by Smith, Ava
“Of course, why would you stay?”
Daniel starts to walk along the lakeside and sees all manner of wildlife but no signs of the mysterious girl he nearly ran over. The sounds and smells of the lake surround him and he glances back a couple of times in case a wild animal is following him. He continues bravely and his wet shoes squelch with every step. Daniel is about to turn back when he spots a payphone way off in the distance and has never felt more relieved.
After organising for someone to haul his car out of the lake, he is running an hour late. The car, now wet and muddy, once again winds its way through long roads but he sees nothing but an empty void. Recent events have changed his mood and he shakes his head and even laughs a bit because, quite honestly, the girl’s behaviour was very strange. He glances casually out of his window and jumps when he sees a pure white swan trailing beside his car. It looks at him and makes eye contact for several seconds before it flies up and disappears into the night. He doesn’t give it much thought after that and he turns slowly to the front to face the road once again.
Several minutes later he turns the car into a long driveway about half a mile long. A row of Oak trees line the drive on each side and Daniel’s car passes them one by one. His expression is one of indifference as he’s been past the same stretch of road so many times before. He is almost at the house when he glances up and immediately screeches the car to a stop. He steps out and looks up at the 18th century house with 30 windows. A banner across the top reads “‘Happy Birthday Daniel’”.
“Perfect! Absolutely perfect!” he murmurs.
He squeezes through a shortcut and walks into an immaculately kept back garden with Oak trees at the far end and a beautiful lawn in the centre. There are a number of guests wandering around the grounds; these are mostly his father’s friends: people in their late 50s who have little interest in anything fun. Daniel nods to a couple of them but no one wants to talk to him. It may have something to do with his muddy clothes and unkempt hair. Glancing round he realises his father has gone to a lot of trouble in organising the event, more so than last year. Having shown himself to enough people Daniel is about to walk into the house when he is alerted to a woman’s screams. He turns and sees 65-year-old Hargreaves, with grey hair and wearing a butler’s uniform, walking round the swimming pool wall with a tray on his head. Ethan, Luke, Annabelle and Claudia are all in their 20s, all beautiful, and they cheer Hargreaves on. Hargreaves loses his balance for a moment and the women gasp.
“Don’t fall, I’ve too much at stake,” Ethan yells out.
Hargreaves plods on and is about to reach the end when he slips and falls into the pool.
“Yes! I won! I’ll take my money now,” Luke declares.
Ethan replies, smirking, “I’m afraid I don’t carry that kind of cash on me. I’ll have to owe you.”
“I’ll give you a week, old chum,” Luke says.
Ethan looks ahead and sees Daniel walking his way.
“There he is. The man of the moment. Happy 26th old man!”
Daniel ignores him and turns to Claudia, a tall, blonde-haired beauty who appears less than pleased to see him and mutters softly, “I missed you.” Claudia turns away and he whispers, “Very much.”
Claudia turns back with a smile. “I missed you too.” She gives him a gentle kiss on the lips and asks, “Where were you? I thought you were never going to come.”
“Oh you know me, fell asleep. In fact my father woke me up.” Daniel casts his eyes round the vast grounds but he can’t locate his father anywhere. “So where is he? I don’t see him.”
Claudia takes a breath and answers, “He is about to start his speech.”
He turns sharply to her. “What speech?”
* * *
By nightfall Daniel is standing among the many guests who all look up at his father. He sighs wishing the ‘speech’ was coming to an end but, John soon addresses them in a commanding but clear tone.
“What can I say about my beloved son?” he asks candidly. “He is the apple of my eye, a pillar of the community. And in four months’ time, he will wed his beautiful fiancée, Claudia.” Claudia beams and blushes as John continues, “And as I stand here I feel so proud to have raised... what have I raised?” Daniel frowns at the statement. “Well a thoughtful, diligent son who always puts others before himself.” The crowd clap with enthusiasm and John signals them to quieten down, which they do. “As a small token of my appreciation, I have decided to give him something very special.”
“The house in Milan,” Ethan whispers in Daniel’s ear.
John takes a moment and utters the most unexpected and most important of all words, ‘“The Odette Carmichael Ballet Company!”’
Daniel’s carefree demeanour vanishes in seconds and he stares ahead without expression. Claudia glances at Daniel and then at Ethan, as she too can’t believe what she hears. All around them the crowd commends the act with rapturous applause and John speaks with a glint in his eye and an apparent ignorance of his son’s thoughts.
“Son, happy birthday!”
Daniel lowers his head trying not to show how upset he is. His fiancée places a tender hand on his shoulder but he shoves it away and marches off in the direction of the manor.
Later on, John smokes a cigar and sits in his favourite leather armchair while his son stands sombrely near the drawing room fireplace.
“Have you gone insane, Dad?” the 26-year-old asks.
John blows out some smoke and replies, “Not that I know of, son.”
“Well I think you have because it’s common knowledge that I hate ballet. I hate it with every fibre of my being.”
John answers casually, “Do you even have the slightest notion why I gave you such a gift? Hmm? Because you are a big disappointment to me. Always have been. You have squandered and indulged your entire life and it’s time for a change.”
