when in the absence of her, a guy thinks of her, and a girl is unlucky, when in the presence of her, people are thinking about something else." She paused. "I think I'm unlucky."

"Why do you say that?" Noah asked, as it was clear that she was trying to make a conversation with him.

"Because I thought that when I was in your presence, you would forget all of your problems and your tension. But you ..." She laughed, not wanting to finish off her sentence. "Can you tell me one thing? What do you think of me?"

Noah stared at her. "If there's someone I needed the most today, that person would be you. I don't know what I'd do without you," Noah told her what she exactly wanted to hear.

"Really?" Alice gasped, giggling. "You've made my evening. Listening to what you had to say has made me feel amazing! But it would make me feel even better, if you took that thought and ..."

"And what?" Noah asked.

Alice gave him a small, sneaky smile and walked off, naughty thoughts entering her mind. She cleared the dance floor and burst into song about touching and kissing. She really was drunk.

All I see

In this touch...

What's the fun? Ah Ah

Do you know what I mean?

Mmmm

Sup Sup

Oooooo

Can I get ya?

Oooooo

Can I touch ya?

Oooooo

Can I get ya?

Oooooo

Can I touch ya?

Touch me a little,

Kiss me a little.

Hold me a little.

A little... Ooo Ooo...

touch me, touch me, touch me

A little...

Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me.

A little...

Hold me, hold me, hold me

A little...

ooo ooo...

Without you, in this world,

I'm restless.

Dum da dum da dum...

Without you, in this world,

I'm restless.

Touch me a little,

Kiss me a little.

Hold me a little.

A little... Ooo Ooo...

touch me, touch me, touch me

A little...

Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me.

A little...

Hold me, hold me, hold me

A little...

ooo ooo...

I love the way you're touching me, feeling me

Boy I'm gonna be rebelling

Boy my little secrets

Gonna let you know

That when you put your arms around me

I love the way you surround me

Oh boy I'm gonna lose control...

I'm waiting for you,

i love you.

it's only your intoxication,

i don't have control on me.

Without you, in this world,

I'm restless.

Dum da dum da dum...

Without you, in this world,

I'm restless.

touch me, touch me, touch me

A little...

Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me.

A little...

Hold me, hold me, hold me

A little...

ooo ooo...

One time touch me like this

I like what you want

What you give is a risk

Two times, touch me like this

...

Three times touch me by far

Gets over here comes the crazy with me in my car

Its one time touch me like this

I know what you want, what you can, what you say.. My lover

there is no pain in heart

but the grief of distance is teasing me.

don't let my footsteps mislead,

i am giving you swear of my life.

Without you, in this world,

I'm restless.

Dum da dum da dum...

Without you, in this world,

I'm restless.

touch me, touch me, touch me

A little...

Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me.

A little...

Hold me, hold me, hold me

A little...

ooo ooo...

Without you, in this world,

I'm restless.

Dum da dum da dum...

Without you, in this world,

I'm restless...

As she sang, Noah continued to remember Chantelle and the way they'd made love, but then he saw Chantelle actually walk in. Noah stared at her for a long moment to make sure that he wasn't dreaming - and then dragged her out when no-one was watching.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed, his voice shaking with rage.

"I was missing you," Chantelle said innocently in a sickeningly sweet voice, trying to hug him. He pushed her away so hardly that she almost toppled over.

"The thing that happened yesterday - forget it! It was a mistake!" Noah shouted.

"A mistake?" Chantelle repeated. "We both want each other!"

"We
did
want each other!" Noah corrected. "Whatever happened, it's over!"

"Noah, I want to stay with you, not your brother! Just tell him about our relationship, and I'll get a divorce from him, and then we can get married!" Chantelle was talking as if she was a six year old living in a little dream world.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Noah snapped. "It can't happen!" He quickly changed tack. "I hate you, you little whore. Did you really think that we'd be more than a one night stand? You've been snogging Ronan day in and day out, and sleeping with him for all I know - and now you're bored of him you come back to me so that I can fulfill you? But no, Chantelle, you've got it wrong, I'm not that kind of person! So how about you just get the fuck out of here and let me get on with my life?"

"You know what?" Chantelle said angrily. "You're not kidding anyone! If you won't tell him, I will!"

"You won't do anything like that!" Noah shouted, pulling her back. Chantelle snatched her arm back and walked back to her car, where Ronan was waiting for her.

