Cayd smiled and nodded his head once before raising his hand in a wave and almost jogging out the door to his car.
“I really like that guy,” Josh said next to Louise, not really expecting Louise to be reading his lips.
“Do you have a man crush?” Louise asked, smiling up at him, her curly red hair surrounding her pale face.
Wrinkling his nose, Josh met her gaze and slid his arms around her waist. “Nothing like the crush I have on you,” he murmured before planting a soft kiss on her lips.
“Hmmm, maybe you should spend a bit more time signing then huh?” she prodded.
“I have been learning,” Josh insisted. He always tried to sign any of the words he knew when he was with Louise. But he was having a hard time obtaining any fluency in the language.
“Oh yeah, can you sign a whole sentence?” she asked stepping back from him.
Pressing his lips together Josh frowned in thought, “Ok, I was saving this one for the right moment but here goes,” he said, shifting his stance a little as he took a deep breath and prepared himself. First, he pointed to himself, before crossing his arms over his chest and then pointing at Louise.
“You love me?” Louise asked, a grin crawling over her face.
Wrinkling his nose up, Josh squinted slightly, “Yeah…I do,” he confirmed.
“I love you too,” Louise said and signed back before jumping into his arms and sealing their confession with a kiss.
***
Relief washed over Cayd as he made his way back home, at least he now knew where she was. He had been a wreck since she left, wanting desperately to talk to her and explain his situation.
Pressing a button on his steering wheel, Cayd said aloud, “Call Natalie Johnson.” There was a slight pause as the speakers in his car came to life, producing a ringing sound as the call went through.
“Hello?” Natalie answered, unsure of who was calling her from a private number.
“Natalie, it’s Cayd,” he said simply.
“Oh hi, I thought it might be you. What can I do for you Cayd?”
“I need you to text me the address of your parent’s home in Sydney,” he told her as he continued to navigate the streets.
“What? Why do you need that?”
“Because Mia has gone to see them.”
“Really? Wow, I haven’t even told them I found her,” she said more to herself. She was so angry with her parents over the adoption that she hadn’t been taking their calls or listening to their voice mails.
“Natalie, I need that address please.”
“I’ll send it now. Cayd – do you think I should come with you?”
“No, this isn’t about you right now. I need to see her on my own.”
“But I thought you needed me to clear things up?”
“Natalie, I just need the address right now.”
“I’ll send it now,” she said, feeling slightly disappointed. Somehow the idea of going back to Sydney and talking to Mia there felt better than waiting endlessly in Melbourne.
A few seconds after they hung up, Cayd’s phone beeped with a text message from Natalie containing her home address in Mosman.
The moment he pulled into his driveway, he picked up his phone and checked the message, confirming that it was indeed what he thought it was and rushed inside to his office with the single aim of booking the next possible flight he could make in time.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?” Cherry asked, rising from her desk and rushing after him, curiosity getting the better of her.
“I’m going to Sydney, Cherry,” he said as he burst through the office door, startling Evelyn from her work.
“Cayd, what’s going on?” she asked, her eyes wide from the surprise.
“He’s going to Sydney,” Cherry informed her from the doorway.
“What? What about work? You have patients to see!” Evelyn argued.
“You’ll need to cover for me,” he said as he sat in his chair and woke his computer up.
“Cayd – you can’t just throw your patients at me,” Evelyn continued.
“Cherry, can you please call my two patients for the next week and either reschedule them or offer them Evelyn’s services,” he instructed. Not paying attention as the two women traded raised browed glances.
“What’s going on here Cayd?” Evelyn asked as she rose from her desk and moved closer to Cayd.
“I’ve already told you. I’m going to Sydney.”
“But why Cayd? Why all of a sudden?” Evelyn insisted. She had noticed that ever since she had mistaken Mia for Natalie that he had been a wreck of a man, but he hadn’t been willing to talk about it.
“Because Mia’s there Evelyn – thanks to you, she’s there and not here,” he shot in her direction.
“Cayd, that’s not fair. I didn’t know you were seeing Natalie’s twin. I sent her to you as a patient. You’re the one who overstepped your boundaries, and now we’re all in a very precarious position,” Evelyn replied, hands on hips.
“Mia was never a patient here Evelyn. The practice is perfectly safe.”
“Is it Cayd? I see problems every way I look at this. You’re reckless with this girl. What is it about her that’s made you willing to risk everything you’ve worked so hard for?”
Cayd looked at Evelyn, his mood darkening as she questioned his motives. He had barely spoken to her since she managed to reveal them knowing Natalie to Mia, he was still pissed off about it.
“Evelyn, I’m not the one who told Mia that Natalie was a patient here – you did that all by yourself,” he told her, clicking ‘print’ on his screen and leaning down to his printer to retrieve his flight confirmation.
“Yes, but she was here because of you Cayd.”
“Whatever, Evelyn. We can talk about this when I get back,” he said over his shoulder as he exited the office, kissing Cherry on the cheek and saying goodbye before he left.
“He’s in love with her Evelyn,” Cherry said after she heard him enter the hall leading to his house.
