*
When I open my eyes again the following morning, I struggle to believe my alarm clock. Is it really midday? It’s a Sunday, and I don’t want to waste it like this! I want to talk to Jamie, I need to know if he’s still upset. I spring out of bed, comb my hair quickly and run downstairs.
“Jamie!” I call out on the stairs.
No answer. I go to the kitchen – apart from a wooden spoon slightly out of place, nothing else has changed. Weird.
I walk upstairs again and stop in front of his room. I knock lightly, leaning with my ear against the door, trying to hear whether he’s in there. I can’t hear anything.
“Jamie? Are you in there? Can I come in?” Nothing. I pluck up my courage and open the door. His bed is made and the whole room looks tidy – Jamie isn’t there. He must be out, it’s past midday now. I’m sure he’ll be back for lunch. Yeah, I’ll wait for him and I’ll tell him everything when he’s back. I can do it. I wish I had apologised straight away – waiting isn’t the best thing to do, it makes me nervous. But I can wait for an hour or so.
I sit on the sofa and there I wait for the rest of the afternoon to pass, trying my best not to think about the time. I wait until 4 p.m. – he’s not back yet. This situation is killing me. Maybe I should call him, I should ask him where he is, I should go and find him… I grab my phone, which I left on silent all day, and I look for Jamie’s number in my list of contacts. I keep scrolling down but I can’t find it – I’m about to throw the phone against the front door, when it suddenly opens.
“There you are!” He glances at me, he doesn’t seem to notice that I’ve been waiting for him. He walks past me, ignoring me, and heads upstairs.
“I’ve come back to get my stuff,” he says in a slightly detached tone, which scares me.
“What do you mean?” I think I might have misunderstood.
“I’m unwelcome here – I’m leaving for good.” No, you’re not unwelcome! That’s not true!
“Where are you going?” That’s the only question I can manage to ask.
“I’m going home, I have a home too, you know?” he replies bitterly.
“When?”
“Now, I’ll pack and go.” I remain speechless for a while, I want to shout that he can’t go away like this, he can’t leave me… not now that I know I love him! Please!
“Okay.” Again, that’s all that I manage to say.
He looks a bit confused, then he turns towards the stairs. The telecom rings. What time is it? I glance at the clock on the wall and I freeze – it’s 5 p.m., oh shit. It would be too humiliating to receive the sofa now, I can’t deal with it. The telecom sounds again, and again. I can’t do this, I’ll ignore it.
“Aren’t you going to answer?” Jamie heads back to the living room.
“No.”
“They’re ringing.”
“Yeah?” I try to stall for time.
“Yeah, Ashley, you need to answer.” he insists – the telecom goes off once more.
“I’m not waiting for anyone,” I lie, sitting back on my favourite sofa – it’s the only thing that will never let me down.
“Okay, fine – I’ll get it.” he says impatiently then he strides towards the front door.
“No, wait…” I don’t make it in time – he opens the front door and two men appear in front of him with a huge wrapped-up parcel.
“We have to deliver this sofa,” one of them announces – both of them are wearing blue waterproof coats and hats with the brims turned to one side.
“You’re at the wrong address,” I say before Jamie can say anything – I want to avoid making this any more embarrassing than it is already.
“Is this 37 Long Street?”
“Yes,” I reply thoughtlessly.
“Seventh floor?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you Miss Ashley Morgan?”
“Yeah, it’s me, but this must be a mistake…” I insist while Jamie gives me a puzzled look – he seems about to ask me why I’m acting so strange.
“Ashley Jewell Morgan, right?” the man insists.
“Yeah, that’s her,” he says impatiently.
“Then this is the right address. It’s here: Miss Ashley Jewell Morgan, 37 Long Street, seventh floor.”
“There must be dozens of Ashley Jewell Morgans in the neighbourhood, you’re at the wrong address.”
