Remember Me (8 page)

Once
the light of day filled the room the atmosphere of impending doom evaporated
and, assured no supernatural entity was going to descend, Catlin permitted
herself a few hours respite. Several hours later she woke again as the memory
invaded her slumber, expecting the dream of the night before to have ended and
that Ben would be gone. But he was still there, awake and beside her, looking
at her with pleasure from the pillow next to hers.

“Hi
gorgeous.” She didn’t reject or question his compliment this time, and to do so
did not enter her mind.

“Hi
handsome.”

“How
are we this morning?” Catlin smiled contentedly.

“Absolutely
perfect. You?” Catlin wondered if she should made that enquiry, given Ben’s
midnight plea but whichever horror had visited him in the hours of darkness its
influence seemed to have waned and had was every bit his usual self.

“Me?
I must be the most blessed of men to have set foot on the earth.” He stretched
over and kissed her before she could mock his assessment of her, his brown
locks falling over his face and which Catlin brushed back into place. She loved
it when his eyes fell on her, taking in her features and loving them all. When
those two dark, gleaming pools were upon her it was as if she was the centre of
his universe, that all existence came from her and nothing else was of any
consequence.

Ben
slid over towards her side of the bed, the merest contact of his skin on hers
causing the burning fires of lust, which still smouldered dangerously, to be
reignited. She shivered with anticipation.

“I
meant what I said last night,” he said suddenly, catching her off guard. “I do
love you.” Catlin placed her hand on his heart, her fingers trembling.

“I
know you do, and I really do love you Ben.” She saw it there briefly, the
shadow of something approaching, in his expression but it was gone to quickly
to be identified. Ben tracked his finger from the bow of her lip, down over her
chin and neck before slipping his hand under the sheets and down between her
thighs. Catlin needed no further encouragement, her body ached to feel him
within her again and she eagerly opened up to allow him to in.

Their
love making was quicker this time, more urgent and raw as if they were
attempting to drive away all traces of the malevolence which had sought out
their happiness. Ben pressed himself forcefully against her but Catlin clutched
him tighter still as they thrust vigorously together. She wanted them to remain
like that until the end of time, bound together physically, emotionally and
spiritually. He had brought her back to life, made her feel again, revived her
soul. Her orgasm came but immediately after another one swept her away on a
tide of unrestrained pleasure. Ben too was either unwilling or unable to allow
the exhilaration to cease, his shaft so swollen with his desire for her that as
he thrust deeper and deeper into her it was as if he was no longer in control,
that he was the servant and not the master. The connection they shared went
beyond all physical pleasures. There was more to their union than mere sex. It
was as if their souls had mated, not just their bodies, they were bound by a
bond no force in Heaven, Hell or on Earth could break and when they were eventually
satisfied, they remained bound together and fell back to sleep.

Ben
was rarely anywhere else but by Catlin’s side after that. He stayed every night
and spent most of the day with her too. Only when work took her out did they
part company. Her writing was easier than it had ever been and she was so far
ahead of her schedule that when Ben suggested a weekend camping along some of
their favourite trails, Catlin jumped at the offer. It was Heaven on Earth. Two
days with no phones, no texts, no distractions and best of all, no other
company. She would have cheerfully lived the rest of her life under that piece
of canvas so long as Ben was there to share it with her.

They
came home to what had, to all intents and purposes, become t
heir
apartment,
closer than they had been before. Not that there were no bad times. Once in a
while Catlin saw Ben lost in his thoughts and the gloom that came with them
temporarily shrouded the sunshine of those days. It was beyond her skills to get
him to admit what bothered him so, and when she asked he would say only,

“It’s
nothing for you to worry your pretty head over.” She did once hear him
muttering something about why did good things have to start if they had to come
to an end, but after that he’d say no more.

The
answer phone was flashing irritably, demanding it be relieved of its burden so
while Ben collected the post Catlin listened to her messages. As expected, most
were companies, others reminders of approaching appointments, but one was from
Guy.

“Hi
Catie. Sorry to bother you but something interesting has occurred. The
Goldburghs, you met them the other week, well Will’s been bugging me for a few
days now. It seems he and Maria are desperate to see you. I told them you were
going on a short vacation and I’d get you to contact them ASAP, but she was so
insistent that I relented and gave them your address and phone number. Hope
that’s okay. Check in soon.”

“Damn
it,” Catlin hissed. She did like the Goldburghs, what she was not so keen on
was her address being handed out at random. She loved her privacy. It was one
of the reasons she lived out where she did.

“Problem?”
Ben asked passing over the stack of mail.

“Yes.
No. Guy has dropped me in it good and proper. There were some people I met at
that get together who are apparently desperate to see me for a follow up
meeting.”

“That’s
good, isn’t it, a bit of recognition?”

“Yeah,
but he’s given them my address. They could turn up whenever they fancy, any
time, day or night.”

“Ah,”
Ben replied, catching on.

“Exactly.
I’m not anti-visitors, but I prefer to invite them myself. I want to keep this
place as our haven, away from all their madness.”

Ben
took a grasp of the belt of Catlin’s jeans and yanked her over to him.

“I
understand what you mean.” Catlin melted as his lips met hers. She might have
been no seven stone weakling, but when Ben held her like that she felt as
fragile as porcelain, yet remarkably safe as if while under his protection,
nothing could harm her.

“I’m
not being unsociable but…”

“No
problem,” Catlin butted in, guessing the coming query. “I don’t mind you going
AWOL once the invaders reach the door. If I thought I’d get away with it, I go
with you. On the condition you make it up to me afterwards.”

“Tell
you what, how about I give you an advance?”