“I know Cherry, I just don’t want him to ruin his career as a consequence,” Evelyn sighed as she leaned against Cayd’s desk, hoping that her business partner knew what he was doing.
Chapter Thirty-Five
It had been a week since Mia had fled to Sydney. She knew that Natalie had an address in Mosman and figured she could look her up on the electoral roll to find out exactly where she lived and go from there.
She wanted to find Natalie’s parents. With her parents gone, they were the only ones who could answer her questions about her adoption. She also wanted to know what Natalie was like growing up. Despite not wanting to have anything to do with her right now, they did share a womb. She at least wanted to know about her.
Mia had never been a big Facebook user, but it was helpful when searching for people connected to Natalie that she was very thankful for the world of social media. Through Facebook she found out the names of Natalie’s parents and looked them up on the electoral roll as well. Surprisingly, Natalie still lived at home.
On her third day in Sydney, she had the address in hand and had driven her rental car over there. She didn’t exactly have a plan in mind. She couldn’t quite bring herself to walk up to their front door and introduce herself. Something about saying “Hi, I’m your adopted daughter’s twin,” didn’t feel right. So she sat in her car and watched the house instead, suddenly understanding why her twin had done the same with her. The difference though, was that Mia wasn’t going to try and steal anyone from Natalie’s life – that detail was the huge glaring action that made this whole thing so horrible.
Eventually she spotted the couple who were her twin’s adoptive parents. She watched them as they checked their mail box and unloaded groceries into their house. Then she left, travelling to a nearby hotel where she had taken a room.
She then spent a day doing nothing but sitting inside her hotel room, watching old movies and feeling incredibly sorry for herself. On top of
that, she also felt guilty for taking leave from work without any notice. Even so, Tamara had been so wonderful to her when she explained her ridiculous situation and told her to take as much time as she needed.
After she had eaten and drank her way through the mini bar, she decided that the following day she would go back to the Johnson’s home and actually knock on the door this time. Her time for wallowing was over. She had gone to Sydney for some answers and she was going to make sure that she got them.
***
With a thumping heart, she made her way up the short pathway to their front door. Taking a deep breath she lifted the ornate silver knocker and thumped it against its base three times.
Blood pumped through her ears as she tried to keep calm while she heard muffled voices and movement inside.
“Oh my!” a short round woman with shoulder length brown hair, streaked with greys said. “You’re back! Tom!” she called over her shoulder into the house. “It’s Natalie, she’s back. Come inside. Why didn’t you just use your key?” she said to Mia, ushering her inside and looking her over. “And your hair, look at it! I love you as a red head,” she gushed, grinning as she brought Mia into a tight embrace.
Mia stiffened in the woman’s arms, causing her to take a step back and really look at her daughter.
“Oh, you’re not Natalie are you?” she said as her husband came into view.
“No, I’m not. My name is Mia. I’m Natalie’s twin. You’re Sandra I presume?”
Heat flooded Sandra’s cheeks as she nodded her head quickly before glancing at her husband who looked as white as a sheet. “Yes… and this is Tom,” she gulped, feeling unsure about what was going to happen next.
“It’s nice to meet you both,” Mia said, attempting a pleasant smile to cover her nerves.
“Come,” Tom said to her, his arm outstretched as he gestured for her to follow him, “We can talk better in the kitchen.”
Mia nodded her understanding and followed the Johnson’s through their home, taking note of the hanging photos on the wall depicting their family moments as Natalie grew. It was so strange for her to see photos that contained someone who looked just like her but had nothing to do with her own life.
“What would you like to drink Mia dear?” Sandra asked when they reached the kitchen.
“Oh, water is fine thank you,” she replied, “I don’t want to stay long. I simply wanted to introduce myself,” she stated, taking the seat at the kitchen table that Tom offered her.
Clearing his throat audibly, Tom sat down on the other side of the round table, a slight screech being created as he dragged his chair forward to position himself.
Sandra moved over to the table, carrying three tall glasses of cold water from the fridge, the tinkling of the ice slicing the quiet in the air as all three tried to work out what should be said next.
“So how is Natalie?” Tom asked finally.
Mia nodded her thanks as a glass was placed in front of her and took a small sip. “She’s ah… she seems fine – I haven’t really gotten to know her actually.”
“Really? Oh, she’s been gone for so long. We naturally assumed that she’d found you and was getting to know you.”
In her mind Mia said a few things that were very honest, but not really the kinds of things you would utter to another’s parents, before setting a smile on her face. “No, we’re not quite there yet. I have a few of my own things to work through first.”
“It must have come as quite a shock – learning you have a twin,” Sandra said.
“Yes, actually, it was a shock. I didn’t even know I was adopted. I was kind of hoping that you’d be able to give me a little information. You see, my own parents died in a car accident a while back,”
“Oh we’re so sorry dear,” Sandra said, at the same time as Tom expressed his condolences as well.
“Thank you. I was hoping that you could tell me a little bit about the adoption and how we came to be separated. I mean, who was our birth mother and why were we separated?”
