Millionaire's Secret Love

Chapter Nine

Twenty minutes later, Elizabeth arrived home. The two-bed semi-detached house stood on a busy residential street a thirty-minute walk from the hospital.  She rented the property with her best friend, Kathy.

Elizabeth drove up into her driveway, parked her small Fiat Punto.

When she slammed the car door shut, the front door of the house burst open and Kathy, dressed in a pink bunny onesie, grinned at her.

In her hand, she held a large red mug which had steam coming out of it. Elizabeth knew it was tea, she did not have to ask, Kathy only ever drank tea. Kathy’s tea had to have the same colour as her complexion, a creamy latte.

“I’ve put the kettle on.”

“God, I need a cup of coffee.”

“You had a s**t shift, ha?” Kathy asked, looking over her shoulder at Elizabeth as she led the way into their kitchen.

She did not reply; she was busy taking off her shoes near the door. After slipping her feet into her comfy black slippers which still held their softness, she followed Kathy into the small kitchen and moved straight for the rack with the mugs.

She flipped the lever on the kettle and placed the ingredients in her mug. All the time Kathy watched her from the table in the corner.

“Lizzie,” Kathy called. “Are you okay, you don’t seem yourself?”

She stirred her coffee and leaned her hip on the edge of the counter.

“You would not expect the night I’ve had,” Elizabeth muttered.

“And what makes it so different from all the other nights you’ve worked at the hospital?” Kathy asked.

Elizabeth slid in the chair across from Kathy.

Setting her mug on the table, she stared into the liquid for a few seconds, then she met her friend’s curious stare.

“You remember what I told you about three months ago when I returned from Jamaica.”

Her friend frowned, then her expression brightened. “Yeah, I remember what you said. It was about your arch-nemesis, George, right?”

She nodded and took a sip of her drink. “Last night he ended up in the hospital with an injury to his shoulder?”

“Seriously?”

“Yep,” Elizabeth answered. “So anyway, Ross was at the hospital too and he asked me to go see George, and kind of check up on him.”

“Hold on a minute, is your brother aware of how you feel about George?”

 “Of course, he does. George and I haven’t been at odds with each other recently, this has been going on since high school.”

“And yet your brother asked you to check on him,” she asked, her voice filled with incredulity.

 “It’s not like that. I know Ross would only ask me if he had something more important to do,” she said, meeting her friend’s eyes. “If I’m honest, I jumped at the opportunity to help Ross out because I realize he would never have asked for my help unless he needed it.”

Kathy scrutinised her and sipped her tea. “Well, since you checked on him with a willing heart, despite him intimidating you with a gun. What’s the problem?”

Folding her fingers around the steaming cup of coffee, she peered into the contents as if they had the answers to the problems.

“I guess I still like him,” she admitted, lifting her eyes to meet her friend’s.

Kathy’s eyes went round like saucers. “So, what about Dominic, I assumed you were dating him?”

Having had enough of her coffee, she got up, dumped the rest of it in the sink and began washing the cup. Finished, she put her cup on the empty draining tray on the sink and turned to face Kathy.

“Dominic and I haven’t seen each other for two months.”

“Does your mum know?”

“No,” she answered. “I don’t see why I should tell them about my private life.”

“But your mum was the one who introduced you to him.” Kathy watched her with a frown.

“You don’t even have to remind me about that, I realize she feels he’s suitable for them. Not for me. If they cared about me, they would have spoken to me before setting me up on a blind date with him.”

“The one time I met Dominic he seemed to be alright, and he isn’t bad looking. anyone would want to go out with him.”

“You would assume so, wouldn’t you?” Elizabeth murmured. “No one would expect that he was a bit of a creep. Did you know that on our second date, he tried to get touchy-feely with me a few times?” She cringed. “I just wanted to end the date.”

Kathy gaped at her.  “He didn’t seem the type to do that.”

“You and I both have learnt that you can’t judge a book by its cover. He dressed all nice and appeared well mannered. To be honest, he made me uncomfortable. And the way he talks about money does not sit right with me. There’s something off about him but I can’t put my finger on it.”

“I didn’t realise it was that serious,” Kathy said. “I guess I was just like your parents, assuming that the package looks good so the contents must be even better.”

Elizabeth nodded. “At first, I felt he was nice too.” She dried her hand on one of the tea towels and returned it to the handle of the oven. “But the last time I saw him he had some altercation with two Eastern European guys outside the restaurant. It looked serious and when I asked him about it, he told me politely to not butt into his business.”

“What does he do for a living?”

“He claims he’s a freelance accountant, but he seems to spend a lot. There’s nothing wrong per se…but for a man who doesn’t have a stable income he seems very flash with his money.”

            Kathy stared at her. “You can’t use that to judge him.”

Elizabeth shrugged. “I am just telling you how I feel about it.”

            Her friend surveyed her as if she were reserving her comments for another time.

“This George guy… is he any better than Dominic?”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” she replied. “It always seems like he’s involved in shady business.”

 “How bad can he be? He’s best mates with your brother, isn’t he?”

Elizabeth nodded. “It doesn’t mean he is any good either.”

Her friend’s face crinkled. “As a friend, the only advice I can give you is to stay away from this George guy if he makes you anxious.”

“Yes, you’re right.” Her voice was uncertain.

Kathy took her mug to the sink and smiled at her.

“That’s the spirit,” she said. “But can you do that? You’re not the sort of person who can deny your feelings...”

Her friend was correct. Elizabeth was led by her feelings. When she lived with her rigid parents, she had often had arguments with them over the simplest of things but that time when she had wanted to decide for herself, her mother had told her off and made her feel as if she was always wrong. Before university, she had wanted to travel. Her parents had forbidden her to do so. They had told her that if they were going to be the ones funding her trip abroad, she would not go which was fair enough. But she had told them that she would earn her own money to go, but they had been adamant that she did not waste time but enrol immediately in university.

Elizabeth had not been ready for university. She had wanted to experience life. It was a sad fact made real when she failed her first year of university and had to retake her exams. Her mother had seen this as a failure. Often, she was certain her mother still felt that she was a disappointment.

To her parents, she did not work hard enough. She felt as if she could never, please them. She wondered how her mother would react when she found out she blew Dominic off.

At present, she was stronger to stand up to her parents regarding her future. She was going to explain her rejection of Dominic at some point. The thought of this always made her stomach churn.

 “You’re right about me. I do like to follow my feelings and in this case, my feelings are telling me to stay clear of George.”

“Then follow your instincts,” Kathy advised.

Troubled by her thoughts and the potent emotions she got whenever George was around, she stretched and yawned.

Kathy grinned at her. “I still have work. I hope you have a good sleep.”

Elizabeth swayed on her feet despite drinking the coffee. “I guess I’m going to pass out,” she said.

Leaving Kathy to tidy up the kitchen, she climbed the twelve stairs, each step seeming to be harder than the last.

When she reached her room, she mustered the energy to drag the clothes from her body before throwing herself onto her double bed and wrestled with the covers. Once she was comfortable, she closed her eyes. Her last thought before she drifted off was George.