CHAPTER FIVE
Suzy had taken advantage of Jessica’s absence that same morning to take a drive through the countryside not far from home. She hadn’t attempted to contact her husband over the last few days; instead, she saw an opportunity for wickedness with her ever able suitor.
She gave little thought as to whether Harry was lying in anguish over his pre-supposed condition. Whether he believed it or not was of no consequence, at heart she was still a party girl and it mattered not one iota the duties and care of a loving wife. She wasn’t having fun and she craved that in abundance.
Suzy had grown tired of Harry. Sure he had his charm and was forever attentive to her wishes, but a family dog had those qualities too and lately she’d found herself pitying him. Poor Harry, roll over Harry, chase the ball Harry, goodbye Harry.
Her sports car was hugging the twists and turns of the country lane, she was in anticipation of the day’s events that were yet to unfold. The sun had managed to make a bold appearance and she was feeling pretty confident and quite aroused over it all.
The road forked off and she took the narrower single track lane that led over an old stone bridge. A beautiful brook meandered underneath and a small signpost announced the location of 'Brookdell Cottage’. Not the most imaginative of names but it was a rented cottage and intended to be quite discreet. She could have done far worse.
Driving a short way up the broken, paved drive, past rows of trees that had been purposely bent over each other to form a natural arbor she saw a black Mercedes parked outside.
'Nice place mystery man, I never knew this existed. I wish I’d have known earlier,” she said with an air of flattery.
She sat in the car for a few moments fumbling with the rear view mirror whilst applying some Chanel lipstick and adjusting her outfit. There was no sign of the man to greet her, maybe he was becoming lazy? She would kick him back into shape if he was.
She stepped out of the car and walked up to the gabled door. It was half ajar and, strangely, there was not a sound to be heard inside. She Gently prodded the door open and stepped inside.
She was halfway down the narrow hall when suddenly from behind a hand grabbed at her mouth to suppress her scream. The strong man pushed himself up close and held her right arm to her back.
Suzy panicked and tried to wriggle free but her assailant was too overpowering as he held her in a vice like grip.
He pressed his mouth to her ear, “Don’t even think of breaking free, I could snap your neck just like that if I wanted to.”
The familiar voice made her excited as she playfully nipped his hand and he pulled away, “Oooooh big man, now I’m scared, whatever will become of me?”
He moved quickly to start unbuttoning her tight black suit Jacket, “You’ll find out soon enough,” he hissed with a slight tone of menace.
They didn’t make it further than the hallway and if Harry had stolen a few moments of her thoughts at all, he was surely banished from them during the rest of the day.
Later, after they’d composed themselves, they made their plans for Harry’s impending future … and departure. Her partner in crime was busy demonstrating to her the farcical outcome of events at the bank…
“The silly old bugger never did jump. I gave him every opportunity but I knew he wouldn’t. It couldn’t end that way anyhow; it’s too suspicious and besides, the autopsy would be damning for all involved.”
Suzy, half dressed and dangling one leg over the rest of a comfy armchair, was sipping a lime and soda and sniggered at the poor man’s plight.
“What happened next my love?” She was lapping up the story; it had so many twists and turns.
The man was pacing back and forth in the shady light of the small room, “They carted him off to hospital but he never made it to the ambulance. Lucky for us he didn’t. We can’t afford checkups at such a late stage.”
“Oh no, that simply would not do. His surprise comes later,” said Suzy
“Right, right, we have to be more careful about the timing. We’re so close to realising our dreams, I can surely taste it.” Said the man, who seemed to be basking in his own egotistical self.
Suzy studied him for a moment. She was mesmerised by his sheer energy and ambition. It was a shame she hadn’t met him at the opening instead of Harry, although this particular liaison made it all the more exciting.
He walked over to her and kneeling down, held her face in the palms of his hands. “You need to go back and reinforce his belief that all of this is just a mere echo of the attack. The symptoms of a horrific nightmare, until the day he leaves, everything is in place; he won’t know what hit him, do you understand?”
Suzy stared into his eyes. She had total conviction in everything he said; he seemed like a King in waiting, her dashing prince, the CFO in line to replace Harry, none other than Jack Mayes.
Harry had taken the opportunity to leave a little earlier than expected. He had spent the last hour after the awful episode talking to long time friends and colleagues. All were very sympathetic to his plight and there wasn’t a soul that passed the comment that maybe he should get some more rest.
He was quite fearful of another reoccurrence of the awful vitriolic voices, especially in company; he didn’t know how many more times he would be able to conjure up excuses on the spur of the moment to conceal his condition.
