“Don’t think you can ever come back if you leave!” Margaux yelled angrily but her voice wobbled as her emotions began to go off the rails.
Ben reached the door and turned as he opened it. Margaux was crying but her face still showed her rage. “GET OUT!” she screamed.
Bobby exited the bedroom behind her with his and his wife’s clothes under his arm. His expression showed his worry as he slipped around Margaux and grabbed his wife’s hand. They rushed to follow Ben out into the hall as Margaux exploded with rage.
Something shattered against the other side of the closed door. The screaming went on as Ben leaned against the wall, his stomach threatening to climb out of his body. Bobby and Tasha were quickly dressing in the hallway as they looked at each other in shock.
Ben forced his stomach back down and pushed himself from the wall to make his way stiffly to the elevator. Halfway there he felt a gentle touch on his arm and stopped. Tasha moved in front of him with tears in her eyes.
“I’m so sorry! We had no idea,” she moaned with a trembling bottom lip.
Bobby came up beside her. “Yeah, she met us in the coffee house this morning. She was all smiles and asked if we’d like to come back to her place for some fun. She was pretty wild-” He stopped when his wife placed her hand on his chest.
“We had no idea she was just using us to hurt you! We’re so sorry,” she apologized again.
“Were you having sex with another chick last night?” Bobby asked hesitantly.
“Bobby! Oh my god!” Tasha shrieked.
“No… no, I wasn’t,” Ben said and moved around them to keep walking to the elevator.
They waited together in silence and got in the elevator when it arrived. On the way down Tasha began to cry and Ben’s nerves frayed beyond his ability to cope with it.
“Please! Please, don’t…” he forced out.
When the doors opened he rushed out and left the building. He was momentarily lost. He didn’t know which direction to go. He finally turned left and walked towards the harbour.
Ben walked, pulling his suitcase behind him, and lost track of the number of blocks he went until he faced the water’s edge. He looked out at the water and his heart yearned for home. It was almost unbearable.
He flagged down a cab and climbed in the back with his luggage. He gave the driver the address for Gretchen’s place as he had nowhere else to go.
When he arrived he saw the older gentleman at the security desk who frowned when he saw Ben’s face.
“Is everything alright, sir,” the man asked with concern. Ben shook his head and walked past to the elevators. He went up and knocked on Gretchen’s door. The peephole went dark then he heard a squeak on the other side as the lock flipped open. Gretchen yanked the door open and her wide smile froze when she saw the pain in Ben’s eyes. She instantly reached out to touch his chest gently in concern and he struggled to contain his emotions. He gave her a weak smile and entered the condo. He put his bags down next to the front closet.
“Who was it?”
The voice belonged to a short, slim, older red haired woman with thin gold rimmed glasses who was coming out of the office. “Oh! Hello! You must… be… Mr. Shepherd. What happened?”
Ben couldn’t talk about it. He was still feeling too raw and his emotions were flaring badly. He just smiled and shook his head. “Margaret Dawson?” The woman nodded. “Call me Ben… did- did you find everything you needed,” he forced out as he roughly wiped away an errant tear that escaped.
Margaret blinked at the sight of the big man struggling with his emotions. Her instincts were screaming at her that he was hurting but this was a very large grown man so she reigned in her need to comfort him and just answered his question.
“Yes, Rainor was a very thorough and meticulous record keeper. His investments are well documented and I was able to find his lawyer. I know the chief partner at the firm and gave him a call. Rainor did not have a will but he and Gretchen are German citizens and his chief accounts are held within German banks. Being his only heir Gretchen stands to inherit Rainor’s entire estate and the man had some serious income. He also has a large safe deposit box in a German bank but I found no information on what he keeps in it.”
“Will Gretchen be able to travel with me tomorrow night?” Ben asked.
“As long as I have a means to contact her I’m ok with it. The police detective who was here earlier indicated to me that he had no further questions for her. Rainor’s death was ruled as accidental,” the lawyer indicated.
“Thank you very much.” He turned to Gretchen. “I need your passport.” The woman rushed away and returned from the study with it. She handed it to Ben and looked up at him. “Would you mind if I borrowed the bed to lie down for a few hours?” Ben asked stiffly. She shook her head then gestured towards the bedroom. He gave her a brittle smile, grabbed his luggage, and headed that way. He stopped before he reached the door. “Could… could you point me to where I might find fresh sheets?” His voice sounded a little raw.
The two women exchanged concerned looks.