"What next?"  Chantelle asked him.

"Well, the gun's ready," Ronan said hotly. "Now all we have to do is pull the trigger."

CHAPTER TWENTY

THE ACCUSATION IN THE OFFICE

Noah and Alice were sat together in their office. Alice had completely forgotten about what she'd done at the club, and was now acting normally. They both did their paperwork together, but stopped abruptly when they saw Ronan storm into the room, his face full of anger.

"I'm gonna kill that bastard!" Ronan shouted, his voice like venom. "I swear to God, I'm gonna kill him!"

"What's wrong, Ronan?" Noah asked, shutting his laptop, concerned. "Who are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Chantelle!" Ronan yelled, hitting his hands on the desk. "She's having an affair with someone!"

Noah gulped, and stood up on his feet, because that someone was him.

"I'M GONNA KILL HIM!" Ronan roared, smashing a vase of flowers on to the floor, the water making the carpet go damp.

"That's ridiculous, Ronan," Noah said, walking over to his brother. "You've got it wrong. Chantelle isn't like that, I know it."

"It's a fact!" Ronan yelled. "Everyday, she goes to meet someone secretly! Yesterday, she came home at two o'clock at night! I asked her where she was, and she replied that whoever she meets and whatever she does, what has it got to do with me? This is the respect I get from my so called wife!"

"Look, Ronan, before you start pinning the blame on Chantelle, think about what you've been doing with her," Alice told Ronan in an incredibly sweet, soft voice. "You've been married for such a long time now, but you're not making her happy at all. She's not been happy for a single moment."

Ronan stared at her as if she was stupid. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm a lady, so I can tell you that she's just doing all this for your attention. Don't worry too much about it," Alice smiled, patting his shoulder. "There's no need to start accusing her of anything, just hear her out, what she's got to say first."

"That's bullshit," Ronan scolded. "She's having an affair. I know it, she's having an affair! And I'm not going to give up until I've found the man who she's having it with!" He departed from the room dramatically.

Noah stared outside in guilt as he watched his brother walk away.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

PHOTOGRAPHS FOR THE NEWSPAPER

Ronan was sat down on a bench, sifting through photographs of Noah. Chantelle strolled up to him casually.

"Oh, Chantelle! It's a good thing you came. I'm confused! Look through all of these photographs and tell me which one is the best. 'Cause, you know, when he's dead, we're gonna have to give a decent photograph to the papers, aren't we? Then the headline will be something like 'I'll never forget my beautiful brother.'"

Chantelle stared at him, folding her arms. "That'll all happen later. The thing is, how are you going to kill Noah?"

"What are you talking about?" Ronan laughed. "Do you think I'm going to kill my older brother? I need the one hundred million dollar insurance, you crazy girl. Noah's going to have to die in an accident."

"But how?" Chantelle pushed on.

"Ha ha ha ha! You wanna know my plan, huh?"  Ronan chuckled. "Actually, it's pretty simple. This Sunday when Noah comes back from Cape Town, I'll go to the office terrace to make a drama about committing suicide. From that point, at exactly six o'clock, I'll give him a phone call. And I'll say to him, brother, I've finally found out, that my wife was having an affair with you! And to stop anything else from happening, I'm going to commit suicide. The poor bastard loves me a lot. As soon as he hears me saying this, he'll come to the terrace straight away. And when he attempts to save me, you'll come and give him a push. He'll lose his balance and fall over - and our bank balance will fly up!"

Chantelle grinned at him in approval.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

TELLING NOAH

"The plan is brilliant. First you marry the brother's girlfriend, then you make up all this drama about the alcohol, and then you get me to have an affair with your brother again. And then finally, there's the suicide drama. And then an accident." Chantelle explained Ronan's plan to Noah. The truth was that she'd been on Noah's side all along, but had played Ronan's part to get more information off him.

"The plan
is
brilliant," Noah said, folding his arms. "Ronan's been taking care of every small thing. But he's forgotten one thing. I am his older brother."

Chantelle smiled at Noah. "But what's your plan now?"

"Ronan has put so much hard work into his plan,"  said Noah. "I don't want to make him upset by changing it all. The plan will stay just as it is. There'll only be one small change." He looked at Chantelle in the eyes. "I'm not going to be the one who's going to die.  He's going to be the one who's going to die."

Noah picked up his phone. "Yeah, it's Noah here ... I'm going to Cape Town for two days ... I want to meet you."