Chapter 32
THIRTY-TWO
CALEB
‘Hey, Mommy.’
‘Baby.’ Dahlia Mason throws her arms round Ariella, and immediately steps back, wide-eyed. She stops to look at me, confused, before she turns to Ariella.
‘Ariella, are you pregnant?’
A bright smile breaks across her face and confirms Dahlia’s intuition.
‘Oh!’ she says quietly, pulling her daughter back in and squeezing her.
‘As for you,’ she goes on, turning to me with a smile playing on her lips, ‘I think you know you’re in for a rough ride.’
I nod.
Zachary and Isszy are already in the kitchen with Hugh, chatting as they nibble some crisps, wine in hand.
‘Daddy!’ Ariella approaches him with open arms and I feel a deep longing for a relationship like that with mine. After initial hugs and kisses with Zachary and Isszy, I reach out my hand to shake Hugh Mason’s, who pulls me into a hug instead.
Shit. The hugs are going to be over soon.
‘MrMason, please can I have a word?’
‘Of course.’
Hugh Mason opens their sliding door and we walk into the garden.
‘Ariella is pregnant. Fifteenth week.’
His face doesn’t change.
‘Congratulations. What’s your plan?’
‘I’m working on moving back from Singapore?—’
‘So, my daughter is going to be pregnant and alone.’
‘No, I’m tied into a contract that lasts for another eighteen months but I’m planning to visit and?—’
‘Ah. It gets better. She’s going to be a single mother for only some of the time.’
‘It’s not that simple.’
‘Seemed simple enough to get her pregnant.’
‘Daddy, stop it,’ Ariella interrupts as she joins us. ‘You don’t know what’s going on here. Or maybe you do, and you’ve just forgotten. ‘
‘Ariella—’
‘No, Daddy. I love you so much but your expectations are impossible and we’re pregnant because of me, not him. I made a beautiful mistake.’
Ariella rubs her belly.
‘Aari, he’s not ready.’
‘You don’t know that. You have no idea how much we have put on the line for each other. Daddy, please embrace it. Embrace him. It may not be a shotgun and a porch, but you’re about to make the same mistake Grandpa Spence made. I’d never run off, I’m not Mommy?—’
‘Hey!’ I hear Dahlia interrupt to complain.
‘—but I’m not going to stand by and watch you embarrass and demean the father of my child either.’
‘Dad has had this coming for a while,’ Zachary says a little too loudly, drawing attention to him, Dahlia and Isszy, who are all listening as they huddle by the sliding door. They’re not even trying to hide that they are eavesdropping.
‘Dahlia?’ Hugh Mason calls for reinforcements.
‘I like Caleb. It’s not how I’d want it to happen either, but I remember being eight months pregnant when I walked down the aisle. We didn’t have a plan either. Is it risky? Sure. Can it work? We’ve got a beautiful family with two appropriately stubborn children to show for it.’
‘Is this why you showed up that night?’ Hugh rounds on me.
‘What night?’ Ariella asks.
‘He—’
‘Hugh Mason!’ Dahlia interrupts. ‘I invited Caleb to dinner the last time he was in the UK just to catch up. If you’re fifteen weeks now, you won’t have been pregnant then. He wasn’t hiding anything, Hugh.’
‘Why am I the villain here?’
‘You’re not, baby,’ Dahlia says, stepping into the garden to hold her husband’s hand. ‘You’re just realising that Ariella is human too and, no matter how much you love her, her choices won’t always align with yours. If we really think about it, you chose Jasper for her. They both just didn’t realise it. Maybe it’s time to truly support her choosing Caleb rather than just tolerating him as long as he doesn’t put a foot wrong.’
‘This isn’t just Sunday lunch, Dahlia. This is for ever.’
‘MrMason, I have no plans to leave,’ I inform him.
‘Only, your plans to leave are already in motion, Caleb.’
‘Daddy! That’s really unfair,’ Ariella objects.
‘Ariella, you didn’t honestly think he’d stick around, did you?’
‘Hugh, stop it,’ Dahlia whispers to her husband.
‘Are you trying to tell me that no one else is wondering why he won’t just quit his job and move back with her?’
‘Then he’d be the loser who quit his job and can’t provide for his family, because according to you love doesn’t pay the bills. He can’t win with you, Dad,’ Zachary adds in my defence.
Dahlia holds her hand up. She has had enough.
‘That’s it.’ Dahlia Mason shuts the conversation down. ‘We’re supposed to be a family. If everyone can’t sit at the table and be fully accepted into this family, then no one is sitting at the table.’
‘Mum! No, please. I’m hungry,’ Zachary pleads.
We all watch Dahlia return inside the house and head up the stairs. Hugh Mason shoots me a look that would give anyone not used to his antics a heart attack, and follows his wife.
