My Son (9 page)

“Yes, for Max’s sake
let’s just drop it”

She
had then opened the door walking quickly down the hall stairs, hearing Marc follow at a much slower pace.

As she reached the kitchen the doorbell
had rang, and she could hear Marc opening it and laughing with somebody else, and after a second he had appeared closely followed by another man.  Kelly had gasped with shock.  The second man was tall, but not as tall as Marc, with blond hair which lay in curls on his head.  Athletic in build his face was smiling brightly at her.  She could see the laughter lines around his blue eyes, eyes which twinkled at her with humour in them.  He looked very much like Danny, and Kelly had to stop herself from staring.

“Hi, I’m Philip” the man
had said extending his hand to her

“Heard all about you
, finally nice to meet you” he continued, shaking her hand firmly, as Kelly had smiled back still not able to speak.

“Where is Max” he
had said looking around the kitchen

Marc who had been standing back watching the exchange
with a small frown on his face had now moved forward giving a short laugh

“He’s in bed, you idiot.  You’ve got so much to learn if you and Theresa ever get married” he
had added

Philip had given a good humoured snort

“Check you out suddenly the expert”

Kelly
watched the good natured banter between the two having now recovered from her initial shock.

“Are you getting married” she
had asked politely, seeing as Phil had scuffed his feet a little

“W
ell….”

Marc
had interrupted

“Maybe one day …. If he ever asks her”

As Philip had smiled brightly

“Hey, can’t rush these things” he
had said “It’s all about timing”

Marc
had moved past him with a grin

“Right..
Staying for dinner Phil”

Philip
had rubbed his hands together in delight at the idea

“Suffer some of
Beth’s food – try and stop me” before pausing for a second “unless I’m interrupting anything” he had added a small twinkle in his eyes

Kelly
had smiled brightly at him feeling the sudden relief at not having to spend the meal alone with Marc, avoiding the subject of the previous night

“Not at all, it would be great”
she had smiled back warmly, seeing as Marc had frowned

The evening had been enjoyable, as
Philip was a natural comic, and the three of them had laughed as they slowly ate their way through the wonderful meal left for them.  Splitting it between three rather than two had been easy due to the vast amount Beth always provided.  Kelly had enjoyed joining in with the two of them, especially as she had watched as Marc had shown a playful side of his nature she had only previously glimpsed. 

She
had discovered that Philip was a home grown millionaire who had made his fortune by creating software for the games industry.  She had laughed at the many stories he told about the weird and wonderful people he worked with and felt complimented when he had shown an interest in her work.

He
had excitedly told her of plans they had for developing a new game which involved mystical faeries, elves and unicorns. 

“Reaching ou
t for the female gamers” he had grinned, before dropping his bombshell

“I couldn’t believe that you were here” he
cried.  “We need some designs for the characters, and I was given a list of the top 10 illustrators in the field. – your name being very high on that list – talk about luck”

Both Kelly and Marc
had looked at him in surprise as he had continued

“Are you interested in some commission work?”

Seeing her hesitate he had told her that he only needed the initial designs and that his guys would animate the characters.  With a broad smile Kelly had agreed, flashing Marc a dazzling smile.

Frowning
Marc had watched the two of them laughing.  Many people found it difficult being with Phil and himself due to their quick wits, however, with her keen mind Kelly had more than equalled their witticisms and he had laughed at her many quick comments.  But watching the two of them, he had felt uncomfortable at the way she kept looking at his best friend.  It hadn’t been until he had seen her reaction as Phil had come in that the similarity between him and Danny had became evident, and with a quick pang of jealousy he had realised that he didn’t want her looking at another man in that way, before frowning at thinking that way.

At midnight Kelly had stifled a yawn and excused herself, declaring that she
would leave the two of them to talk “man talk”, as laughing they had both wished her a good night.  Kelly was relieved to see that the earlier awkwardness between Marc and her had disappeared and was glad that Phil’s visit seemed to have pushed this episode away.

