The Story Of Us - Jones Lesley. Страница 34

“Yes Mum, that’s pretty much what Bailey said but he didn’t swear.”

I looked at my Mum pointedly; I would have got into so much trouble for swearing like that. “Well, I’m sorry George, I’m just saying it like it is, I understand the attraction, Cameron King is bloody gorgeous but you need to stay away from him, he’s a dangerous bloke to be around, he’s involved in all sorts, he runs all these raves that the kids go to out in the middle of a field.” What was she on about?

“Mum, Cam runs a perfectly respectable wine bar, why would he be organising raves?”

“Because of the drugs Georgia, he organises the raves so his people can sell their drugs to all the kids, your Dad thinks I don’t know about any of this stuff but of course I bloody know I’m not stupid.”

“What has this got to do with Dad?”

“George, really, you are not stupid enough to think that our lifestyle is provided by your Dad’s building firm and a couple of car fronts are you?” I look at her, totally confused.

“Well he’s got the clubs and the pubs and the gym and the houses he rents out.”

“George, they’re all a front, well most of them are. Your Dad has many sources of income, all of those you just mentioned plus he’s got a couple of brothels and a sex shop in Soho, he’s into all sorts George, your Dad is a bit of a wheeler and dealer and it’s made him very rich, I thought as you got older, you would have worked all this out.” Shit, no I hadn’t, how stupid was I?

“I thought he was an entrepreneur, that’s what he told me when I was little, that he was an entrepreneur.” Of course my Dad’s dealings were dodgy, why else would he have a driver and at least one minder with him all the time, how else had he always been able to ‘pull a few strings’ to get things done, all of my life and how had I been oblivious to this fact?

“Well he is I suppose, it’s just some of his ventures aren’t exactly legal, that’s why everything to do with our little business is in mine and your names only, there’s nothing to trace it back to your Dad at all but anyway, aside from all of that, your Dad’s dealings have bought him into contact with Cameron King over the years. They’ve fallen out a few times but I think at the moment things are polite between them, they are businessmen from different companies to term it loosely, one company is always looking to take over the other, both looking to be head of the company or more to the point, Governor of the manor.” She folds her arms across her chest.

“George, if Dad found out you were seeing Cam, things could get nasty and I’m not being overly dramatic when I say that.”

Bloody hell, all this time… all this time I’ve not allowed myself feel anything for anyone and the minute I do, it’s someone my parents don’t approve of and Sean just happens to pop up and make an unexpected, with a Whorely lookalike in tow. Added to all of this, is the fact that Cam must have known I’d find all of this out. Why didn’t he warn me? Why didn’t he let me know of his business connections with my family?

“Mum, it was just one date, it’s not like we’ve booked the church for our wedding. We just had dinner.”

My Mum tucks a stray lock of my hair behind my ear and runs her fingertips over the side of my face. “Well you obviously had an effect on him during that one date; Ash said that he has been in the shop twice a day, every day to find out how you are.”

“How the bloody hell did he know I was sick?” Great, all I want is Cam knowing about my little melt down, he already thinks I have screw lose after my little performance Saturday night. I can’t help but wonder if opening up just a little bit to him, was the catalyst for this little breakdown of mine.

“Well I phoned Ash to let her know that you wouldn’t be about this week because you were sick. That was on Monday morning, then apparently Cam came into the shop Monday afternoon looking for you. He said he’d called at the flat Sunday night, had phoned you and was worried, she explained that you were sick and staying here, he hasn’t called here for obvious reasons and instead called into the shop every morning and every afternoon to ask how you were doing.”

She gestures toward the dining table with her head. “And they’ve been arriving every morning since Monday.” I look towards the table, which isn’t actually visible, due to the fact that there are around twelve vases of flowers covering it.

“Shit!” My Mum actually doesn’t reprimand my swearing for the first time ever.

“Oh there’s more.” She gestures toward the fireplace. “I had to go out and buy more vases yesterday.”

There must be at least another eight vases covering the hearth and mantle of my parents huge brick fireplace but these flowers are different, the ones on the table are big bouquets of mixed flowers, the ones on the fireplace are just white Arum lilies, my favourite flower, I get the usual head spin and belly roll the instant I think about him and I swallow hard but I’m okay; I look towards my Mum.

“Sean?” I don’t know why I’m asking, because I already know. She nods her head.

“He’s called daily, he really wants to see you George but your Dad won’t hear of it, he thinks you need time, he wants to send you away on a holiday, a week in Marbella or Portugal, a bit of time away from work and all of this.” She gestures toward the flowers. “Wait till he finds out about Cam, he’ll be wanting to send you to Auntie Kath in Australia for a year.”

A holiday sounds good but I need to try and get my head a little straighter first, what do I feel about Cam now that I know what I do and am I ready to talk to Sean? “Oh Georgia, you’re so grown up in many ways and so naive in so many others, I forget you’re only twenty sometimes, everything that went on between you and Sean, you were both so young, I feel so guilty about it, I should have protected you more.”

“Protected me from what Mum, love? How do you protect someone from love?”

“It’s not the love that’s the problem George; it’s the heartache that goes with it. You were so convinced that Sean was the one, I just let you get on with it.”

“Mum, please try and understand, Sean is the one, there is and never will be anyone else, he’s been the one since the day I first clapped eyes on him when I was eleven years old and there’s nothing, you or anyone else can ever do to change that fact.”

“I know George… I know and it scares me, I’m scared for you. That you’ll go through life, never loving like that again.”

I shrug my shoulders. “I’ve survived the last four years.”

My Mum shakes her head. “No you haven’t George, you’ve existed and you’ve only just about done that and I want more than that for you. I want you to fall in love again, get married, have babies; I don’t want you to just exist.”

My Mum twirls my hair in her fingers and I think of Cam, Sean, Cam, Sean, Cam, it’s making me bloody dizzy, still better than just being stuck on Sean, Sean, Sean all the time. “But in saying all that,” my Mum continues, “I don’t want you and Sean getting back together if he’s going to carry on the way he is and for you to just accept it. I bought you up better than that George, I know that the money and the power that goes hand in hand with what your Dad does attracts women, women that would give and do anything to be in my place and I’m not stupid, I’m sure that there have been times that your Dad has strayed but he’s never done it openly or blatantly. I’ve never heard so much as a whisper of him ever being unfaithful and it’s still my bed he comes home to every night but I don’t know if Sean is capable of that, I don’t doubt he loves you George, I think he loves you with a passion beyond reason but I don’t know if he’s strong enough to resist all the temptation that’s put in his way, and I wouldn’t want to see you go through that.”

I let out a big long sigh, I’ve been so busy these last four years, concentrating on shutting everyone out, avoiding any kind of emotions, trying to just survive each and every painful day, that I have failed to notice the effect all of this has had on the people that care about me. I love my parents and hate the fact that I am causing them so much worry. “Mum, I have no plans to get back with Sean.”