He knew by now that it was a condition and it remained vivid. The differences between the last couple of episodes were stark; this time the messages carried a more sinister twist and he knew it could not have come from the attack.
He backtracked on his earlier pledge to throw it all off as nonsense, especially the comments by the Doctor. Perhaps Suzy had a point. He was not a man of violence but to suddenly say the hateful words as he had mouthed to Suzy, it was no surprise she had stayed away for the whole weekend.
He felt very depressed as he stepped out of the building to the waiting car. Becky followed him down, she hadn’t had a chance to speak to him personally inside but she saw her chance to speak now.
“Oh, Harry, do you mind if I travel with you part of the way. I need to speak to you in private?” She couldn’t wait, it was too important.
“Sure Becky, that would be nice.” He looked pensive. He was remembering the newspaper articles about the night he lay bloodied on the pavement and several supposed 'industry experts’ opinions that it didn’t look good; the bank would be looking for a new leader soon. They had even lined up possible candidates.
He was angry at the time but today, today was another matter. He cared passionately about his bank; he had spent the last 28 years in finance and the Rowlandson Bank had been a glorious project built up over the previous decade. If it did come to finding a suitable person to fill his boots while he took an extended convalescence then it was crucial to make the right choice and in the most discrete way. The bank was barely out of a world financial crisis, the shares were at a near low and he didn’t want to drive them down any further with idle rumour mongering. A lot of planning had to be done.
They both slid onto the backseat. the partitioning window was quickly raised to shut out the driver, he wasn’t Peter, he wasn’t trusted yet.
Becky suddenly started, “Listen Harry, I know you did a very brave thing during the conference and I think everyone in the building are none the wiser as to your condition.” She grabbed his hand and placed both of hers around it, Harry smiled, it managed to distract him a little.
“I care about you Harry, what you experienced up there … well, it was … it was the voices again wasn’t it?”
Becky stared into his eyes to make sure he didn’t look away and to remain truthful, she knew him well enough.
“Yes Becky, it was,” he said with complete sincerity. He couldn’t hide way from it anymore.
“I knew as much Harry, and you told me that whatever these voices say to you, you honestly don’t feel like carrying out the actions?”
“I honestly don’t Becky, I never have but I’m feeling scared now. That last episode was frightening I can tell you, it was too personal and relentless. I feel like something is living inside me, a parasite. I can’t explain how it is but I think one thing and the voice thinks another. We are completely separate, it certainly sounds like a schizophrenic hallucination but if I had the willpower to become used to it occurring, I would be a mere spectator listening to a loudspeaker, do you understand?”
She pulled his hand to her mouth to give it a tender kiss. He could see that her eyes were filling up now. She looked frightened for him but that only made his anxieties increase. He was stepping into the unknown although he had spent a great deal of time with Helen to know just how horrific it all seemed to be.
Harry relaxed, took a handkerchief out of his pocket and leaned back.
“One secondhand handkerchief going spare, one careful owner, low mileage,” he put his arm around her and smiled. Becky sank back into the nook of his arm and chuckled in between sobs.
“Don’t you worry about me Becky, I’ll be alright. We have three days before the securities conference so I’ll definitely get some rest.”
Becky jerked up in an instant with an expression of disbelief, “How can you even think about doing that! Oh no Harry, you’re not in any fit shape to go and mingle with the outside world.”
“I’m not dead yet Becky,” he said with a grin, “besides, I would rather take my mind off it than sit around the house, I’m getting really bored staring at the four walls.”
Becky gasped at his devil may care attitude, “But you can’t …”
Harry cut her off in mid speech. “Nonsense, you’re the only person who knows about my condition aside from Suzy and Dr Hancox. With you there, I’ll have a watchful eye cast over me, you can pull me away if things start to go bad, I need…” he paused a little to demonstrate his conviction, “ I need, Becky, for all appearances, to remain in control of my bank. The market is too volatile right now, they wouldn’t cope too well without me. It’s been too long already, I need to go and that’s that.”
Becky knew there was no arguing with him but she couldn’t believe how protective she had become over him right now. Suzy probably wouldn’t do such a great job looking after him for the next week or so anyway, it would give them a chance to become closer, she thought.
“I don’t mind shepherding a lunatic around Harry; it’ll be good for you to get out and about anyway. You’ll be getting bedsores.”
Harry laughed and they decided to spend the next few minutes in idle chat before the car dropped her off at her apartment.
“I would invite you in but you need to get back and see if Suzy has arrived.” She didn’t want to sound desperate.