The next morning while feeding Max, Beth had suddenly put her hand on her head

“Oh that reminds
me; Marc said that Celeste was coming around today with some dresses”

Kelly
had looked surprised “For me?”

The older woman had given a wicked smile

“Apparently lack of outfits was stopping you coming to the party”

Kelly
had groaned

“I thought he
would have forgotten”

Beth
had laughed

“Did you really use the line I’ve nothing to
wear?”

Trying to
stifle her own laughter as she had nodded

“Thought it would work”

“Look honey” Beth had said suddenly serious “That party is going to be great.  You go and enjoy yourself.  Marc has got specialists in to do up the house, and he’s laying on waiters and even getting someone in to do all the food.  I get the whole day off.......It’s great”

“But Max…”

“But Max nothing hon, It means that I can look after him” She gave Kelly a mock hurt look

“Don’t you trust
me?”

Kelly had
laughed at the corner she was neatly being pushed into

“I’m not getting out of this am I”

Beth had laughed shaking her head

“Good…then Celeste will be here at 2.  So if you want I’ll watch our boy for you”

“Thanks Beth” she had said with a grin

At 2 Celeste
had appeared as scheduled. The woman was not exactly what Kelly had expected wrongly suspecting that she would be one of those sophisticated beautiful women who would be aloof and hard to deal with.  However, the reality couldn’t have been further from the truth, as Celeste was small and chubby with a warm and friendly smile lighting up her features, wearing bright clothes and more make-up than was called for, as she had chatted constantly.

“
It is good to meet you” she had said hardly pausing for breath

“You are so lovely”

Kelly flushed “No…”

“But yes” she
had insisted in her broken English

“come..” she
had said grabbing a large pile of dresses, each securely contained within closed dress bags, more than Kelly had ever thought would be possible for one person to carry, and seeing the other woman struggle she had insisted on helping, which had made Celeste smile with gratitude.

“Thank you”
she had breathed moving quickly ahead of Kelly from her old car

On entering the house she
had been warmly welcomed by Beth as the two had chatted animatedly for several seconds in Spanish.  Kelly had not been able to follow the conversation but it was clear that they knew each other very well, and she could only draw one conclusion from that, that Celeste had provided the same services for many other women in this house.  Once more Kelly had remembered how Trudy had talked about how generous M

arc
had been, realising that it wasn’t just jewellery that he had been generous with, this thought making her frown softly.

With a final laugh
and both women cooing and “ahing” over Max who was being held in Beth arms desperately trying to get back down to the floor, Kelly and Celeste had finally moved upstairs to begin the search for the perfect dress for the party.

“Now Marc, he s
ay to me your size” Celeste stated opening the large wardrobes which occupied part of her room and placing all of the bags neatly on the almost empty rails

“He get you good” she
had said looking carefully at Kelly.  “Very good”

“OK” we start.  You must remove clothes”
she had said in a matter of fact voice. Kelly had been embarrassed at the thought, not used to other people dressing her, but Celeste’s professionalism and determination soon saw her standing in only her underwear.

She
had tried on dress after dress and had been impressed with each and every one, as   Celeste had walked around her with each new outfit, and had either put her hands up with delight

“Yes…yes” or shaken her head with “No”

Quickly the dresses were sorting themselves into two piles, as Celeste had hummed and hawed over one particular bag, before finally seeming to make up her mind and pulling from it a gold dress which Kelly had felt seemed to very much lack in material.  Looking at her Celeste had indicated that Kelly should completely remove all her clothes, as she had shaken her head

“I don’t think so” she
had said in horror.  However, Celeste had shaken her head

“Pants are built into dress” she had said showing Kelly the inbuilt underwear in the same material which seemed to double as inner lining.  Kelly had finally given in pulling on the dress which was completely backless.  The material at the front split at her belly button and then joined again as a halter top which clasped at the back, the material skimming her supple body revealing every curve of her perfect figure.  Celeste’s hands had flown to her mouth

“Perfecto, perfecto” she
had cried “This dress was made for you.  This is the dress you must have” she had said happily

Kelly on the other hand was still struggling with the amount of skin which the dress revealed
, especially at the back which was completely bare, as it dropped so low that it stopped only at the very base of her back, showing how her spine had arched beautifully to her perfectly shaped bottom.  Another inch she thought and it would have revealed her buttocks.

