“Miss,” the clerk said to get her attention. “I’m afraid Dr Donnelly has checked out. He isn’t with us anymore.”
“No,” she breathed, her shoulders slumping forward as she heard the news. “When? How long ago?”
“I can’t tell you that information, I’m sorry.”
“Shit,” Mia hissed, pulling out her phone and dialling Cayd’s number. It went to message bank without even ringing.”
“What about Howard Donnelly?” she asked, pushing in front of another couple who were just about to take their turn. She remembered that the Marriott was where they picked him up when they were in Sydney originally. “Is he still here?”
Releasing a slight sigh, the clerk moved his fingers rapidly over the keyboard. “It says not to disturb him. I’m sorry.”
Mia’s hand shot out and she grabbed the clerk’s arm, looking at him beseechingly. “Please. Call him and tell him that Mia Anson is here. He’ll talk to me. I know he will. This is urgent. Please,” she begged.
“I can’t do that.”
“What if I told you I was family,” she said quickly.
He raised his eyebrows. “Are you family?”
“I’m his daughter-in-law,” she lied, thinking it wasn’t completely untrue – as long as Cayd was willing to give her back the ring and still wanted to marry her of course…
“I don’t see a wedding ring.”
“That’s because I’m an idiot and I gave it back to his son and I messed up, and that’s why I need to see Howard, or at least talk to him. He’ll know where Cayd went. He always knows where his son is. Please. You’re messing with my happiness here.”
Letting out an even larger sigh, the clerk lifted the hotel receiver. “If I loose my job over this, I’ll be coming after you Mia Anson.”
“You won’t. I promise. Thank you!”
“I’m so sorry to disturb you sir, but there’s a Mia Anson here for you. She’s says it’s urgent.” The clerk listened for a few seconds then handed the receiver to Mia, indicating that she needed to move to the side so he could serve the next patrons.
Thank you, she mouthed as she pressed the phone to her ear.
“Mia, to what do I owe this pleasure?” Howard boomed down the line in his larger than life voice.
“I’m looking for Cayd, Howard. He was staying here, and they said he checked out. I can’t get him on his phone.”
“That’s because he’s probably on a plane. He left for Melbourne not long after we returned from the benefit.”
Mia’s heart fell with a thud in her chest. “What time was that?” she asked, desperately wanting to talk to him but knowing she wouldn’t be able to until he landed.
“I don’t know. At about eight I suppose. There was a flight not long after.”
Mia felt the tears burn behind her eyes as she thanked Howard for his help and handed the receiver back to the clerk who gave her a sympathetic smile. “You look like you could do with a drink,” he said, causing Mia to nod in agreement.
“Or six. Or twelve.”
“The bar is open,” he suggested, nodding his head to the slightly raised platform behind them where a quiet bar was located.
Sighing, she made her way over to the bar area and slumped into a seat, feeling sorry for herself as she reached out and began to leaf through the drinks menu.
“Just give me whatever you have that’s strongest,” she said, as soon as a waiter appeared at her table. She glanced up from the menu as she shut it to hand it to him, then suddenly, she gasped and the menu fell from her hand and toppled to the floor.
“Allow me,” the most beautiful voice she’d ever heard in her life said. Her hand clapped over her mouth as she watched him lean down and retrieve the menu from the floor.
“Cayd,” she whispered through her emotion. Her eyes blurring as they filled with happy tears. “I thought you’d gone.”
“I was gone. I wanted to go and wait for you in our home. But I missed the flight at 8:20, and there isn’t another until six in the morning,” he explained, as he placed the menu on the floor but stayed low in front of her. His hand gently brushed her cheek as he looked into her eyes and the depth of love she showed in them. It was at that point that he knew she had returned. He knew she was still his.
“I tried to call you,” she said.
“My battery died. I ran it down while I was using my phone as a torch to hunt for this,” he said, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out the ring Mia had returned to him.
“You had to find it?” she sniffed, as she looked down at it.
“I may have thrown it in anger when you gave it back to me.”
“I’m glad you found it.”
“Are you?”
“Yes. I regretted giving it back to you. I never should have done that.”
“Do you still want this and everything that comes with it – my past, my present and my future? Do you want it all?”
“I want it all.”
Cayd adjusted his weight so he was kneeling appropriately. “In that case, Mia, I’d like to ask you again, and I hope this is the last time I ever utter these words because this time, it must be forever. Will you marry me?”
“I will,” she breathed, accepting the ring as he slid it on her finger before gripping his face and bringing her mouth to his. “I love you, Cayd and I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry for how I behaved.”
Standing, he took her by the hand. “Tell me all about it upstairs.”
“Upstairs?”
“Mia. I’m getting us a room. We have a good month of making up to do.”
“You know, I think that dress was just a loaner,” Mia chuckled, referring the emerald green dress that was now lying in tatters on the floor, as she twirled her fingers through Cayd’s hair from where his head lay on her chest.
Lifting his head, he met her eyes. “Then it shouldn’t have been so damn hard to get off.”