“I’ll change.”
“Saying you’ll change isn’t good enough. We have to take action. So this is my proposition to you. I want you to take care of this little enterprise. Really get involved from start to finish. And in six months’ time, I want to see before me a spectacular, new production.”
Daniel laughs. “Spectacular and new! I’ll fail miserably. Doesn’t that bother you? I’ll be up to my elbows in debt!”
“It doesn’t bother me in the slightest.”
Daniel’s eyes widen at the comeback and he strides into the foyer feeling utterly dejected. There is nothing he can do to avert the crisis, and moping around in the foyer won’t solve anything either, so he swivels on his heel and strides up the spiralling staircase until he reaches his bedroom.
The room in question has beige walls, white curtains and a large writing desk in the corner. An arched window overlooks the courtyard and is always kept open by the servants to keep the room smelling fresh. In spite of the splendour it’s not a place Daniel is very fond of so he hardly ever stays here. The moment Daniel walks inside he crosses to the open window and looks out at the courtyard. It’s completely empty which means all those vacuous people went home believing his father was a good man - Daniel would disagree.
A whole hour passes and Daniel remains upset. Claudia has joined him now and she lies on her front on a four poster bed and is swinging her legs to and fro. She glances at him because he hasn’t said a word since the announcement, the silence becomes unbearable and she eventually cries out,
“So what if you have to put on a show? Big deal.”
Daniel stares intensely at his future bride and her blasé attitude only makes him scowl.
“If I don’t do a good job he’ll take my inheritance. And if I forfeit, he’ll take it sooner.” He takes hold of her hand and pleads. “What shall I do, Claudia? Tell me what to do.”
“Start reading up on Swan Lake.” He throws her hand away and Claudia sits up. “You have no choice. If you don’t you lose everything. And then where would you be?”
She rummages through her handbag and pulls o
ut a tiny silver and red envelope and offers it to him.
“Darling, you remembered,” he says taking it from her.
“Of course I remembered. It’s your birthday.”
He hastily opens the envelope to find two ballet tickets with the word “‘Giselle’” printed on them.
“Dad put you up to this?” he asks, suspecting a plan.
“No, this was my own idea. Something to edge you slowly into your task.”
“Traitor... but you’ll still love me, won’t you? In spite of everything?”
She sits back on her legs and answers, “As long as you’re rich, my love. I’ll love you forever.”
That’s when Daniel’s face drops, and he can’t even bring himself to muster a response.
CHAPTER 7
Claudia goes home and Daniel falls asleep in his room. It’s a blissful sleep, too, and one he thoroughly needs. Someone pounds on his bedroom door and he wakes with a jolt.
“What? What is it?”
“Your father wishes to see you in the dining hall, sir,” one of the servants informs him.
Daniel sighs and gets out of bed. He shuffles downstairs and on wandering into the dining hall he sees John eating a hearty Chinese banquet for one: standing on either side of him are two men of equal height and build.
“Are you going to get them to beat me up, Dad?”
“I suppose you’re wondering why I summoned you here?” John asks as he chews on some chicken.
“Because you enjoy holding conferences at two in the morning.” John looks sombre and Daniel’s eyes widen. “Wait a minute; you want me to give up my inheritance, don’t you? You made the decision right now. Oh gosh, Dad, please don’t do this. I promise I’ll do my best to get the theatre up and running again. You have my word.”
John and his two friends stare at Daniel. It’s as though they can’t hear his pathetic words and after a significant amount of time has passed, John says calmly,
“I want you to sign a document stating that you will comply with certain rules during the six month period.”
“What rules?”
“There are two copies you must sign. The second one is for you,” John tells him.
One of the men hands over the document and Daniel reads through the first few lines:
“‘I, Daniel Oliver MacGregor do solemnly swear to the following:
I will always arrive to work no later than 8.30 in the morning.
I will provide my father, John Alistair MacGregor, detailed accounts on how well my work is progressing. All such accounts will be backed up with documentary proof and staff testimonials.’”
There are ten more items on the list but he is too insulted to read them all and he quickly turns to the last page which states:
‘“Failure to uphold any part of this agreement will result in the immediate denial of Daniel Oliver MacGregor’s legal right to the monies and properties belonging to his father, John Alistair MacGregor.”’
Daniel looks up and sees one of John’s friends holding up a fountain pen for him to use. Daniel signs and dates the two documents, using his own pen, and drops them both on the table. He glares at his father and is about to march out when he hears,
“Mr MacGregor.”
Daniel turns and sees John’s friend holding up his copy.
“The duplicate is for you, sir.”
Daniel snatches the document and storms out of the room.
He makes it into the courtyard still reeling from the confrontation and looks up shaking his head. It’s clear that his father has imprisoned him and thrown away the key and there’s nothing he can do about it. Feeling enraged he jumps in his car and drives away in his usual manic way.
The countryside roads remain clear as there is very little traffic at this time of night, but even so he should know better. The car swerves round dangerous bends once again and the tyres start to screech. This time he doesn’t care if anyone’s standing in the middle of the road and God help them if they are. To add to the danger it is now dark and the only light comes from the car headlights. Daniel turns the car round another sharp bend, but he loses control of the steering and the car skids violently to the other side of the road before coming to an abrupt stop. He breathes quickly but he’s all right.
