Accidentally Together

by Jade Winters

  Emma led Lauren along the hallway. ‘I suppose I’d better text Hope and apologise.’

  ‘I’d better ring my mum and dad. They’re worried about me enough as it is.’

  ‘Go and lie down. I’ll get your phone.’

  She walked into the kitchen and took Lauren’s phone from her bag and collected her own. On the way back to the bedroom, she texted Hope and told her about the new development. She would wait to tell her face-to-face what an utter idiot she had been. Emma only hoped she could forgive her.

  Lauren was sitting with her back against the headboard, holding an empty glass.

  ‘You want another refill?’

  ‘I think I’ve reached my limit.’

  Emma handed Lauren her phone and stood by the window, looking out across the way while she sipped her brandy. She thought about how difficult it must be for Lauren, finding out that someone ruined her life because—well, they didn’t actually know why. Mike had only realised it was his sister when Lauren showed him the letters and he recognised the handwriting. He’d kept them so Lauren wouldn’t have any physical evidence against Claire. That was why the police’s visit hadn’t bothered him; he knew he was innocent, and they couldn’t pin anything on him.

  All Emma could do was be thankful it was truly over. Well, it would be once they visited Claire Foster and confirmed she was Lauren’s stalker. Then Lauren could try her hardest to forget some crazy woman had made her life a nightmare for fourteen years. Her eyes flicked to Lauren and her heart warmed at the sight of her relaxed features. It then skipped a happy beat when Lauren told her mum she was moving back to London straight after the exhibition, and she couldn’t wait for her to meet Emma.

  A few minutes later, Lauren hung up and patted the space beside her.

  ‘I take it your mum was pleased to hear the news.’

  ‘Ecstatic. I haven’t heard her so happy in a long time. She can’t wait to meet you either,’ Lauren said and playfully poked her in the ribs.

  Emma set her glass on the bedside table and sunk onto the bed. ‘Do you blame her? Wouldn’t you want to meet the woman who makes your daughter feel like she walks on air?’ she said laughing.

  ‘There is that.’ Lauren pulled her down so they were lying side by side.

  ‘So,’ Emma said, closing the gap between them. ‘Have you any idea how you want to go about approaching Mike’s sister tomorrow?’

  ‘That all depends on whether Mike keeps his promise and doesn’t blab about me knowing.’

  ‘And if he doesn’t say anything?’

  ‘Then I’ll give her enough rope to hang herself with.’

  ‘And then shop her to the police?’

  ‘Do you think I should?’

  ‘Do you need to ask? You’re damn right you should let them know. What if she goes on to do this to someone else—if she hasn’t already? Do you really want someone else to go through what you’ve been through?’

  ‘No, you’re right,’ Lauren said.

  ‘Why are you smiling?’

  ‘Why do you think?’

  It wasn’t until she felt Lauren’s warm breath against her naked chest that she realised Lauren had unbuttoned her shirt.

  ‘You are so naughty.’

  ‘Turn the light off and I’ll show you how naughty I can be.’

  Emma didn’t need telling twice.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Claire watched Lauren and Emma with surprise as they entered her shop, a fight or flight look crossing her features; apparently, Mike had kept his promise.

  ‘I want no more trouble from you two. You—’

  ‘The game’s up, Claire.’

  Claire shot her a querulous look. ‘Game? What game?’

  ‘The sick one you’ve been playing with me.’

  ‘I don’t—’

  ‘You don’t know what I’m talking about?’ Lauren walked over to a bucket of flowers and snatched up the label card. ‘You know what I have in my hand here?’

  ‘Don’t patronise me. It’s a card—’

  ‘—with your handwriting on it, which the police will compare to the handwriting that’s on the letters you sent me.’

  ‘That’s how I know you’re lying. Mike has—’ She stopped abruptly and covered her mouth with her hand.

  ‘Mike has what? The copies I gave him? I’m not stupid. I kept copies,’ she bluffed. In her peripheral vision, she saw Emma frowning. ‘And my parents have every vile piece of correspondence you sent me.’

  That’s good. Panic was showing in her eyes. Her only salvation was to tell the truth—or so Lauren thought. Almost as quickly as Claire’s fear appeared, it dissipated.

