Authors: Vivienne Harris-Scott
((~~!~~))
Yes, when I told Kevin I wasn
’
t either
’
s, I lied.
I
have been claimed.
Twice.
Ethan
I am who I am because of you.
Entreat me not to leave you, or to return
from following after you.
For where you go, I will go, and where you
stay, I will stay.
I will never leave you nor forsake you.
I will always be yours.
My wedding vows to her.
It
’
s about the ring.
It
’
s about the vows.
It
’
s about the surrendering, and commitment we made to each other.
Until death do us part.
((~~!~~))
It isn
’
t about the sex. It
’
s more than the sex or love even. It
’
s something I have never had before, it
’
s something, I didn
’
t know even existed, before meeting her.
Someone I could surrender to.
Her.
Vic.
My
wife.
My
lover.
The
mother of my one and only child.
The
One.
My
yang.
((~~!~~))
I
’
m looking at her picture, and I
’
m thinking, soon I will be able to leave
Sydney, soon I will finally be able to go to her, to see her again, to touch
her
…
I
have been waiting five years, and the court order preventing me to leave the
country is just about to expire in 3 weeks and 2 days. I
’
ll leave the very next day.
I
don
’
t
care if I never come back; only she matters to me.
I
have a new passport just waiting to be used.
I
just need to know where she is, because once again she has disappeared, but I
am confident, I will find her, again. Something has happened to make her
vanish; I pray it isn
’
t
related to her health.
As
God is my witness, I will always worry about her; I want her safe when I don
’
t know where she is.
I
’
ve been using the same security firm for
over five years to inform me of her life. It
’
s not 24/7 surveillance, just enough to
know she isn
’
t
dead, and is well. She travels a lot for her work. I am glad she managed to
regain her bearings in her career. Moving to Australia was really a bad idea in
retrospect. Yet, she did it because she loved me, so I am happy to see her
practice and being successful at it. She is a smart woman, gifted; it was almost
criminal she couldn
’
t
show it for so long, and I have realized in light of my own career troubles how
much it truly cost her to move here for me.
She
’
s finished her PhD, which gives her an
edge. She will never know it, but her first client hired her as a favor to me.
That
was the least I could do for her. The rest she did on her own.
She
has found her niche, only a few projects per year for very wealthy clients, and
she rests and writes in between.
Occasionally,
my people lose track of her, she just vanishes; that
’
s when I know something unsettling has
happened in her life. She retreats every time. We haven
’
t figured out where she goes, but she
always reappears, eventually. The first time was when her father died two years
ago, she attended the funeral in Paris with her brother, even Kevin and Lily
were there, but the next day, she simply vanished for 6 weeks. My people couldn
’
t trace her after she took a flight to
Warsaw. She reappeared in Buenos Aires a month and half later; they were unable
to tell me how she got there or where she was in between.
Lucky
for me, in the past few years since she reappeared in Berlin in 2007, these
incidences have only occurred twice, well three times now, with her current
disappearing act.
Her
passports, that
’
s
how they find her. She probably doesn
’
t know, I
’
ve always been aware she had at least
three. I suspect a fourth is the one allowing her to make my people scramble to
earn their fees. She never relinquished her other citizenships when she married
me, even though, I did ask her to. Maybe she knew then, she would need them at
some later point in her life.
I
told you, she is clever.
I
can
’
t
help myself. I still love her. I still want to possess her. Because when it
’
s all said and done, she is still the one
who accepts me in all my flaws. I can
’
t let go.
In
addition, there are things I need to tell her. Things she needs to know about
Luca.
Watching
her from afar is no longer enough.
Soon.
I will go to her once I know where she is.
((~~!~~))
Before he met her, with other girlfriends,
and there were plenty of them, sex always ended after climaxes. Sex was fun,
terrific, and wonderful even; it relaxed him. After acrobatics and climaxes, he
would always be through though, until next time with the next girl.
Love
was an unknown word; needing someone, a foreign concept.
With
Vic, from the first time he touched her, there was a fierceness that has never
been there before; and against his will, what defined him, his control, his
boundaries melt away every time he made her reach a climax. He recalls the
first time he entered her, her molding around him tightly, the slight
contractions he felt as she became accustomed to him being inside her. It
was like nothing else he experienced before, or even dreamed of; she was made
for him. And, the way she looked at him, without judgement, encouraging him to
let himself be, almost challenging him, sealed it for him. She is embracing his
vulnerability, seeing him for who he is, urging him on, as he is heeding her want,
until he finally explodes in her. Fucking her was like a religious experience.
