Even After All

Part Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Dylan sighed at the sight of his apartment block in front of him. He’d spent an hour on a delayed tube service, which annoyed him, since being back in London he’d been using a driver, for some reason this week he’d stopped, and he’d been stuck on a damned tube train when he had things to do. His phone didn’t even work when he was that far underground. It seemed all the worse because the entire time his mind was active, worrying, about everything.

As he emerged from the last station he’d managed to get through to his mother, to tell her he was going to be very late if she still wanted to meet him for dinner. He was hoping to put her off, but she wasn’t ready to give up on him, which meant that she REALLY needed to talk to him, so with a sigh, he had agreed to call her once he was home and sorted. He was still hoping to put her off if he could.

               

With relief he swiped his key card into the automated entry for the reception to his apartment block, but a voice silenced him.

                “So were you ever going to let me in on your secret? Or were you expecting me to hear third hand tomorrow?”

There was such venom in the voice, and that was only matched by her eyes when he turned to see Matilda stood behind him, hands on hips. He wanted to smile, because it was good to see her, but she was anything but happy to see him.

When he didn’t respond immediately, she snapped, “YOU buying the hotel, THAT’S what we’re talking about, in case there was some confusion. I had to hear that from Paul, as he called to apologise and congratulate me on the new owner....YOU! How could you keep this from me? How could you lie?”

                “I wanted to tell you, I came to explain,” he sighed, she was getting more and more angry. “But I missed you. I didn’t know you had a meeting.”

She tossed her head back in contempt, “really? So what? This was a sudden unexpected spur of the moment thing? Is that what you’re telling me?”

He shook his head, “Ok. I admit that I knew what was happening when I spoke to you this morning. But I needed to sort things, I wasn't sure i could work it out...”

It was a weak defence to his own ears and he grimaced as she stepped towards him.

                “You KNEW that I’d be angry, that I’d make a scene, maybe speak to Paul. If he knew...”

Dylan held up a hand to silence her, and was quite frankly amazed that it worked, “I am not the villain here.”

She scoffed at that, “oh yes, stalking your ex-wife, making her life a misery is all in the name of the greater good. Bloody hell Dylan, you are some sort of control freak; you want to direct my life, influence all that I do. Is that it?”

He shook his head, she had it all wrong, “you think that I’m about to spend all that money just to get one over on you? You’re more paranoid and crazy than I thought!”

At that moment Dylan’s neighbour appeared trying to get into the building and they both had to side step.

                “Look I’m not doing this in the street...come up and we can talk there.”

She shook her head, then snarled angrily, “that won’t do my paranoia or craziness any good.”

He groaned, “upstairs or the pub across the road? I’m sure you, like me have no desire to scream and shout in the street like a washer woman.”