Chapter 5

 

 

Lana slept well and woke cheerfully. She could hardly recognize herself when a happy, glittery-eyed, smiling young woman looked back at her from the bathroom mirror. She saw the whole world in sunshine and life as wonderful. This joy emanating from inside her was, of course, related to Hayden, but she could not hide herself from her surroundings. She was beaming, and even as she arrived at the office, she brought sunshine with herself.

She glanced at the calendar on her desk and saw immediately that she had a light day ahead. She devoted practically her entire time to preparing for the important procedure which was to commence the next day, but this did not lower her high spirits.

The Masters Law office owned an impressive three-storey building worthy of its name in one of London’s fashionable North-Western quarters, in St John’s Wood. Lana had furnished her office on the second floor in perfect accordance with her tastes. Her boss, Thom Masters, was not a small-minded man when it came to style. He had witnessed Lana’s quick professional success, her determination and zeal. He noted with satisfaction that his instinct to choose the right people for the right jobs had not failed him. When a large palm tree was delivered to Lana’s office in the company of an even larger olive tree, he only laughed. The fashionable and modern office furniture bore the colours light beige and chocolate brown, and the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked a nearby park. Lana liked to work in this elegant and minimalist environment, because she felt the simple, clear lines helped her concentrate on the task at hand.

But on that day, not even the well-chosen furniture could help contain her free-roaming imagination inside the four walls. As usual, her assistant, Stephanie, came to her office to talk over the agenda for the day and the rest of the week. She was a good ten years older than Lana, and the two of them were on friendly terms. At work, of course, they behaved as professionals, but when circumstances permitted, they would also discuss personal issues. Sometimes, when they had time, they would go to a café after work for a nice chat. Stephanie lived in a harmonious marriage and had a ten-year-old son. She had known about Lana’s troubled relationship with Ben Jones, and she often acted as an older sister to Lana, probably due to their age difference, and tried to give her some good advice. Naturally, her keen eyes noticed immediately something must have changed over the weekend, and after they had talked over all the official matters, she couldn’t refrain from pointing it out.

‘My dear, you are literally glowing this morning. You seem a different person. It looks like you had a wonderful weekend! What happened at the ball?’

Lana blushed involuntarily. She would not have thought all that had happened since Saturday to would be so obvious to an outside observer. Her happiness and joy was obviously written all over her face, ever since she and Hayden had found each other again. These words came so suddenly, she scarcely knew how to reply; even though she often spoke to Stephanie about her relationship with Ben, she had never said a word about Hayden and their shared past before.

‘Oh, Steph, if you only knew! Really incredible things have happened since Friday. Incredible things…’ she repeated dreamily, staring out the window.

‘Do I know him?’ Stephanie asked with a furtive smile.

Lana turned back and spoke with a giggle, ‘Oh no, you don’t. This is a completely new… well, an old.… It’s complicated,’ she added after a wave of her hand. ‘I’ll tell you as soon as we have the time, right?’

‘All right, my dear, I’ll take you at your word! I’ll bring in your coffee and the mail,’ Stephanie answered.

‘Thank you.’ Lana smiled back at her, threw herself on her chair, and tried with all her might to concentrate on the pile of documents before her. Time after time, she caught herself doodling Hayden’s name on the margins of her notes like some schoolgirl instead of preparing for the first hearing the next day. She was all scatter-brained, and her thoughts wandered. It took her an immense effort not to start searching the Internet for information about Ravensdale Publications. After a while, she slammed the desk. Am I a professional, or what? – She mumbled and buried herself even deeper in the document pile before her. Nevertheless, when Stephanie knocked on her door a little before lunchtime and then entered the office silently, she found Lana staring out the window, daydreaming.

 

 

Hayden, on the other hand, had quite a noisy and busy day. He had very important business partners arriving from the United States. He was dying to be with Lana, but he also welcomed the Americans, as it was because of them he had decided to spend the weekend before the meeting in his London apartment and, being there already, to attend the annual IHIN gala personally. Ravensdale Publications had local agencies in various cities worldwide, including Rome, Paris and Barcelona. They rented two storeys of an enormous office building in the business quarter of London, and even though this was considered the headquarters of the company, Hayden spent very little time here. Hayden rented an apartment in the very same building, where he stayed whenever he had to come to the capital, which was evidence of the practicality so typical of him. He travelled a lot on business, so this modern apartment was almost always empty and unused. Last night was one of the rare occasions he had slept in the brand-new bed, in the rarely used bedroom of the apartment.