“Ok Becky, I’ll be away until Thursday. Tell them doctor’s orders, my driver will pick you up in the morning and we can go through those details later on. Keep me posted about any developments would you?”
“Sure Harry, see you soon,” and she walked off to the entrance lobby without looking back. Becky couldn’t believe herself, taking advantage of an ill man, in his condition, how very wicked of her she thought.
Harry again returned to an empty house. He had been hoping that the weekend’s absence could have helped win Suzy round, but whatever comfort he felt with Becky on the journey home soon turned to despair once more.
He consoled himself with another drink from his whisky decanter and walked over to the answering machine to see if Suzy had left a message. He was in luck it seemed, there were eight messages displayed; she could have been frantically trying to get hold of him.
Curiously, he noticed there was no static this time as he picked up the receiver to listen. Most of them were work related calls wishing him well and thanking him for coming in to see his troops. The only call related to Suzy came from Jessica and it was a strange one.
“Hello Suzy, it’s Jessica, have you made it back home as I thought you were staying a little while longer. I couldn’t get you on your mobile so ring me when you get this darling, ta ta for now.”
Where could she be he thought? The house felt cold, it looked like there hadn’t been any activity within it since yesterday. He hadn’t bothered to try and get in touch with her by mobile in case he stirred up her mood or she started asking too many questions about today. It was best she didn’t know.
His mind was still firmly fixed on his condition as he walked into the library to pull out a few, very worn photo albums. Placing his whisky glass on the occasional table he made himself comfortable in the recliner. He loved this room, it was full of his absolute favourite novels, poems and here 17th and 18th and there a collection of calf leather bound books from the 17and 18centuries, a beautiful time for literature; he felt the language back then was so descriptive and thorough and flowed like a classical music piece.
What interested him most as he relaxed were these two albums of Helen and Suzy, the most important women in his life. Both mutually exclusive however, as they couldn’t stand the sight of each other. He thought Helen’s reason was her condition and Suzy’s her jealousy of every single female that invaded his space. A stupid reason considering Helen was a sibling.
He laughed as he recalled pictures of Helen and himself fishing in big red wellies, Helen’s obsession with hats of all shapes and sizes, their dear mother Florence and father Harold, long since departed.
Teenage pictures appeared from the sixties, a great time to be around when you lived comfortably. Music, dancing, being carefree. Then came responsibility, work and drudgery. Helen looked wonderful in some photos and painful in others and after a while of flicking through he was reminded of his own condition and turned to Suzy’s album.
“She was an absolute stunner, so beautiful,” he remarked as he glimpsed pictures of her in mini skirts, looking very decadent at parties. He wasn’t in them of course but she hadn’t lost any time in having fun in the 70’s. Halfway through he saw what he was searching for all along; pictures of them together, enjoying the moment, looking happy. It made him smile a little but also terribly sad at the current predicament he found himself in.
The drink didn’t help but he got up to help himself to another glass and suddenly he heard a car crunch up the drive, it sounded familiar, it sounded like Suzy.
A key clicked the door open and in stepped the woman he had missed so much over the last few days. She was loaded down with the bags she had taken with her and newly purchased clothes by the looks of it in fancy labeled bags.
“Let me help you Suzy,” he called and walked over to relieve her burden. She jumped a little and half smiled. From appearances it looked like she was still a little wary of him.
“Harry, I didn’t expect you back so soon, you were due into work today. Didn’t you go?” She kissed him on the cheek which he thought was an encouraging start to the proceedings.
“I did go, after the tests with Dr Hancox of course, and it was lovely to see everyone again.”
Suzy appeared distracted, “Oh yes, of course, the tests, when will you know?”
“Thursday. I’ll be at the conference when I find out but that’s at the back of my mind, how are you anyway? How was your stay with Jessica?”
“Fine, I just got back from there, she’s been very supportive after the ... well you know.” She looked a little edgy.
“Jessica left a message? She was wondering where you were,” Harry said
with a little too much curiosity.
“Oh, Jessica, well I left her earlier, you know what girls are like. I had to cheer myself up with a bit of shopping.”
Harry reached over to unburden her, “Let me help you with the bags, what did you buy?”
Suzy shrunk back with a start, “Oh nothing much really. Make yourself comfortable, I need a shower, London is so grimy sometimes. I’ll be down in a minute and you can tell me all about your day.” She turned on a full smile and waltzed quickly past him up the stairs.
Harry made his way back into the library and sank back in his chair to sip his whisky once more. He hoped Suzy would find it in herself to forgive him for his outburst; at least they had plenty of time to talk before he was off in a couple of days.
