Chapter 41: Chapter 41
'Dammit, I want to go to David's party', Sharon said.
'Bravo, my child's, He smiled crookedly. 'Being a coward never suited you for a moment'.
That was Gabriel, her cousin. She had lost contact with him for so long because of her father's old fashioned ways and continued stay on the farm. She met h I'm again when she was living with Gerhard. She had gone for shopping one day and had been startled when a familiar voice had called out to her.
'Sharon, Is that you?' She had not know who to expect but her heart had skipped a beat, thinking that Bryan had finally located her but turning back she found a face that she had thought she would never see again. They had lost contact. It was the only child of her mother's sister just like she was the only child of her parents.
She knew that her mother must be missing her relatives but being on the farm with her husband daily without complaint had made him take all that for granted.
They had sat and spoken at length and that was how she had come to live with him on his flat and he had helped in no small measure in caring for Deborah her beautiful daughter.
Returning to the present, she forced herself to laugh at Gabriel's words about how being a coward never suited her. She had told him everything about Bryan and he knew of Gerhard of course.
Being a coward may not have suited her but it had saved her. She had been safe for two years and it was going to take more than courage to fling off her protective cloak and face the only man she had ever loved.
Sharon had called David to tell him that she would be attending his birthday party and he had been over the roof with joy.
To her she felt that she had sealed her doom but his obvious joy only made her feel worse.
She didn't know why she was blowing it out of all proportion. Afterall it was a party and it was not as though she was going to jump into bed with Bryan' though she could not deny that she had missed him terribly and the idea was not really unwelcomed. That might be the reason she was being fidgety.
She was not going with her daughter of course. She knew that there would come a time when she would have to introduce father to his daughter but that time was not now. She still had alot of things to resolve.
She was therefore going to keep her with her nanny while she went for the party. She knew David was going to be disappointed' that she didn't bring Deborah with her but he could always visit to see her like he had always done.
Her flat was actually one of two flats in the same house. It had originally belong to her aunt, Gabriel's mother before she left it to him and now, he divided it into two flats, one for him and the other for her and her daughter.
She made some instant coffee and some omelette that she just picked on but thankfully her daughter seemed famished as she cleared her plate in record time. Bryan was still pervading the corners of her mind. She didn't want to think about him. She was going to focus all her attention on work at the advertising company now that she was back from burying Gerhard.
If not for her daughter and her ceaseless chatter, the flat really felt very lonely. It was probably the anticlimax of coming home from a holiday but being back in London, brought her closer to Jake and that made her feel very vulnerable.
During Gerhard deteriorating health, they had travelled to Germany and that was where he had spent his last days and she had tried to make those days as happy for him as she could make it.
She needed something that would make her feel very confident and so all afternoon, she toured all the stores in West End, rejecting without a second glance anything that wasn't perfect.
Her knowledge of design and what was good on her because of her background as a banker made her very critical. And it late in the day that she finally found what she wanted in a small designer boutique.
It was a simple dress a black watermarked silk, beautifully designed with a tight bodice, the back cut away in a deep vee and a skirt that hugged her hips before falling fluidly to her knees.
She tried it on knowing that it would fit her perfectly, encouraged by the assistant. And of course it did. She did not need the assistant to tell her that the dress was stunning. It lent a blazing fire to her auburn hair and a translucent glow to her skin. There were high heeled silk - covered shoes to match and she emerged from the shop twenty minutes later with two gold embossed bags hanging from her wrists and a satisfied smile curving her lips.
Walking down to Harrods on legs that ached, having toured London on foot, she bought some gentleman relish as a small present for Gabriel and some toys and a beautiful dress for her daughter, then looked around for a taxi.
It was impossible, she had spent longer in town than she had meant to and the rush hour was now in full swing.
Twenty minutes and still no taxi. She was tired, wondering how her daughter must be faring. She had promised her that she would be back soonest. She felt very irritable and could not believe her luck when a black cab suddenly pulled up in front of her.
Without hesitation, she pulled open the door and climbed inside, freezing into immobility, her oar els falling from her hands as she came face to face with the man already inside.
It was Ryan Ferdinand. The last person on earth she expected or wanted to see. The same person, she had been avoiding for more than two years now.
She didn't know what to do and didn't know what to say. Her heart stopped bearing for a second as she heard his cool greeting.
From somewhere far away, she heard her own voice saying inanely, &I didn't realise this taxi was occupied. I....'
'Shut up and sit down. We can share it's, she heard his clipped instructions to the driver and as the taxi shot into the traffic, she lost her balance, falling awkwardly into the seat next to Bryan.
It was like some crazy dream, totally unbelievable.
'Would you mind stopping this taxi?' her tone was icy. Her thoughts spinning in confusion. She didn't dare to look at him. She had looked at him once when she had got into the car and since that first shook, she didn't date to look at him again. She had not lifted her face.
'Don't be ridiculous. You will never get another taxi at this time of the afternoon', his voice was amused,it's deep attractive timbre making her shiver inside.
She hadn't heard his voice for more than two years, yet she hadn't forgotten it or the effect it had on her.
'I'd walk. I'd rather anyway', she said hating his amusement and hating herself for responding.
Bryan laughed. 'What is the matter? Are you scared? This is a taxi and not a locked bedroom'.
Sharon bit hard on her lower lip, stifling the angry retort that hovered on her tongue. He was laughing at her and she was blind with fury. What was she betraying by making such a fuss about a shared taxi? She didn't dare contemplate what he would read into her panic.
She looked out of the window as the taxi ground to a halt obeying a red light. She would be home in twenty minutes and another scare assailed her. She did not want Bryan to see her daughter because he would know instantly that the child was his. Both David and Gerhard had fair hair. He was very smart and paid attention to detail and it would not take much for him to draw the right conclusion that the child was his and she did not want that and seeing that he was still as arrogant as ever, she did not know if she was ever going to tell him about her. That was going to be his everlasting punishment for putting her through hell but how to stop him entering the house or Deborah from rushing out to welcome her? It was a dilemma she did not know how to go about dealing with.
'I heard you had a daughter. How is she? We have been expecting you to bring her to the office but you seemed to have disappeared into thin air', he drawled. 'I didn't know I would ever see you again and now that I have, I'd like to see your daughter as well'. She wondered if thinking about her daughter had transmitted itself to him that he should ask about Deborah just when she was thinking about her.
'Why would you want that?'
'Why not? Maybe because she is a part of you?'
Twenty minutes. How bad could twenty minutes of anything be? All she had to do was keep cool so that he doesn't suspect anything. His last statement had nearly scared her. She thought he was going to say that he wanted to see her daughter because it was a part of him. Thank goodness that was not what he had said because her shocked reaction may have let the cat out of the bag.
She lowered her head again, resolving silence, allowing the smooth curtain of her auburn hair fall a Ross her flushed face. She hoped he would not come out of the car and so would not see her daughter. That was why she did not want to say anything about her to him so that his curiosity would not be piqued.