Wealth (free and completed)

Chapter 21 - Frayed Threads

Valerie

2005

“Have you seen Andrew wearing a friendship bracelet before, Val?” Janus asked.

I was surprised by the question. We had just made love, and he seemed happy and satisfied. Then, things swiftly changed after he found some threads on the floor.

“I think so. Maybe once,” I said, racking my brain for any other possible instance. I didn’t understand what the importance was of a friendship bracelet. I had a lot of them as a child and as a teen, from the late eighties to the early nighties.

“Has Andrew been here, in your room?” Janus asked, his eyes darkening.

What was he talking about? Was he seriously jealous right now, after making love to me? After he knew my secret fears?

“No! Of course not!” I shouted indignantly.

“I’m sorry if I sound suspicious, but not of you. There’s something - okay, I’m probably being paranoid. But there’s something about Andrew.”

My heart pounded in my chest. I had had that feeling, but I thought I was just trying to find ways to disengage from him. After all, I felt like I had led him on. It was my fault, a voice in my head would say.

“He’s a nice guy. I guess that’s a bit strange nowadays. Not that you’re not nice, Janus,” I said after seeing the look on his face.

“No. It’s not that. Have you ever seen him with a faded photo of a blonde that looks eerily like you?”

I could feel the blood draining from my face. I had tucked that fact at the back of my head, but now it was back in full force.

“Yes. I’ve seen it.”

“Up close? Or has he tried to hide it?” Janus asked. At this point, he was already dressed to go. He sat on the edge of the bed, his hand squeezing mine as if to assure me that things were going to be fine.

“He tried to hide it from me. At first, I thought it was of me. If it was, I don’t think he will hide it quite like that.”

“No. Do you know the woman?”

“I thought that it might have been my mom.”

“Do you know all your relatives?”

“Why? Are you suggesting Andrew is my relative?” I laughed. “I can’t even figure out if you and I are -.”

“We are not,” he said, his jaw clenching. “No. I don’t think you are dad’s biological child or he would have claimed you. Adopted you. Given you more than the share he left you.”

“Are you sure about that? Perhaps he had it all planned out. He does not have to claim me as his child, but he will leave me to you.”

“No, that’s not it. We are straying from the point, Val,” he was shaking his head, as if trying to demolish the thought that rose between us.

“Okay. So, Andrew has a picture of a woman who might be my mother. What do you think he is, a stalker? He could have been a big Laura Foyle fan. Then, you tell me he has been following the news about me. Creepy, true. But what else can he do?”

Of course, there was the fraying friendship bracelet under the bed. Janus knew I knew it was all about that. His grey eyes met mine and held them. A memory itched into my brain, of a boy with light-colored eyes. Could it have been grey or blue or green? It was the boy from the hotel all those years ago. It was our last trip together as a family, the one that led to the accident.

Would it be a coincidence if that boy, about my age, was none other than Andrew? That was just insane! I reminded myself that I was not in a movie like my mom. I was stuck in reality, one that had me trapped in a wheelchair.

“Yes, I know you’re thinking about it. The friendship bracelet. Think back. Have you made your own? When was the last time the housekeepers cleaned your room thoroughly?”

“One, Andrew has never been here long enough to linger and leave a friendship bracelet. Two, I haven’t one since the – since the -,” I started, but my throat felt too tight. My chest heaved, and I was about to go into complete panic mode.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. You don’t have to say it,” Janus said, kissing my forehead. I took one of his big hands and placed it on my chest so that he could hear my heart pounding. So that he could make things better.

“Since the accident,” I finally said. “Three, the last intensive cleaning was done about a week ago. A little more than a week ago.”

“If Andrew were here, someone should have told us. Alerted us. He couldn’t have come here without his vehicle.”

“He could have rented an Uber,” I said. “I got around in one before. Remember?”

He narrowed his eyes at that, looking even more concerned. He was making me feel nervous.

“It’s time for you to stay in my room,” he said huskily.

“Oh, you just don’t want to admit you had fun tonight,” I teased, but I still felt cold inside.

“I did.” he gave me a lopsided grin, which made me feel warm all over. I enjoyed being with him all the time, but what about when he was at work? Andrew would be there, anyway. Wouldn’t he? “But someone has to be with you during the day.”

We thought alike, too. However, I didn’t want him to worry too much about me. Asking for someone to stay with me or having him guard me admitted that I felt helpless.

“I will be fine,” I said. “I’ll have my phone right next to me all the time.”

He took a deep breath, and then he looked at me. He didn’t look convinced, but he surely could not bring me along to Tristan James where Andrew worked. For all we knew, we just had overactive imaginations and Andrew was always the person we thought he was–a sweetheart.

***

1994

“Someone sent me one of these again, Lawrence,” my mother complained.

We were in the living room, having some tea, when a package arrived for her. It was a large brown envelope with some pictures. I didn’t get to see what they were, but she at least showed us the colorful knickknack that came with them.