“There aren’t that many Ashleys who live at 37 Long Street,” Jamie replies. He’s not being helpful right now. I don’t need the sofa any more now that he wants to move out.
“Can we take the sofa into the apartment then?” the man insists. It looks like he can’t wait to tick this errand off his list and go away.
“The sofa?” Jamie looks surprised.
“I didn’t order anything,” I carry on lying, even though there is nobody else who could have bought them.”
“There’s also a message with the parcel,” the other man says – he’s wearing an orange scarf around his neck and a pair of nerdy glasses. He waves a red piece of paper – that’s going to be embarrassing.
Jamie takes the paper and reads it.
For Jamie – I want you to feel welcome in the apartment and I want you to know that I care about you more than I care about the place. You were right – denying it won’t help me. I’m sorry for what I did last night.
best,
Ashley
He raises his eyes, questioningly.
“You bought this for me?”
“Yeah,” I admit unwillingly – it’s impossible to keep lying now. “You don’t need it any more now that you’re leaving. I just wanted you to have somewhere comfortable to sit and watch TV.”
“When?”
“Whenever.”
“Where?”
“Upstairs?”
He remains silent for a moment, then he becomes thoughtful and mutters, “Right.” The hint of a smile appears on the corner of his mouth.
“Can you take this upstairs please?” He asks the two delivery men. The two breathe a sigh of relief in reply and begin their work. “You bought a sofa for me?” he asks happily, then he moves towards me with a strange glint in his eyes. “Why did you do that?” he asks when he’s a few inches away.
“I told you why…” I reply, as I turn my back to him. I don’t like him when he looks so smug.
“No, you kept lying – tell me why you did it.”
His voice has a sweet nuance – it charms me and he immediately wraps me in his arms. He was so quick and gentle that I couldn’t fight him off and I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be right now.
“So I can watch TV?” I hear him chuckle with his lips on my hair; he hugs me tighter now.
“Like in my dream?”
“Maybe,” I say.
“You know that I won’t be happy with this little.”
“What do you want now? You’ve no idea how much that sofa costs.” I complain, alarmed.
“I have an idea and I’m pretty sure that you won’t manage to pay it back on your monthly wage.”
“Yeah.” At least he knows that it’s an expensive present.
“Your message said that you care about me, that I’m more important than you managed to show me and that I was right. What did you mean?” He’s doesn’t want to give up – he’s like a dog with a bone now.
“You know what I meant, Jamie.”
“No, I don’t.” I know what he’s doing, I can read him, but I can’t say it out loud. Why can’t he just show me some mercy?
“We’re done, guys. Sorry to have bothered you and have a good evening.” One of the two men speaks so loudly that he scares me. I almost forgot they were there!
“Bye, thanks!” Jamie answers.
When the two men close the front door behind them, Jamie wraps me in his arms again.
“We need to work on your apologising skills, but I’m going to have you say the three words before dawn, believe me.” he whispers sweetly. This man is too stubborn for my ta
ste, but I wouldn’t replace him with anyone else.
*
The insistent ring tone of my mobile phone forces me to open my eyes. Who’s calling at this time of the day? I’m pretty sure that I could still sleep for a couple of hours before work. I raise my head and stretch my right hand out of the blanket, when I notice that Jamie’s warm arm is lying on my stomach.
“Jamie!” I complain, trying to wriggle away from him, “I have to answer the phone!”
“What time is it?” he mutters.
“It’s ringing – let me see who’s calling.” Whoever it is, I hope for their sake that it’s urgent.
“Okay, but come back to bed with me afterwards.”
“I will – just let me answer,” I promise him with a smile. He seems genuinely reassured and he lets me bend over to get the phone. It’s Elly. What does she want at 5 a.m.?
“Hello?”
“So?”
“So what?”
“Did you tell him?”
“What?”
“That you love him, what else?” The voice of conscience – does she never sleep?
“No, but he knows. Why are you awake at this time in the morning?”