She sucked the life out of him, and then resurrected him, every single
time
…
allowing him to rise and to truly live once again. S
he
is creating a brand new world just for him. He is suddenly free to be, and an
overwhelming sense of possessiveness towards the woman who, miraculously,
unexpectedly, granted him freedom, is born.
As
he falls asleep in her arms, staking his claim with one word, only one thought
fills his brain.
So,
this is what it feels like to be complete.
When
the morning comes, he knows there is no turning back. Nothing has prepared him
for the intensity of the feelings he has for her, but he can
’
t deny them. So, he embraces them.
He
has no choice but to make her his; to make her understand, he can
’
t and simply won
’
t allow her to be anyone else
’
s. He needs to possess her, protect the
gift she has given him, because in his soul he already knows: he
’
s hers, forever.
Lucky
for him, she feels the same way about him. His need to be accepted meets hers.
He
will not have to contemplate life without her.
He
swears to himself, she will be his, forever, whatever it takes.
Almost
by accident, he
’
s
found her.
The
One
.
Julian
Can it get any worse?
That
was the grim question that occupied Julian
’
s mind as he was looking at his watch
while in the backseat of the Limousine taking him home.
He
was exhausted, but so wired; he knew hitting something would be his only hope
of relief.
He
was already thinking about the punching ball waiting for him in his equipment
room.
But,
it would be for later, because something else was waiting for him. Information.
Whatever
James Marshall had to say, he hoped, it would shed some light on Vi
’
s motives. And, it had better be good.
Tonight
was not a good time to be anywhere near him or try to mess up with him. He was
grateful Marcus would be there, just in case.
He
clinched his fist as his chest tightened once more. After a sleepless night in
Dubai, and 16-hour in the air, his anger still hadn
’
t let up.
((~~!~~))
Marcus
What now?
Julian
had rung me at the ungodly hour of 5:00 a.m. with a voice so cold and void, I
didn
’
t
recognize it.
He
told me he would be flying back from Dubai the same day, landing at 7:00 p.m.
and wanted James Marshall waiting for him at the house.
When
I asked what happened, he said,
“
That
fucker has been lying for way too long, now he
’
s going to pay. He made a fool of me
Marcus, and I take it very personally.
”
Obviously,
this was about Vi as he called her, he must have found out something he didn
’
t like. At all. Was this the
‘
Lonely hearts incorporated
‘
thing? Was she a pro? I mean, I took it
as the joke when I spoke to her, but what if it was for real?
Fuck!
I
ended the call asking him if he was ok, and he simply replied,
“
No, I
’
m not Marcus. I am not.
”
Damn
women! Can
’
t
live without them, but they only create trouble for us!
So
I rang James, there was no reason he shouldn
’
t start his day as early as I did.
((~~!~~))
James
Whatever it was, it wasn
’
t good. Not good at all.
I
hadn
’
t
heard back from Julian since that night about five weeks ago, when we had rung
Vi together in his office, so I was surprised when Marcus called before dawn
and asked, no, actually, commanded me, to meet him at Julian
’
s house at 8:00 p.m. the very same
evening.
Vi
and I had spoken just last week, and everything was cool on all fronts as far as
I knew. She even admitted that her weekly phone rendezvous with Julian was
something she now looked forward to.
Marcus
’
s call worried me. His tone had been
ominous. I didn
’
t
like it.
I
had been ringing Vi ever since his call, and left four messages asking her if
she had a clue as to what this impromptu appointment was about. She hadn
’
t returned any. I rang her hotel and was
told she had checked out the previous evening. When I tried her cell again,
while driving to the McCarty Estate, her voicemail was actually full.
Had
something happened to her?
When
I got there, Marcus was the one who let me in. Without preamble, he motioned me
to Julian
’
s
library, where Julian was staring at the flames of his large fireplace, a glass
of liquor in hand.
He
seemed haggard, but also strangely, dangerously calm.
Yes,
the man in front of me looked calm, but I knew it was deceiving. He did not
look relaxed; he was rigid, as a hurricane about to hit at the mere strike of a
gush of wind.
I
felt a chill in my bones just watching him.
I
cautiously asked Marcus,
“
What
the hell is wrong with him?
