Forgotten Husband

by Susan Bella Ikin

  “Because I fell so quickly and heavily in love with Helen that we married without a prenup. My lawyer constantly berates me about my rashness, but I didn’t care at the time. I didn’t think it would ever be important. Unfortunately it gives me a really good reason to get rid of my wife if I didn’t want to be married to her any more. A divorce would have cost me millions, but a dead wife costs nothing. Even though the police couldn’t find any reason for me wanting to get rid of Helen, I think they still always suspected that I had, that the kidnap was just a cover up. I suspect they always thought that, up until Helen turned up alive of course”.

  Without thinking I got up from my chair, crossed over to Mitch and knelt in front of him, taking his hands in mine and resting my cheek on his knee.

  “I’m so sorry, Mitch. I’ve been so busy thinking about myself, that I never thought things could have been so bad for you. I suppose I can understand why you were so angry when you first saw me, after what you’d been through in the last two years”.

  Mitch put his hand under my chin and lifted my face to look into my eyes, leaning forward in his seat.

  “I won’t say it wasn’t terrible, because it was. I didn’t know if you were dead or alive, while of course I wanted you to be alive, I was still imagining all sorts of horrible things happening to you. As soon as I realized they suspected me of killing you, I was afraid they would stop looking for you, and I was both frustrated and angry that I couldn’t make them understand that I hadn’t done away with you, and they needed to keep looking for you. I supposed over time everything I felt just morphed into one big block of anger, and I’m sorry to say, you got to see it up close. The longer I’m around you, the more I remember how things used to be between us, and the more I doubt that you were a willing participant in anything. I just want to know what happened, but whatever it was, I’m willing to try to work it out with you”.

  I sat up on my knees and leaned in to kiss Mitch, feeling moved by his words, but stopped, blushing, when I heard a throat clearing behind me. Mitch started as well, obviously both of us had forgotten that David was still in the room.

  “Well, it seems like you still have a chance at rebuilding your relationship, and I think you won’t need a lot of help from me for that. It seems that the biggest blocker to you both getting to where you want to be is Helen’s memory, isn’t that right? Do you remember anything at all about the kidnapping Helen?” At my shaken head, he turned to Mitch. “What about you, Mitch? Can you tell us what you know? Maybe something will give us a starting point to try to recover some memories for Helen”.

  Mitch hauled me to my feet and guided me to the seat next to him, holding my hand as I took my seat. My heart swelled at the tender gesture. I might not remember how things used to be, but I liked this Mitch better than the cold one of just a few weeks ago. He sat forward as he spoke.

  “I was interstate at a business meeting, and Helen was at home. Normally she would have been at class, but she wasn’t feeling well, so took the day off. I guess now we know why you weren’t feeling well, eh Helen?”

  I thought about the timing, then realized that I had probably been suffering from morning sickness. But Mitch’s earlier words prompted a question from me.

  “What class? Was I studying something?”

  “You were studying for university entrance exams. If you’d been successful, you were planning on starting with an arts degree, and seeing where you went from there. You were so used to working, you said you couldn’t sit around idly, just mooching off me. I told you that you didn’t need to work, but you said you weren’t cut out for a life of shopping and going to lunch”. Mitch drew in a deep breath and squeezed my hand before continuing. “I’m just now remembering that, and realizing how obvious it should have been that you weren’t interested in my money. I’m sorry, Helen, for ever doubting you. If you want to go back to study, we can look into it again. You might have to wait for the new year, but there’s no reason why you can’t”.

  I squeezed Mitch’s hand back, happy that he was starting to remember our earlier lives together, and in a more positive light as well.

  “That’s ok Mitch. We’ve got Michelle now, things are going to be different. When I feel more confident about who I am again, I’d like to look into study again, but only part time, I want to spend time with Michelle while she’s little”.

  David interrupted us then, with a smile on his face.

