Opposing Forces (27 page)

He turned and left Hubert prostrate on the floor.  To add to his humiliation, someone chose that exact moment to come out the stalls.  They had heard everything.

Bettina glanced at Pierre’s white shirt as he sauntered out the cloakroom, feeling distinctly macho.  “You have a speck of blood,” she dabbed at his shirt.
“Hubert’s,” he grinned.  “I made him bleed a bit more.”

Bettina looked at him in surprise.  “You punched him?”

“He assaulted you, I assaulted him. It’s how we men settle disagreements.”

Bettina shook her head.  “You constantly surprise me, Councillor.”

“Good. Now let’s head home.  I have an idea how I would like to spend the rest of the evening.”

Maisie was in the study having a three-way conversation with her assistant, Joelle, and Yvette, the event co-ordinator at the Carlton in Cannes.  They were putting together some details for an event she was organising in March.  She was perched comfortably on the corner of Steffen’s desk, one leg resting on it, the other dangling free.  She was wearing her earpiece so she could have both hands free to move plans around.

“Purple is the lead colour on this event, so I want purple gossamer drapes against the white background.”

She looked up at the sound of the door opening. It was Steffen.  She smiled a little shyly as she continued talking.  “There are seven, very large flower arrangements arriving which will have their own stands.  These will be delivered on the afternoon of the event.”

Steffen put his briefcase down by his desk and dropped a light kiss on her mouth.  She was wearing a pull on jersey skirt that was currently giving him that wonderful hint of stocking top, and a pearl buttoned cardigan in a soft cream.  With the slight blush on her cheeks, she looked damned sexy.  A very pleasurable thought flashed through his mind.

“I’ve marked their positioning on the terrace plan which will be on its way to you shortly.” She kissed him quietly whilst trying to listen to Yvette in Cannes.

“Yes, that will be fine. If you can supply a sample of the drapes as well.”  She tried to muffle a gasp as Steffen started to undo the buttons on her cardigan with infinite skill and pushed her back slightly so he could kiss her breasts.  Maisie could feel her heart pounding.  Bloody man was driving her wild.

“I will also send over an artistic impression of the table centrepieces.”  She kissed him again, this time unbuttoning his shirt.  God she loved his wonderful, muscular chest.  He retaliated by removing her knickers in one move; how he did that so well, she just didn’t know.

Knowing she didn’t have much talking time left, she needed to bring the conversation to a speedy end.  Besides, how could she talk place settings when Steffen was making sure he occupied centre stage in her mind?  “Sorry to cut this short, guys, but something rather big has just popped up that I need to deal with right away.  Can I talk to you both tomorrow?”

“Anything I can help you with, Maisie?” Joelle offered.

Maisie could not contain her grin as she ran her hand over the front of his trousers.  “No, this is definitely something I need to handle personally.”

Steffen proceeded to make her squeal on the desk, sofa, just about everywhere in his study.

“Guess I’ve just christened my desk,” he smiled wickedly down at her as they lay half-dressed on the sofa.

“You are one bad man, you didn’t even lock the door. Madame Bodart would have had heart failure if she’d walked in and seen what you were doing on your desk,” she scolded him playfully.

“In that case, perhaps we’d better make ourselves presentable.”

He zipped himself up then poured a couple off glasses of red wine, snuggling back up to her on the sofa.

“Any new developments with our case?”

“Actually yes.  It seems you had a delivery today at your apartment. A beautifully wrapped box from La Maison du chocolat.”

“My favourite.”

“Well, these wouldn’t have been.  They were unfortunately laced with arsenic. What’s worse, they signed my name on the note.”

Maisie looked up at him with wide eyes. “You’re serious?” She felt positively sick.  If she had received a gift from Steffen, she would have eaten them.

“I’m afraid so.  It looks like it’s definitely you that is the intended victim.” He tightened his grip around her shoulders as he felt her fear.

“But who would want to kill me?” her voice was just a whisper.

“There is some very sick individual out there, Maisie, but we will catch him.” He pulled her closer.  “You will come to no harm as long as you allow me to protect you.”

The bar in Chambery was hopping as Sabina followed Philippe and his friends inside.  They had spent a great day on the slopes, the weather was fabulous and the snow extra soft.  Philippe had proved to be a very good teacher, although Sabina thought he was secretly impressed she could snowboard as well as she could. 

If she were honest, she would have preferred to curl up in front of a large roaring fire with a glass of mulled wine rather than squeeze through the crowds to spend the evening knocking back schnapps and other hideous concoctions.

Philippe and Ricardo headed to the bar, leaving Sabina and their friends to find a corner to occupy.