“I was thinking about you – I thought you’d have sorted things out by now. I didn’t want to call at 2 a.m. so I waited until now.”
“Elly…” I reprimand her immediately.
“Shhh, don’t shout – Alex is asleep.”
“Oh, right, but it was you who called me, remember?”
“How’s Jamie?”
“You’ve just woken him up with your phone call,” I reply acidly, but regret it straight away. I hate giving her too much personal information, there’s no chance of her ever forgetting what she hears.
“He’s… lying next to you?” she whispers excitedly, struggling to keep her tone down. I can just see her with a hand over her mouth, jumping up and down in excitement. Poor Alex! I hope he’s not a light sleeper.
“Elly! It’s none of your business!”
“Okay – I can’t believe you slept with him. Good morning, beautiful, enjoy the taste of happiness!” Elly exclaims, overjoyed, then she hangs up on me all of a sudden. I stare at the phone screen for a second, then I register the fact that she’s ended the call and put the phone back on the bedside cabinet.
“What did she want?” Jamie asks, half asleep. He stretches out his hand for mine and then pulls me towards him again. Hugging him feels so good that I forget why I ever fought against this blissful feeling.
“She just wanted to be annoying early in the morning… she’s happy for me, like any best friend.”
“I’ll let her off then. Is there anything that you would like to tell me now that you’re awake?”
“Me? No, nothing!” What does he expect at five in the morning?
“Are you sure? His smile and his joyful expression scare me a little.
“Oh, Jamie… you know what I would say. You don’t need to hear it from me.” I protest.
“I want to hear it from you, I need to hear it from you.”
He’s so irresistibly sweet. I lean over towards him and begin to kiss him on his neck. “Is this not enough?” Then another kiss on his chin, his jawline, his cheek, his eyelids. “There’s no need to say anything…” Another kiss on his soft, warm lips. He closes his eyes and kisses me back with a passion that only he has. He pushes me over on the bed and lies on top of me to kiss me better.
“Say it,” he whispers between kisses. When did Jamie become so irresistible? The taste of his kisses is like a drug and the more he continues, the more impossible it becomes for me to stop. His kisses are bittersweet, a bit like dark chocolate, he’s both gentle and deliberate in a way that drives me crazy. “Say it.” His lips touch my skin so gently, a warm wave runs through my body. He pulls me closer to him with one arm so that our bodies are inseparable. I feel his desire for me. “Say it,” he commands hypnotically. I’m so confused that I can’t think about anything else – my mouth speaks without my mind realising.
“I love you.” I hear myself say out loud. Jamie stops kissing me and looks at me. The smile on his face makes me realise that I’ve finally said it.
“See, it wasn’t so difficult after all.” he affirms triumphantly.
“You’re a charmer, Jamie.”
“Maybe…”
“I won’t say it often, make the most of it.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” he whispers and then he kisses me again.
Epilogue
Spending Christmas Eve with Jamie was the most magical thing that I’ve ever done in my life. I wonder how I’ve lived without him for the last twenty-seven years. Waking up next to him in the morning and looking at his beautiful face is a natural mood booster for me – every problem disappears when I share it with him. The most beautiful feeling is knowing that I am the reason for his happiness. I’m far from being the spoiled girl who almost smashed his business into smithereens. Yes, his business. He has insisted that I should run it with him, but Morgan & Hall is his child – he has put so much energy and effort into it that it’s only fair that it’s his company. I realised that Dad was right after all, when he decided to leave the company to him. He couldn’t have found anyone better. It’s been difficult to accept the truth, I had to admit to myself that I’ve spent the last few years nurturing hatred with a passion, just because of my pride. I eventually decided that I shouldn’t give in to the sunk cost heuristic – I’ve spent many years feeling negative, and I don’t intend to live the rest of my life like that.