He rolled over to his back, pulling Mia with him so she was draped across him. “Why didn’t you tell me what Belle was really like?”
“I was going to. When I came here, I had planned to tell you everything I knew about her. But by then it was too late. She’d already gotten in your head.”
“I didn’t really believe her,” she whispered. “I didn’t think you’d do something like that.”
“But you had doubts?”
Looking at her hand, Mia moved her fingers to straighten her ring. “She had a ring the same as mine. She said you gave it to her. That was the thing that played on my mind. She does tell a very convincing story.”
“Yes. Eric told me what she said. And you have to know, I never gave her a ring. It was one drunken night. That’s all. I regretted it the moment it happened, but I never regretted it as much as I did when I saw you crying over that photo.”
“I know it never meant anything to you. And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that I listened to any of her lies.”
“She has a way of convincing people of things. My mother would have said that ‘she has an answer for everything’,” Cayd mused, smiling sadly as he thought of his mother.
“You mother seems like she was a very smart woman.”
“She was. She would have liked you a lot.”
“I would have liked her too.”
Reach up, Cayd gently ran his fingers down Mia’s cheek, feeling incredibly blessed to have her beside him again.
“I’m sorry for all you went through,” he whispered.
“I took it too far. I should have put my trust in you.”
“Perhaps, but I had to remind myself of how I’d feel if I found out you’d had a relationship with my father. I think I would have needed some time to get past that too.”
Shaking her head, Mia let out a hollow laugh. “What a mess. You, me, Belle, your father, Natalie and Eric - I feel like we could fuel the storyline for a soap opera. We’re all so twisted together.”
Cupping her chin, Cayd lifted her face so she was looking at him properly. “No
t twisted, my love. Think of it as being entwined – like a vine. And it took a lot of unravelling to find our perfect match.”
He brought his mouth to hers, gently kissing her, breathing her in, reminding himself of everything about her he’d been missing in their time apart.
“This is the only kind of entwined I want to be,” Mia whispered as she trailed soft kisses along his jaw and slid her leg between Cayd’s, wrapping her arm around his chest. “I only want to be entwined with you.”
“That’s the way it was meant to be,” he told her, reaching down to grip her hips and lifting her over him. She settled herself against his shaft, feeling his length harden instantly against her heat.
“It’s the only way it should be,” she breathed, sliding all the way to his tip before rolling her hips and taking him inside her, sinking down to his base with a slow exhale.
With his hands on her waist, Cayd lifted his hips with each of her downward movements, grinding himself deeper inside her, causing her to gasp as her arousal built into something more. Noting how her moans were changing, he reached between them, using this thumb to circle her silky juices over her hard nub.
Mia gasped, her orgasm bursting out of her quickly as the weeks of being apart from his masterful hands caught up with her.
Not ready for the moment to be over, Cayd gripped her thighs and flipped her on her back, catching her hands with his and holding them over her head as he slowed his inward strokes to her core, bringing her down from the dizzying height as he gazed into her eyes.
“Are you mine, Mia?” he asked, as he did over a year ago.
“I’m yours, Cayd. Now and always. You are mine, and I am yours.”
With that, he brought his mouth down to hers, kissing her lazily as they moved together, reuniting their love as they brought each other to climax over and over again until exhaustion and sleep overcame them.
Epilogue
Six months later…
“A PERSON with Borderline Personality Disorder often has great difficultly relating to other people, and to the world around them, which can be very difficult for those who care about them to come to terms with,” Cayd said from the front of the lecture hall where he was chosen to continue teaching his specialised course on BPD.
“Common symptoms include deep feelings of insecurity, a person suffering from BPD will generally feel fearful of abandonment. They are constantly seeking reassurance from those around them – they have a fragile sense of self worth.
“They are impulsive, contradictory, and easily confused. And often, they self-harm by causing deliberate pain through cutting, burning or hitting themselves. They may overdose on or abuse both alcohol and prescription or illegal drugs. They may take part in binge eating or starvation practices. Or they may repeatedly put themselves in harm’s way and attempt suicide.
“BPD is a complex disorder that is often misunderstood. Sufferers are not ‘bad’. Although their behaviour is regularly called ‘manipulative’ or ’attention-seeking’ by those who don’t understand the disorder. Their behaviour results from feelings of fear, loneliness, desperation, or hopelessness associated with BPD.
“Sufferers can get better. With appropriate on going treatment and support, BPD is a treatable disorder with a combination of psychological therapy, medication and support. With the right combination, most people with BPD can lead full and productive lives.”
As Cayd glanced at his watch, he wrapped up the lecture by informing his students which case studies he wanted them to look into before their next meeting.
Quickly, he gathered his notes and slid them into his briefcase, checking his watch again as he hurried down the steps of the podium so he could exit the lecture hall.
“Dr Donnelly,” a student called out to him.
Cayd turned and smiled, shaking his head and saying, “Not today, I’m sorry. I have a wedding to attend.”
Like clockwork, his phone beeped with a text from Mia.
Are you on your way? We’re already at the church!
Swiftly, he moved his thumb over the screen and responded.
10mins!