He often had problems falling asleep; in general, he did not need an alarm clock because he woke early by himself. That Monday morning, however, he slept much later than usual. It was already 8 o’clock when he was woken by the persistent ringing of his mobile phone. All of a sudden, he was so confused, he did not know where he was. This was not all that unusual, as he often spent the night in various cities and hotels. It often took him a few moments to gather where he went to sleep the night before. As he looked at his clock, his head cleared immediately, and his first sweet waking thought was Lana. His next thought, however, was not so pleasant. A glance at his phone and he knew he had been called from the office. He could hardly believe that he’d overslept, and he had to get himself together very quickly if he didn’t want to miss his meeting. He got ready in seconds, and a few minutes later, he was waiting for the lift to take him down a few floors, to the offices. He had never been so grateful that his apartment was so close to his workplace. As he walked down the carpeted floor, he was greeted politely by all the employees and was followed by curious glances all the way up to the door of his private office. As he was not often personally present in the headquarters of the company, he always attracted a lot of attention when he did appear. His secretary, Giselle, was waiting for him at the door, and as soon as they had said their greetings, she started listing the tasks awaiting Hayden from the notebook in her hand. Fortunately, the Americans were not due to arrive until after 9 o’clock, so he had some time to prepare. As he checked his messages on his laptop, he remembered something he had not thought of since Saturday evening. He planned to come back to the office straight after the gala to answer a few e-mails. How the world had changed since then! How much his world had changed since Saturday night! He stared at the screen with complete indifference, and simply could not recall what he had found so interesting about these dull messages only two days earlier. He leaned back in his large leather armchair, sighed deeply, and pictured Lana’s beautiful face in his mind with closed eyes.

How strange life is, he thought. One can never know what awaits him in the next second. And Lana is not guilty, she never wanted to hurt me. She is a victim, just like I am.

He had lived in frustration and uncertainty for many years, and he could never understand what could have led her to do such an impossible thing, as her disappearance was altogether illogical. But he was never able to truly hate her, not even in his darkest moments when he wanted to feel hatred and contempt. He was too far in love, and instead of despising her, he hated himself for not being able to move on. After it became clear what was in the background, the moral order of his world was restored. Things fell into place. The balance of good and evil was reset, and hope returned to his apathetic soul. He thought with longing of their meeting at the restaurant and the long stroll, which had such a sensuously beautiful ending at the riverbank. It took him all his strength not to run to Lana right now, leaving behind the whole mess, together with the Yanks.

 

 

He had to have lunch with the Americans, and then they were going to one of the printing presses of Ravensdale Publications, where he was going to personally show them the production process. Then a phone conference in the office, and further meetings and negotiations were ahead of him. Etiquette required him to provide evening entertainment for his business partners. Giselle had arranged all this in good time: the dinner in one of London’s most popular restaurants by the Thames was already booked. Hayden realized with anger he would not have a chance to see Lana that day. He had never felt so unmotivated about business in his life. The first time he had an opportunity to take a breather and be alone for a moment was at dinner. While the others enjoyed their desserts, he went out to the terrace of the restaurant and called Lana on his mobile. The mere fact that her number was saved in his phone caused him to smile in disbelief. It seemed absurd that he was able to call her anytime he wanted, he just had to select her number, and her voice would answer at the other end. He also memorized the number, just to be sure. After the third ring, he heard her excited voice.

‘Hello?’

‘Lana, it’s me,’ he mumbled, hoping he didn’t need to explain. ‘I hope it’s not a bad time.’

‘Hayden! Oh no, not at all. I’m glad you called,’ she answered, hoping only she thought her voice sounded two octaves higher than usual. What she did not mention, of course, was that she had held her phone in her hand all afternoon, waiting for it to finally ring.

‘It’s been an insane day. I don’t have a moment free. I’m afraid I won’t be able to get away from these Americans.’

‘I know. You did say it’d probably be like this. You do what you have to!’

