Abbi... Read online

  When they had finished she got up slowly and handed him his Christmas present in it’s stocking. He opened it slowly and found a brand new watch.

  “I couldn’t afford a very expensive one”, she said quickly. “I thought it was good though and I…” She tailed off as Mark stopped her simply by kissing her.

  “I love it,” he said. “Now for your present. That one is under the tree in the sitting room.” She gave him a kiss and got out of bed. She slipped her dressing gown on and they both went into the sitting room.

  Abbi sat down in the chair she had relaxed in yesterday as Mark went to look under the tree. He came back with four wrapped presents.

  “Oh God,” Abbi said. “I now feel like I have horrendously under bought for you.

  “Don’t be silly,” Mark said. “I really enjoyed buying things for you. Anyway you haven’t opened them yet. You might hate them.” She playfully hit him.

  She opened the largest one first and found a gorgeous black leather hand bag. She loved it. “It’s perfect,” she said beaming. She opened the next two and found a matching earring and necklace set in gold.

  “Is that real gold?” she asked him awed.

  “Yes,” he said and did the necklace up for her.

  “Mark you have spent far too much on me,” she said.

  “Rubbish”, he replied. “If I want to spend money on you I will.” She opened the last one and found a photo frame with a picture of both of them in it. In the picture Abbi was laughing at Mark. Mark had his arms around her and was smiling a little shyly at the camera man.

  “That is wonderful Mark,” she said. They wrapped their arms around each other and didn’t let go for a long time.

  Later in the morning Mark phoned his brother.

  “Merry Christmas Steve,” he said when he got an answer.

  “Hi Mark,” he said depressed.

  “Have you told them yet?”

  “No.”

  “You need to,” Mark said straight away. “Are you at home?”

  “Yes. I didn’t feel like staying at Grace’s. I was in a bit of shock.” Steve sighed over the phone. “I can’t tell them today. It’s Christmas Day.”

  “Yeah I see that but don’t wait too long. They need to know. If you haven’t done it by the time I get back, I might tell them.”

  “You wouldn’t do that!” Steve sounded genuinely shocked.

  “According to you she is already four and a half months pregnant and she didn’t tell you. Mum and dad need time to get used to this because in a little over four months they will have a grandchild.”

  “Yeah. You’re right,” Steve said. “I will tell them but not today. And Merry Christmas Mark.”

  “Merry Christmas.” Mark hung up the phone to see Abbi watching him closely.

  “What’s going on?” she asked. Mark hesitated but then thought what the hell. She would find out sooner or later.

  “You remember Grace Williams. She went with Steve to the ball.” Abbi nodded. “She is pregnant.”

  “Oh my God!” Abbi burst out. “But… I can’t get my head around that. You’re going to be an uncle.” Mark hadn’t thought of that. The thought sent him reeling. She was right, he would be an uncle.

  “That stupid girl!” Abbi burst out. “I remember her. She was that five foot airhead. Clearly she is an airhead.”

  “Oh come on that’s not entirely fair,” Mark said quickly. “It’s his fault as well.”

  “I know that. I’m just really surprised. She should have been on the pill.”

  Mark was quite taken aback by her reaction. Another thought occurred to him. “Are you on the pill?”

  “Of course I am,” she said briskly. “I don’t want to get pregnant.”

  “You didn’t tell me that,” he said quietly.

  “I know. I thought after the ball that I should go on it. Just in case.” An awkward silence enfolded them.

  “Come on. We should go to my mum’s,” Abbi said after a while. Mark gave her a kiss and then rummaged around in his suitcase. “What are you looking for?”

  “I bought your mum a Christmas present.” Abbi wrapped her arms around him.

  “You are so sweet, Mark,” she said. He smiled.

  “Come on lets go,” Mark said giving her a quick kiss. They headed out the door. As they walked outside wrapped in gloves and scarves they saw it wasn’t a white Christmas. It was grey, cloudy and generally unpleasant weather.

