Forever Viper (12 page)

I make his coffee and when I turn around, he is sitting at the counter waiting and I place it in front of him. He smiles and takes a sip and says thanks. I take a good look at him, there’s not much else I can do as we both stare at each other. He’s an older man, I would place him around forty something. His hair has started to grey as well as his beard. He’s wide shouldered with a stocky build. He’s a good looking man, but it’s his eyes that fascinate me, as they remind me so much of Noah’s. So much so that I lower my head as I can’t bear to look at him anymore.

“Can I give you a bit of advice Ms. Thorne?” My head snaps back up to look at him. “Impersonating someone else can get you arrested. Mr. Blaise has it in for you. I suggest you do nothing else to upset him and you’re lucky Ms. Blaise didn’t want to press charges.”

I know he is right but that didn’t stop my temper from flaring, “I have done nothing untoward, yet I’m treated as if I'm in the wrong, like I’m another of Noah’s whores. Donald bloody Blaise can do his worst, he can try to rid me from Noah’s life, but he can’t stop me from loving him. I will fight for him and I will win because what I have with Noah is unbreakable.”

I walk away before I say anything else and I leave the Detective sitting there drinking his coffee. I end up in the basement, it’s the only place where there is no police for the moment. I stretch myself out on the sofa and my mind floats back to the good times I have had in this room. I don’t know how long I am away with the fairies for, but a loud cough jerks me back to focus on the officer standing in the room. “Sorry to disturb you, I need to do a search of the room.”

I sit up then, stand and make my way back upstairs not saying a word to him.

When I walk into the lounge Detective Payne is talking with the other officers. It appears they have found something as the Detective now has a file in his hands.

I clear my throat and say, “Are you nearly done?”

All eyes turn to me. Detective Payne ignores me and talks quietly with his officers and they all suddenly leave and walk away heading for the front door.

“Yes, we are nearly done. I’m waiting for the officer to finish downstairs then we will be out of your way.”

I walk over to the sofa and sit, “Did you find what you are looking for?”

He glances down at the file in his hand and then back at me, “I’m sorry, I can’t tell you that.”

With a haunted look on my face I ask, “Did you find what Mr. Blaise asked you to find?”

The look he gives me is one of surprise, “You are well informed Ms. Thorne. Yes, I have the information he asked for.”

Tears gather but I hold them back as I don’t want to show any weakness. The officer from downstairs enters the room and shakes his head at the Detective and is quickly dismissed. Detective Payne turns back to me, “We have everything we need. I will be in contact.”

He starts to walk away and I jump to my feet shouting after him, “Please! Detective Payne, does Mr. Blaise have a leg to stand on? Can he force me out?” The tears come then and I hold my breath waiting for an answer.

He slowly turns and makes his way back over to me, “Honestly, he would be a stupid man to pursue it, but nothing surprises me about him. He strikes me as a man who didn’t like to be defeated. But I will advise him against it.”

I don’t know how I ended up in his arms sobbing. It could have been from the sheer relief at what he said or the grief of everything catching up with me. We stand that way for a while, but it soon turns to awkwardness on my part at the feeling of another man embracing me when it should be Noah and Juan. I quickly loosen my hold and move out of his arms, I don’t look at him when I mutter a sorry.

“Take care Ms. Thorne. I have a feeling we will be seeing each other again.”

A minute later I hear the front door shut and I’m left alone again. The numbness starts to take over again as the full force of everything that has happened settles deep inside of me. I’m trying to be strong, but right now I’m losing that battle. I don’t intend to be down for long. I walk to the bar and pour myself a drink. I down it in one, not even feeling the burn when it hits the back of my throat and I pour myself another.

Monica comes home and I explain everything to her. Lara phones and I hold back certain information but tell her they found something. I carry on drinking while Monica forces me to eat a sandwich, threatening to call a doctor if I don’t. I fall asleep at some point and wake to the feeling of being lifted in someone’s arms. I open my eyes to find a concerned looking Juan staring back at me. I burst into tears at the sight of him and he places me on the bed and holds me as I try and tell him what happened today, but my eyes feel heavy and start to droop and blackness greets me.

