Still Falling (3 page)

Marco stood in
the long, early morning shadows.
 
He
hadn’t come down here with the intention of spying on Serena, even though he
felt slightly guilty of doing just that.
 
There was no way he could have known she would be here.
 
Besides this was private property.
 
His private property.
 

He often stood
on the flat rock, at the edge of the garden.
 
Over the last few years he had started coming down here to survey the
beach and surf while the sun went down and would spend a lot of morning here as
well, mentally preparing for the day ahead.
 
 

One of his
attempted lovers had teased him, about being the lord of the castle surveying
his lands.
 
He wasn’t sure what the real
reason was, that he came down here most evenings, but it was an urge that was easier
to give into.
 
He knew if he fought the
urge he would be restless for much of the evening.

After seeing
Serena on the beach last night, sleep had been a long time in coming and he had
needed the fresh air to clear his mind before facing the day ahead.
 
This morning, when he’d arrived he’d been
relieved to find the beach empty.
 
It
wasn’t long though, before the faint, unseasonable smell of Jasmine had
permeated the sea breeze.
 
He searched
for its source and his eyes found it walking along the rocky path leading in
rough hewn steps, down to the beach, well below the natural platform he stood
on.
 

“Serena.”
 
He had whispered.

He had allowed
himself to take in every visible inch of her as she moved quietly onto the sand
and sank down.
 
She was even thinner than
he had realised.
 
He had realised last
night in the fading light that she had lost weight, but didn’t realise quite
how much.

Frowning as he
sipped on his coffee, now lukewarm.
 
Marco
wondered why women felt they needed to look like rakes.
 
He had been insisting for years that his
designers not use models under a size 10.
 
When they objected he reminded them that they were designing for real
woman.
 
If the design only looked good on
a rake then the design had failed.
 

He had always
thought Serena was a little more down to earth as a person and far more
sensible.
 
Not the type to fall into the
dieting trap.
 
He cursed himself for
letting his thoughts turn back to Serena again.
 
Every time he had tried to focus on something, she crept into his thoughts.
 
By the time he had finished his coffee, he
was sure that Serena had fallen asleep.
  

He watched for
a while and started growing concerned when the ground keepers Labrador
found her, giving her slobbering kisses.
 
She still didn’t move.
 

He made his
way down to the beach and paused before approaching her, not sure if he should
be interfering or not.

“Damn.” He
growled under his breath.
 
This was his
property, his beach and she was trespassing.
 
He had every right to interfere.
 

Serena still
lay in the same position as before.
 
Her
hair sprayed out around her head like an auburn mist and her skin was unusually
pale like milk.
 
She was dressed for the
cooler autumn weather in a soft fitted v-neck sweater which showed her long
slender neck beautifully and rust wool skirt which met her soft suede boots
just below the knee.
 

As always, she
was unadorned with jewellery and makeup.
 
Serena had never needed either, possessing a natural beauty that did not
go unnoticed by passing men and even a lot of women.
 

“Serena.” He
called softly.
 
Nothing.
 
With a slight frown he called her name
again.
 
Nothing.

Kneeling down
beside her he stroked her face, running the soft pad of his thumb along her
bottom lip.
 
Her skin was warm and silky
but nothing stirred.
 
Not even the eyes
moved under the eyelids.
 
He didn’t need
to check her pulse.
 
It was the first
thing he had noticed when he knelt.
 
It
fluttered in the little hollow at the base of her neck, matching his own as he
stared.

More than a
little worried now, he lifted her into a sitting position before picking her up
into his arms.
 
Carefully he carried her
over the uneven ground and up the rock steps to the gardens and cut across the
large expanse of lawn and flower beds to the cottage.
 

When her
eyelids eventually fluttered the relief was enormous and he couldn’t help but stare
into her soft brown eyes, flecks of gold pulsing in the morning light.
 
Resentment bubbled to the surface, sinking
the relief he had felt at her waking.
 
This was the woman who had hurt him.
 
He wasn’t sure where the cruel words came from but seeing the pain it
caused her felt slightly satisfying.
 
At
least it did momentarily.
 
He watched her
slam the door and wondered if perhaps he should demand an explanation for
everything that happed four years earlier. He felt he deserved it.
 
He eventually decided against it and went back
to the house.
 
He had a fashion show to
plan and a business to run.
 
Serena had
no place in his life anymore.

Serena hadn’t had much luck finding a room at the Marina and had returned to the cottage
determined that she would try the mainland the following day.
 
It wasn’t perfect but she would only be a
ferry ride away from her mother.
 
That afternoon,
while her mother prepared dinner and she read through a list of emails from
Josephine and her colleagues, there was a knock at the door.
 
It was Marco.
 
Her eyes flashed daggers at the sight of him.
 

“What do you want?”

“It’s time for your walk, isn’t it?
 