  Very soon they were in the kitchen of Abbi’s house. Eleanor was in quite a cheerful mood and there were Christmas carols being played on the CD player. Jess seemed to be giving off a very merry Christmas spirit. It was as if she had never had such a good Christmas.

  “Hi you two, she said as she came around the corner. She gave them a Buck’s fizz each and they all went into the living room. They spent the afternoon in pleasant company and high spirits.

  Mark gave Eleanor her Christmas gift just before they were leaving. The four of them had been having such an enjoyable afternoon that it had slipped his mind. She opened it slowly. Inside there was a gorgeous jumper. “Oh Mark, it’s lovely”, she said. “I would have got you something but I didn’t know you were coming to visit Abbi.” At this she gave Abbi a pointed look.

  “Don’t blame Abbi,” Mark said quickly. “She didn’t know I was visiting her either. I was a surprise.” Eleanor smiled.

  “Yeah right,” Jess said sarcastically. “I may not be psychic but I thought he would come around for Christmas.” Mark caught her glance for a fraction of a second and quickly looked away. Abbi and Eleanor noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

  Neither Jess nor Mark had ever mentioned what had happened between them when Abbi was in hospital. Mark felt that it wasn’t exactly lying to her, it was protecting her from hurt. Both Mark and Jess knew that their kiss had meant nothing.

  They skated over the pause in conversation quickly.

  Later that evening Abbi and Mark were walking to his holiday home with smiles on their faces. Mark had an arm around Abbi’s shoulders. It had been a very good Christmas.

  The next few days passed in a blur. Practically the second they turned on the T.V in the morning there were adverts for boxing day sales. Abbi hit the sales every year. Mark insisted going with her.

  “Don’t be silly,” she said. “It will be incredibly boring watching me buy clothes all day.”

  “I’m only here for a few more days,” he told her. “I want to spend as much time with you as possible.”

  “Okay,” she said sighing. “Just to let you know, when you are bored you won’t get any sympathy from me.”

  Sure enough when she was shopping he was incredibly bored. He got a call from his brother to take him out of his monotony. Mark walked out of the shop so he could speak without interference.

  “Well?” Mark asked.

  “I told them,” Steve said quickly.

  “And?” Mark wondered what they had said.

  “It went badly. Mum did everything from starting to arrange wedding plans to crying in the corner. It was quite bad. That’s rubbish, it was very bad. I told them last night. I couldn’t take it anymore.”

  “What did dad do?” Mark asked anxiously.

  “Shouted so loudly my ear drums are still ringing. Everything from slandering me, suggesting a vasectomy, abortion, you name it, I heard it.”

  “Did they mention me?”

  “No, big brother,” Steve said exasperatingly. “Not everything in life revolves around you.”

  “What are they going to do?”

  “I think dad is going to make Grace a big lump sum payment so that she releases me from all future obligation.” Steve said.

  “You’re talking about a baby here,” Mark said. “This isn’t a theoretical problem. One day this baby will grow up to ask questions about its father. What will Grace tell the kid? I was paid money so that your father can leave an easy carefree life.”

  “That’s not fair Mark”, Steve said sternly. “I am get
ting very little say in what is happening here. Dad has decided that this is the easiest way to deal with this. Then everything can go back to the way it was.” Steve just didn’t understand.

  “How much is dad going to pay them?” Mark asked. He was genuinely curious. He wondered what his father thought was the right price to keep an illegitimate child under wraps and hushed away.

  “Two hundred and fifty thousand pounds,” Steve said. There was nothing to say to that.

  “I’ll talk to you when I get home.” Before Steve could say anything else Mark hung up the phone. Steve just didn’t understand. He saw this as a problem that could be covered up and would go away. He didn’t see that he had created a new life. He probably never would as he would never see the child. At that moment Abbi came out of the shop with two more bulging bags.

  “What’s going on?” she asked. She could see something was wrong by the look he gave her.