The next few days blur. Monica is there, force feeding me. Juan holds me in his arms at night telling me everything will be ok. I think about the Café and talk Monica into putting a sign up saying, “Closed until further notice.”

Thursday night Juan turns up early. The venue they were supposed to play at said someone had phoned and cancelled it. Cruz had managed to get hold of Mr. Blaise and was told he will look into it and that’s when I find out Donald has taken over Noah’s role at Devil Records. I phoned the police station a few times as desperation seeped in, only to be told there is no new information.

Saturday comes around and Monica dragged me out of the house, we did a bit of shopping and visited with her sister. She is trying to take my mind off what has happened and it worked for all of five minutes.

As we enter the house, my phone goes, it’s Lara. She starts speaking, but another beep comes through and it’s Juan phoning me, so I tell Lara I will phone her back and press the button to speak to Juan. He tells me he won’t be coming over tonight because another venue has been cancelled and the press was there this time, so the band needs to find out what the hell is going on. I'm disappointed but I also understand and tell him it is fine and I hope they sort out the problem. I'm just about to ring Lara back when my phone rings again.
I’m popular tonight.

Detective Payne's voice comes through the line, “Ms. Thorne, I’m sorry to say, it appears as if someone has broken into your workplace. The alarm has been ringing for an hour now. You need to come down and turn it off and check to see if anything is missing.”

I remain silent for a moment, trying to figure out if this is actually happening to me and I am not dreaming. “Ms. Thorne?” Confusion crosses my features and my name comes again louder this time. “Sorry, I’m shocked. Of course, I will come now.” I hang up the phone not even sure if the conversation is finished between us. I stand there shaking my head and say, “Why is this happening to me?”

Monica is right there looking perplexed, so I quickly explain and she drives me to Café Net to see what the hell is going on. When we arrive the first thing I’m asked to do is to turn off the alarm but to be careful as there is glass everywhere. Once it’s turned off, I take in the scene to check out the damage. I spy a brick on the floor and quickly work out what has happened.

Detective Payne makes his way over to me, “Can you check to see if anything else is damaged or has been taken?”

I walk around checking out the computers, the cash register, nothing is out of place and I let the Detective know.

“It appears like it might be a random act of violence, no doubt kids. You really aren’t having much luck lately are you?” I gape at him not knowing how to answer. He carries on talking, “I don’t usually bother with cases like this, but when your name came up, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone. I was on my way to see you. We have found the van used to kidnap Noah. It’s being examined as we speak. We also received a phone call saying there has been a sighting of Noah.”

My face lights up at that news and a spark of hope fills my heart. I open my mouth to ask the questions waiting on the tip of my tongue.

He holds his hand up and quickly says, “Please don’t get your hopes up, a lot of sightings turn out to be a case of mistaken identity.”

I tell myself to hold onto to the thought and hope he could be wrong and that it will be Noah. A voice shouts out for Detective Payne and before he walks away he says, “If you have any insurance, I suggest you phone them to come and board up your window. You should be able to start cleaning this mess up soon.”

I make the phone call and two hours later, after we have cleaned up all the broken glass, and we watched as the window is boarded up, we say goodbye to Detective Payne, who promises to phone me with any news and Monica and I finally head home.

We arrive home and as soon as we walk in the door we both turn to stare at each as we hear voices coming from the lounge. I shout out Juan’s name, thinking it might be him, but no answer comes back and then a voice in my head screams a name to me. I run into the room shouting out, “Noah,” but what greets me knocks me for six and literally off my feet as I tumble to the floor in utter disbelief.

“Hello Peppa, it’s good to see you again. Glad to see I can still sweep you off your feet.” I close my eyes and blink them open again to meet his and he waves at me, “Still here I’m afraid.”

Monica gasps out his name. I notice the other man in the room as he moves closer then says, “Jacob, what’s going on? I thought you said it was ok to stay here?”

Monica bends down and helps me to my feet and I find my voice. “Get out Jacob, get out of my house.”