“So does Sabina have any very cute, very single friends?” Ricardo asked as he attracted the barman’s attention and ordered a bottle of schnapps and seven glasses.

“I have no idea.  I’ve not yet met any of her Zurich friends, just the occasional friend from Uni.”

Ricardo looked at him bewildered.  “You have met her family at least?  You guys have been together for a while.”

Philippe shook his head.  “She doesn’t talk much to her family.”

Ricardo gave a hard laugh.  “You are just too trusting for your own good, Philippe.”

“What do you mean?” Philippe scowled.

“She’s from Zurich’s elite, my friend.  I doubt she’ll do more than a year at Uni, her parents probably already have a suitable husband picked out for her.”

“Sabina’s not like that.  She might be from a wealthy background but she just wants a normal life,” Philippe defended his girlfriend.

“So why haven’t you met anyone from her side, eh?”  Ricardo clapped a consoling hand on his friend’s shoulder.  “Delightful as she is, you’re her bit of rough from the wrong side of the tracks.  She’ll shag you senseless then settle down to a boring, comfortable life with some rich banker her mother has selected.”

“You’ve got her all wrong, Ricardo,” Philippe grunted and headed over to where his friends and Sabina were.  What Ricardo had said bothered him, especially as Sabina always avoided any talk about her family and her friends back in Zurich.

They handed around the shot glasses and poured out the schnapps.  Sabina took one mouthful and sprayed it across the floor; it was rough as hell and made her feel quite sick. 

“Not to your liking?” Philippe glared.

“Sorry, I guess I’m not in the mood for schnapps.  I’ll grab something else.” Sabina did in fact feel quite nauseous so just got a diet coke.  Keen to keep the boys happy, she bought another bottle of schnapps.

“I do love you, Sabina,” Florian gave her a wet kiss on the cheek. “You know how to impress a man.”

Sabina was a surprised to see how many shots Philippe downed in a short space of time, it was so unlike him.  She started to feel really sick so slipped outside to the terrace to get some air; she figured it must be the heat in the bar.

She did feel much better when the freezing air hit her.  Philippe staggered out behind her.  “When am I going to meet your family?” he asked.

His question caught her by surprise.  “One day, I guess,” she sighed, looking out to the snowy plaza in front of them.  “My family are quite...dysfunctional.  And now with my parents’ divorce, it is rare for us to get together.”

“You have a brother in Lausanne, it should not be that difficult for us to meet.”

You already have, she thought to herself.  She knew one day this conversation would come up, but she was not expecting it now. “My brother and I are very different, there is not much we agree on, so we do not spend much time together.”

Philippe, it seemed, was in a very confrontational mood.  “Is it because you’re embarrassed of me?”

Sabina was horrified he could suggest such a thing.  “Of course not, you’re wonderful.”  She took a step towards him to kiss him but he moved away from her.

“But not good enough to meet your precious family?” His voice was very hard.

Sabina turned pink.  “I’m not ready to introduce you to my family, Philippe. Not because I think you’re not good enough or I’m embarrassed of you, quite the contrary.”

“Then why, Sabina?” Philippe shouted at her.

She was truly shocked at his ferocity.  “When the time is right, you will meet them,” she said softly.

He snorted loudly.  “You should be happy to introduce the man you supposedly love to your family at any time.  You have no intention of me ever meeting them.”

“Where has all this come from?  Is it the schnapps talking?”

“Oh, so now I’ve drunk too much, have I?  Couldn’t possibly have such a person meet dearest mother and father,” he slurred a little.

“This conversation is over, Philippe. I’ll talk to you when you’re sober,” she glowered at him.

“Sorry, don’t Zurich rich boys get drunk?” he sneered.

Sabina was genuinely hurt; it was the first time ever Philippe had brought up her background. “You’re being a dick, Philippe,” she flung back at him and stalked off in the general direction of the chalet.

She was really upset, she could not understand what had got into Philippe.  She heard someone call her name and turned to see Ricardo just behind her.

“Are you leaving already?”

“Yes.”

“Argument with Philippe?”

“Yes.”

He grabbed her arm and pulled her into the shadows.  “Philippe is far too good natured.  You need a bastard like me who is just happy to shag you, no questions asked.”

“Thanks for the offer but I’m happy with Philippe.” Sabina gave him a dark look. He was making her feel very uncomfortable.

“You’re not happy with Philippe, you’re just making do,” Ricardo said flatly and pinned her up against the wall of a chalet before kissing her.  Well, not kissing exactly, just clamping his wet mouth against hers and almost drawing blood.

“Get off me, Ricardo.” She tried to push him away.

“Don’t be so frigid. I can show you a much better time that Phil,” Ricardo slurred and attempted to kiss her again.  He was holding her so tight it hurt.