”
Right
at that moment, Julian
’
s
eyes shot up to me, narrowing and darkening.
That
was anger flickering through is gaze. A cold, unadulterated, unmistakable
anger.
Marcus
said in an icy tone,
“
He
’
s just flown back from Dubai. Landed an
hour ago, and it seems he
’
s
got some questions for you.
”
“
Dubai
…”
I said hesitantly, not really knowing how
to react. I was really worried about Vi now; so I asked, looking only at
Julian,
“
Did
something happen? Is Vi
…
-
”
Julian
interrupted me, seething,
“
Oh,
something happened all right! Now James, it
’
s time to start talking because right now,
as you can see, it
’
s
taking Marcus being here to restrain me from hurting you
…”
his voice trailed menacingly, anger mounting
with each word.
I
looked at Marcus. He went to Julian, said something in his ear, and Julian sat
down on one of the sofa across the fireplace, his eyes still on me.
Marcus
made me sit next to him on the facing sofa and said,
“
James, you need to tell us everything you
know about Victoryn McGregor, Ethan McGregor
’
s wife.
”
I
paled.
So
they knew she had been his wife. Well, they were bound to found out I guess
…
What
else did they know?
I
looked at Marcus, and his face was as sombre as one can get. The man would get
his answers, whether I was compliant or not.
Julian
’
s expression was a mix of sadness and
anger that I have rarely seen.
I
felt cornered.
I
got up, placed my hand on the mantel of the fireplace, looked at the flames for
a while and then finally looked at both men, saying firmly,
“
I will tell you all I know under one
condition, and it
’
s
not negotiable
…”
as both men were getting up, I added,
“
Whatever I tell you will not leave this
room.
”
Both
men looked at each other and nodded.
I
started to talk.
((~~!~~))
Julian
After talking to Melissa and changing his
flight for an immediate return to LA, Julian had gone to the hotel Bar. He knew
he wouldn
’
t
sleep that night; he was too wound up. After a few hours of solitary drinking,
and being approached by a few women whom he sent packing without regards, he
went back to his suite, feeling a bit better, but not by much.
He
looked at his unpacked suitcase, thinking the trip definitely hadn
’
t gone as planned.
He
had her, yet once again, within moments of holding her in his grasp, she had
eluded him.
He
was getting seriously depressed.
Who
the hell was this woman waltzing in and out of his life? Not once, but twice?
And each time leaving havoc while taking a piece of him!
He
opened his notebook and decided to Google Victoryn McGregor, he hadn
’
t occurred to him to use the search engine
before. He wanted to know as much as he could before talking to James fucking
Marshall.
It
was very strange, as her name popped only in a few searches, she was mostly
referred her as Ethan
’
s
wife, and no picture of her would show. It was like she had avoided having it
taken for years. What was up with that? A Premier
’
s wife, without any public life? This was
simply unheard of, especially in the Australia he knew, where socializing was a
job in itself for any politician
’
s
wife. His own mother had been a living proof of that! Moreover, all the
searches seemed to be dated prior to 2005, it was as if she hasn
’
t existed in the past five years!
This
was all kinds of wrong.
He
couldn
’
t
find any information on a divorce, and that was unsettling. He felt his inner
fear grow stronger.
He
tried to do a separate pictures search, but the only one that turned up was a photo
of her dressed in black with sunglasses and a black hat covering half her face,
Ethan holding her as they stood next to a black limousine.
The
caption said
“
NSW
Premier and wife,
”
dated June 17
th
, 2005, and he proceeded reading on the article.
He
felt his stomach tighten once more, and bile reached his mouth.
He
then made a new search and read about the scandal that caused Ethan
’
s resignation, noticing it happened just a
few weeks after the funeral, and his mind began to reel erratically.
Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck.
He
needn
’
t look or read further.
This
was getting too close to home for comfort.
Way too close
.
He
shut the laptop down, went to his bathroom to splash cold water on his face, and
took a glance at his reflection. He was haggard, he felt his stomach lurch, and
waited to see if he would indeed vomit. When nothing came, he went back inside
the room, to the bar. Hands shaking, he poured himself another drink and called
Marcus, ordering him to ensure James Marshall would be there waiting for him,
tonight.
He
felt physically sick. Questions were swirling in his mind, and he started to
wonder if he had made a mistake not chasing after her when she left her room.
Where was she now?