Chapter 52
Fifty-Two
I awoke to a high sun and the sound of seagulls. I stirred and stretched, my head thick from a night of disturbed sleep.
I wished I could say that sleep had come easily to me but that wasn’t true. I’d lain awake, staring at the ceiling, unable to shake the feeling that I was being watched, that secret cameras were planted around the room.
Alfie being mere metres away didn’t help either.
His presence taunted me. It drove me crazy to toss and turn when I knew that all I had to do was go to his room, crawl into bed next to him and I’d be asleep within seconds.
Sometime during the night I heard him get up and head in the direction of the gym.
Yeah, he was definitely thinking of me too.
The presidential suite was stunning of course.
Ali had given me the tour and I was surprised how much it reminded me of our suite at The Carlton.
I’d chosen the bedroom farthest from Alfie’s and hours later when I was tossing and turning, unable to sleep from him being so close, I was glad of the extra distance.
I strained my ears, searching for any sign of life but I couldn’t hear Alfie moving around. No doubt he’d been at work for hours by now.
I stretched and grabbed my phone. I texted Keira and Natalie to check in before forcing myself out of bed. Damned jet lag had got me sleeping in till midday.
First stop, a shower. I took my time, letting the water wash away the memories of yesterday, good and bad. Today was a new day.
With the chlorine washed out of my hair and the cobwebs rinsed from my mind, I opened up my suitcase to unpack. I started to empty out my clothes when I found something I didn’t remember putting in my case. A cardboard box with Keira's familiar scrawl along the side.
Better safe than sorry.
I opened the box and smiled. A few minutes later, after installing the batteries and reading the instructions, I was making my way around the bedroom and bathroom, waving the white remote-like device, praying that it wouldn’t start beeping.
It didn’t and I breathed a sigh of relief.
No cameras detected. That’s if the thing really worked anyway.
Reassured but frustrated that this was what my life had come to, I dressed and headed downstairs.
I was unsurprised to find a breakfast laid out for me with an envelope resting next to a silver cloche. I tucked into a bowl of cereal and opened the envelope.
Lo,
I’ll be in meetings all day but Maia and Ali are both on standby waiting to assist you with whatever you might need. Please don’t hesitate to make use of them.
I hope the Miracle Garden is everything you hoped it would be.
A.
The Miracle Garden. A little butterfly of excitement began to flutter in my stomach. As I ate, I texted Maia and Ali, instructing them to meet me in the lobby. Alfie, Elliot, Angie and Maia might have put me through hell but nothing was going to stop me from enjoying today.
An hour later, I stood at the entrance, my entire body humming with excitement. Maia and Ali waited behind me, their presence almost forgotten now that I was actually here.
The gates stood high, inviting me into a haven I knew I wouldn’t ever want to leave. My hands twisted with anticipation as tourists milled around me.
I stepped inside, walking through a row of floral archways in ever lightening shades of pink, from deep blush to pale pastel.
The pathway led me out to a sea of stunning sculptures. My jaw dropped. I’d never in my life seen anything like this.
I found myself in a village of houses, villas, even a castle, all constructed from more flowers than I could name. I walked through the village, soaking in every inch of this whimsical wonderland.
Hours later and my head was spinning. This was my paradise.
I’d gazed in wonder at the gigantic floral clock, an ebbing ocean of blues and pinks.
I’d gasped at the white petal plane made to scale.
The floating woman had me speechless, roughly twenty feet high, she was a feat of physics I couldn’t understand. She lay horizontal, her hair and dress trailing down to the ground as she looked like she might float up to the sky.
The umbrella canopy had transported me to another world, casting a multicoloured glow across my skin.
I walked the gardens for hours. I examined each flower, each plant, figuring out what the designers had used and why. How had the structures been put together?
With every passing minute I felt richer in knowledge, more powerful in my abilities. Ideas began to spin in that way that let me know I was on the right path.
It wasn’t until Maia told me it was closing time that I realised I had spent the entire afternoon here. I wasn’t nearly ready to leave.
I began gathering my sketchbook up when a thought occurred to me. A thought that two and a half years ago I would have dismissed immediately but now…now it had me reaching for my phone.
“Is everything alright?” Alfie sounded concerned as he answered my call. I guess I didn't make many voluntary phone calls to him these days.
“Yes, am I disturbing you?”
“Never. What do you need?” Here came the tricky part. The part where I actually had to ask him for help.
“I’m at the Miracle Gardens…” I let my words trail off, hoping he would take the hint and not make me say the words out loud.
“I presumed you were.”
Dammit.
“It’s closing time…”
“And you’re not ready to leave?” He sounded faintly amused.