“I don’t think so” she
had stated with determination

“No, no” Celeste
said “these other dresses” she waved her hand in their direction “are no good”

Kelly
had removed the dress with a definite action

“
Absolutely not” she had said in a voice which the other woman had realised would not be swayed and with a sigh the dress had been placed on the no pile.

Looking back over the maybe pile of dresses, Kelly had finally settled on
a lovely red dress which covered enough of her to make her feel comfortable, Celeste ensuring that she had Kelly’s shoe size before telling her that she would have the whole outfit delivered on the day of the party.  With one final try, she had tried to get Kelly to change her mind about the gold outfit, but when her pleas went unheard she had sighed before finally giving up.

T
hat evening at dinner she and Marc had laughed about the dress fitting, as he had impishly once more asked her why she hadn’t taken the other dress laughing again at her expression.

“What dress….there wasn’t enough material to call it a dress”
she had cried, as he had smiled a half imagining look coming over his face

“mmmmmm sounds perfect” he
had said mischievously as she had made a small snorting noise

“How anybody could wear that…”

Hearing his laugh, Kelly had chuckled back, missing the look in his eyes

It was yet another warm sun filled Wednesday and although Kelly and Max had only been at the villa for three weeks, already they had fallen into a very comfortable routine. 

After breakfast
they would take a drive to one of the many beaches, parks or attractions which littered the Island, returning for lunch with Beth, after which Max would then take a sleep for an hour letting her continue with her painting.  Beth would arrive with drinks late afternoon and the two women would sit chatting for half an hour or more when Beth would talk about Marc’s parents, with such love in her voice.

She had discovered that his mother had become ill when he was 12 and died when he was 13.  Her death had destroyed his father who had been devoted to his wife
, and unable to handle it had turning his back on his son and began drinking and womanising in an attempt to drown his grief.  By the time his father had died, from a massive heart attack when Marc was only 19, he had almost destroyed the company, and it had been left to Marc to pull the company from the brink of bankruptcy. 

He had proven
a ruthless and determined business man who had soon established himself as a force to be reckoned with, which Kelly could totally believe, Marc was not somebody who one said no to easily she had thought with a smile.

When talking about his mother
Beth’s eyes would soften.

“She was so lovely
..not just beautiful….but kind” she had sighed sadly

“Marc never really got over her death”

Kelly felt that this seemed to explain a lot of the questions she had when he had invited her to stay.  Knowing that he had not wanted Max to suffer the loss of a mother the way he had, had made Kelly’s heart flutter with sympathy for him.

Marc would usually arrive home in time to help
put Max to bed and Kelly had watched as the bond between father and had son grown as Max would look for his father when the bath was running, peering around the door waiting for the sound of his footsteps.  When he appeared he would then crawl out to meet him his arms held high to be lifted making loud “dadadada” noises, which the first time he had heard them had almost saw Marc in tears.  “Did you hear” he had said in awe to Kelly, who had just nodded gulping down a lump in her throat.  “Yes, I did” she had smiled back smiling warmly at him.

After their dinner together, Kelly and Marc would
usually go to their own rooms, he to catch up on paper work, and she to work on illustrations for both her publisher and for Phil.  The connection with Phil’s game industry was proving very successful for Kelly, who had delighted him with her initial group of proofs.  They had met several times for lunch to talk over the designs, often with other graphic artists, who all seemed to love her input and ideas.  Kelly had found that she had already grown to love the country, the villa, the people in it and the whole way of life, and she had found herself very happy and settled.