“Sounds
like my kind of proposition,” Catlin said, allowing Ben to steer her in the
direction of the bedroom.

There
was no word from the Goldburghs or Guy, and Catlin began to hope they had lost
interest or better yet forgotten her address. Ben began to ease back into their
routine, having become wary of some unannounced visitor calling by suddenly.
They were wrong. One evening, they were sat on the roof terrace when the sound
of a turbo charged engine pulling to a stop on the road below reached their ears.
Catlin peered over the rail and saw the expensive car. That meant money. Then
she saw Maria.

“Invaders
at nine o’ clock,” she groaned. Ben looked disturbed by the arrival of Maria too,
though he had yet to see the woman. Catlin saw him shudder, as if a mortal
convulsion had penetrated his body. “Are you all right?” He listened to her but
did not hear a single word she said. He was too preoccupied with his own
thoughts. “Ben?” He jerked out of his isolated musings at her shout.

“Sorry,
did you say something?”

“I
asked if you were okay.”

“Right.”

“Well,
are you?” He ‘ummed’ an affirmative, but based on the speed at which the blood
had drained from his face, Catlin knew better. She saw Maria entering the
building.

“I’m
going to have to go down,” Catlin grumbled. “Are you staying up here or what?”

Ben
scrambled to his feet with such marked swiftness it was as if he’d been hooked
up to the electricity supply.

“Look,
you can’t tell how long you’re guest will be here for, so I think I’ll head off
for tonight. I can use the time to check in with my people.” Maria would be at
the apartment door but Catlin lingered on the roof. She and Ben had slept
together every night since they first made love and the idea of his not being
there made Catlin uncomfortable. She loved having him beside her, waking up and
feeling the contours of his form alongside those of her own, his arm draped
protectively, and possessively, over her. Had the previous night been the last
time she would lie with him? Had the curse which had been circling them finally
fallen? She went cold at the recollection.

“Don’t
stay away too long,” she begged without meaning to. Ben, hearing her fears come
through so openly in her voice, and being disturbed by his own memories,
hurried over to her, seizing her up into his arms and kissing her desperately.
She did not understand why, but Catlin could have cried. She
never
cried, especially not in front of others, but she could have wept endless tears
and not cared had the entire city been watching. There was no cause for the
lump in her throat or the tears which clouded her vision but they were there
nonetheless.

When
Ben released her, it was as if a bullet had passed through his heart, seeing
the single tear rolling down her cheek. She had to be hurting, to allow a
single drop to leak from her eyes in the presence of another, and he could not
deceive himself this time.
He
was the source of her pain.

“Hey,
listen to me. I’m not about to give up that easily on the best deal I’ve ever
had. I’ll be back before you’ve had the chance to notice I’m not there.” Catlin
held his hand and forced a faint smile but the feeling that something was about
to crush her dreams once again would not leave her. “Look,” Ben continued
coaxingly, “to prove I’m coming back, take this.” He let go of her hand and
twisted the ring he always wore off his finger and put onto hers. It fitted as
if it had been made for her. “See? A perfect match. Just like us.” Catlin
straightened the ring up. It was a silver band with a turquoise stone set in
its centre. “Now you know I’ll be back. My two most precious possessions in the
world are here.” He kissed her once more. “Go down Cate. I’ll make my way via
the rear stairs,” he said with a nod towards the fire escape. “And I will see
you tomorrow.” Catlin reluctantly backed over to the staircase, keeping Ben in
sight until the end. She closed the door to the roof, with the inescapable
impression that something had met its end that night. She wiped the stains from
her tears away and went in.

She
opened the door to find Maria waiting, her face pensive and drawn. She had
obviously not slept well for some nights and appeared to be torn between relief
and regret at Catlin being home. Catlin was friendly. Maria was strained.

“Do
you want to come in?” Maria stepped in warily, as if expecting to be set upon
from all sides. “Can I get you something? A drink maybe?” Maria shook her head.

“Sorry
to disturb you this late at night. I, er, I wasn’t sure if you’d be alone or
with someone.” Catlin watched with amusement as the woman checked with caution
that they were the only two there. “Is there anyone here?”

“No.
We’re quite alone.”

“Oh.”
Maria was disappointed, and immediately resumed her patrol of the apartment.
She looked at the period fixtures with amazement, paused by the built in
shelving unit with Catlin’s constantly expanding book collection on it,
inhaling sharply as she read the titles. “My God, it’s hardly changed at all.”

Catlin’s
ears pricked up at that.

“I
beg your pardon?” Maria was rapidly spiralling from emotional to hysterical and
Catlin began to think she was not quite the right side of sane.

“See,
I knew this was going to be difficult, but I didn’t realise I’d find it quite
so hard to choose where to begin.”

“You
could try at the start and go from there.”

“No,
to start there would make little sense. Lord, it won’t matter where I begin, it
will sound just as deranged. William didn’t credit it until he spoke to those
people who had seen you out with him, and I’m sure he was not truly convinced
of it until he dragged your address out of Guy and found out that you lived
here.” Catlin went from bemused to confused.

“I
have no idea what you’re on about. And if you have something to tell me I would
rather you got on with it. I’ve got a lot on and it is getting late. I take it
from your remark that you’ve been here before?” Maria glanced around with a
wistful stare of cherished memories.

“Oh
yes. I’m very familiar with this place. I spent many joyous hours here. A very
dear and much missed friend of mine lived here when I was a young woman.”
Catlin wondered at the coincidence, but thought nothing more of it.

“Well,
I’m sure you didn’t come out here simply to relive old times or because you
learned I was living in an apartment you used to hang out in.”