  “Steve,” Mark said. He took a deep breath and finished the sentence. “My dad is paying grace a quarter of a million pounds so that Steve is free from any obligation.”

  “But that’s…”

  “Completely and utterly wrong”, Mark finished for her. “I know. I can’t make Steve see sense though.”

  “Maybe call your dad,” Abbi suggested. “Forget it. Forget I said anything.”

  “No you actually have a point,” Mark said. “You keep shopping, I’ll give him a ring.” Abbi pointed to a shop that she was going into next. Mark listened to the phone ringing.

  “George Hammond.”

  “Hi dad it’s me.”

  “Oh hello. How are you doing with your girl?”

  “I’m fine,” Mark said quickly. “Please listen to me and let me finish. You can’t pay Grace and her baby off. It isn’t right. A baby doesn’t go away because you make a payment. This will be a real life person.”

  “I can do what I like,” he said menacingly. “Money buys all sorts of things you wouldn’t believe.”

  “This problem isn’t going to vanish just because you want it to,” Mark said. “Have you even asked Steve what he wants or are you just doing what you want?”

  “Steve is too young to know what to do for the best. He isn’t even twenty years old yet. I‘m only doing this because she is too far gone for an abortion.”

  “But dad…”

  “How do you know I haven’t done this before?” his father asked.

  “What do you mean?” Mark said sharply.

  “I could have paid Abbi to have an abortion and you knew nothing about it.”

  “You could have. But you didn’t,” Mark said firmly. He knew she wouldn’t have taken his money without at least discussing it with Mark first. Not for something like that.

  “No I didn’t. I paid someone to knife her instead,” he said very quietly.

  “What did you say?” Mark whispered into the phone. He could tell his father was getting angry now.

  “I said that I paid someone to stab her,” George said before he could change his mind. “I only wanted her disfigured though I didn’t mean for her to nearly die.” Mark could feel his heart beating very fast.

  “Why stop there?!” Mark was shouting down the phone now. “You nearly killed the woman I love. I don’t want anything to do with you.” Mark disconnected the phone, extremely angry with him.

  His thoughts were racing around his head ten to the dozen. His father had nearly killed Abbi. But thankfully she hadn’t died. If he didn’t like something he tried to fix it the only way he knew how too. With money. His heart was pounding furiously fast. He didn’t know what to think. Would he tell Abbi? He didn’t know if he should. He didn’t want to keep secrets from her, but if she was beginning to forget what had happened he didn’t want to bring those memories back to her. He would see what happened.

  “How did things go with your father?” Abbi asked as she emerged from yet another shop. Her arms looked like they were going to drop off from the amount of bags she had.

  “Badly,” Mark said. “Are you ready to go home?” She wasn’t but she could tell that Mark had had enough.

  “Yeah, sure,” she said.

  Over the next few days Mark couldn’t find an opportunity to tell Abbi the person who had ordered her attack. Not that he really wanted to tell her. He thought that she was beginning to forget about it. He wasn’t sure if telling her would be the best thing to do. Suddenly new years eve was upon them. Mark asked Abbi what she wanted to do.

  “We’ll just stay in,” she said. Mark looked sceptically at her.

  “That’s really what you want to do?”

  “I couldn’t think of anyone else I would rather start my year with,” she said quietly. “Anyway, the nearest party will be miles away. I don’t fancy a long drive tonight.” Mark privately thought that was for the best. He didn’t want to drive anywhere else either. In mid afternoon they turned on the T.V. and watched the fireworks above the Sydney Opera House. It was spectacular. No one seemed to do new year fireworks better than the Australians.

  When the fireworks were finally over and the crowd were cheering Mark switched off the television. “What do you want to do now?” he asked. She shrugged. In the silence that passed Abbi felt she knew so little about him.

  “Where were you born?” she asked out of the blue. Mark thought for a moment.

  “In London. Why?”

