Red Collar (14 page)

“I mean it is unexpected that
a man of your social standing would take a woman who he pays for sex, on a visit to his family. So why?”

Clayton shifted nervously in his chair. The last time he did that was when he was fifteen
years old as he sat in the chair across Principal Fahey’s desk, his father at his side while the gym teacher, Mr Waddle explained in colorful terms how he happened to be locked in the girl’s shower room and what Clayton’s gifted scheming ways had to do with it.

“I needed a partner and you happened to be convenient. It’s not like anyone knows of our relationship,” he shrugged.

“Except Bob Whitton,” she pointed out.

His temples pulsed. He poured out a glass of wine.
Bob was going to join him at the end of the week. “I trust him. He won’t talk. Not unless I do.”

“Yeah? You sure about that?” she scoffed.

He didn’t reply, sipping his wine instead. “I am not ashamed of you,” he said slowly at last, thinking, his fingers tracing the stem of his glass.

“No? So you don’t mind me shouting it proudly when I do meet them?”

He raised his eyes at her. They were laced with clear warning. “Is there something you want to speak to me about?”

“I thought I already was,” she c
ontested.

“Kate,” he started, firmly. But he caught the hostess coming towards them and bit back his words, much to the offence of his disgruntled ego.

He waited for her to lay their meal on the table.

“Is there anything else you need, Mr. Reid? Ms Ripley?”
the hostess asked.

“We’re fine,” he replied. “For now,”
he tried adding on a small smile to the otherwise grim looming atmosphere.

Kate studied her rich dish of beef bourguignon, mashed potatoes and salad on the side.
  “Do you always get what you want?”

“You’re not
sitting in coach in some commercial airline, Kate.” He took a bite of his food and nodded in approval. “This is what I’ve worked for all my life. Why should I not enjoy it?”

She clutched her fork tightly in her hand and continued staring at her meal.

“Is there something wrong, Kate?” he asked. “You could get something else if you don’t like it?”

“I just can’t…,” she stammered quietly, her voice quivering.

Clayton tensed. Was she missing home? Her child? Her lover? But then she took a bite of her food.

“You never told me anything about yourself,” he said, watching her.

“You never asked,” she shrugged. “Besides, there is nothing to tell. I’d really not like to go there. My personal life’s mine and I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Yes. Although, you told me you don’t have a lover…” he persisted.

“And I don’t,” she replied tiredly. “Listen, can we drop the inquisition? This is a six day stint and I’m happy to do it. So really, there is no need for any of this. We’ll both go our separate ways at the end of it.”

Clayton’s eyes narrowed. He would have to see about that. He was going to do everything he could to make sure this was more than just a temporary fling.

“So who do I expect to meet when I get to your family home?” she asked.

He sat back, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “My parents and my grandmother. My sister would be joining us from France. She’s married. I’m not sure if her husband’s coming
too. She gave birth to a girl three months ago and this would be the first time she would be home with the baby. My parents have thrown this little get-together in honor of the baby.”

She shrugged. “I don’t understand. Then why take me? You could easily have gone alone. After all it is a family affair.”

He gave a hollow laugh. “And risk all the continual advice, more like harassment, on why I should be settled too? The women out-number the men in the family. And I’m the perfect candidate for the next marriageable project.”

“So who am I supposed to be? Your girlfriend or
your fiancée?”

He shrugged. “Does it really matter?”

She glowered at him. “If you’re intending to lie, shouldn’t you make it a believable one?”

“Who said I was lying?” he muttered. He ran a frustrating hand through his hair. What was he doing? He didn’t need her, he tried convincing himself. “I need you to play my fiancée.”

She grew silent. “That’s a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?”

“Y
ou gave me a choice and so I chose.” He watched her nip at her lower lip; lips he longed to caress and nip with his own. Just the mere fantasy hardened him for her.

“M
y family won’t believe I’d bring a girlfriend to the home. I have never done so in the past. Never formally introduced one as well. So you playing the girlfriend is out of the question.”

She lowered her eyes as if to study the food on her plate. “They’d think we were serious,” she almost whispered.

“That’s the idea,” he replied, throatily.

She glared at him. “You don’t care, do you? You don’t care who you hurt in the process, so long as you get your way.” She pushed the food aside and slid out of her chair.
“And if you dare as follow me,” she added quickly when she saw him move. “I swear to God, I’ll catch the next plane back home as soon as we’ve landed. And no money or anything you do will stop me.”

With that, she stomped out of the dining and into the priva
cy of the only bedroom on the plane.

Kate threw herself
onto the bed, stifling her sobs into a pillow. She knew he would never leave her if he heard her.

She mentally assessed him in her mind. He was deceitful to the extent of lacking any loyalty to his own family. How could she then expect anything more from him
?  She shook her head vigorously. Why did he affect her so much? Why did anything he did affect her so harshly when all she was to him was a contract? She couldn’t have fallen in love with him. Not with one as wretched as him. Her senses tried to reason with her. How could she have made herself vulnerable to yet another man who wanted to use her? Not after Alan, she had promised herself. She thought she had learnt from her errors; she pounded frustratingly at her pillow.

The captain’s voice came over, piercing through her sobs. They were about to land and she needed to be seated and strapped.

She rose quickly and made her way into the bathroom. The last thing she needed was Clayton seeing her weeping over him. If he could play the cut-throat business man, so could she.

