An Honorable Surprise (14 page)

“What the hell do you mean?”

“I know about your father,” Simon said simply. “I know everything that happened. I know about the scandal, the court case, your dad’s sui-“

“Stop there,” Tamara shouted at him, uncaring if her raised voice could be heard outside the office. “So maybe you do. So what? It has absolutely nothing to do with you. You’re an insensitive, cold-hearted banker. Feelings don’t count in your book.”

Simon stepped towards her angrily. “Don’t come near me,” she yelled.

“Goodbye, Tamara,” he said coldly. “I’m sorry I came here. It was a mistake. I can see that. I’ll leave.” As he reached the door Simon turned. “I’ll get my PR people to do everything they can to calm down the publicity. Perhaps -“ but his voice trailed off, and Simon Henty walked out of the office.
 

Tamara sank into her chair, and burst into tears.

Chapter 20

Tamara had emailed the office and arranged a brief sick leave. Not that she felt ill, but she couldn’t face any hassle, and she also wondered if she would be able to get through a day without Donna sensing something.

She’d hardly eaten since the shock of discovering her pregnancy and decided to grab some groceries. Pulling on her clothes she looked at herself in the full length mirror in her wardrobe.
Surely there isn’t a bump, yet?
 

Grabbing an empty basket, she headed for the hall but stopped short when the entry buzzer sounded.

“Hi, Paul. A parcel for me?” she asked the attendant in the entrance lobby.

“Hi, Tamara, it’s not a parcel. It’s a visitor. A Mr Simon Henty. He’s on his way up to see you? He showed me your card so I assumed -“

At that moment there was a knock on her door.

I don’t believe this.

“Hi, Tamara. I’m sorry, but I had to see you. I’ve just flown in. And, um, I was passing…” His voice trailed away but Simon made no attempt to walk through the door, but simply stood on the threshold. “Tamara? Are you OK?”

Opening the door wider, Tamara stared at him before stepping aside and gesturing that he follow her indoors.
 

“I guess this is a surprise,” Simon went on, “but I had to talk to you. Particularly after the mess I made of our last meeting.”

My God, she’s even more stunning.

“Simon,” Tamara began uncertainly, “Look -“

“Please,” he interrupted. “Don’t feel you have to explain, or even let me stay more than a couple of minutes. I’ve been away on the conference circuit. Mainly in the States. But wherever I was, whatever I was doing, I couldn’t stop thinking of you. And it wasn’t to do with sleeping together…. It was more than that.” He looked at her. “It’s far more, Tamara.”

“What are you saying?” she answered weakly.

“I don’t know what I’m saying, or what you’re thinking. I just want it to be that we can spend more time together, not on some crazy vacation stunt, but just as two people getting to know one another again. How does that sound?” He reached out and held Tamara’s hands, before bringing them to his mouth and kissing her fingertips. “I behaved so badly when we left Italy. It was as if I was on auto-pilot, locking you out, the way I used to lock other people out of my life when things came to an end. Can you… can you forgive me?”

“Simon…. I need to tell you something-“

“Is there someone else?” he asked suddenly, a hint of menace in his voice. “I don’t believe that you -“

Tamara sat down on a couch and took a deep breath. “No, there isn’t anyone else. No, wait - I got that wrong. There IS someone else.” She sighed, and looked up at him. “Simon,” she said, “I’m having a baby.”

For a moment she thought Simon hadn’t heard what she’d said. Then he sat opposite her.

“You’re joking. This can’t be true. You’re mistaken?” he asked in short, stunned, staccato bursts.

“I’m certain. I’ve had tests,” she said weakly. “I - I’m sorry, Simon.”

“Sorry?” Simon yelled “Sorry? I just can’t believe that you’d be so stupid - “

“I was told I’d never have children - “

“This is incredible. I can’t take it in. This is CRAZY!” He stood up and glared at her. “You used to sneer at the girls I went on holiday with but not one of them - NOT ONE - ever pulled this kind of stunt,” he said icily.

“Simon - what are you saying?” Tamara asked, shocked at his implication, her eyes smarting with tears.
Does he think I conceived on purpose?

“We’ve got to think of something. Someone who can help” he said. “Give me time. We can sort this out. Look, I need to think, goddamit!”
 

Simon strode out of her apartment and slammed the door.
 

Tamara sat motionless and stared out of the window. Although the traffic was moving below her as normal, and pedestrians were waiting for crossing lights to change, and planes were passing high up over head, it was as though she was in a time warp. She had no sense of time passing.
 

She glanced at the wall clock and saw that Simon had left over an hour ago.
 

She began to shake with upset and anger, and walked across the room to get a tumbler of water. Tamara knew what Simon must be thinking - he would find a tame doctor who would start yammering at her to consider a termination. He would offer money. He would bully her into doing what he wanted. He would -
 

The door buzzer interrupted her thoughts.
I can’t take any more. I’ll tell reception to stop letting anyone else in.

“Paul? Listen, don’t send up any more visitors -“

“Tamara. It’s me, Simon. I’m outside your apartment. Let me in. Please!”

She leaned against the door, her head in her hands.
I don’t think I want to see him or hear his voice again.

“
Tamara?”

There was an unexpected tone in his voice that was uncharacteristically pleading. “Open the door, darling. I beg you! I won’t stay any longer than you want. I promise.”

She moved wearily away from the doorway and flipped the catch before sliding down the wall and squatting on her heels. She saw the door open gently, heard Simon enter, and watched his loafers turn as he pressed it shut behind him. She felt his hands grasp her arms and lift her up gently. She couldn’t help but fall into his arms and lay her head against him. She felt him stroke her hair.
 

“Tamara,” he whispered. “Hold still, my darling.”

She tried to push away from him but he held her firmly.
 