  “Have you two not been talking up until now? It seems to me that you’re able to talk through some pretty big issues without any help, and I think you’ve probably made some progress sorting out what is going on between yourselves, but I’d still like to hear about when Helen was kidnapped, I got the impression you haven’t talked about that in detail, and it might help Helen to hear about it”.

  Mitch drew in a deep breath before continuing.

  “I was trying to call Helen all night, but she wasn’t answering either her mobile or the house phone. I told you she hadn’t been well, so I thought maybe she had just gone to bed and turned her phone off, because it was going straight to voicemail, so I wasn’t worried much that day. But the next morning, I called Mrs Santos”, Mitch addressed David directly now, “She’s our housekeeper. I asked how Helen was doing, and Mrs Santos put the phone down, then came back to tell me that Helen was nowhere to be found, and our room didn’t seem like anyone had spent the night there. I knew something was wrong then, and called my security company to start checking the house while I flew home. I was met at the airport by one of their senior staff, and he told me that while they had been checking the apartment over, Mrs Santos had taken a call from someone claiming to have Helen. It all snowballed from there. They tried tracing calls, but the kidnappers had some sort of scrambling technology, so it didn’t work. I got the money together, and paid the ransom. They were supposed to release Helen at the same time as I paid the ransom, my solicitor was waiting at the agreed spot, but Helen never showed up”.

  “So, do you know when Helen was taken? You’ve mentioned how you couldn’t reach her, and when you found out, but did the police have any ideas? When was the last time anyone saw her? I’m trying to find a point where we might get something useful to use to jog Helen’s memory, since Helen doesn’t have any memories that go back that far, and a kidnapping would have been quite traumatic. Anything you can give me might help”.

  “Well, Helen texted a friend that morning, mentioning that she wouldn’t be coming in, and asking if she could get some catch up notes the next time they had class together. Mrs Santos saw Helen later that morning as Helen was about to leave to keep an appointment, that was after ten, but before lunch, Mrs Santos couldn’t be any more specific than that”.

  “So, this Mrs Santos, she doesn’t stay in the afternoons or anything like that?”

  “Well, normally she does, but she has an afternoon off during the week, and it was her afternoon. So because I was away, Helen was on her own and no-one would have noticed her missing until the next day”.

  “What about this building? Are there cameras in the lobby?”

  “Yes, and the car park. We had the images retrieved, but Helen didn’t return any time during that day. The lobby camera recorded Helen leaving, but not returning. So the police theory was that whatever happened, it happened after Helen left. Because Mrs Santos said that Helen had said she had an appointment, we rang everyone we could think of, Helen’s doctor, her dentist, but there were privacy issues. Finally, when we convinced Helen’s doctor that time was critical, he confirmed that she had an appointment, and that she kept it. He wouldn’t say what it was about though, he said it was not relevant, and we really didn’t need to know. What was important, was that we knew that Helen was fine at eleven thirty. She walked out of the doctor’s surgery, and disappeared. We couldn’t find any CCTV nearby, and none of the taxi companies had a record of picking anyone up at that time, so we didn’t know what happened when Helen walked out of that door”.

  Mitch exhaled and
squeezed my hand, looking sideways at me. I could tell by the way he clenched his jaw that he was keeping a tight hold of his emotions, and I put my free hand on his arm and rubbed gently, trying to reassure him. I looked over at David, seeing him smiling at me.

  “Well, Helen, it looks like we’ve got some work ahead of us. It’s not going to be easy, I won’t try to tell you that it is. It’s likely to be very confronting, and will be very emotional, but rest assured you will be in a safe place with me. Now, if you’re up for it, I can fit you in tomorrow afternoon at five. I’ve got a full day, but I’d like to get started with you as soon as possible, so I’ll extend my hours until I can get you a more convenient time. Is that too late?”

  “Oh, well, that’s a bit late, I normally try to feed Michelle early and get her ready for bed – “

  “Helen, if that’s all that’s worrying you, I can take care of Michelle until things settle down”.