Suzy was a little flustered and luckily she had managed to conceal her purchases from Harry, half of which were sexy lace garments, heels and aftershave Harry wouldn’t have dreamed of wearing.
She came down eventually and caught Harry having a nap as he had obviously gotten bored of waiting. She nudged him and he saw that she had decided to dress for a dowdy occasion, very much unlike the Suzy he was used to seeing but then again what did he expect. He could see that this may take a little more time.
“So tell me about your day Harry?”
Harry knew she wouldn’t have known about the voices during the meeting and the reason for coming back a little earlier so he decided to play it a little safe.
“I had a wonderful day but perhaps it was a little bit too much for me. The tests went well and I was welcomed back with much fanfare from everyone. I decided to head back earlier before I exhausted myself; Dr Hancox insists I rest although I’m feeling much better.”
It was a decent excuse; he had always been good with reassuring tones.
Suzy nodded where it mattered but found it appropriate to ask, “That’s excellent Harry and the spontaneous outbursts?”
Harry quickly countered in his defense. “None, I can’t tell you how sorry I am for the one you received the other day but I must tell you that Dr Hancox believes it’s the product of a reoccurring nightmare, trauma from the incident. He’s a family friend Suzy; I’m inclined to believe him. I ... I hope you do too,” he said as he looked over his whisky glass whilst taking a tentative gulp.
“Harry, I don’t know how to say this …”
Her tone began with a faint hint of dread, he was expecting the worst. Could it get any worse he wondered?
“... these last few days have been bloody awful I can tell you, and it 's given me much time to reflect. Jessica has been an angel, she’s comforted me through the darkest hours. I didn’t know how to react to it Harry and I have made a decision.”
Harry held his breath, it didn’t sound good.
“I have decided that you’re right Harry, in what you believe. It was awful being on the receiving end but I can’t imagine how it has been for you to cope with. Dr Hancox spoke to me too and he said trauma can be the only reason for this and over time it will get better.”
Harry put his whisky glass down and began to smile. A huge feeling of elation gripped him; he paused to let her to continue.
“So, we will take each day as it comes, I want my Harry back!”
And with that she walked over and parked herself in his lap and planted a huge kiss on his cheek.
He couldn’t believe her words. They sounded so magical and whatever depression he had felt prior had been turned around on a sixpence.
“You don’t know how happy I am to hear that, my beautiful Suzy. I’ll follow Dr Hancox’s advice to the letter and rest as much as I can, things will get back to normal very shortly I can tell you.”
Suzy was held in an embrace and stared at the leather back of the armchair behind Harry. Her eyes were darting about, she continued to hug her husband but she had to act quickly to dispel any thoughts of long term convalescence. She needed him out and about so she could remain free to do as she pleased.
“But Harry, there’s no point in sitting around watching the seconds count down on the clock, you need to be active as much as you can, what about the conference?”
Harry wasn’t thinking of any conference or any meeting for the foreseeable future as far as he was now concerned. Someone could go in his place, he was right here with his beloved Suzy.
“Harry?” Suzy gently prised herself from his grip and sat upright on his lap.
He tried a reassuring tack once more, “The conference isn’t important, I can send Jack in my place. He’s eager and able to meet clients, he’s a professional and I trust him.”
Suzy had other ideas of eager and professional and this wasn’t turning out the way she had planned it … the way they had planned it.
“Now look here Harry,” she said suddenly with a little more anger than appropriate. “I’m not having you vegetating around the house, activity is the key; you need to go to that conference, you must go!”
“I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to Suzy, I’m the boss.”
She angrily piped back, “No, No I won’t have it and I’m not arguing with you Harry. This is important, you need to go.”
Harry half smiled, more of bewilderment than anything else, “Bloody hell Suzy, it’s only a conference.”
She looked him up and down for a few moments; this was going to take drastic measures she thought. Her mood turned back to softness and caring.
“Harry, I want you to go, it’s important you get out. Dr Hancox said you needed to, he said I need to treat you like a sick horse, rest and exercise,” she began to smile at him in a funny way.
She stroked his hair like girls do to horses, “And if you do this little thing for me Harry, I will reward you tenfold; you may even get an extra bag of grain.”
Now she definitely did sound stupid! But if anything she was a different person. If it meant winning her back over to his side then he didn’t mind spending a few days away from her. It would be tough considering the change in her manner towards him, but what the hell.
“Ok, Ok I'll go, if it makes you happy”
“Good,” she snapped, “and now for some treats.”
She pulled Harry out of the chair, led him up the stairs and rewarded him in the most pleasurable way possible.