“No… no…. Don’t move. Don’t move….. You aren’t going anywhere. Not anymore. Not ever.”

Tamara looked up at him, her heart beating against his.

“I don’t - I don’t understand…”

“I mean, my darling, that I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since we got back from Italy. A hell of a lot of thinking. And I’ve just done some more. Walking around your apartment block.”

He paused, and then led Tamara over to the window and sat her down on the window seat.

“You - you took me by surprise. The baby, I mean.”

“I’ve only just found out,” Tamara mumbled tearfully. “I couldn’t believe it. After all the tests and everything. And I thought that we’d been so careful when we were on the yacht.”

“It wasn’t your fault, darling. It was mine.”

“What are you saying?” she asked, looking up at him.

“I got carried away. You were so certain that you couldn’t conceive, that it was safe for us to make love and not take any precautions.”

“But you used a condom!”

Simon sighed. “Not exactly. Well, actually, not at all. I was about to slip it on but you were looking so sexy I just - well, I didn’t use it. I started to rip the foil but then I chucked it on to the ground.“ He paused, and then said simply, “Darling, I am so, so sorry.”

“You want me to have a termination, don’t you?” Tamara said suddenly. “You don’t want a child. That’s what you were shouting at me a moment ago.”

“Hey, hey, wait a moment…. You’re right, I was … I was completely shocked. It was the very last thing I expected you to say to me. But from the moment you mentioned the word ‘baby’ it was as though I was deaf to anything else. My head was pounding. I had to get some space. And, yes, I admit it, I did shout at you. It was a stupid, knee jerk reaction.” He sighed, and ran his hands through his hair. “Typical male.”

“But what am I going to to do? I never thought - never imagined -“

He took her hands and slowly drew them to his lips, and then slowly kissed her fingertips. “You’re not going to do anything. Listen, you’re going to have a baby!” He looked at her, his eyes shining. “You’re going to have your baby, and it’s going to have a father too!”

“Simon? What do you mean?” she gasped.

“I mean just what I’ve said. Your baby is going to have a father who is there every single day because - because, Tamara - I want…. I want you to marry me.”
 

He paused. “There, I’ve said it! And it’s the most important thing I’ve uttered to anybody in my entire life!”

Tamara gazed at him. “Simon, this is all too much, too sudden. I mean-“

“Shhh. All you have to do is look at me, and ask yourself if the person you’re looking at is the person you want to share the rest of your life with. For better, for worse. In good times and in bad. Because I know that I’m intoxicated with the person that I’m looking at. Ever since we had dinner, ever since we had dinner at the Palazzo, ever since you were nearly murdered in Positano.”

“I wasn’t nearly murdered, you liar!”

“Well, near enough,” he smiled, kissing her cheek. He looked at her seriously. “Tamara, will you marry me? Will you, darling?”

Tamara gazed into his eyes, her mind filled with rushing memories. The shame that engulfed her following her father’s conviction, the emptiness in her life since her parents died, the anguish after Mike walked out on her, the expectation that she could never have children, and now the realisation that the man sitting opposite her really was the man of her dreams.

“You must tell me, Tamara. If you’re mad at me, I’ll understand if you say no - after all I’ve put you through. But, I promise, your baby will want for nothing. Don’t keep me in suspense. I couldn’t bear it.”

Tamara’s mind was spinning. “Simon, this is all too much, I - I don’t know what to think. We had such a completely unexpectedly wonderful time, and then you went cold on me… we haven’t spoken for a month…. And now this?” Her lip trembled, “I don’t think I can handle any more….”

Without saying anything, Simon took her hands in his, and held them.

“As well as finding my thoughts filled completely by you when I’ve been away, I’ve been thinking about what I want to do with my life. What I want to do with you in my life, if you’ll join me. This may sound crazy, but I’m going to unwind the hedge fund and move on. I’ve proved whatever it was I wanted to show people. I’ve got more money than I’ll ever need. I’d like to try and do more for the environment. I’m going to start with our planet’s addiction to plastics - packaging, bags, containers, everything. But I haven’t a clue where to start! But someone’s got to begin questioning where we’re headed.
 
And - well, I guess I’d like to spend more time playing my guitar to you, too!”
 

He stopped speaking, and sat, silent, gazing at her so tenderly that Tamara felt herself melting.

“Darling,” she whispered, “That’s an incredible dream! You’ll do it too!”

“Will you share your life with me? Will you marry me” Simon asked quietly.

“Yes!” Tamara answered joyfully. “Yes, and yes and yes!” she cried, kissing him wildly. “I will!”

“In that case,” Simon laughed, scooping her up in his arms, “I claim my right to carry the future Mrs Henty to her bedroom!”

A Message From Sally

Hi! - I hope you’ve really enjoyed this book!

You may be interested to know something about the background: nearly everything I write has a basis in real life - either people I know, or have read about, and places that I have visited.

Tamara is based around someone I met while stopping over in London’s Heathrow airport some years ago.
 
She worked in the high net-worth corporate concierge business. Her description of the exotic locations she flew her
 
clients to, and their no-cost itineraries, fascinated me.
 

The real Simon is alive and well in California. He’s still single, if you’re interested, and a major player in Silicon Valley.

Lombardi, the Sydney couturier, is a creation of my imagination; I love him, and his dresses, dearly.

The Amalfi coast in Italy is one of the most perfect places on earth. The city of Positano featured heavily in another of my favorite rom-com movies, Under The Tuscan Sun - go see it!

And the music that inspired me while I was writing? Guitar music, of course - played by Simon!

Somerset, 2013

How To Keep In Touch

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Legal Notice

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author.

The scanning, uploading and/or distribution of this book via the internet or any means without the prior permission of the author is illegal
 
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All characters are fictitious and not based upon any real person, alive or dead.

Copyright Sally Graham 2013