The Johnson’s exchanged glances before they settled their eyes back on Mia. “Well, that was all us I’m afraid,” Tom started, before his wife interrupted.
“Yes, you see we couldn’t conceive and when we were selected for adoption it turned out that the young girl, Belinda her name was, was pregnant with twins.
“At first, we thought it would be fine – an instant family if you will, but then we reconsidered, and because we had waited so long, we begged the girl to please adopt you both separately, and well, she agreed. We never actually thought you’d ever meet each other. After all, Australia’s a big place and you were in different states…” she trailed off.
“Didn’t you consider that my parents could have told me about my adoption and that I’d find out and come looking? Adoption records are open to the parents and children you know.” Mia countered.
“Of course we know they are – but we all agreed that we weren’t going to tell either of you… that was until Natalie found out on her own of course,” Tom laughed nervously.
Mia focused her attention on her glass for a moment, watching the condensation trickling down its sides. “So you met my parents?”
“Only briefly, we wanted to make sure that we were all on the same page,” Tom replied.
“I am sorry though Mia,” Sandra said.
“What for?”
“For splitting you both up. I’ve often wondered if I should have kept you both. I was scared that I couldn’t do it.”
“Do you know what happened to my birth mother?”
“No dear,” Sandra told her as she shook her head. “We didn’t ever hear from her again. We can have a look through the files and see if we still have any contact details for her if you like? It could be a starting point if you want to track her down.”
“That would be great thanks,” Mia said, twisting her glass around with her fingers, before pushing herself away from the table and standing. “I think I’ve taken enough of your time today. I’m sure my being here has come as a bit of a surprise to you. But, I’ll be in Sydney for a while longer. Perhaps I could visit again and you can tell me a little more about Natalie - how she grew up and what not. I’ll call before I come this time though,” she smiled.
“We’d like that,” Tom said, rising from his chair and scrawling their home number onto a scrap of paper for Mia, before walking her to the door, feeling unsure of how he should act around a girl that looked so much like his daughter, but wasn’t her. “Has Natalie caused you some trouble?” he asked quietly as she stepped outside.
Pausing, Mia turned to face him, giving him a wry smile. “You could say that,” she answered.
Tom nodded thoughtfully. “Mia, Natalie has always been a very lonely girl. She’s always had trouble fitting in and she’s acted out in more ways than one. I’ve always thought it was because we made the decision to separate you both. That it was some sort of ‘twin bond’ that made her feel that way. Perhaps, in time, you’ll get to know her and realise she was always missing from your life too.”
“Mr Johnson?” Mia started.
“Call me Tom,” he insisted.
“Tom, if you’ve always felt like that, why didn’t you try to contact my parents to bring us together that way? Because I have to tell you, finding out the way I did – my whole world has been altered. She’s really messed things up for me.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way Mia,” Tom said softly, a look of concern flattening his moustached lip into a straight line.
Mia let out a deep breath as she shifted on her feet. “It’s just…I don’t know if I can forgive her Tom. The way we met – it was… under less than desirable circumstances. I’m curious about her though, so I would like to come back. Perhaps you and Sandra can help me understand her better. I’d like to know what she was like before she entered my life – I want to know how she grew up. Would that be ok?”
“I don’t see why not,” he said, handing her the scrap of paper. “Feel f
ree to come over any time.”
“Thank you Tom,” Mia said quietly before giving him a slight wave and heading back to her car.
Chapter Thirty-Six
At four-fifty, that same evening, Natalie arrived at Eric’s townhouse. She dressed herself in a plain purple summer dress with a white lace trim that came to her mid-thigh. It was a new purchase after spending the day wandering around the local shopping centre, trying to keep busy until it was time for her to meet with Eric.
Pressing the door bell, she stood on the porch, breathing deeply as she ran a hand over her hair to check that it was still smooth. Silence followed, and she pressed the bell again, this time adding a knock and pressing her face to the narrow curtained window to the door’s right.
Still, no response came, and she realised that he mustn’t be home yet. Natalie thought about calling him, but she was worried that he was purposely avoiding her. Instead, she settled herself on the front steps and waited. Time ticked by slowly as Natalie repeatedly checked the clock read out on her phone.
A little after five thirty Eric was finally dropped off at the entrance of the town house complex. Natalie stood slowly, relieved that he’d shown up and not willing to comment on his tardiness.
Eric stopped in front of her as he dug his keys out of his pocket. “Thanks for waiting,” he said before moving up the steps and unlocking the door, holding it open for Natalie. “Ladies first,” he said politely, his voice flat and unemotional.
“Thank you,” Natalie whispered, stepping inside and waiting for Eric to follow.
“Why don’t you take a seat. I really need a shower. Then we can talk ok?”
“That’s fine,” Natalie nodded, moving over to the couch.
“You know where everything is if you want a drink or something,” he told her with a wave of his hand as he headed for the bathroom.
As she heard the door click shut, Natalie’s stomach started to churn faster – she had been so nervous all day and now the prolonged waiting was really starting to make her feel ill. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t stomach anything right now. So she chose to sit and wait in the quiet of the room.
Our Hearts Entwined Page 17