After a few moments, he spoke again.

‘Lana, yesterday… I…’

‘Me too.’

They were silent again for a little while, and finished the sentence only in their mind, albeit in a very similar way. Lana heard Hayden’s quick breathing and had to bite her lip not to say some sentimental bullshit. She wanted to beg him to leave everyone and everything and run to her.

‘When will I see you?’ came the question from his end, ‘Tomorrow?’

‘I have a new case starting tomorrow, and I’ll have lunch with my client. Then it’s back to the courtroom, and I don’t think I’ll get away before evening.’ The answer was a painful sigh. ‘But in the evening… from about 6 or half 7, I’ll be free.’

‘Great, sounds good. I’ll pick you up at the chancellery, is that okay?’

‘That’d be great,’ she chewed her nails with excitement, which, luckily, Hayden could not see.

‘Dinner?’

‘Perfect.’

‘I can’t wait!’

‘Me either!’

‘Lana!’

‘Yes?’

‘Ehm… I have to go now… but would you mind if I called you in the evening?’

‘No.’

‘No?’

‘Yes,’ she rolled her eyes, hitting her forehead against the kitchen cabinet. ‘I mean, I’d be glad if you called.’ Lana, you’re such an idiot! – She scolded herself quietly.

‘Okay,’ came the relieved reply. And she could clearly see that sexy little curve in the corner of his mouth, which he used so successfully to knock her off her feet.

 

When Hayden returned to the dinner table, he had only one thing on his mind: to go home as soon as possible. To call her as soon as possible. To see Lana as soon as possible.

 

 

Lana tried to keep her thoughts under control and concentrate on her work, at least until 6 o’clock, because that was when real life would start for her. She tried to encourage and motivate herself by looking forward to the evening she was going to spend with Hayden. This began to characterise her following weekdays. Both of them loved their jobs, and Hayden was literally a workaholic before they met again, but his priorities were thoroughly reset due to Lana’s recent reappearance in his life. From the very moment he dropped Lana off at her apartment late in the evening, he counted the minutes until they could be reunited. At the meetings he seemed out of sorts, he was late, and his colleagues began to notice these things. For a while he had not travelled abroad, and he was no longer the first to come into the office or the last to leave. Until then, he managed his life so he would frequently be away on business, and it was Christian who ran the London office. Hayden would constantly be updated on matters in London, but the buzz of the capital did not appeal to him. He rather chose to travel and spend time at smaller local agencies and branches. London’s charm and appeal only grew in his eyes in the latter days, as a result of Lana’s presence. He no longer wished to travel so much or to wake up in a different hotel room every morning. He wanted to be as close to Lana as possible, and so several arrangements had to be made concerning his work. He more and more often he sent Christian instead of himself to deal with matters outside the capital or abroad. There were, of course, still things he would not let out of his hands, but nonetheless, he was able to spend much more time in London and travelled much less than he did before. During a lunch they shared, Christian called his attention to the fact his love life was the most common topic of company gossip and some employees had even gone as far as to make bets on the identity of the fortunate woman. Hayden only laughed, but for the time being, he refused to say anymore. Christian was the only one who had the guts to tease Hayden with the topic of his mysterious girlfriend, the others only gossiped behind his back.

 

 

It had been a routine for years that Hayden would play squash with his friend, Anthony Costa in a club. Tony was a physician like his father, who, although advanced in years, still worked as the Ravensdales’ family doctor.

The acquaintance between Tony and Hayden dated back to old times. They were even distant relations through Hayden’s mother’s side of the family, the Alvarados. Except for some short intervals, as life took them to and fro in the world, they had kept in touch and stayed friends. If Hayden found the time for it, and he happened to be in London, they would exercise once a week, and then they would just hang out together.