“No.”
Silence lingered down the line. Was he going to make me say it?
“Just ask, Lo.” Yep. He was really going to make me say it. I should have known he’d need to hear me asking for help. He’d been waiting on this for a long time.
I bit my lip. Asking was huge. Asking meant something. It meant I trusted him not to use this against me. Or maybe it just meant that this was important to my career and I was willing to risk it. “Can you make a call?”
“Sure.” Was that it? He wasn’t going to tease me? Or ask for anything in return?
“I don’t want to put anyone out,” I said and Alfie laughed.
“Trust me, the way they’ll be compensated for their overtime they’ll be begging you to stay all night.”
I had no doubt that was true. “Thanks, Alfie.”
“Thank you for asking me.”
It was after midnight by the time I returned to the hotel. The blue of it stunning in the moonlight.
Exhausted, I headed for my room. On my way, I passed the open door to the study and saw Alfie working, his gaze fixed on his laptop. As if feeling my presence, he glanced up, that familiar softness reaching his eyes when he saw me.
“So, how was it?”
“Incredible.” My mind was still spinning from all the wonders I’d seen today. Works of art that would be my dream to create.
“Come and tell me about it.” He closed his laptop, giving me his full attention, but I hesitated. I wanted to tell him all about it, wanted him to have been there with me so we could experience it together but instead I held it back because of one simple truth.
“It’s precious, Alfie. I’m not ready to share precious with you.” My voice broke and I wished it hadn’t. It betrayed the guilt I felt at keeping him out.
Alfie nodded, trying to hide his hurt. He knew he’d earned this but that didn’t stop him from looking like a wounded little boy. I watched him force his chin up with a colossal effort.
“Well, can I tell you about my day?” He looked so hopeful, holding out his olive branch and hoping I would take it. I nodded and the relief that ran through him was almost palpable. “Come here.”
Heart pounding, I went to sit beside him. I sat quietly, listening as he talked me through schematics, suppliers, everything that went into building a project like this.
As always, I was impressed by him. I wondered how much his high intelligence fed into his intense behaviour, his neuroses and obsessions. Perhaps a man with a lower IQ would have handled our relationship differently. But I wasn’t looking at a man with a lower IQ, I was looking at this one.
“You seem to enjoy this more than I thought you would,” I told him. This wasn’t the half-dead man I’d known.
He sat back in his chair, seemingly relaxed but his body was humming with the same tension that echoed my own whenever we were in the same space. “I enjoy being a boss.”
“You’re good at it. But it’s your father’s company and that’s always going to be a problem.”
He nodded, acknowledging the inescapable truth.
“But it’s not tonight's problem.” No, it wasn’t, but the fact remained that no matter how many incredible projects he built on his own, he would forever be in his fathers shadow as long as he ran this company.
That was a fact that would have to be dealt with sooner or later.
“Lo, I need to confess something to you.”
My stomach clenched.
“I wasn’t lying when I said the cameras were gone, I had them all removed the night I told you about them.
The images though…I still have those. I intended to erase all of them but Priya asked me not to.
She wouldn’t say why but I trust her advice.
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.” His jaw ticked, betraying his fear that he was about to face another blow up.
“I know. She told me during our session.”
His brows twitched in surprise. “You’re not angry?”
“I’m past angry, Alfie.” I wasn’t sure there were words for what I was. I felt like Alfie had thrown me up into outer space and I hadn’t come down to earth yet.
“The images are saved on a secure drive, it’s impossible to hack I assure you. Elliot is the only one with access, not even I can open it. I didn’t trust myself.”
A sick laugh escaped me. “Still working with the safety net, Alfie. How am I supposed to trust you if you can’t trust yourself?”
His jaw clenched. “Lo, the images begin and end there. They’re yours to do whatever you want with.”
Priya’s words rang in my head. Her idea that looking at those photos could be ‘healing’ had been percolating ever since she’d said it. Now the opportunity was here and all I could think was that those images, like Alfie’s future in his father’s company, weren’t tonight's problem.
“Say something.” He sounded desperate, feelings he’d once fought so hard to hide were finally slipping through the cracks.
“Wait here.” I got up and went to my room, returning a moment later with the device Keira had sent. I threw it to him and he caught it. “It’s a camera sensor, or something like that. Keira packed it in my case.”
“Can’t say I blame her.” Alfie frowned at the item then flicked his gaze up to me. “Why are you giving this to me?”
“I need to work without the safety net too.” With that, I turned and headed for the door, my chest aching in that way it always did when I left him.
“And the images?”
I paused in the doorway, wishing I had the strength to face those demons tonight but I didn’t. “Not tonight’s problem.”