‘Well, I’m eating,’ Zachary says sitting at the dining table.
‘I’ll join you,’ Isszy says happily. ‘Caleb, Aari. Come on,’ she encourages us as we join them. I’m happy to sit but I’m definitely not eating. I’ve pissed Hugh Mason off enough already today. I risk pouring myself a glass of water.
‘Zach, I was thinking…’ Isszy starts, stroking his head affectionately.
‘Oh no,’ Zachary says, dropping his fork. ‘We had a plan, Isz.’
‘I know but,’ Isszy says with her eyes shining, ‘let’s move the plan up.’
‘What plan?’ Ariella asks.
‘This is your fault,’ Zachary complains. ‘It was bad enough Sophia getting pregnant. And now you too? Nightmare.’
‘Oh shush. I want our kids to play together,’ Isszy explains, ‘There are no guarantees you guys are going to have more kids so, if everyone is pregnant now, I might as well join in the fun. That way, they can grow up together.’
‘I’m going to be so poor,’ Zachary says. I laugh because that’s exactly what I thought.
‘Zach, you have to admit it is a great idea going through it together,’ Ariella adds, supporting Isszy.
‘You’re only supporting this because Sophia has branded you her nemesis and you need someone else.’
‘Maybe, but Isszy would be an amazing pregnancy buddy.’ She chuckles.
‘Hurry up and finish eating. Let’s start tonight!’ Isszy says, clapping.
We don’t see Dahlia and Hugh for the rest of the afternoon. While we all know that they are up there fighting, there is a certain respect that I have for them, starting a challenging conversation in front of us and making it private when it seems neither of them is willing to budge. We wait until Zachary finishes eating – slower than I have seen anyone eat in my life to delay the trip home. When he eventually finishes, Isszy drags him out of the house as he continues to complain. We leave with them, after sticking a copy of the scan to the front of the fridge. It makes me laugh. Ariella Mason is the only person I know who seems to gravitate towards using the sticky note to deliver life-changing news.
‘How did it go?’ Lara calls from the couch as soon as we walk in. There are upsides to having Lara living with us, but the disadvantages require a workaround.
‘It’s all a bit up in the air,’ Ariella responds, walking toward her friend.
‘Aari, can I have a word upstairs please?’ I ask before she reaches her destination.
Lara drops her phone and looks at both of us suspiciously. ‘You have a child in there. Do anything to jeopardise that and I will end you both.’
I reach out my hand and lead my girlfriend upstairs. Once we are behind the closed bedroom door, I step close enough to her to hold her face in my hands and look directly into her eyes.
‘Thank you for today,’ I whisper, just in case Lara is eavesdropping.
‘Thank you for every single loving, frustrating, heartbreaking, consuming, freeing, infuriating and supportive thing you have ever done, Caleb.’ She means it.
I kiss my girlfriend from the depths of my soul and, when she returns it, I know this is it. Our kiss tips over slowly into desire.
‘So, I’ve been on the internet…’ I raise an eyebrow.
‘I asked the midwife,’ Ariella giggles, beating me to my thoughts.
‘Ariella Mason, what am I going to do with you?’ The fact that, through all of this, the idea crossed her mind is astounding. What is going on in that mind of hers?
‘I don’t know, but we only have two days left and, thanks to me, we’re behind. Make them count, Black.’
‘Ariella, with you, we are always right on time.’
We slip too easily into that bubble of nothing but each other and stay there well into the next afternoon on our familiar sleep, chat, shower rotation. I only come down to get some water, snacks and Ariella’s vitamins. All I get from Lara is, ‘Disgusting,’ but, as much as she tries, she can’t hide the smile that is making its way across her face.
The hardest thing I have ever done in my life is get on that plane to Singapore. Aside from personal and financial ruin, I don’t believe there is anything I won’t do to return to Ariella and my daughter. As soon as I get back to my new flat, I cast the video of the scan to my TV. She’s perfect. And feisty. She wiggles around, tossing and turning on the screen throughout the ninety-second video. She was a sesame seed at one point.
I place a quick call to Ariella to let her know that I have arrived safely, before I find a way to separate the life I want from the life that I currently have.
Thankfully the work that has piled up over the last three weeks will need some careful handling but, before I get going, I have a 7a.m. meeting with Samir. He obviously wants to release his wrath before everyone gets in.
He’s sitting in his office when I turn up. ‘Caleb. The way you disappeared was completely unacceptable.’
‘Samir, I’m not a child. What are the consequences?’ There really is nothing Samir can do or say to make me regret what I did for a second.
‘You’re grounded in Singapore.’
‘I was expecting that. What else?’
‘You need to catch up and repair the relationships you almost destroyed while you were gone.’
‘Catch up, fine, but the relationships are good. Lydia told them I had a personal emergency, which I actually did. The clients have been much more understanding than you have. Dominic, I get. You, on the other hand, know what’s happening here. It’s much harder to understand.’