One of these evenings, Christian was also with them, and after they were finished with squash, they sat into a bar for a couple of drinks. Lana was away visiting her parents, so Hayden was happy to meet up with his friends for a change, and after the second whiskey and soda, he seemed more willing to detail the recent changes in his personal life. He shared with unusual verbosity about their fateful encounter a few weeks before, and what he had learned about the circumstances of Lana’s disappearance. The two other men listened in astonishment, partly because of the novelistic turns of the story, and partly because they had rarely ever seen their friend in such a confessional mood. Christian was indignant at Lana’s behaviour and argued fervently that, if he were Hayden, he would not have forgiven her so easily, and would let her suffer for some time before taking her back. Hayden did not take this very seriously, and merely concluded Christian obviously did not know Lana, and had no idea how very special she was. Hayden was convinced Christian compared Hayden’s story to one of the dozen short affairs he himself had had, and had no clue about the depths of this issue.

Antony’s reaction was very different. He had known the late Mr Ravensdale well enough, and was also well acquainted with Victoria through his family. He knew exactly how convincing and overbearing the Ravensdales could be when they set their minds to achieve something. Although he didn’t know Lana in person, he did remember that Hayden had had a very strange period after university, when he was unwilling to talk to anyone and became an introvert. He knew there was a woman involved in the issue, but at the time, it was impossible to get any details out of Hayden. He never understood Hayden’s marriage with Diana either, as it had been so obvious he hadn’t loved her. Hearing this story, the puzzle was becoming complete in Tony’s head, and several things he couldn’t comprehend about Hayden before were beginning to make sense.

‘Damn it, mate… It really is insane,’ he said, running his fingers through his hair, and taking a long sip from his drink.

‘I thought you knew,’ Hayden shrugged.

‘How the hell would I have known? I have to drag every damned word out of you,’ Tony snorted, and Christian nodded eagerly.

Hayden shrugged his shoulders again, he knew Tony was right. He had never been particularly informative.

‘Well, now you know.’

‘Okay.’ Antony scratched his neck. ‘We knew you were under the weather because of a woman, but it was not clear it was the same as this present one.’

‘The very same,’ Hayden nodded.

‘You should have told me much earlier!’ he said, and Hayden looked at him furrowing his brow incredulously. ‘Although, to be honest, I have no idea what I could have done in the matter, but at least you could have unburdened yourself a little.’

‘You couldn’t have done anything,’ Hayden affirmed.

‘I know your parents,’ he rolled his eyes, and waving towards the bar, he signalled the waiter that they wanted another round of drinks. ‘That girl, no matter how pretty or smart she was, would have had no chance against your father and Victoria. This was an uneven and hopeless battle for her, as you know very well.’ Hayden tried to swallow the lump in his throat and nodded. ‘You did the right thing forgiving her. It wasn’t her fault,’ he concluded and sent a sharp look to Christian, who laughed out. He was slightly drunk by now, but he wasn’t the only one.

‘Mate,’ he jabbed in Tony’s direction with his glass, ‘you should see him in the office. He’s only present in the physical sense,’ he gestured, overacting it significantly. ‘His soul, under the beautiful stranger’s dress…’

‘Shut up, Chris!’ Hayden pushed him in the shoulder.

‘I swear,’ the other laughed even louder, ‘the edges of all the development documents are decorated with tiny, pink love hearts.’

‘Man, you are sick!’ Tony said, looking at Christian, and shaking his head with a grin.

Hayden didn’t respond. After the third whiskey, he didn’t take the carry-on so seriously. Furthermore, he was very close to doing something as silly as what Christian had just talked about.

Tony lifted his glass and toasted in a tipsy tone.

‘To the unpredictable turns of fate. To love!’ he exclaimed, and all three drained their glasses.

This was the first time Hayden had spoken openly about his relationship with Lana, and it certainly had a positive effect on him to have said these things out loud. He knew he could trust Tony and that he would never betray his confidence. He knew that the slightly bear-like yet very likeable Spaniard had a heart of gold. He had not such a good opinion of Christian, though. Hayden was aware of some of his character faults, but did not suspect him of deliberate ill will. He set out on his way home somewhat relieved, and wondered how Lana’s parents would take the news of their reunion.