“There are fresh sheets on the bed now,” Gretchen answered.
“Thank you.”
Ben went into the bedroom and closed the door. He took off his clothes and took a shower. After he dried himself he pulled on some fresh boxers and walked back into the bedroom. He had one more task to do before he would let himself sleep. He took his laptop from the case, flipped it open and logged into the airline website. He pulled up the flight and saw there were four available first class seats. He booked two seats next to each other and entered their details. Then he cancelled his original seat. He shut down then packed the laptop away and slipped under the sheets.
He closed his eyes and tried to get Margaux’s screams out of his head. Eventually exhaustion pulled him under.
Catherine stood in the small living room of Chanel’s apartment in Paris looking around. She loved the way Chanel and Isabelle had decorated the space. My god, it was small!
Her lover was right about something else. The building this tiny apartment was in would not have attracted a second look. An old factory conversion, it kept its blunt and forbidding brick exterior and poorly divided its interior for maximum occupancy and minimal livability. Soundproofing was minimal as well as Catherine could hear a man crying nearby.
Chanel moved back into the living room from the bedroom with a large duffle bag full of clothes. She smiled at the blond and saw the look on her face.
“Oh, that’s Martine. He cries for the lost opportunities of his youth. He’s also a lecherous old man who will try to touch you intimately if you get too close so avoid him. I’ve had to punish him twice. He avoids me now,” the brunette explained.
Catherine nodded with wide eyes. She turned her attention to the knickknacks and other items around the room. For its small size the apartment didn’t feel cluttered. If anything there were remarkably few items to represent the life the two women had in this place.
Once more Chanel interpreted Catherine’s curious look. “When Isabelle was taken from me I had to reduce the number of reminders so I purged the apartment at that time. What was left were items that caused the least pain. Now none of them do but neither do they remind me of the good times. I’m not taking any of them. I’m almost done.” She went back into the bedroom and Catherine heard a filing cabinet open.
Cat walked around the room and poked into the little cubbyhole storage unit built into one wall. It was filled with little household items, candles, matches, napkins, a corkscrew, a pair of scissors and such. In one of the upper cubbies she found a small velvet box. It was covered in dust and looked very old as the velvet was worn in spots. She opened the box and gasped. Inside was a beautiful broach. It was a ribbon made of silver or white gold covered in what looked like diamonds! It wasn’t large but it was heartbreakingly lovely. Catherine thought it would look beautiful on Chanel. A tiny piece of paper once stuck to the bottom of the box with some dried up tape fluttered to the floor. She bent down and picked it up. The tiny writing on the paper made her gasp. ‘To my love, Chanel, From Isabelle.’
Tears welled up in her eyes as she stood there holding a present, perhaps hidden and never delivered? She gently tucked the piece of paper inside the box with the jewellery and closed it. She slipped the box into the pocket of her jacket. Chanel would not be leaving this behind.
She made her way into the small bathroom and dabbed her eyes. Looking at the tiny tub and shower combo she wondered how her tall lover managed to fit in there.
Returning to the living area she saw Chanel come out of the bedroom/office with a plastic storage box filled with paperwork and a few items.
“That’s it. I’m done!” Chanel said and looked around. “It served its purpose but it no longer feels like home.” She smiled sadly.
Catherine walked up and hugged the woman. Chanel moved to kiss her and Cat felt tingles shoot through her body again. Their flight over to France had been amazing as they’d spent most of the time in bed exploring each other’s bodies. Chanel had felt a little uneasy about the idea at first as she was sure the flight crew had to know what was going on back there but Catherine explained they were very discreet and once she began kissing her way down Chanel’s neck the brunette forgot everything else.
The sound of arguing suddenly came through the walls and they grinned, breaking the kiss.
“Let us leave this place and move on,” Chanel said dramatically and Catherine chuckled. She picked up the storage box and Chanel lifted the large heavy duffle bag. They left the apartment and stopped by the ground floor to drop off the keys to the superintendent. When she told him that the remaining items in the apartment were staying the look in the man’s eyes let them know he’d be inside the unit the second they left.
They had to carry the heavy box and bag all the way down the street to the main avenue to catch a cab back to their hotel. Being the off season, Catherine got a good rate on a lovely room in a decent hotel. They put Chanel’s things in their room then went right back out and headed off to the Marais to do some boutique hunting. They spent the rest of the day visiting Rue de Rivoli and Les Halles before dropping their finds off at the hotel only to head out once more for dinner.