I can’t have women passing out all over the estate at all times of the
day and night.
 
It might ruin my
reputation.
 
I’ll just have to keep you
company until you are back home safe and sound.”

“I can look after myself.
 
I don’t
need any favours from you Marco!” she growled and shut the door firmly in his
face.
 
She leaned against the door and
closed her eyes.
 

Arrrrrgggg!

She tried to hear his retreating footsteps through the thick solid oak of
the heavy door.
 
After what seemed like
forever, Serena felt sure he had gone and slid down the polished wood of the
door to plant her backside firmly on the floor.

“I so do not need this right now!” she muttered to the empty
hallway.
 
She hadn’t planned on taking
her walk but his cheek had brought out the rebellious side to her.
 
Quickly kissing her mother on the cheek she slipped
out and skirted the expansive garden to the beach.
 
She was more than a little out of breath when
she stumbled down the last section of the rocky path onto the sand.
 

“Well Marco Spinozzi, you are not my boss anymore!” She giggled.
 
Her run in with Marco and the extra long walk
around the expanse of garden rather than through it had worn her out.
 
She hoped now that she could make it back,
considering that she would have the incline to deal with as well.
 
It was a sobering thought.

“Oh no...”
 
Was all she managed to
say as a wave of dizziness overcame her and the world went
black.

 
The first thing Serena noticed was
the silence.
 
She tenderly opened her
eyes.
T
he light was muted and her eyes adjusted easily.
 
Feeling slightly disoriented, she examined her
surroundings.
 
The large wood panelled room
was very masculine.
 
To her left large
chest of drawers sat against the wall next to an ornate wooden door.
 
A beautiful simple framed painting of the
estates beach during a violent storm took pride of place above a small empty
stone fire place on the other side of the doorway.
 
Subconsciously she noted that the choice of
simple frame suited the painting perfectly as a carved gilt frame would have
distracted from the raw energy of the painting itself.
 

In front of her another ornate doorway allowed soft lighting to spill
from the room beyond and this followed onto a bank of built in closet
doors.
 
On the right hand side of the
room, heavy floor length brocade drapes shut out any light that might be trying
to fight through from the windows she was sure must be hiding behind.
 

Rising up around her four very solid looking, carved wooden posts rose up
from the large bed she found herself on.
 
The thick soft pillows and plush duvet cradled her like a mother cradles
a baby and she felt warm and safe.
 

Very nice.
 
Ten more minutes.

Still not fully in the land of the living, she snuggled her head deeper
into the pillow and breathed in deeply in preparation for a contented
sigh.
 
The pillow smelled distinctly of
fabric softener and …….Sandalwood.
 
She
bolted upright.
 

“Shit.” She muttered now fully awake.

A second later she let out a small screech when she realised she was
dressed only in her underwear and an oversized T-shirt that clearly wasn’t hers
under the soft duvet.

“Lie back down before you pass out again!”
 
Marco appeared in the doorway where the light
spilled from.
 
His face looked murderous.
“I have sent for your mother and the doctor.
 
Until they arrive you are my responsibility and you will stay put.”

“I’m fine,” she whimpered, “Just tired.
 
Let me go home.”
 
She was still
shaking off the last threads of fog in her mind.

“I can’t understand how any man can be so self-centred to leave a woman
in your condition to fend for
herself
.”
 
The words were almost spat out.
 
“And as for you.........you could have died
out there tonight!
 
How could you be so
stubborn and so incredibly stupid?”
 

Stunned by his outburst and still flustered at waking in a strange place,
Serena broke down and sobbed uncontrollably.
 
It was inevitable.
 
Since the
doctors had sat her down and told her she had cancer, she had been calm and
‘matter of fact’ about the whole thing.
 
She had wondered when the full impact would overwhelm her.
 
Did she have to lose control now though?
 
Her sobs were so racking she couldn’t even
talk.

Marco was with her in two long strides.
 
The bed shifted slightly as he sat down and pulled her into his
arms.
 

“Quite Pocco Zucco.
 
Your mother will be here soon.
 
You are safe now.
 
You just need to let me look after you.”
 
He whispered into her long auburn tresses.
 
Before she could object, Serena slipped back
into unconsciousness.

Marco had been slightly amused at her fiery temper when she slammed the
door in his face.
 
He did deserve it
though.
 
None the less, he knew she would
go for her walk with or without him and he had suspected the later was the most
probable.
 
As usual, he had been
right.
 
He had spotted her moving quietly
along the edge of the gardens while discussing the Estates storm preparations
with the groundkeeper.
 

Whilst he had expected her to be stubborn, he didn’t think she would be
stupid enough to stay there long with storm surge already pushing the tide
along the shore higher than usual.
 
The skies
were still clear and the wind had not picked up yet but that could and would change
very quickly as the pending storm blew in.