 

 

For the first time in ages, Lana spent the weekend at home with her family. The occasion was made even more special by the fact that, just by chance, her brother, Robert, was also at home that weekend, so all four of them were together. Lana had a harmonious relationship with her brother, but since neither of them lived there anymore, they saw each other less frequently. Robert was a good four years older than her, and was very protective of his sister, even in childhood, as if he were a second father to her. Originally, he was an architect, just like their father, but his real passion was photography. It started out as a mere pastime, but he had improved his skill to the point that he now earned his living from it. He was often abroad, commissioned by National Geographic. Apart from a few stormy years during their adolescence, the two of them had a close relationship, and whenever Rob was in London, he would often sleep in Lana’s apartment. He had a serious girlfriend, Veronique, and Rob had started to consider marriage. After he shared his thoughts with his family, they got all excited, and the possible date of the official engagement became the number one topic of the weekend.

They were all eating together in the large kitchen, and as usual, were all talking loudly, interrupting one another all the time. In the end, Lana had the idea that Rob should organise a big birthday party for Veronique, which could also be the perfect occasion for the engagement. The idea was generally liked, and as the date of the birthday was coming up, they advised Robert he should soon purchase a ring. At this, he shrugged nonchalantly and said this was no problem: he had already bought a bijou item in a gift shop. Katie stared at him with eyes wide open, and expressed her indignation with her hands at her hips, while Lana laughed and gave his brother’s hair a big pull at his temple.

‘When will you grow up, you numpty?’

‘What are you talking about? I’m five inches taller than you, sis,’ Rob said, sticking out his tongue at her, and began to tickle her. Lana started to scream and tried to escape.

Lars smiled, shaking his head, took his glasses off and using a napkin cleaned them. This is what happened when the two of them met. They kept teasing each other, fought and bickered, but it never had an edge. Rob would have done anything for his sister, and they all knew that. Lana included.

It was late in the evening when the topic of the engagement was exhausted, and they calmed down. Katie had been eyeing her daughter’s blushed cheeks and glittering eyes for a while, and she concluded to herself that the enthusiasm she saw in her face could not have all been caused by the carry-on with her brother or the news of Robert’s engagement.

She stroked the back of her daughter’s hand.

‘You’re glowing today, my dear. You are all beaming, as you have not been for a long time. Is there any news you want to share with us?’ she asked jokingly.

Lana began to twist her hair, which convinced the others there was indeed something worth mentioning.

‘Maybe… there’s something.’

‘Come on, just spit it out!’ Rob gave her a nudge. ‘But I hope it’s not about Jones, or else I swear I’ll cut my wrist, but first I’ll sever off the guy’s balls.’

Katie sent him a menacing look, and gave him a motherly slap from behind.

‘Hold it, boy!’ Lars interrupted as well. ‘Let your sister speak!’

Robert raised his hands in defence and laid back in his chair, as if he was washing his hands of the whole issue. Lana knew very well Rob greatly disapproved of the lengthy dilly-dallying between her and Ben. He didn’t really have a reason to hate the man, but his guts were telling him that his sister had never been fully contented in their relationship, and it bothered him. His gut feeling was right, after all, Lana also knew Ben wasn’t the love of her life, but she didn’t want her brother to meddle in her private life too much. Since their last breakup, Rob seemed satisfied with the decision as well, and now he was obviously worried Ben might be trying to lure Lana back to him. Lana was thankful for his concern, but had the feeling the bomb she was about to drop in the middle of the family discussion, would explode much louder than if the topic was still Ben Jones.

‘This is totally unrelated,’ Lana said quietly, and seeing they all sighed with relief, she continued with hesitation. ‘I’ve met Hayden,’ she squeezed out the words eventually, with as natural a voice as she could muster. A long silence ensued in the kitchen, and the family stared at her as if she was talking in Swahili. She looked around, but since all she saw was baffled stares, she continued with a shrug. ‘Not just now. About two weeks ago.’

Katie was the first to break the silence. She spoke, raising her hands in front of her face.

‘Wait a minute! I don’t know whether I understood correctly. Are we speaking of the man named Hayden, whom you left of your own accord many years ago?’

‘7 years,’ Rob corrected in a hollow voice.

‘The man whose parents nearly drove you mad and harassed you until they separated you from their son?’ Katie continued.

‘The man, after whose loss you were not yourself for years and of whose memory, as far as I can tell, you are not free of to this day?’ Lars complemented his wife’s words.

‘The chap whose loss broke your heart to the extent that you left the country and fled to Africa?’ Robert joined his parents, adding to the array of bewildered questions. ‘You cannot be talking abou