A friendship bracelet.

“May I have it, mommy?”

“No, darling. We don’t know whose hands had been on this. They didn’t even say who they were.”

“Your mom’s right. That one probably has a lot of germs,” daddy said, shuddering for effect. I laughed. We rarely had these moments. We were probably all so happy because mom has a new project. She said that important people called her up and she might get big money. I wasn’t sure what our financial status was, but she seemed to get tense whenever there was talk about money. I knew my mom was a former film star, but she had not had a proper film after the scandal.

I didn’t know what the scandal was exactly, but I had heard the word attached to my mom’s name a few times. I wondered if it was why I had never been that popular at school. They didn’t want to be associated with me.

Still, I loved her very much. Everyone said I looked exactly like her. It seemed mom was not too happy about that. She had her hair dyed a darker blond. She didn’t want to look like me.

“How many have you got of these, hon?” my father asked my mom. They seemed cozy in the love seat. I didn’t mind it at all. I had the whole sofa to myself and my books.

“Four, no, five. I’m getting worried,” she said.

“Why? Because you have an admirer. Have you ever heard of anyone threatened by something so pretty and colorful, like friendship bracelets?”

Mom narrowed her eyes at dad, as if to remind him that, yes, cuckoos do things that cannot be explained. They could send pretty stuff.

**

2005

Knowing that I wasn’t ready to reveal our relationship to the rest of the Sangsters, Janus decided he would adjust.

“I’ll stay here. Then, when my alarm sounds off at 5 am, I will be back in my room. It’s not like it’s far away.”

“Exactly,” I said.

In the morning, we were back in our old routines. He and Joseph were the earliest to eat and leave. I wheeled myself to the garden setup in the middle of their meal. Joseph lifted his head to acknowledge me, but didn’t seem eager to say anything. He simply continued eating his bread and butter.

I joined in and started lathering my bread with jam. I didn’t really like jam, but I wanted to surprise people and myself somehow. The three of us ate in silence. A woman came and took Joseph’s and Janus’s plates as soon as they were done. I smelled lavender. It wasn’t Hannah’s scent. Who was this woman?

I looked up and saw a woman who looked so much like Hannah. She was probably around her mid-fifties, maybe a little older than the main housekeeper.

“Good morning. I’m not sure I’ve seen you before. Have I?” I asked, trying to be as polite as possible.

“Good day, Ma’am Valerie. I usually work in the kitchen. I’m Hannah’s sister, Helen. She’s not feeling well today.”

I glanced at Janus, who was in charge of hiring Briar Hill’s employees. He gave a simple nod, as if to confirm that Helen worked there. She looked so much like Hannah that it was eerie. Could they be fraternal twins? They looked alike and seemed to be about the same age, but there were minor differences one would notice if they looked closely.

“Oh. I hope Hannah feels better soon.”

I could feel Janus watching me. I wondered if he could see that I was slightly spooked. But since Joseph was still there, he didn’t ask a question.

“I must go, Janus. Valerie. I guess the other two are still dreaming,” Joseph sighed.

Janus even chuckled a little. It was a strange day. An unfamiliar woman served breakfast and the Sangster cousins shared a moment.

“What was that all about?” Janus asked after Joseph was out of earshot.

“I haven’t seen Helen before. I have lived in this house for how many years. More than ten. But I haven’t seen her before and Joseph is acting as if she had been here all along.”

“Okay. I’ve seen her twice before,” he admitted.

“Oh, have you?”

“Helen doesn’t really walk around the house. She is right. She stays more in the kitchen. I’ve been there more often now that I had been picking my lunch to bring to your room.”

“Shush. Someone might hear you,” I laughed, but I didn’t really mind. I thought that Joseph somehow knew that Janus and I were intimate and he certainly could not throw stones. What he and Emilie had been even more complex. They grew up together.

“You know I don’t mind telling people as long as you’re alright with it. At this point, though, it does not look like we could tell Andrew yet. We need to know who he is. I will get someone to investigate him.”

I swallowed. A part of me wanted Andrew to be innocent, to be the friend whose heart I would be breaking soon. However, a part of me wanted him to be guilty so that I wouldn’t feel so paranoid. I felt like I was watching my back too much lately.

Suddenly, the unbidden memory of being pressed on the sofa came back. I remembered how the man who violated me panted and groaned. He came into a condom. I was a virgin, but I knew that he somehow used something before he entered me. But Hannah, dear Hannah, still went to get a morning-after pill for me. The pill had just been approved a few months before the attack. I even got checked and tested afterward.

I was eighteen years old, and I felt my life was over. I had wanted to die, then. There were times I still wanted to kill myself, but somehow I had found someone who cared for me.

“Did you put me on speed dial as promised?” he asked.

I merely nodded, afraid that if I spoke then, I would burst into tears.