That evening during their usual meal
Marc had nervously looked over at her, before with his voice a little unsure he had managed.

“Kelly would you do me a favour”

She had looked back with eyes full of interest

“If
I can” she had answered sweetly

“I have a big charity event tomorrow night
.  I’m patron of a cancer charity and I’m expected to do some speeches and the like”

Kelly
had smiled, remembering that it had been cancer which killed his mother, her heart reaching out to him.

With a small nervous cough he had added

“My date stood me up at the last moment………would you come with me”

Kelly
had held his eyes with a look of trepidation

“Oh Marc…maybe you should find somebody else.  I don’t think I would be good at that sort
of thing” she had started to say as he had interrupted her with a pleading look in his eyes

“What sort of thing….all you have to do is be with me…..enjoy a top notch meal and clap when the cheques are handed in”

His large black eyes had looked pleading into her blue ones

“I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t really stuck”

Groaning softly she had once more played the clothes card

“
But, I don’t have anything to wear” she had said apologetically seeing as he had smiled more brightly

“Beth told me that Celeste had come with loads of dresses……..surely there was more than one you could have ordered”

As she made to argue he had reached over to hold her hand, the touch sending all too familiar signals throughout her body

“Please, I can call Celeste first thing and have her send over
the one that she’s got ready….you can always have one of the others for the big party”

Biting her lip Kelly had looked into his eyes with defeat.

“Oh alright…..” she had sighed gently

“
But remember that I told you I don’t do these things well”

Marc
flashed her one of his heart warming smiles while kissing her hand.

“Thank-you” he
had said warmly

Kelly
had said nothing as she tried to hide the tremors with which the kiss caused her, just as it had done when they had first met at a cocktail party all those months ago.

The next day as promised the red dress she had originally planned for
Marc’s birthday party arrived, along with shoes and accessories, and after making sure that Beth was OK with Max she had prepared herself for the charity event.  Large ornamental clasps enabled her to push her long blonde hair away from her face while still allowing it to fall down her back.  She had applied her usual light dusting of make-up, more than sufficient to accentuate her lovely features.  Smiling as she had looked at the final result she had to admit that the dress looked wonderful on her as it clung to her body showing her curves and the way her hips flared along her flat stomach.  When she had descended the stairs, carefully holding on to the banister as she was not used to wearing such delicate heels, Marc had stepped forward approvingly

“Wow…..you wash up well” he
had said with a note of laughter in his voice.  However, there was a fire in his eyes which had made Kelly hold her breath for a second.  He had held the wrap for her, as there was a slight chill in the air and as his fingers had moved warmly over her shoulders, she had shivered slightly enjoying the feel of them on her body.

They
had arrived at the event in a black chauffeur driven limo, the journey only taking about half an hour, as the two of them had chatted happily in the back, mainly about Max.  She had stolen several glances at him admiring how handsome he looked – not that he didn’t always she thought to herself – in his black tux.  The smell of his aftershave had invaded her senses and she could feel how her whole body had responded to his presence in a very erotic way.  Shaking herself she once again had reminded herself of who she was dealing with, Mr love ‘em and leave ‘em, but still she had been unable to shake the image of his hands upon her as they once had done.

On exiting the car, t
hey were greeted at the door by a tall beautiful woman who was introduced to Kelly as Louise. 

“Louise, t
his is my friend Kelly” Marc had said his voice soft

Louise had
smiled warmly at her, welcoming her instantly, before directing them to the main hall in which the party was already in full swing.  Marc had seemed very comfortable with Louise and briefly she wondered if they had a previous relationship, feeling a strange jealous heat in her stomach at this thought. As Marc had taken her arm Kelly had frowned slightly, remembering another party in which his date had clung to his arm as he had led her around like a puppy dog.  Did he really expect the same from her, because Kelly was no puppy

As they mov
ed to the first group Kelly found a glass of champagne in her hand, which she drank quickly suddenly very aware of being so close to Marc and nervous of such a large crowd of people.  However, she quickly began to relax as he had introduced her to people as a leading illustrator and graphic designer.  Giggling slightly she had looked at him with laughter in her eyes

“Graphic
designer?”

