Pearl Trilogy: Shimmers Of Pearl Part 15

"I haven't thought that part through, yet. I have to ponder what's best for baby'. Now you're pregnant. Pearl, it really puts a spanner in the works."

"What about James?" I ask, half imagining him lying dead somewhere, poisoned by her.

"I was getting geared up to divorce him but he could come in handy. Good point, Pearl. I need to mull all that side of things over. I really had imagined myself back with Alex until you and your fat a.r.s.e got in the way. I'm sure he'll get bored with you, eventually. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

I want to scream and shout at her but I also don't want to rock us both out of the very wobbly boat we're in we could capsize and end up drowning, the pair of us.

"What if the IVF doesn't work, Laura? There's only a fifteen percent success rate, you know."

Silence.

Then she replies chirpily, "I feel very confident. Oh yes, and Alex will need to do his bit, too. A multivitamin. He'll need to stop drinking, no soy products, eat organic, no food from plastic containers. The positive thing about you being pregnant, Pearl, is that it's proof that his s.e.m.e.n is working just fine. I mean, it must be extra powerful to have got you, a forty year-old pregnant. I'll give him a list about the do's and don'ts when we speak later. Well, bye then. Nice chatting. Tell Alex to call me A.S.A.P."

"I will," I answer, my blood boiling. I hang up. What a basket case. She really must have fallen hard on her head in that accident.

As soon as I get home, I search for Alexandre. He's in his study talking on the phone. Deadly serious. He shoots me a do-not-interrupt' glance. Normally, I'd slip away and come back later, but I hover. He's wearing a hand-tailored, charcoal gray suit and looks extremely dapper. I have to say, he really is one of the most handsome men I have ever seen in my life.

"No, I didn't say that. What I said was that we need to invest another twenty million. You know how these things are. If you want quality, you have to pay for it, and what we need is...what we need...look, what we mustn't skimp on is talent. If that's what his fee is, then that's simply what we have to pay. Green-light that, Jim, yes, we have to. She said what? That's bulls.h.i.+t. There's room out there for games that don't involve shooting people. You see, Jim, that's what I'm talking about. That's what I liked about it. It has an epic heart-tugging story, glorious environments, kind of a sweet light magic and dark magic and a simply stunning soundtrack."

I observe my fiance as his face reveals a gamut of emotions between smiles, frowns and furious brow creasing animated by this conversation which is obviously about the next big video game. I have gathered that their budgets are bigger than blockbuster movies.

Alexandre loosens his tie. "That's right. What consumers want are handhelds that run Android so they can have a nice portable emulator. Okay, Jim. Speak to them and get back to me in the next few hours. Thanks."

"Sorry to bother you, baby." I'm lingering at the doorway.

"You never bother me, cherie; I'm always glad to see you. Come here and sit on my lap - just give me a couple more minutes I need to write something down before I forget."

But I can't hold it in. His wheeling and dealing may be important but nothing as life-changing as being, or not being, a father. I blurt out, "Laura called me. We need to do something. She's on the warpath, still." The sperm warpath.

He closes his lids as if that will wipe her from his mind. "I keep hoping she'll give up and go away."

"Not a chance. But things are looking up a little," I say, hopefully, as I settle on his knee.

He puts his arms about my waist and breathes in the scent of my hair. "What d'you mean?"

"She's given up on wanting you, yourself, although she still wants part of you."

He shakes his head. "She's such a nutter. What did she say?"

"She wants you to go to the IVF clinic with her."

"Oh Christ."

"Well at least she's stopped harping on about marriage with you and living happily ever after."

He raises his eyebrows.

"I told her I was pregnant."

He furrows his temple. "Was that wise? She's so off the rails she's capable of anything. I really want her to keep away from you, Pearl she could get consumed by jealousy."

"Strangely enough, I think it's had the opposite effect it seems to have cooled her down. She's delighted your s.e.m.e.n is so potent. She says she's not a home wrecker."

"She's a wrecker, period."

I nuzzle into his embrace and squeeze my arms about his broad chest. "Maybe you should-"

"No, Pearl."

