Second Chances (6 page)

"Thanks, Mark." Karina released her pent-up breath. Maybe she was just being foolish. So not her normal self. But she couldn't help the way the stranger was making her feel. "Sorry, I'm not usually so nervy, maybe some food will help. Let's find a table and wait for Mark there."

"Not a lot of choice, is there?" Brian, using his height advantage, pointed to a small table for four off to one side. The seminar crowd was having lunch in one sitting. "There's an empty one that looks good. Quiet and out of the way."

Brian regarded her wan face. "We can take a plate of appetizers with us, while we wait."

"Really, I'm okay. I'm hungry though, so maybe I should grab… Oh look! He's back already." she pointed toward the doorway where Mark was standing. He quickly made his way over to them.

"Karina, the people at the front desk saw him and offered their assistance. Apparently, he wasn't very friendly but he did say that he was meeting someone." Mark shrugged, running his fingers through his dark hair. "They didn't have any real reason to question him further, but they told me, that his attitude was surly enough that they'd keep an eye on him." His voice held some concern. "I'll let our security team know that someone is behaving oddly and for them to keep an eye out."

Brian nodded, satisfied. "Exactly the right steps to take. See if you can try to relax, Karina. With Mark, the hotel staff and security now watching, you can let them take care of it." Brian motioned to the food. "Let's eat now, before I have to go."

Too busy eating to talk much, Karina's group tucked away the excellent food. The men went back for more, but the women opted for coffee as the second round.

Brian checked his watch. "Only ten minutes to go. I'm going to head up to my room for a minute. I'll see you all in a bit."

Susan turned to Mark. "So. You're a warm, wonderful guy. Why aren't you married?"

"There was someone once. We were very close," he admitted, a sad smile on his face. "But she died years ago. Since then, I haven't found anyone else who made me feel the same way." Both women gasped sympathetically.

"Don't feel bad. She's been gone a long time now. We were high school and college sweethearts. We'd planned to marry when college was over. But she died in a car accident during her last year." Mark was silent for a moment. "Since then I haven't found anyone else quite so special."

Karina squeezed his hand gently. "You will, Mark. You're an exceptional man."

Mark just laughed. "You're a fine one to talk. You've never been married."

Karina smiled wryly. "Touche. But never say never, right?"

Still smiling, the trio trooped back into the seminar just as Brian opened up the next lecture.

"We teach others how to treat us. Therefore, in the scope of a relationship, we could teach our partners how to treat us the way we wanted to be treated."

This was a new, fascinating concept for Karina. She could see in theory what he meant, but she needed him to go even more in-depth.

She was concentrating so hard on his words, jotting quick notes on in the margins of her handouts, that it took a moment to realize something had changed. And not in a good way.

"You don't have any right to tell these people how to change their lives," the angry voice exclaimed. "You're just going to mess them up. You poisoned my wife with all that bullshit. She sucked all this garbage in and believed it. Figured it would change her life for the better. Only she decided she didn't want me in her better life. Says I didn't treat her properly. What a load of rubbish. I treated her just fine. And now, she wants a separation. Well, she isn't getting it. I told her that and now I am telling you! You shouldn't have messed with her. You messed with her, which means you messed with me and I'm going to make you pay for that."

Oh God. She knew that voice. Then she recognized the face. Ian. The creepy guy from university who hadn't left her alone. The one she'd brushed off that same night she'd spent with Brian.

Ian's voice rose to an angry howl as he stormed to the front of the room. The edges of his trench coat flapped sharply with each step. With his hair standing on end and red-faced temper, he was an uncontrollable force that wouldn't quit. "You and your high-and-mighty, 'knows best' attitude. You don't know anything about us. We've been married for almost seven years. Now she says she's not happy. Rot! She just doesn't know what's good for her. And neither do you!"

Arms waving angrily in the air, punctuating his sentences, Ian wound more and more tightly into his rage. "I've been listening to you here today. You're not helping anybody! You're just going to hurt someone else!" He turned to face the horrified audience. "Don't listen to him! Everyone go home and get back to your families. He's a—"

Security burst through the closed doors even as Mark reached the man. Mark grabbed at Ian's wildly moving arms and tugged them backwards. They struggled. Ian's fury intensified. Spittle flew from his lips.

"Let me go, you bastard! You're just as bad as he is."

"That's enough. Calm down!"

"Never! I will be heard!"

Several people jumped from their seats, moving away from the struggling men. Chairs fell over as the room erupted into chaos. Hotel security people raced toward them.

Karina froze, her hand at her throat, too shocked to move.

It appeared Ian hadn't changed—with the exception of becoming even more of a loose cannon. He'd always been friendly and smooth, unfailingly polite, until something—anything—went wrong. Then he exploded like a firecracker. And if anyone dared to blame him for something? Heaven help that person. Nothing was ever Ian's fault. Ever. Like now.

Even though Karina knew she should look away, she couldn't take her eyes off him. Did Brian remember him too? How could he not?

"Everyone listen to me …" Ian shouted, refusing to be silent. "This man is dangerous, he needs to be stopped."

The three men pushed, shoved and half carried the intruder toward the double doors. His running tirade never ceased.

"You can't shut me up. I'll be back…!"

The door slammed behind the men, barely drowning out the man's explosive ranting.

Silence descended on the room.

B
rian couldn't get a word out. He strode across the front of the room before coming to an abrupt halt. He ruffled his short hair. What could he say? He hadn't come up against a situation like this before. Thank heavens for the extra security they had put in place.