  ‘Oh please. You think I’m falling for that crap? If you had all this evidence, you would have gone straight to the police and not come here looking for a confession. Get out of my shop. If I see either of you here again, I’ll call the police myself.’ She smirked and tossed her hair over her shoulder.

  Emma gazed at her soberly. ‘Oh dear. I’ll give you that, Claire. You’re a fighter.’

  ‘Yes, and I always win.’

  ‘Not this time you don’t.’ Emma withdrew her phone from her pocket and tapped it. Laying it on the counter in front of Claire, she stood back and crossed her arms as Mike’s voice filled the air.

  ‘Claire is the one who’s been stalking you …’

  ‘That fucking little shit,’ she said, reaching for the phone.

  Emma snatched it back. ‘So you see, Claire, we don’t need your confession to go to the police. We came by to ask for your side of the story before deciding what to do.’

  Lauren thought Claire might shut down again, but to her surprise, Claire’s face turned into a scowl and she moved around the counter to stand in front of her.

  ‘Okay, Ms Lauren Wonderful. I followed you and took pictures of you because I wanted you to go away.’

  ‘But why? What did I do to make you hate me so much?’

  ‘What did you do? That’s the point. You didn’t have to do anything. You had everything laid at your feet while people like me barely got noticed. Well I showed you, didn’t I?’

  ‘Yes, Claire, you showed me all right,’ Lauren said sadly. ‘You showed me the lengths a bitter, twisted person will go to, and for what? Did your life improve after I left? Did you get what you wanted? Or is your life mediocre because you have so much darkness and bitterness in you that nothing good ever happens to you?’

  ‘All that matters is that I won.’

  ‘You didn’t win. You see, everything I hold dear I still have. My family, friends’—she nodded at Emma—‘someone who loves me. Do you even know what that feels like?’

  Claire’s eyes glassed over.

  ‘No, I didn’t think you did, and you never will until you stop dragging people down. There’s enough happiness in the world for everyone. You should try and remember that.’ Lauren turned to go. ‘I hope this is the last time I ever hear from you.’

  ‘And what if it isn’t?’

  It was Lauren’s turn to spring a surprise on her. ‘You see this on my button?’

  Claire glanced at it.

  ‘Look closer. You see that?’ She pointed to the tiny camera lens. ‘I have your confession on camera.’

  She pulled out the camera and replayed the last five minutes on her phone.

  ‘Let me tell you what will happen. I’m taking this evidence to the police. They might do something about it or they might not. If they don’t, that’s fine with me. If I so much as get an inkling that you’re bothering me again, this little video will go mainstream: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter—you name it, you’ll be on it. And if you don’t think that’s bad enough, I will bury your business too.’

  Claire’s mouth opened and closed.

  ‘Good. I see we’re on the same page. Emma, are you ready? I have a show to prepare for.’

  Emma held out her arm and Lauren looped hers through it.

  ‘So long, stalker,’ Emma muttered under her breath.

/>   They waited until they were around the corner before they jumped up and down on the spot.

  ‘That was brilliant,’ Lauren said. ‘I really thought she wouldn’t budge.’

  ‘I know. What a hard-nosed cow. After all that, she still had the cheek to ask what you’d do if she kept stalking you.’

  ‘I almost feel sorry for her. The only way she can get any happiness out of life is by bringing others down.’

  ‘That’s her cross to bear, not yours. Now let’s get this footage to the police and then you need to go to work. You’ve only got a few days left before the big opening.’

  ‘Yes, master.’

  ‘I’ll show you who the master is tonight,’ Emma said, wiggling her brows.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  For the past few days, they’d hardly left the bedroom, not that Lauren was complaining.

  They had just stepped out of the shower, and Emma approached her from behind while she was applying her make-up for the exhibition. Emma placed her hands around Lauren’s breasts and nuzzled her neck.

  ‘Emma, you’re insatiable. We haven’t got time,’ Lauren half-heartedly protested.

  ‘We can have a quickie. Ten minutes, max,’ Emma said, already pulling Lauren out of the bathroom and towards her bedroom.