"I've got you, that's all that counts."

"I am not giving into her. She is not having my child."

"She says if she doesn't get what she wants - your s.e.m.e.n in a test tube, plus several million, she'll make a scene."

"She can have the money I'll pay her off, but she's not getting her way."

"She's determined. n.o.body else's sperm will do. She wants yours and yours alone she thinks you're a genius, wants a wonder child."

"I can't believe how insane she's being. This is not the Laura I once knew."

"I know, it sounds like some twisted black comedy or something it's so far-fetched, so larger than life, I keep pinching myself to make sure I'm not floating about in one of my nightmares again."

He takes off his jacket and throws it on his desk. "She's totally out to lunch, she's morphed into a f.u.c.king lunatic."

"She wants you to call her tonight. Oh yes, and she reminded me about the evidence being in the bank vault."

He loosens his tie some more as if the Laura news is making him feel strangled. "You didn't discuss that over the phone, did you? She could have been recording it."

I run my fingers through his dark hair. It feels soft and comforting in the midst of the tangle of mess we're in. "We sort of spoke in code. Your mother was just referred to as she' and the evidence, you know what'. Something tells me Laura's enjoying the drama of it all. The way she was speaking made me feel that if it came to the crunch she wouldn't actually go through with her threat. I think she might just be playing power games."

"Too much of a risk to take, though. I'm too nervous about this to call her bluff."

"Still no word from James?"

"No, he still hasn't returned my calls."

I grimace. "You don't think she'd be capable of murder, do you?"

"No. But then again, this new persona of Laura's is a total shock to me. I don't know who she is anymore."

"You really think she suffered brain damage in the fall?"

"Either that, or some mind-altering medication she's on. Maybe she's taking something for the pain, who knows. But she's not being rational, anyway."

"What if you humored her? Pretended you agreed? But give her someone else's sperm. Get the teeth and hip parts back and she'll be pregnant with an anonymous donor, thinking it's you. You'll still have to pay her the settlement' but at least it won't be your child she's carrying."

"I'd have to sign legal doc.u.ments, though, wouldn't I? And we'd have to be in cahoots with the doctors. Doctors are hard to bribe or they could lose their license to practice."

"Not necessarily. If you can get the exact same container they give you, or bring in your fake sample in a sanitized container and swap it over, who's to know?"

"Laura's too savvy. She will have probably thought of that would probably want me to m.a.s.t.u.r.b.a.t.e into the container in front of her."

"Maybe, but you could try."

"How long does sperm live?"

"A few hours, I think. You could pay someone who looks like you to come to the clinic with you. Get it fresh."

He rubs his eyes. "Listen to us. This conversation is crazy! This whole situation is f.u.c.king surreal."

"We have to come up with some plan, though."

"What about our last idea? The fake pa.s.sport idea paying an actress to go to the bank?"

"That's riskier. It's breaking the law. Whereas with this idea we'd get a slap on the wrist, not slung in jail."

"True."

"Could we trust her to keep to her side of the bargain, though?"

"The way she's been behaving? I doubt it."

A question has been on my lips for a long time. "Just out of curiosity, what was it about Laura that you loved? Apart from her physical beauty? Before, the accident, I mean."

"Funny you should ask that. I've been mulling that one over myself, recently. You know, I think I was...I don't know."

"What?"

"Very young. She was my first serious girlfriend. I'd always been with older women, friends of my sister's."

"Prost.i.tutes?" I ask.

"s.e.x workers, yes. They were high cla.s.s hookers, if you like. Not the sort that lurked in an alley somewhere. Not at all. These girls were more like consorts dined out with politicians and extremely wealthy, older men. They were vetted, tested regularly. Always impeccably dressed, often very educated, too. They knew all sorts, about good food, fine wines, current affairs and could really hold an intelligent conversation it was part of their job. That was the kind of work Sophie did. Anyway, I had relations.h.i.+ps primarily with them simply because they were friends of my sister's. I never paid for s.e.x, obviously."

Obviously. They should have been paying him.