It takes Daniel a while to recover and when he looks up he sees the headlights are illuminating much of the lake ahead. Stepping out of his car he is able to make out a flock of swans in the distance, and one of them seems to be perched on a rock. It expands its wings and lowers its head, if he didn’t know any better he’d swear it was bowing to its friends. As he stands there watching the birds, he glances over his shoulder every now and then, and every time a tree sways or a twig snaps he turns more sharply, but there was to be no meeting with the beautiful woman tonight and he walks back to his car a disappointed man. He drives home at a calmer pace and takes out his employment contract from his inside coat pocket and holds it out the window. It sways to and fro in the breeze and is in danger of flying away as he barely holds on to it, but he snatches it back in the nick of time and tosses it into the back seat.
The early morning streets are deserted and London has the feel of an alien planet by the time Daniel returns home. He ambles out of his car while yawning and enters his house. He catches sight of his laptop sitting on the coffee table so he shuffles over and taps on the keys, “‘’There must be a way I can get out of this mess.’” Of course nothing important comes out in the search. So he does a second search; “‘How to run a ballet company, a guide for the complete novice.’” As he ploughs through the mishmash of results he realises it doesn’t give him the quick fix solution he was hoping for. Instead it speaks of things like commitment, hard work and treating everyone with dignity.
“Commitment!” He switches off the machine in disgust and wanders off to bed.
The week carries on pretty much as normal and Daniel invites a few friends over for a get-together. He is in a happier mood and smiles the whole time, but when the conversation inevitably switches to The Odette Carmichael Theatre, his smile fades. Misha Fisher, a gossipy 27-year-old who prides herself on being culturally aware, talks about her experiences.
“I’ve been to at least two of their performances,” she tells everyone.
“And how was it?” Annabelle asks.
“Pretty good. The choreography was definitely worth blogging about. But I didn’t get a chance to see their star performer, so to speak,” Misha replies.
“That good is she?” Claudia asks.
“Astounding apparently. A prima ballerina to die for!”
The friends laugh out loud but Daniel simply raises his eyebrows and crosses to the window. He looks out onto the city and seems lost. Even the haunting landscape of London by night fails to enliven his spirits. Claudia watches him from a few feet away, but rather than offer some words of comfort, she passes round a tray of canapés. The party plods on and after a few more glasses of champagne have been drunk the merriment finally grinds to halt at around 11.30pm. Claudia saunters over to Daniel in a flirty way and places her hands firmly on his shoulders.
“I really need to be on my own, Claudia.”
“Oh don’t be like that, my love. I can make things better,” Claudia answers.
“I said I need to be on my own!”
Claudia doesn’t show any reaction to his words and just nods and leaves. By the time she reaches the end of the drive her face is sullen and she snatches up a stone from the ground and hurls it across the street. It smashes a car window and sets off the alarm. Instead of admitting responsibility, Claudia calmly gets into her car and speeds off down the road.
Two days pass and Daniel wakes up in his stylish London home, stretches and yawns. As he gets out of bed he isn’t thinking about the ballet or his fiancée. In truth he has forgotten about both of them and he decides to watch some TV. It is nearly 1.30pm by the time he gets a text message. He glances at his phone which lies on the coffee table four feet away and pushes
the table with his foot so he won’t get distracted. After the programme ends he meanders into the kitchen and opens the fridge but all he finds in there is a bottle of water and some lettuce. His housekeeper obviously forgot to restock. He slams the fridge door and walks back to the living room. By this time his phone goes ballistic as it signals the arrival of yet another text message. Daniel picks up his phone and sees it’s a message from Claudia which tells him, “‘I’ll be there at around two for the ballet.’”
“Damn it! The ballet!”
He looks at the clock; it’s already 1.50pm so he drops the phone on the carpet and races upstairs. He opens his vast wardrobe and at first he picks out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. However, common sense tells him it’s bound to be more upmarket so he searches his wardrobe and manages to find an ugly brown suit from the back. He could have easily worn something a lot smarter, but his thinking is muddled as he now has only five minutes left. He showers and shaves and as he washes the soap off his face, he pauses for a second and looks in the mirror. He suddenly remembers climbing up the hill and seeing her for the first time... and how beautiful she looked... He snaps out of it.
“You’re infatuated with a ghost,” he barks to himself.
Claudia is due to arrive any minute, Daniel dashes out of the bathroom and throws on a shirt, the ugly brown suit and some shoes. He just finishes putting the collar down on his jacket when he hears the doorbell ring. He behaves like he hasn’t heard it and continues to preen himself, but whoever it is rings two more times in quick succession. Daniel looks over his shoulder and sighs, only one person in the world would be this persistent, his fiancée Claudia. Daniel eventually opens the front door to her and notes she is wearing a suitably expensive dress and looks spectacular. He only manages to give her a gentle peck on the cheek and this is enough to arouse suspicion. However, Claudia doesn’t make a big deal out of it and they leave the house together. As they approach the car he suddenly turns and says,