‘I don’t make the rules, Caleb, I just play the game.’
‘Then play it better, Samir.’
He’s not going to do or say anything else, so I walk out of his office. I have other issues to take care of.
My diary when I open it is packed. Samir has me going to every envelope-opening and opportunity. I’m not going to sleep at this rate; but I’ve been in worse situations. The team was great those first three weeks. The sales team offered to take on some smaller opportunities to give me space to breathe, because Samir’s strategy was to take everything and anything that came across our desks. Ariella had been much more discerning. We dived into huge projects that came in but for the smaller projects we identified how we could help for free, did that and returned ownership to the client to deliver. It was a win-win. Samir was dropping in dinner for ten internal staff projects with the same might as week-long, thousand-delegate conferences.
Akiko was the first to quit. The Ivory Bow entry and new job title on her CV landed her a huge role, working for one of our current clients. The same client hired two of her direct reports and that’s how delivery started to crumble. We’re only a month in and, with Samir not responding to what we needed as a business quickly enough, projects are beginning to fall behind. When Lydia starts to get freelancers in to help, projects do get pushed through, but at varying service levels.
Part of me is gutted to see something Ariella built so lovingly begin to crumble, but the glee of watching Dominic’s investment fail dominates that feeling.
The only thing that keeps my soul alive are the daily updates from Ariella. The little conversations we catch, the texts, the voice notes, the images; they all contribute to the lifeline that keeps me going. She’s cooking every week for the shelter now and volunteering on some days too. She’s still a little anxious about our future, but that’s okay. I’m happy holding us up, even though she still doesn’t know that I’m the landlord she’s paying rent to. Jasper Goldsmith saved this one. She’s working on her dad and he’s taking a little while to come round.
I manage to finally get a Saturday night free and I decide to spend it with Honey. We spend the first hour on a video call with Lara and Ariella. MsPat has stayed too, to catch up on our news. Aari is in the background, cooking for the shelter, and Lara is filling us in on the neighbourhood gossip. The best bit is when Lara carries us to the kitchen and makes Ariella show us her little bump. It’s so cute, I wish I could touch it. The urge to return home seizes me with such force that I have to walk away for a second.
‘Caleb. It’s okay. We’re okay. I’m okay,’ Ariella says lovingly to the camera.
‘She is, and so am I, not that you bothered to ask about me, you twerp.’ Lara grins, showing us all her teeth. They do seem to be having a lot of fun together.
‘You look lovely, Lara,’ Honey says.
‘I’ve gained eleven pounds. Aari is cooking daily and this place is wall-to-wall bread. It’s all baby weight though.’
‘But you don’t have baby, Miss Lara,’ MsPat teases, reminding us of their love–hate relationship. ‘It’s okay to be a little bit fat. It suits you.’
Lara’s mouth springs open in shock.
‘Stooooooop,’ Honey warns. Lara’s eyebrows meet in a v in the middle of her face, then she aggressively tilts the camera towards Ariella. MsPat, having established a victory, walks away from the conversation.
‘Have you felt the baby move yet?’ I’m careful because we’ve decided to keep the gender to ourselves.
‘No, but I’m only nineteen weeks. It’s still a little early, I think.’
Honey and I spend as much time as we can with our girls before they have to go to a farmers’ market in the middle of town. When the call ends, I am completely crestfallen.
‘I can’t do this, Honey. I need to find a way to get back home.’
‘They’ve got you trapped. The only way you had was Christopher requesting your support, but you’ve blown that.’
‘I can’t be away from my daughter until she’s fourteen months old. That’s insane.’
‘It’s a girl?’ Honey says delighted.
‘It’s a girl, and Jasper is having twin boys. I’m going to have to watch her like a hawk.’
‘It’s girl!’ MsPat emerges from nowhere, clapping until it ends with a warm embrace.
MsPat has this uncanny ability to make everything okay, and I feel the warmth of becoming a father settle over me.
‘Yes.’ It’s nice to say it out loud.
‘You know, MrCaleb, maybe MrDominic is not so clean.’
‘I know, MsPat, but unless I can prove it I’m stuck here.’
‘You know the person to prove.’
‘I wish I did, but I don’t, MsPat.’
‘Think, MrCaleb. Who can prove? That you know?’
MsPat is trying to tell me and I’m not getting it.
‘Samir?’
‘Oh God. MsAriella is so much smarter than you.’ She gives me a disappointed look, then moves close to whisper.
‘Ms Melissa can prove.’
‘Yeah, well, MsMelissa has disappeared and, if she wasn’t impossible to find, I wouldn’t want to find her anyway. Aari will kill me.’
‘Okay. No problem.’ MsPat suddenly stops our conversation and starts tidying.