As Jacob and I stare each other down I catch part of what Monica is saying, “Oh my giddy heart, you’re Hans from The Duel…”

Jacob laughs, “Why are you so angry at me Peppa? I was enjoying my new life, putting you behind me. I’m only back because Donald offered me a great package I couldn’t refuse. He needs help running Devil Records while Noah is no doubt shagging the woman he is holed up with. I guess you weren’t enough for him.”

Rage builds up inside me and my hand comes up to strike him, but Monica stands in between us and gets in his face, “Get out Jacob, you’re not welcome here.”

He steps back from her. I guess I’m not the only one to notice her clenched fists. “That’s where you are wrong. Donald gave me the keys and asked me to show Hans around. You see Hans needs a place to stay because he is being hounded by the press, and Noah’s house has a few empty bedrooms. Donald thought you could use some company. So meet your new house guest.”

He turns to Hans, “Hans this is the lovely Monica and the woman standing behind her is Peppa, my ex-girlfriend.”

To say I’m gob smacked is an understatement, Mr. Blaise is certainly pulling out all the stops. Inside I’m screaming with hate for the man standing in front of me, but on the outside I refuse to show Jacob how his presence is affecting me. I shock everyone, including myself, as I side step Monica and walk over to Hans and bring my hand out for him to shake. It’s then I remember who Hans is and the trouble that Jacob caused. “It’s nice to meet you Hans, sorry about all this. I hope you enjoy your stay here.”

I turn back to Jacob, “Monica and I can show Hans around. You can leave now.” He sneers at me and opens his mouth but Hans speaks up and puts his hand on Jacob’s shoulder pushing him in the direction of the front door saying, “Thanks Jacob for helping me out, I’m sure the girls can show me the rest…”

I don’t hear what else is said between them as I force my feet to walk into the kitchen before I collapse.
Why now? I don’t know how much more I can take.
I make it to the chair and sag down into it, resting my head on the counter. A hand comes to my shoulder, “Here, I think you could do with this.” I lift my head to look at Monica, who holds out a glass with a clear liquid in it. “Only for permissible needs of course.” She says giving me a wink.

“Of course.” I say taking it from her.

We both rotate our heads when a voice booms out, “Look, I’m not sure what is going on here, but I can find a hotel or somewhere else to stay if you’re not comfortable with me staying here.”

I down my drink and stand, “It’s ok, it seems no one gives a shit how I feel and until Noah is found, there is nothing I can do to stop what Mr. Blaise throws at me. So make yourself at home Hans.”

I turn to Monica, “I’m off to have a hot bath and drown myself. I’m sure I can leave our guest in your capable hands.”

I try and walk away but I’m pulled back into Monica’s arms, “Don’t you ever say no one gives a shit, because I do Peppa and so does Juan. Forget about Jacob, he’s nothing but a weasel. I’m going to make sure that man never steps a foot back in this house.”

I squeeze her tighter to me and mutter to her, “I love you.” Then I let her go, say goodnight to them both and stroll away. I make myself another drink, run a bath and when I’m done I crawl into bed, close my eyes and once again I cry myself to sleep as everything that happened today churns around in my head.

Chapter 10 (JUAN)

“People like to say that the conflict is between good and evil. The real conflict is between truths and lies. Dolly whoever said that is spot on.” I peer down at the pig, who has let me feed from her, and pat and rub her head. “Love is never easy my friend, especially when you love two people and have to lie to one of them to protect the other.” Dolly grunts at me. I halfheartedly laugh, “Yeah I hear you, I’m an asshole. I have to be going now, until tomorrow Dolly and then it’s your turn to tell me about what’s going on in your life.” I wave at Dolly and shake my head but smile,
I’m telling my life story to a fucking pig.

This week is going to be hectic, we have a gig every night and with Cruz’s erratic behavior and demanding we practice before each gig, I feel myself disconnecting from the band. My thoughts are consumed by guilt. I’m finding it harder to be around Peppa as I let the lies eat away at me, but at the same time, I can’t bear the thought of being away from her. If I have to, I will beg for her forgiveness, then maybe I can forgive myself.

I make my way to Noah to feed him quickly before I head back to become Viper. I see him as my salvation in all this. I know that is selfish of me, but through him I will always have the connection with Peppa if she chooses to walk away from me when the truth comes out.