Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
ARIELLA
Dominic is a conservative dancer and, the moment we take the dance floor, he puts me in a hold. He clutches one of my hands with one of his and places the other loosely round my waist. It takes about a minute but, surprisingly, we find our rhythm and eventually start to move to the music together. It’s endearing.
‘You dance like someone professional taught you,’ I observe.
‘They did. A lot,’ he admits, unashamed. ‘But you’re a natural.’ He twirls me away and brings me back again. ‘Why am I your only dance today?’
‘I’m not a big public dancer and this is more work than fun for me.’
‘That’s something I didn’t know. I suppose being forced to attend a wedding takes all the romance out of it.’
‘Especially one like this.’
‘My bet is that it’s a wealth-preservation move. Two families, consolidating.’
‘But Melissa has no family. It’s just her, and she wasn’t jumping for joy the last time I checked.’
‘Maybe protection? Kevin’s father is…not a nice guy. I think Kevin spends a lot of his life doing as he is told.’
‘You think he was told to marry Melissa?’
‘The whole Kevin and Melissa thing is weird. They both always seem to want to be elsewhere.’
‘Maybe that’s where they should be.’
Dominic launches me away from him in time with the music, then pulls me back in so he’s behind me, holding me close as we dance. This in no way feels like I am dancing with my boss and it makes me a little uneasy. I feel him lower his head to speak into my ear.
‘Would you rather be elsewhere?’
‘Yes.’
‘Where?’
‘Anywhere but here.’
Dominic releases my waist but keeps hold of my hand as we leave the dance floor. He leads me past the people milling around outside and through the gardens surrounding the pavilion until we find a quiet bench.
‘You’ve been sad all day. Would you like me to see if I can get you back home to Singapore tonight?’
‘No, thank you, Dom. We made a commitment and I’d like to see it through.’
‘But you look like you’re aching, Aari. You may have been charming and excited when you were talking about the app, but you’re clearly hurting. What’s going on?’
‘Melissa is a monster. She has hurt so many people that I care about and I’m finding it really hard to be relaxed at what is clearly a sham wedding. But the people she has truly hurt seem to be okay, so who am I not to be?’
‘The pain of the observer is often greater than the sufferer; as it is bolstered by the limitless power of imagination.’
‘Who said that?’
‘No idea. How can I help? I can call Lara, take you back to mine for a little while, walk you back to yours? This thing is pretty much over.’
‘I think I need a walk to clear my head. I really hope this is the end of Melissa and everything that comes with her, Dom.’
‘I hope so too, and, if it’s not, we’ll figure it out. You’re not alone any more, Aari, you’ve got Samir and me now. What you went through to get Ivory Bow to the other side of that disaster wasn’t lost on me. Just because you’re tough and strong and you can carry this company through alone doesn’t mean you should. You were smart to demote yourself, but you don’t need a CEO because you can’t do the job, Ariella Mason, you’re more than competent. You need a CEO because someone needs to teach, support and look after you until you decide you want it, if you ever do; and that person can’t be me because I have conflicting interests.’
‘Dom, I need to tell you?—’
‘I know you’re back together with him, Aari. I genuinely hope it works out because, above everything else, I want you to be happy. It’s just that I see you doing a lot of fighting for this guy. I just hope he fights for you too.’
‘He does. The way Caleb shows up may not be visible to anyone else, but it matters to me.’
‘Just know, you can come to me for anything, Aari. Anything at all.’ Dominic extends his hand. ‘Let me walk you back to your villa.’
Lara and Honey are sitting together sweetly on the couch, watching a film, when I get back.
‘Hey!’ they say at the same time, their eyes glued to the screen.
‘Looks like you both had a lovely evening. What are you watching?’
‘Some French film about a guy in a wheelchair that hires a male nurse from the wrong side of the tracks,’ Lara says, waving me away.
‘Want to join us, Aari?’ Honey asks, moving to the edge of the couch. She pulls Lara towards her so that Lara will be sandwiched between us. It’s cute.
‘No, she doesn’t,’ Caleb says, coming through the door, before hugging me from behind. He plants a kiss on my shoulder and I smell the whisky on his breath. He’s been hanging out with Lydia. I don’t know why, but it makes me smile.
‘Hi,’ I say, enjoying his closeness.
‘Did you have fun today, considering the circumstances?’
‘It wasn’t horrible. Before I forget, we may have two potential new clients. The two guys outside? I’ve emailed you their details.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Shhhhhh!’ Lara scolds us.
‘It’s in French!’ Caleb complains. ‘You’re reading the subtitles.’
‘Come on,’ I interrupt before they start attacking each other. I lead Caleb into our room and he leans in to kiss my lips as soon as he shuts the door behind us.
‘You’re still in your dress. Nice.’
‘You did promise to help me out of it earlier,’ I suggest.
‘I did, didn’t I?’
Standing behind me, he slowly unzips my dress, his fingers leaving little sparks down my back. ‘I forgot about your little lingerie surprise.’ He strokes my bum as the dress drops to the floor. I turn round to help him out of his suit.