  ‘Ten minutes?’ Lauren asked, relenting. She decided she’d just apply some lipstick and eyeliner rather than the full works as she’d intended.

  ‘That all depends on you,’ Emma said.

  All thoughts of her show swiftly left her mind when Emma closed the bedroom door and pushed her down on the bed.

  In the end, Lauren had to call the taxi and rearrange the pickup time. They were expected at the gallery at five o’clock, and by Lauren’s calculations, if the driver was fast, they’d just about make it.

  Underneath her black cape, Lauren wore a black, strapless Dior dress and high-heeled shoes. Carefully crossing her legs, she sat back against her seat as the taxi whizzed along Albert Embankment.

  ‘You’re such a bad influence on me,’ Lauren said to Emma, who was sitting next to her, holding her hand in both of her own. Emma’s red dress seductively hugged her figure, and Lauren couldn’t take her eyes off her exposed cleavage.

  ‘And you love it, don’t you?’

  ‘Yes,’ Lauren admitted with a ragged breath, thinking of how Emma’s lovemaking literally took her breath away.

  The driver took a sharp left and picked up speed to beat the red light.

  ‘Good,’ Emma said, staring at her through half-hooded eyes.

  ‘Stop looking at me like that,’ Lauren said, wanting nothing more than to tell the driver to take them back to her apartment so they could pick up where they’d left off. ‘At this rate, I won’t be able to think straight.’

  Emma threw her a petulant look. ‘I should hope not.’

  ‘You have no worries on that front.’

  The taxi ground to a halt outside the gallery.

  Excitement rose in her. Not only because Emma was by her side, but because a mixture of people from all walks of life were heading into the gallery. She’d never doubted Frankie’s abilities to get people through the door to see her work, but she was in a bit of disbelief that the project she had worked so hard on would be seen by people besides a select few.

  ‘You nervous?’ Emma asked as they stepped into the gallery, holding hands.

  ‘A little.’

  Emma gave her a challenging look and she laughed.

  ‘Okay, a lot, but in a good way.’

  The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement and several of the well-dressed guests sipping on flutes of champagne looked like the arty type who had money to burn. Just the sort Frankie loves.

  Georgie headed towards her with a group of chattering women dressed smartly in Chanel suits.

  ‘Here goes,’ Lauren murmured. ‘Let the show begin.’

  Lauren moved from guest to guest, answering questions about her work. When people commented on Lauren’s glow, she and Emma shared a secret smile that reminded them of their lovemaking.

  Lauren should have been concentrating on the positive comments guest were saying about her work and making small talk, but all she could think about was Emma and how long it would be before they were alone again.

  ‘You look breathtakingly stunning,’ Emma said when they found themselves alone.

  Lauren eyed Emma appreciatively over the rim of her glass as she took a mouthful of champagne. ‘So do you. If I could make all of these people disappear, I would in a second, and I’d—’

  ‘What would you do?’ Emma asked, kissing Lauren’s neck.

  The feel of Emma’s soft lips pressing against her skin sent a tide of tingles down her spine. She whispered her intentions into Emma’s ear and Emma’s face coloured.

  ‘Ooh you are so bad.’ She drew back and met Lauren’s gaze, her eyes glassy, suddenly serious. ‘You’ve got so much to be proud of. Look at all these people in awe of your talent. It’s amazing.’

  Emma was right. The way things were turning out was unbelievable. She couldn’t have imagined this would be the outcome when she had accepted Frankie’s offer to exhibit her work in London. The reception and great turn out of influential people was beyond her wildest expectations.

  Lauren stroked Emma’s cheek with the back of her hand. ‘And with you by my side, this moment is even more special.’

  ‘I’m glad to hear it,’ Emma said in jest. ‘Now don’t worry about me. Go and mingle with your many adorers. You need to network now that you’ve made your name in London.’

  ‘Uh-huh,’ Lauren said distractedly as she glanced at the entrance. The sky had turned dark and she was beginning to think that the olive branch she’d extended to Hope hadn’t worked.

  ‘I’ll socialise in awhile. I’m just waiting for a special guest to arrive.’