  I looked at Mitch. I knew that he could, but did I want him to? Would Michelle want him to?

  “But Mitch, you normally work later than that, what about your work? What if Michelle won’t settle for you? She does get a bit grumpy late in the afternoon”.

  Mitch gave me a funny look, one that made my mouth quirk. He sort of lowered his head, and looked down at me even while he seemed to be looking up. It was a kind of questioning look, and I hadn’t seen it on him before, but it stirred a memory. I had a feeling I had seen the look before.

  “Do you doubt me Helen? I can negotiate deals worth millions of dollars, soothe the hurt feelings of company heads, and work out what I’m going to eat for lunch, all at the same time. Do you think I can’t feed and entertain a small child?”

  My lips twitched as I looked at Mitch. Maybe it would be good for them both if Mitch sent all of his staff home early and spent time with Michelle. My mind made up, I turned and nodded at David.

  “See you at five tomorrow then”.

  ~

  Walking into David’s office the next evening, I took a seat with relief. It had been a trying day. Just like the day before, I had been bored most of the day, and had to bite my tongue when Mitch’s staff gave me haughty looks when I encountered them around the apartment. True to his word, Mitch had obviously spoken to them, and they no longer said anything to me that I could take exception to, but clearly they still didn’t like me. Things had only gotten worse when I had gone to the kitchen, looking for lunch for Michelle. Mrs Santos had been busy at breakfast time, and I had made something for Michelle and I to eat without her assistance, but lunchtime was a different story. Mrs Santos was busy in the kitchen, and Michelle was getting fractious. I couldn’t put it off any longer.

  “Hello, Mrs Santos. I’ll just make Michelle a sandwich, I’ll try not to get in your way”.

  “Hmph. It’s a bit late for that”.

  “What do you mean? I cleaned up after myself this morning”.

  “This morning, yes. Anyway, it’s none of my business. Do what you need to, but be quick please, I have to make lunch for Mr Barrow and his people”.

  I made a sandwich for Michelle, and one for myself, in frosty silence from that point. It was clear that Mrs Santos didn’t consider me one of ‘Mr Barrow’s people’, whatever that meant. If she had flat out told me that she didn’t think I belonged, it couldn’t have been any clearer.

  Just after lunch, the security guard who was assigned to me called to clarify what time he would pick me up to drive me to David’s office. At least the guard – Jeff – was nice enough to me. He had obviously come into Mitch’s employ more recently than everyone else, so we had not met before the kidnapping. Jeff was obviously just doing his job, and was professional enough to either not form an opinion of the person he was protecting, or if he had, he kept it to himself.

  So after kissing Michelle goodbye and delivering her to Mitch, who was just finishing up his business, I got in the car with Jeff and he navigated through the traffic to David’s office. Jeff made me wait in the car while he went into the office and checked out the arrangements, then he escorted me inside. I smiled wearily at David as I plopped down on a soft chair.

  “Tough day?” David asked without preamble.

  “You could say that”. I looked to the side for a while, then looked back at him, frowning.

  “Did you want to talk about my day, or should we be working on recovering my memory?”

  David smiled at me and gestured with his hands, his pen between his fingers, before returning his hands to rest on his notepad.

  “It’s up to you. I’m guided by what you want. Of course your primary goal is to recover your memory, but if you want to talk about anything else, that’s what I’m here for. Whatever you tell me is confidential, none of it will be repeated to your husband or anyone else, unless you authorise it”.

  So, I found myself telling David about everything that was bothering me. I told him about my chance encounter with Mitch, about Mitch’s shocking revelations to me about my past, and about his earlier suspicions that I had been an accomplice to my fake kidnapping. I told him about how difficult it had been dealing with Mitch in the early days, and although he wasn’t openly hostile anymore, I still didn’t think he trusted me. I talked about Mitch’s staff, and his sister, and told him about Mrs Santos today, and how I felt excluded from the rest of the household. When I finished talking, I took in a deep breath and wiped the tears from my eyes, only then realizing that I had been crying, and not remembering when or how the tissues had found their way into my hands. David let me gather my composure before he spoke.