Everything with Caleb feels final since we reunited. Like we can take our time with each other because we know that neither one of us is going anywhere. I want him to feel safe with me, like I have always done with him, no matter what external forces may be at play.
After he fulfils his promise, we shower, locate bathrobes and sit in bed to catch on how bizarre today has been.
‘So, I’ve got three weeks on Melissa and Kevin,’ he bets casually.
‘They’ll go the distance. This wedding was a contract. As long as they stay away from each other, keep their affairs discreet and don’t attempt to have a loving home, they’ll stay together.’
‘Ariella Mason, you romantic.’ Caleb tickles me and I yelp. ‘I have something to tell you but before I do I’m going to need you to tell Icy Ariella to back off. I want to share everything with you and I need you to try to understand.’
Oh no. I close my eyes, take a deep breath and let it out slowly. This is Caleb. It could be anything. When I’m ready I open my eyes to his worried face.
‘Okay. I’m listening.’
‘I met Melissa tonight. Privately.’
I feel the familiar numbness start to creep over me. ‘Wait, please.’ I take a few more breaths before I feel it dissipate. ‘Okay, continue.’
‘I needed to find out how much Kevin knew and if it was going to cause any further problems. Do you want the details or the highlights?’
Normally, Caleb telling a good juicy story is my happy place, but this isn’t a good or juicy story and the thought of him being alone with Melissa makes me deeply uncomfortable. Especially after what she did.
‘Highlights, please.’
‘Kevin knows everything. He was going to go public unless Melissa married him. She’s not coping well.’
‘How does that have an impact on you, me or Ivory Bow?’
‘It doesn’t and it won’t – it’s baked into the prenup. They can’t “embarrass” each other.’
‘Anything else that directly or specifically affects us?’
‘No, but Icy Ariella just showed up,’ Caleb says, then strokes my face. It’s true. I’m numb.
‘I don’t know how to deal with this, Caleb. You sound almost…sympathetic. Kevin Wong’s extortion plot doesn’t seem anywhere near as egregious as what she has been getting up to.’
‘I do feel a little sorry for her. She burst into tears, Aari.’
‘Caleb, please tell me that you did not spend part of your evening consoling the rapist who successfully orchestrated moving our lives across the world and then tried to get eight innocent people convicted for her financial crimes?’
‘I didn’t know what to do.’
I want to scream until my lungs give out, because that’s the alternative to being numb. I’m angry and I’m hurt, but being able to share things like this with me is new for him and I promised I’d try to understand.
‘I need to know if you’ll keep running to her if she calls, Caleb. I’m trying to remove this person from our personal and professional lives, and I don’t think I can cope with her reintroduction – especially by you.’
‘That’s not what this is, Aari. She has been blocked this entire time. I genuinely just needed to know what Kevin knew.’ He looks at me regretfully. ‘Things just took a turn, that’s all.’
It takes me about a minute to breathe through the conversation we have just had. Eventually, I reach for his hand and lace my fingers through his. I didn’t handle that well.
‘I’m sorry. Thank you for telling me. The next time something like this pops up, please can we maybe talk about it and find a way to get what we need without involving her?’ I pull my boyfriend close and kiss him deeply.
‘You’re not pissed off?’
‘I’m more thankful that we’re using this to try to be kinder and more open with each other. It happened, we talked about it, you said it’s not going to happen again and I believe you. I think that’s kind of how the growing-up thing is going to work.’
‘Ugh. I hate that we’re out of supplies,’ Caleb says, pulling me in even closer.
‘Maybe if we’re careful…’ I raise my eyebrows twice at him.
‘Good girls would shut me down and suggest we go to sleep.’
‘True, but naughty girls tend to do whatever they want.’
It doesn’t take long for Caleb to pounce.
Morning comes too quickly. I am up before him and feeling playful, so I straddle him to wake him up. Without opening his eyes, he reaches out, grabs me and pulls me into his chest before he shifts my hips to a place where I get a crystal-clear idea of what his morning plans are.
‘Goodness, Caleb. You have such a one-track mind!’ I laugh and he laughs right along with me.
‘One-track mind? I’m not the one straddling a sleeping man.’
‘You’re not sleeping any more, are you?’
‘No, I am not. I am very much awake, in every sense,’ he says, placing his lips on mine.
After we shower, Caleb and I decide to skip the wedding brunch and explore the island. Lara’s exploits over the last couple of days have left her more infamous than she would like, so she and Honey decide to join us.
As we make our way to the far end of the beach away from the party, we are quickly approached by an island resident who suggests that we go further afield for a mangrove lunch. After Caleb vehemently votes no because he doesn’t want to get killed while protecting us from our poor choices, Honey volunteers to be our group muscle if anything goes wrong. With Caleb outvoted three to one, we get in the gentleman’s car and are taken to a shuttle boat ten minutes away. The floating restaurant is peacefully empty when we arrive. We have a lazy brunch, navigating the items sent to us from the kitchen, and I wish we had more days like this. After we have had some food, we pick a hammock each from the many tied to the boat’s structure and allow the motion to rock us to sleep. After what feels like seconds, Caleb wakes me. The restaurant is much busier. He looks concerned.