  ‘More special than me?’ Emma said with mock disappointment.

  ‘That all depends on who you ask,’ a familiar voice said from beside them.

  ‘Hope! What are you doing here? Sorry, I didn’t mean to say—Oh, you know what I mean.’ Emma pulled Hope into her arms and hugged her tightly.

  Hope pulled back a little. ‘Can’t a woman support her sister and her talented partner? Who knew our school would produce a force to be reckoned with in the art world?’

  Lauren gave Hope a grateful smile, and Hope returned it, squeezing Lauren’s hand.

  ‘I’ve been looking at your photos, and I am truly impressed. I hope you’ll sign the three images I bought. I’ll be rich in a few years when they shoot up in value.’

  Lauren laughed. ‘Of course.’

  ‘I’m so glad you came. I want to apologise—’ Emma said.

  ‘I think we both said a lot of things we didn’t mean, and I’m not too stubborn to admit when I’m in the wrong. It’s obvious to anyone that Lauren loves you very much.’

  ‘Thank you, Hope.’

  ‘I’ll always be here, Emma. You’re my little sister. I’ll watch out for you whether you like it or not. Sometimes I’ll get it wrong, but that’s the thing about love. It’s all about forgiveness.’

  Emma pulled Lauren in for a group hug.

  Now I can fully relax and enjoy the night. When Hope hadn’t returned her numerous telephone calls asking her to get in touch with Emma, Lauren thought her pleas had fallen on deaf ears. She was happy to see they hadn’t.

  ‘Evening, ladies,’ Frankie said as the women parted. ‘Enjoying the show?’

  ‘Loving it,’ Emma said. ‘You’ve done a great job.’

  ‘All for a very special lady,’ Frankie said, looking at Lauren. ‘Good to see you here, Emma. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you a lot more now that Lauren is coming back to London. Maybe we can start from scratch?’

  ‘Definitely.’ She reached down and took Lauren’s hand.

  ‘And you are?’ He looked at Hope with interest.

  Hope held out her hand. ‘Emma’s sister.’

  Frankie’s eyebrows
rose. ‘I hope I’ll be seeing you as well.’

  He smiled and excused himself.

  ‘That man is hot! Why didn’t you guys tell me about him?’

  ‘He seems to like you,’ Lauren said. ‘Go and shower him with your charms while I borrow Emma for a moment. I have a surprise for her.’

  ‘In that case I think I’ll go and find Frankie.’ Hope stood on her tiptoes and scanned the room. ‘He’s over there. I’ll see you two later, or not, as the case may be.’

  The women laughed as they watched her weave her way through the crowd.

  ‘Come with me?’ Lauren grabbed Emma’s hand and led her to a section of the room she had banned her from venturing into.

  ‘Close your eyes.’

  Emma’s eyes fluttered shut, and Lauren guided her around several people. She stopped and turned Emma to face a wall. Standing behind her, she slipped her arms around her waist.

  ‘Okay, you can open them,’ she whispered into her ear.

  Hanging on the wall in front of them was Lauren’s ‘Alpha and Omega’ series, only now there were two new additions. The first was a photograph of them taken in Emma’s apartment, both on the sofa, entwined in each other’s arms as they watched TV together. The second was an empty frame.

  ‘When on earth did you take this?’ Emma asked, turning around in Lauren’s arms, her lips brushing against her mouth.

  ‘I hope you don’t mind. I set my camera to take pictures randomly, I wanted to catch us together naturally.’

  ‘No of course not, it’s absolutely beautiful. I just can’t believe you put a photograph of us in your collection,’ she said, a bemused look on her face. ‘But what’s with the empty frame? You planning on putting someone else there?’

  Lauren rested her forehead against Emma’s and gazed intently into her eyes. The love she felt for her shone back at her like a beacon. ‘That, my darling, will be where the picture of our Omega goes.’

  It would be fifty years later, after a lifetime of love and laughter, that Lauren’s liver-spotted hand would slip the last photograph taken of her and Emma—both grey-haired and frail—into the empty frame. Their special connection would still be intact, the camera capturing their love that would last for an eternity, even after Mother Earth called them home.