Ian Blackburn. Jesus. He hadn't seen Ian since University. He'd been strange back then, but never violent like this. Could he be the one responsible for the threats leading up to this seminar? If what Ian had said during his rant was true—that his wife had left him after attending a workshop—then it was quite possible that Brian had become the target of Ian's rage. It was a logical explanation. Certainly not reasonable, but then Ian certainly hadn't appeared to be in a reasonable frame of mind when he'd burst through the doors, screaming at him.

Still, Brian had to salvage the seminar right now. Somehow.

"My apologies, everyone. I'm not sure what's going on exactly. Clearly, this man is blaming me for an upset in his life."

Brian paused. "This sort of backlash is always a possibility when one does these types of workshops. Although this is the first time that I've come up against it." He opened his arms wide, turning his palms upwards, hoping for their understanding and acceptance. And that they'd take this example as a lesson to look deeper into their own issues. "That's why we try to look at the real issues, when someone says they're 'unhappy' in their relationship. Often, leaving a relationship
is
the best answer."

Walking slowly across the podium, he chose his words carefully. It was important to deliver the right message. "You need to look at the underlying cause of your unhappiness. When no other solution is possible, then in some cases, leaving
is
the right answer. However, one person's decision in a relationship will affect both people." He stopped and cast his gaze around the room, looking at all of the intent faces focused on him. "The repercussions can be severe. Not everyone is willing to work out problems and not everyone can accept change. This type of thing," he said as he gestured toward the double doors, "can be the result."

Mark returned just then, quietly closing out the world behind him. Swiftly, he walked over to Brian and spoke softly into his ear. Brian turned to address his audience.

"Mark has spoken with our visitor." He looked directly at Karina, hoping to settle her nerves. Hell, he could use something to settle his own. "He has calmed down. Apparently, his wife attended a workshop several weeks ago and after that, she asked him for a trial separation. He's having trouble dealing with this." He shrugged. "Obviously, this is a difficult situation for him."

Several heads turned to follow Mark's path as he headed back towards the doors. Brian watched as Mark patted Karina on the shoulder as he passed by.

Karina looked up toward the stage and sent him a shaky smile.

He took that to heart. Everything was going to be fine. It had to be.

***

Karina tried to stay focused on Brian. Instead of feeling relieved her uneasiness had grown. She studied the other people in the room. Was there any change in their attitude? She searched Susan's features. She seemed fine, normal. Honestly, the audience looked as if they had perked up. Margaret, the barracuda, looked even more fascinated, if that were possible. Everyone seemed to like that bit of excitement, something more for their money, a bit of scandal and drama to take away with them.

A hand gently tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped. She'd been so distracted studying everyone else that she'd missed Mark's return. Now he crouched beside her.

"He's left. Everything's fine."

She peered into his eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Mr. Blackburn was apologetic and seemed both calm and rational. He said he'd just been overcome when he saw Brian and the emotions were too much for him. He went home a few minutes ago."

"You don't think that he'll be back?" She didn't think it could be that easy. Besides, it seemed to her that he'd been looking for Brian the first time she saw him here. As if he'd been stalking Brian.

"No, I don't think so. He did finally admit that he no longer blamed Brian. It was his wife's decision to leave that had him so upset."

"That's understandable." She spoke slowly, letting go of her uneasiness. She'd only known Mark for a short time, but she trusted his opinion. "His reaction makes me wonder if she isn't making the right decision by leaving." She gave a small smile.

Mark grimaced and nodded. "I hear you. We're going to take a break here soon. After that there'll be an hour's question-and-answer session and then we end with the closing address. A scene like this isn't the best way to finish but it happens." He shrugged. "We'll have to roll with it." He nodded toward Brian. "That's his signal. We're going to break now."

Mark opened up the double doors, calling out lightheartedly, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm ready for a coffee and dessert. Everything's ready, let's enjoy."

The conversation level was loud and lively during the break. Mark and Brian had done their best with damage control, but people needed to discuss the recent events. Some things were just human nature.

Karina stood off to one side, unwilling to be drawn into conversation. Susan had gone to get coffee for them both. Excitement permeated the crowd. It was a heck of a way to finish off the weekend. Brian was saying goodbye to several of the guests who were leaving early.

Susan returned with coffee and linked arms with Karina. Both women sipped at their beverages for several long moments.

Studying her friend, Karina decided a change of topic was in order. A new focus. Something to take her mind off Ian and the past, and to direct it forward, into the future.

"You know, Susan," she said, half-jokingly, "A while ago you talked about starting your own company. What do you think about the idea of starting one together?"

Susan looked at her in surprise. "You know, that isn't such a bad idea. I've wanted to open a toy store since I started my own family."

The two women stopped and stared at each other, the idea rapidly sprouting and gathering steam. Susan continued. "You have the bookkeeping and office experience to be able to tackle the business side of things, don't you?"

"Absolutely. You know, I've often wondered why toy stores don't carry much in the way of educational material. There's a huge home schooling market. You have the parenting and retail experience and I have the business experience. I wonder what Victoria has to offer right now, along those lines."

Karina stared off in to space, turning the idea over and over in her head. She had some money set aside for a place of her own. It wasn't much, but this way she could be her own boss. Money would be tight for the first while, it always was with new businesses. She'd have to crunch some numbers to get a better idea of the project's viability.