The hostess knocked
softly onto the bedroom door. “Ms Ripley, are you okay? Ms Ripley?”

“Yes,” she said, her voice muffled by the towel she was using to wipe dry her face. “I’ll be out soon.”

She dabbed a fresh foundation and re-touched her eyes with mascara. She assessed herself, ensuring she did not give away her true emotions. Satisfied, she stepped out and back into her seat in the entertainment section.

Clayton was already strapped in. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said, grimly. Or she would be once she was as far as she could possibly get away from him.

*****

Bridget clambered out of the elevator, her hands at her throat, almost gagging.

“Damn, that elevator stinks,” she grumbled as she strode up to Kate’s apartment. She had been there only a few times and taken the stairs upon Kate’s insistence. She shook her head angrily. Kate could have explained.

She stalled at the apartment door. “Go back now, Bridget. This isn’t your problem. Do it,” she muttered to herself.

She sighed and knocked heavily onto the door. She heard someone rustle with the latch. She leant against the door frame tiredly, each hand on either side of it as she hung her head dejectedly.

“Bridget?” said Rudy, staring at her.

She lifted her head slowly. “Hey baby, I’m home.”
She swung past him. “So what’s for dinner?”

The rest of the children lay sporadically sprawled in the living room.

Libby looked up at her scornfully. “What are you doing here?”

Bridget put a hand on her hip and smiled. “Didn’t you hear? I’m here for the top job.”

“Well, you’re fired. We don’t need you.”

Bridget smirked. “Not going to do, sweetheart. I was personally sought after. So until Kate gives me the boot, you’ll just have to manage with me.”

Libby fla
red, rising to attack her. Rudy immediately stepped in between the women.

“Thanks for coming, Bridget,” he said. “Are you going to sleep in as well?”

Bridget flashed her eyes between the two older siblings. “Yeah, well that’s what a supervision means, right? Otherwise what would be the point of me taking all this trouble to come here?”

Rudy shifted nervously at his feet.

“Have you had dinner?” asked Bridget. She despised cooking. She had never cooked a proper meal in her life. And the thought of catering to four children and an invalid adult had repelled her in the first instance. But when she recalled the troubles Kate had been through in the recent years, she couldn’t help but relent in helping her out.

“Not yet,” said Rudy. “But Kate’s bought a load of frozen food to last us the week. We’ll just heat some of that up.”

Bridget nodded her head. “Right. I guess that settles dinner then.” She threw her bag onto the couch and stretched her arms. “I should say hello to your mother.”

With that, she walked into Ter
ri’s room, with Libby scoffing behind her.

Bridget rolled her eyes as she turned away. She had known Kate’s sister was going to be difficult to get along with. She prayed though it wouldn’t be so bad where she would need to get up and flee the apartment never to return.

She
didn’t understand how Kate even managed with Libby. It didn’t take much to trigger Libby’s fiery wick into a blazing rage. So when she disagreed on the color of a shirt Kate was buying for Libby on their first shopping venture together, it drastically converted into a war of cheap fashion choices.

She could still remember Libby’s words ringing in her mind. “You dress like a slut. Who
in the hell do you think you are to tell me what suits me?!”

Bridget had almost slapped the
then twelve year old for her crass attitude, had Kate not held onto her. Needless to say, that was their only outing together and the start of an all time war between Libby and her.

*****

They had crossed over the Canadian border, the sun brightening up the sky as they neared Sitka. The sun was still setting in the horizon when they landed at a private airstrip. And just as soon as they did, she was huddled off into a waiting helicopter with Clayton. Half an hour later, they were riding over the blue Atlantic sea and towards a small island in the distance. It was the first time she had ever sat in a helicopter. In fact, it was a first time for most things and she would have enjoyed the experience if her thoughts of Clayton had not possessed her so greatly.

The helicopter lowered down to a
helipad and landed with a soft thump. They stepped out of it, Clayton offering his hand to aid her out.

Reluctantly, she held onto it. To her dismay though, he didn
’t release it even as she tried. He clutched onto it tightly as he issued instructions to the grounds-men who sped obediently to his side and then remained holding it as he walked towards the large mansion before them.

Two women smiled gleefully on the veranda, waving delightfully at them. It was only when he neared them
that he released her to throw his arms around each of them.

She had never seen him brightened with so much joy, his eyes lifted at the corners and hi
s smile was accompanied by a heart-warming laugh.

“Mom,” he said, kissing her cheek and then repeated the same with the older woman, who she presumed had to be his grandmother.

“And who is this beautiful creature here?” asked his grandmother, excitedly.

“This is Kate,” he introduced. “My fiancée,” he added with such pride that she herself almost believed the authenticity resounding in his voice.

“You’re engaged?” his mother asked with disbelief and began to tear as she kissed Kate on her cheeks. “I’m so happy. After all these years…” she trailed off and hugged Clayton again. She barely reached his shoulders, slumping against his chest as he rubbed her shoulders, trying to calm her down.

“
Come on, Mom,” he teased. “If I had known you were going to be such an emotional mess on hearing my engagement, I would never have proposed to Kate.”

She stepped away in anger. “Don’t you dare Clayton Wilbur Reid. I’
ve waited so long for this day. Don’t you even dare dash any lasting hopes of seeing you married.”

“Well, congratulations,” said his grandmother, kissing Kate. “You must tell me all about how this rascal won your heart. This certainly is one of the best gifts Clayton has ever given me.”