‘Mason, we have to go.’ He gives me a quick kiss, then goes off to find our waiter. By the time I get out of my hammock, our bill is paid and the shuttle boat to shore is waiting.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘We’re going to miss our transfer back home.’
Thankfully our car is waiting at the shore to take us back to the resort. We pack quickly and make it just in time to get through immigration and get on Dominic’s plane. When we board, he’s not there, so I shoot him a quick text.
Hey Dom, we just made the plane. We’re on board now.
Where were you this morning?
His response is a little sharp. It’s expected; we were cutting it fine.
Went to a floating mangrove restaurant.
Was Caleb with you?
This is weird.
Yes, with Honey and Lara.
Ok. Good. Head home. I’ll fly with Kevin.
I’m sorry we were running late.
Don’t worry about it. Mel didn’t make it to brunch and Kevin is losing his mind because he can’t find her.
She couldn’t have gone far. How was she this morning?
Our groom may have spent his wedding night with someone other than his wife. Delete this.
I swipe right, select the last message and hit delete immediately. Another message follows.
Get home safely. I’ll drop you a message when I’m back.
‘What did he say? Is he coming?’ Caleb asks.
‘No, we’re going home alone. Melissa is hiding from Kevin and they are trying to find her. Your three-week prediction might have been too generous.’
After we land, I head back with Caleb to spend some time with him before he goes to London for the week. He takes care of our supply issue with an overenthusiastic restock and the afternoon unfolds with a beautiful ease around us. We spend it swimming, stealing kisses, napping under the sun by the pool and picking at the spread of food he has ordered in for us. This lazy day with him is what I need before he prepares to fly to London for the Harrison-replacement interviews in the morning. When we get into bed that night, everything feels quiet and normal. It’s a feeling I have craved since I arrived in Singapore, and for the first time I allow myself to see past our lives here.
‘Caleb, when all this is over, what do you want to do?’ I ask as I climb into his bed.
‘I don’t know, but I apparently now own two boxing gyms, which funnily enough will leave me homeless in Singapore.’
‘What do you mean, homeless?’
‘I’ve liquidated everything in Singapore and moved it back home. That includes this apartment, so I have to move out by the end of next month. Let’s hope that’s not a sign of things to come.’ He laughs.
‘Want to move in with me?’
‘You don’t think it’s too soon?’
‘It’s not soon enough. This is what I wanted when I took the job, Caleb. I wanted us to live together and to have a big adventure.’
‘I think we got the big adventure in spades.’
I laugh as I shake my head. My boyfriend plants a sweet little kiss on my lips. ‘And it looks like there’s more adventure to come with your gyms. It’s wonderful but it’s also a huge commitment.’
‘We’ll see. I’m not sure what to do with them, to be honest. The plan for now is to rent them. Obviously, whoever leases them needs to guarantee that Phillip and the boys will have a place to train, but that’s it. Have you been thinking about what you want to do?’
‘I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about the shelter a lot and I might volunteer full time for a little while until I decide.’
‘Would you consider working with food? Jack’s idea wasn’t bad.’
‘I’m not good enough.’
‘First of all, you are definitely good enough. And maybe there are other ways that we haven’t thought of yet.’
‘I’m not. I haven’t cooked properly in months and things are only going to get busier at work as we grow.’
‘We can find the time to get you cooking again. That’s the easy part…’ he says, closing in and tracing a finger up my leg.
‘Caleb, we’re not going to find the time at the top of my thigh.’
‘We’re not, but we have supplies again and time tonight is precious. Any requests, seeing as I’ll be gone all week?’
‘Yes. Please can you make your love bites last? You?’
‘Dig your nails in. Your cute little short-nailed scratches on my back remind me of you.’
‘I didn’t know you had a kink!’
Caleb stops and then suddenly erupts with laughter, making me laugh too.
‘Ariella Mason, what do you know about kinks?’
‘Enough for me to recognise one and wonder what mine could be. It’d be exciting to find out.’
‘What the hell do you think your absolute obsession with my love bites is? You, my little Mason, are very kinky.’
Caleb’s hand travels above my vest, finds my nipple and brushes his palm lightly over it, making me gasp as my back arches instinctively.
My boyfriend then chuckles to himself, before he covers my mouth with his.
At the end of the next day, MsPat, for the very first time, turns up at the Ivory Bow office with a shopping bag, an invitation to Tekka Market in Little India and a message from Caleb.
Mason, I’ll probably be about eight hours into my flight right now, but if MsPat is showing you this she’s an angel. Block off this time in your diary every week and use it to explore. She’ll be with you for as many weeks as you want the training wheels to stay on. I love you. Go. Have fun.
And that’s where I am when the text comes through from Lydia. Following the recovery of her mobile phone and wallet, Melissa Chang has been officially declared missing.