Sabina struggled but he just held her even tighter and tried to slip his hand under her coat.  She felt so sick.  Having a moment of courage, she brought her knee up hard into his groin.  He gasped in pain and dropped to his knees.

“You’re a piece of shit, Ricardo.”

She ran back to the chalet, grateful that James and his girlfriend, Marianne, were there just in case Ricardo followed her.  Rushing into her and Philippe’s room, she threw her belongings into a bag before picking up her car keys.

“You can’t possibly be leaving at this time of night,” James called from the living room as she headed with her bag to the door.

“I can’t stay.”

James leapt off the sofa and caught hold of her.  “It’s the dead of night, Sabina.  It’s far too dangerous for you to drive down the mountain.”

Sabina fought back the tears.  “I really don’t care, I have to leave.”

“Don’t be crazy.  Everyone has arguments with their partners, but they don’t storm off risking life and limb.”

Sabina felt sick and dizzy, she just wanted to be home. James led her over to the sofa.  “You look dreadful. Sit for a minute.”

Marianne took hold of her hand.  “You’re shaking like a leaf, Sabina.”  She looked up at James.  “Can you get some water?”

James picked up on Marianne’s hint and left the room.  Marianne put an arm protectively around Sabina.  “There’s more than an argument behind this, isn’t there?” she asked gently.

Sabina avoided eye contact, she felt so violated.

Marianne stroked her hand.  “You had an argument with Philippe. Did he get violent?”

Sabina’s head shot up.  “No, Philippe would never hurt me. Physically.”

“Then who did?”

A tear ran down Sabina’s cheek.  “One of Philippe’s friends tried to…,”she choked. Just thinking about Ricardo made her feel nauseous.  She jumped up from the sofa.  “I really need to go.  I don’t want to see Philippe.”

“You should wait until Philippe sobers up, Sabina. Then you two can sort out whatever is between you.”

“No, he made his thoughts quite clear.”  She pulled out her car keys again.  “Thank you for trying to help, Marianne.” She gave her a hug and ran out the chalet.  She wanted to get as far away from there as possible.

She slid behind the wheel of her BMW and left Champery at quite a speed.  Part way down the mountain she pulled over and phoned her mother.  There were times when a girl needed her mother and this was one of them.  Bettina told her to drive straight to Lucerne.

Philippe woke up lying on the sofa in the living room.  He felt like shit.  Actually, he felt worse than shit.  And why was he asleep on the sofa?  Then he remembered the argument with Sabina and how drunk he had become after that. He felt even shittier.  He had acted like a complete and utter twat last night, he owed Sabina one hell of an apology. He hauled himself off the sofa and made two cups of coffee.  He was shocked to see the bedroom empty, the bed had not been slept in.

James passed him in the hallway.  “If you’re looking for Sabina, she left late last night.”

“She left?” Philippe followed him to the kitchen.

“Yeah. You must have been a complete asshole for her to leave in the middle of the night.”

“I was a real bastard to her.” Philippe hung his head in shame. 

“She was in a quite a state. Marianne tried to talk her out of leaving, with the roads being so icy, but she refused to stay.”

Philippe felt dreadful.  He flopped back down on a sofa and drank his coffee.  He glanced at his phone, no message from Sabina. He sat holding his very sore head in his hands.  What had he done?

“What’s wrong with Phil?” Ricardo drifted into the living room.

“Sabina’s gone,” James enlightened him.

“I’ve got to call her,” Philippe sighed.

“Man up,” Ricardo grunted. “You guys had an argument. She’s the one who’s stormed off, so let her come crawling back.”

Philippe glanced at his phone, perhaps Ricardo was right.  He might have been a dick last night but he did have a good reason for having a go at Sabina.  She should make the first move.  He tossed the phone onto the table.  “You’re right. Let’s go ski.”

James looked at him and shook his head.  “If you’re taking relationship advice from Ricardo, you’ll never see Sabina again.”

It was late morning when Bettina woke. She had had a very long night.  Sabina had eventually made it to Lucerne around about 3am and then spent the next three hours sobbing her heart out to her mother. 

She phoned Pierre and rearranged their planned meeting that evening.  Pierre understood only too well that parenthood came first.  As she was chatting to Pierre, an advert in the magazine she was skimming through caught her eye.  There was the most idyllic spa half way up the Matterhorn mountain, perfect for rejuvenating the body and spirit.  She called the spa after she hung up with Pierre and booked a suite and a series of treatments for the both of them.

Bettina took a coffee up to Sabina a while later, her poor daughter’s eyes were red and puffy.

“Thanks, Mum,” she sniffed.  “I really appreciate you staying up last night.  But I don’t want to get in your way if you have plans.”