*
I’ve begun to participate actively in Jamie’s business decisions and, of course, I also have to deal with food now that the book shop has become a book bar. Morgan & Hall still has my name on it and my gluttony has no limits – my two jobs seem just perfect for me. Now that I’m more involved in the company, I realise that Jamie and Heather are a lot closer than I would like them to be and this can’t be any good for me. I told him straight and he laughed at me in reply. He also said that the company staff are all like a big family for him and that there’s nothing going on with anyone at all. I’m still going to have to keep an eye on this woman – the fact that Jamie is so attractive could give her ideas and that’s not what I want, of course.
It’s difficult to be mad at Jamie for long because of Heather or for anything else, especially now that I found out that it’s thanks to him that the garden has remained so green and beautiful. Apparently, Jamie asked Robert to continue coming around twice a week as usual and he’s been paying Robert himself all this time. The fact that Jamie took the garden so much to heart makes him even more irresistible in my eyes.
*
My mother called me early this morning. She eventually decided to decline Walder’s proposal. I hope that he was okay with her decision – if he knows her at least half as well as I do, he probably half expected it. My mother has never been the type who enjoyed being in a close relationship with anyone, if we don’t take into account her long relationship with NBO, the TV channel she works for as an international correspondent. Nobody will ever change her. If Walder loves her, he’ll accept her for what she is, just like Jamie has accepted me.
We’re going to stay at home all day today. We’re happy together and I want this feeling to last forever. We’re almost like a family. A family. Jamie also cooks divinely – what more could I want? Jamie is extremely skilful with both sweet and savoury dishes and he seems to somehow know exactly what I like. Each and every one of his dishes is just deliciously mouth watering. Today’s lunch was very tasty, but when I see Jamie sit down in front of me at the table in the dining room, I feel a little disappointed – it’s the same seat that he took the night Dad made him his successor. It’s Christmas day today and I was expecting a present.
“Where’s my cake?” I ask him, a little disappointed.
“Your cake?”
“Yeah, my cake – the one with my name!” I know, I had promised that I would keep the
secret but it’s difficult to keep silent when I’m so disappointed.
“How do you know that there’s a cake with your name?” he asks, surprised. I knew that he would take it to heart.
“Liam,” I confess and then I lower my head, a little ashamed.
“Right! I’ll tell him off!”
“It’s not his fault. Heather mentioned it without realising that I didn’t know and then I insisted on seeing it. Liam only gave in to my request.”
“I’m still going to tell him off! It was meant to be a surprise!”
“Well, I only glanced at it, I could pretend that I never saw it,” I suggest.
“When did you see it?”
“When you were ill and you sent me to sign the documents.”
“Okay,” he says and then he stands up. He looks upset.
“I’m going to pretend that I never saw it, okay? It’s still going to be a surprise!” I insist. He ignores me and walks into the kitchen. “Jamie, don’t be upset, please! I didn’t know you cared so much!” I apologise. He keeps ignoring me and disappears behind the kitchen counter. When he appears again, he’s holding a tray with a cake on it, which vaguely reminds me of the one that I saw at Morgan & Hall.
It’s petite, just about the perfect size for two, and it’s covered in dark chocolate. It’s sprinkled with orange peel and white chocolate flakes. On the top of the cake there’s a canopy shaped object with beautiful golden decorations and, in the middle, a little blue velvet box. I think I’ve seen that box before, in the hands of a woman with short grey hair.
I look at Jamie, puzzled, and he looks back at me determinedly – his eyes are so beautiful I struggle to breathe. My legs are shaking, I feel nervous.
“What is it?” I mutter, then I blink several times to make sure that I don’t pass out.
“That’s the Ashley cake,” Jamie says and then smiles at me ever so sweetly.
“Not the cake, the box.” I say, pointing to the small velvet cube on top of the cake.
“Open it,” he says. Okay, this is not a dream, this is not a dream. I stretch out my hand, I pick up the little box and I hold it in my shaking hands. I don’t believe this.
The Inheritance: A feisty, giggle-inducing romance Page 23