  “Do you think it was always like this?”

  “What do you mean, since I’ve been back?”

  “No, what do you think about how these people treated you before you were kidnapped? Do you think you got along with them, or do you think they always treated you the way they treat you now?”

  I thought about that for a moment.

  “You know, I can’t say why, but I think it was always this way. I don’t think Mrs Santos ever liked me, and I certainly get that vibe from Mitch’s sister”.

  “Why do you think that is? Do you think you did something to upset them, or is there another reason that these people don’t like you? What does Mitch say about it?”

  “Well, I think they never thought I was good enough for him. They probably think I was just after him for his money, and after I went missing, and so did his money, they probably felt that they were right all along. You know I was just a waitress when we met, don’t you?”

  “Why do you say ‘just a waitress’? What’s wrong with being a waitress?”

  That made me think. I sat for a moment before venturing an answer.

  “Well, there’s nothing wrong with it, but obviously Mitch is like a gazillionaire or something, he could have chosen someone from his social set to marry, but for some reason, he chose to marry me instead. I didn’t mean there was anything wrong with being a waitress, but I was never in his league, so to speak”.

  “Interesting choice of words there. You don’t seem to have a very high opinion of yourself, but you acknowledge that Mitch chose to marry you. Last night he said that he didn’t get you to sign a

  pre-nuptual agreement, have you thought about why that might have been? Have you asked him why?”

  I furrowed my brow and stared at the ceiling. Apart from Mitch telling me how we had met, and that both of my parents had died shortly before we met, I didn’t know a lot about either my past, or our shared past. Every time I had tried to seek information, Mitch had gotten angry while trying to talk about it, so eventually I had given up.

  “Not lately, no. I tried at first, but Mitch was still so angry whenever he spoke about the past, eventually I stopped asking. I should try again, he seems more willing to accept that I didn’t have anything to do with what happened, so maybe he could talk without getting so upset”.

  “That seems like a good idea, the only people who really know what a relationship was like, are the two people invol
ved, and since you can’t remember, Mitch is your only source of information right now. Pick a time when he is calm and relaxed, he might have something to say that will jog your memory. Do you want to keep talking about the people around you right now though, do you think we could work on some strategies for dealing with them in a more productive way than you have been doing?”

  “Anything that will help. You have no idea how long my days are at the moment. I don’t want to go out into the apartment because there’s always someone there, and I’m going stir crazy cooped up in my room”.

  “Well, you should feel comfortable in your own home. It might be uncomfortable, but you do need to be more assertive. From what you’ve told me, Mitch has obviously spoken to them, and maybe he doesn’t see or hear what you do, they’re hardly going to be rude to you in front of him, are they? Next time someone says something to upset you, calmly tell them why you are upset, and ask them to stop. I’ve got a book here on strategies for being assertive, so remind me to lend it to you before you go home. But picking up what you said about being cooped up in your room, even if you were moving around the apartment, you’d still be bored, wouldn’t you? From what you’ve told me, you’re used to working, so you’re obviously used to being busy. You and Mitch were talking last night about study, if the timing is wrong for you to pick up what you were doing before, why don’t you do some adult education courses? I’m sure you can make some arrangements about childcare, or why don’t you look into some groups you and Michelle can get involved with? Some playgroups, or swimming, or kindy gym or something like that?”

  I nodded. Those were all really good ideas. David was right, I did need something to do, I couldn’t just hang around the apartment all day, Mrs Santos had the housework under control and I didn’t think she would welcome me trying to help, so I needed to make arrangements to keep Michelle and myself busy.

  “Good idea, David. I might do a bit of research on the internet tonight to see what’s available. Do we still have time to work on my suppressed memories, or have we been talking too long?”