"Then I met Laura. She was a buddy really, like my best friend, at the time. Sophie has never really been a friend' because she was too busy playing my mother figure and I'd never stayed long in one school so I didn't have so many guy friends. Laura was my mate. But now I look back on it, I don't think I really loved her. I mean, I did, but nothing, nothing compared to how I feel for you. Physically, there wasn't that fusion, you know, and I never had that soul connection with her, not like I have with you, Pearl."

I thread my fingers through his. It's so good to feel close again. To know he's mine. What he's saying about loving me more than he loved Laura is like a cool breeze on a sweltering day.

"Thanks," I say.

"Sometimes my stomach wells up with jealousy when I think of Saul or Brad Silly, I know, but I get furious knowing you've loved others before me."

My lips curl up. I love him being jealous how childish is that? But I put his fears at bay and tell him, "Ditto, Alexandre. I never felt about them the way I do about you. But you don't know what love really is when you're with someone in the moment, especially when you're young. You're not aware how in love you are until you have someone else to compare it to. If I hadn't been with them, maybe I wouldn't appreciate you, now." I think of men I have been with before Alexandre and a nasty memory comes to mind. Which leads me to my next thought: Jane Doe. We've been so consumed by the Laura drama that I had almost forgotten to ask Alexandre about the mystery money and the charity that he set up.

"By the way, Alexandre, I think there's something you have omitted to tell me."

He looks defensive. "I've b.l.o.o.d.y told you everything. I'm not holding back secrets about Laura, I swear."

I stroke his earlobe and say, "Tell me about the Jane Doe Foundation."

He nods his head with the faintest smile edging his lips. "Ah, yes. That."

I shoot him a sideways glance. "Yes. That. Where did the money come from?"

"From those f.u.c.kwits who nearly ruined your life."

"The footballers?"

"Yup, those fat f.u.c.ks." His mouth puckers to show his disdain.

"How did you even find them? I mean, I don't even know who they are."

"And you never shall. I don't even want you to give them another thought, Pearl. They've had their comeuppance. Well, not exactly they've been let off lightly, but I hit them where it probably hurts most in their wallets, and reminded them that violent actions have their consequences."

I snuggle up against Alexandre's chest and snake my hand under his s.h.i.+rt. I feel his steady heart beat and feel at peace. "I don't understand. How did you get them to donate? Types like that rarely turn out to be saints."

"One of them seemed repentant. He donated quite a bit extra."

I pull my neck back and look him in the eye. "But n.o.body just goes round doling out that kind of money, even if it is to charity. How did you get them to do it?"

He c.o.c.ks a dark eyebrow. "I made them an offer they couldn't refuse."

I t.i.tter nervously. "No, seriously"

"I am being serious." Serioose.

"Can I ask how?"

"You can ask, but I won't tell."

"Don't ask me about my business. Is that it?"

He gives me a wry, mischievous smile. "Exactly."

The fact that Alexandre has protected me in this roundabout fas.h.i.+on ensuring money is given to abused girls who deserve safeguarding - warms my soul. G.o.d knows what unorthodox method he used, but I feel strangely proud. Perhaps he's right; I don't want to give these men another thought. Knowing that justice has been served is enough. What he has done for me is, in effect, every woman's fantasy. He's stuck up for me. Fought for my rights - for women's rights in general. Showed his solidarity. He has demonstrated the extent of his love with actions, not just words.

"That's the s.e.xiest thing any man has ever done for me."

Funny how words can have an effect. I feel his groin swell against my b.u.t.t. He's getting hard. Hard as a diamond. I push my a.s.s into him and feel the thick ridge of his erection rub against me through the fabric of his pants in just my perfect spot. He clasps his large hands on my hips and draws me closer, rocking against me, his mouth resting tenderly on the nape of my hairline.

"You beautiful thing, Pearl," he whispers, kissing my neck. "Your skin is as soft as a dove's."

His warm breath makes me shudder; a tingle runs through me like the ring of a tiny, silver bell. Our clothes between us have me imagining - all the more - what will finally happen when he penetrates me again. Yes, I think - I'll feel like a virgin.