  “I feel I don’t know an awful lot about you.” Mark looked a little hurt at that. “Not important things. I mean I know when your birthday is and things like that. I don’t know all the incidental stuff.” Mark nodded. He did see what she meant. He knew the basic things about her but he couldn’t have told her little things about herself. Like the time of day she was born.

  “I understand,” he said. And he did. “Where were you born?”

  “St Mary’s hospital. You know which one it is. It’s the same one I went to after I got stabbed.” Abbi had spoken calmly but he could see the shadow behind her words. Tell her now, he thought. Tell her who did this to her. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t bring himself to bring back the terrible memories for both of them. He let the moment go and a small part of him, the honest part of him knew that he would never tell her. Abbi carried on speaking.

  “I weighed six pounds eight ounces when I was born according to my mum.” Mark was stretched out on the sofa and Abbi had leant back against his chest, her head on his shoulder. It was very comfortable.

  “What time were you born?” he asked.

  “ I don’t know exactly,” she said slowly. “It was early in the morning of the second of October. My mum has told me but I can’t remember exactly. How about you?”

  “I was born at half past two in the afternoon on the thirteenth of November.” He raised his hand so he could run it through her hair. It felt so different from how he had remembered it over the summer, simply because it was so much shorter.

  “Tell me a story from your childhood,” Abbi said quietly as Mark’s fingers went through her hair.

  “Okay then. Give me a minute to think of one.” He wrapped his arms around her as he thought of something to tell her. “Okay. My first day of school. I was going to Harrison’s school. It was an exclusive primary where you had to pay substantial entrance fees to get in. I was so excited that day because I was going to school and Steve got jealous of me. He kept shouting that it wasn’t fair for at least a week before I actually went there.”

  “I don’t remember anything about my parents on the day I went to school. My father was always somewhere else anyway. I hardly ever saw him. I walked into my classroom holding my bag. Everyone else was sitting down and I just stood there as everyone else looked at me. Then the teacher came in and I scurried to find a seat. No one wanted to sit next to me for some reason.”

  “As we were only little the teacher wanted us to play together and make friends. Hardly any of the class had met each other before that day. Everyone else had already made friends and I sat trying to hide in the corner. Someone su
rprised me and came up to me. He told me his name was Andrew and he asked if I wanted to play with him. I did and after that day he became my friend. He introduced me to his group of friends, Sarah, Megan, I can’t remember the other one’s names. The first term was great. After Christmas we all met up again at school but Andrew was missing. I wondered why and I pestered the teacher for days until she gave in. She told me that Andrew’s parents couldn’t afford the school fees anymore so he had moved schools. That was the first time I saw money as an issue. Because you were only at that school if you could pay for it.”

  Abbi noticed that Mark’s voice sounded unexpectedly bitter at that. She didn’t know what to say to the end of that so she said nothing. He had kept stroking her hair through his story and it was very soothing. “Tell me a story about you. It‘s your turn,” he said gently. By now it had turned dark outside she noticed and began to speak.

  “I’ll tell you about the day I got my GCSE results. I was so scared to open my results when I got them. I wanted to open them with no one around to see what I had got so I went for a walk. I went up to where we watched the sunset from in the summer. I knew I hadn’t done fabulously but I thought I would have passed pretty much all of them.”

  “The subjects I took were Maths, English Lit, English Language, Science, French, R.E, I.T, Art and Geography. As I opened the envelope I could feel my heart beating so fast. I unfolded the paper and saw that I had failed Science, R.E. and I.T completely. I knew I hadn’t aced them but it was a bit of a shock. I scraped a pass in Art. My Maths grade was a B and my two English ones were C’s. I was very surprised to see that I had managed an A in French but apart from that it looked quite bad.”

  “It took quite a while to persuade the school to let me study for my A levels. The truth was they didn’t want someone there who was going to mess up their statistics. Eventually I managed to convince them though. It turned out to be a waste of my time though. I failed everything at my A levels. It wasn’t that I was stupid but I always panicked about exams and I got too nervous to write anything halfway decent.”