‘Wait. MsPat, you don’t know where MsMelissa is?’
‘Will you ask?’ MsPat is not budging.
‘I will consider asking if we know where she is.’
‘MsMelissa is in Brunei.’ MsPat whips out her phone and sends a message. ‘Now we wait. You must ask. For Little Miss Elsie.’
‘Hold on! MsPat. How long have you known?’
‘Not Brunei all the time. First Vanuatu, then Maldives, then Russia, then China, then Brunei. She move again soon.’
‘You’ve known where she was this entire time?’
‘Yes. Housekeeper network. We know everything but we say nothing.’
‘So when I was accused…’
‘MrCaleb, like I said, we know everything but we say nothing. Sometimes we help, but you never know.’
MsPat taps her nose twice and smiles lovingly at me before walking away.
Shit. MsPat should be an international fucking spy. All housekeepers should. Forget the CIA and MI5. They’re the ones we should be scared of. I start to think of a load of weird unexplainable things that have happened and start to find ways to pin them on MsPat.
It doesn’t even take an hour until I am given a number with a country code I’d never seen before to text.
Mel?
Why are you so bad at this? Buy a burner and text me from there. You’re such a liability. Pay cash and delete this. Honestly!
MsPat immediately dispatches a member of Honey’s assistants with careful details of where to purchase a burner and send it to the house. It feels like for ever waiting, but it eventually turns up. I don’t want to know exactly how MsPat knows so much about buying a burner at almost midnight in Singapore.
Sorry.
Previous stupidity aside, I’m shocked, impressed and disappointed that it took you this long to reach out – all at the same time.
I need your help.
You want dirt on Dominic that will force him release you from your ridiculous contract so that you can join Ariella. How am I doing?
Is there any? Is he clean?
He’s about as clean as Gustaf’s gym clothes post-workout. You should see what that man can do with a skipping rope. Heaven help me. Anyway, I heard you rearranged Dom’s face. Thanks for that. I’ve wanted someone to do that for a while. He’s so smug.
Can you send me some information?
Nope.
Can you at least tell me where to look?
No.
So this is just a game. There’s nothing.
There’s plenty but I don’t trust you. You’re going to fuck it up.
If there is something, why did you leave him off your finger-pointing spree?
We have other collaborations in play. Kevin’s little problems aren’t necessarily bad news for him. He did help orchestrate my disappearance.
He knew?
It was actually his idea. Where did you think you were going when he tried to put you on a plane? Mars? You were supposed to be coming to me, moron. Not that you can prove any of this, of course. Even these messages are two burners just talking to each other. You could have written them to yourself.
‘Dominic!’ Honey exclaims.
‘I told you, MrDominic is pretty but not so clean.’ MsPat raises an eyebrow.
‘Is that why you insisted on going with her that night, MsPat?’
MsPat shrugs and says nothing.
‘That bastard actually made me consider the probability that I was being paranoid and maybe he did just want to talk to Ariella.’
‘I’m really pleased you beat his face in, Caleb,’ Honey says angrily.
If Melissa is in cahoots with Dominic, there is no way she is going to give him up. I tried. Contacting Melissa was pointless.
Thanks for nothing Melissa. Goodbye.
Hold on. I didn’t say I couldn’t help.
Are you going to help?
Come and see me. I’m not as far as you think. Gustaf will be pissed because he’s insanely jealous of you but there’s nothing an apology, the way he likes his apologies, can’t fix.
I’m not coming to see you Mel. There’s nothing we can’t share over a secure line or text and I can’t leave the country.
I can take care of your travel ban. Besides, I have absolutely no intention of talking. Gustaf has his limitations. I’ve missed you.
‘Don’t do it, Caleb. There will be another way, especially now that we know there is something to find,’ Honey says, pulling back to exhale deeply. ‘However, if you do, I won’t judge you, but I don’t want to know because I can’t lie to Lara.’
‘This is Melissa. There may be nothing,’ I say.
‘MrCaleb, do not do. Say bye-bye. She love you but crazy. You don’t want half-Singaporean baby in eighteen years to say hello sister to Elsie.’
Thanks but no thanks Mel.
I’ll leave the offer open for a couple of weeks, then I have to move. I won’t be so easy to reach then. Think about it.
‘What if?—’
‘NO!’ Honey and MsPat shout in unison.
‘Miss Melissa ask too much, MrCaleb. Dick pic, maybe.’ MsPat says it so seriously, Honey and I burst out laughing.
‘Yeah! One lady boss with my friend, dick pic get you anything. And MrCaleb, you know her.’ MsPat winks happily.
‘MsPat! Who?!’ I really want to know.
‘We see everything, but say nothing. Do not go to Brunei, MrCaleb. Throw burner away,’ she warns sternly, pointing her finger at me.
‘Okay,’ I promise MsPat, as I slip it into my pocket.