He
had looked back at her with a note of mischief in his voice

“It’s all about the way you present it Kelly….work with me here”

She had to admire just how well he could work it.  Just as before, she could see that he knew exactly how to dominate a room.  People were naturally drawn to him, women openly flirting with him despite her presence and men wanting his advice and opinion.

Marc in return
had found having her beside him great fun.  Unlike his usual dates who took offence and required constant reassurance when other women flirted with him she had kept him laughing with her “what they actually mean” interpretations.  When women came up to him with comments such as “we should hook up sometime to discuss that” she would interpreted it as “Take me…dear God… take me right here right now” and he had laughed with her, for once enjoying the night so much he did not want it to end.  It had also not escaped him the attention she was receiving.  Many of his business colleagues were finding excuses to sidle up to her with offers of possible work trying to organise lunch dates to discuss details with her, all of whom she had smiled at and responded with non committal platitudes.  He had felt stabs of jealousy each time, only to be amazed at how she would giggle at him with comments such as “I don’t think so” her eyes full of laughter.  Kelly Brown he realised was no fool.

As the night progressed, Kelly
had not realised just how much she had drunk, used only to the occasionally glass or two of wine during a meal.  However, despite the fact that she was sipping the delicious champagne slowly, her glass had never seemed to empty, thanks to the diligent waiters who constantly refilled her glass.  Therefore, by the end of the night she was starting to feel a little light headed as Marc had looked down on her with a worried look

“You OK Kelly” he
had asked his voice holding a note of concern

“Nope” she
had responded, flicking her hair from her face before standing shakily “I want to dance”

“OK” Marc
had replied a small smile twisting his lips as realisation of what was wrong with her had come upon him

“Let
’s dance and then see if we can’t find you some coffee afterwards” he had chuckled

She
had giggled back at him “I’m fine honest” moving towards the dance floor a noticeable swaying in her steps

Taking her in his arms
Marc had enjoyed the feel of her body against his as she had moved gently against him, her eyes looking deeply into his.  Those beautiful blue eyes, which were right now looking so intently at his face containing more than the usual politeness or laughter.  Marc had lifted his gaze swallowing hard to ignore the signals she was sending him making her chuckle

“
What’s wrong Marc” she had purred sensually

“Am I doing it
wrong?”

Looking back down
, her eyes were now full of mocking laughter

“OK, that’s it” he
had said separating himself from her body which was moving a little too suggestively against him for his comfort

“Let’s get
you some fresh air”

Holding her by the hand he
had pulled her out of one of the many French windows to the garden outside.

As the air hit her, so
too did the alcohol kick in, Kelly feeling her head becoming fuzzy as he started to walk with her

“OK light weight” he
said moving along the path “Let’s walk it off”

Kelly
had laughed winding her arm through his gently while moving her body up closer, leaning against him in a way that was causing him to have to grit his teeth not to respond.

“
You’re very sweet Marc” she had whispered gently in his ear, causing him to moan slightly as her breath had tickled the small hairs on his neck

After a few minutes of silence in which she seemed content to hum a small tune she
had finally stopped

“Please….stop….stop….my feet are sore”

Sighing Marc had stopped

“Are you feeling better now” he
had asked gently turning to look at her.  However Kelly had moved off the path and was now lent against a tree, her arms behind her so that she could lean on them.  Her head had rested against the tree as she had looked at him through half closed eyes, her soft lips slightly opened.  He had quickly moved over to her until they were inches apart concerned that she was about to fall over

“Marc” she
said looking up into his eyes

“Do you think I’m
pretty?”

Closing his eyes slightly so that she wouldn’t see just how pretty he found her he gently responded

“Kelly I think your beautiful”

“As beautiful as the women in there” she
had continued her head indicating the party area