Racing to his car, he switched out his jacket for the formal attire that was hanging in the back of his Mercedes, ready for him to wear that afternoon. Then, checking his watch one last time, he drove toward the church, making it in perfect time, much to the joy of those in attendance.
“Five minutes to spare, mate,” Eric said with a smile, as Cayd burst through the door to the groomsmen’s dressing room.
“I told you I’d make it,” he grinned, checking his appearance in the mirror before turning to Josh who was sitting in the chair, biting his nails and bouncing his knee nervously. “Are you ready?”
“I’m nervous as fuck,” he said, looking up at Cayd with his big brown eyes as wide as they could go.
“Just breathe, ok. You love her don’t you?”
“Of course I do. I just don’t love standing in front of a room full of people. Especially when I have to sign. I’m worried that I’m going to sign something insulting instead of signing about my feelings for Louise.”
Cayd placed his hands on Josh’s shoulders and looked him in the eye. “You are going to do great. Just focus on Louise and let everyone else fade away.”
“Ok,” he nodded, his leg bouncing all over again when the attendant knocked on the door and told them it was time.
“Let’s go and get you married, huh?” Cayd said, following Josh out and then Eric, who was Josh’s best man.
As they lined up in front of the church, it wasn’t long before the bridal party entered the room. Despite the fact that many of the attendees weren’t hearing, they still walked down the aisle to a traditional bridal waltz.
Natalie walked in first, smiling as her eyes locked with Eric’s at the end of the aisle. Their relationship had become quite serious in the past six months, with Natalie agreeing to move down to Melbourne to be with him, and also to work on her friendship with Mia. They no longer had any contact with Belle. After the benefit, an article titled ‘She’s Insidious’ had appeared in the paper on the same page that covered the great success of the event. The page’s main article spoke of how much money was raised (largely thanks to a large donation from Howard Donnelly to get event coordinators to look the other way when he showed up uninvited) and what a success the actual benefit was. It spoke of what a worthy cause the foundation was and of how many women and children would manage to reunite because of the generosity of those invited.
The article beneath, however, was an obvious replica of the conversation Mia, Eric and Natalie had had outside the hotel while they were waiting on a cab. Someone had obviously been eavesdropping and gone to the press as a ‘reputable source’. As a result, Belle had been shunned from the high society that she had fought so hard to stay a part of and she had blamed it all on her ‘unappreciative daughters’.
Both Natalie and Mia had wasted no time telling her that they weren’t interested in crossing paths with her ever again. As far as they were concerned, they already had mothers. Mia’s was looking down on her from heaven and Natalie’s was alive and well and relieved when Natalie had gone to her and apologised for even looking for Belinda Fleming – Sandra Johnson was the only mother she would ever need.
“You look gorgeous,” Eric whispered as she took her place on the opposite side of the church.
“So do you,” she whispered back, loving how stunning he looked in his three-piece suit.
Their relationship had more than flourished over the past few months. Cayd had recognised the symptoms of BPD in Natalie long ago, and although he wasn’t able to be her psychologist, Dr Evelyn Butler was more than willing to take her on again and treat her properly. As a result, she was happy, positive and thriving in the love she was receiving from all of her new family and friends – she had even found a wonderful friend in Louise, who delighted in teaching her sign language so she could go to coffee and sign with the twins just to watch the curious looks of passer
s by.
As Mia made her way down the aisle, she looked positively radiant. Her skin was glowing and the loose fitting bridesmaid dress only hinted at the bump that protruded from her abdomen. Cayd grinned, watching her with great love and pride. They had overcome a lot together and while their wedding was postponed until after the baby was born, they were still more than ready to get married. They knew their love was true and their bond was strong. They could overcome anything that life threw at them as long as they did it together.
The day Mia had announced to him that she was pregnant was the happiest day of his life. He wanted to be he best father he could be and he couldn’t wait to welcome their little bundle of joy.
Mia mouthed, “I love you,” to Cayd as she took her place next to her sister in her position as Louise’s maid of honour.
“I love you too,” Cayd mouthed back, struggling to drag his eyes away from his love so that he could watch the bride walk down the aisle with her proud father.
A vision in white ivory silk, Louise’s curly red hair had been straightened and flowed beautifully over her shoulders. She seemed to glide along the floor as tears of pride and joy flowed from the congregation and her father gave her away to Josh and took his seat next to her proud mother.
It was hard not to be touched by the love and support that Josh and Louise showed to each other. They too, had been through a tumultuous couple of years and they had come through it stronger and more in love than ever.
When they were finally pronounced husband and wife, those in attendance lifted their hands and waved them in a signed applause as the bridal party made their way out the front of the church and into the waiting limos that would escort them to the reception.
“Oh, you never told me,” Louise said and signed to Mia as they settled in for the short drive. “How did your ultrasound go yesterday?”
Mia grinned and held Cayd’s hand. “Should we tell them?” she asked.
“Sure,” he nodded, his eyes sparkling through his joy.
“Oh no, it isn’t is it?” Eric said laughing.
Our Lives Entwined Page 17
