Chapter Seventeen
Tom Bradley sat at his desk quietly thinking over the past couple of months with Ellen. She had breathed new life into his world. He woke each morning with a renewed sense of excitement and possibility.
Suddenly, there was a knock on his door, which dragged him back into the reality of his business world. “Come in,” he said, surprised at himself for having daydreamed during a work day.
Hayden entered the room. “Good news, Tom,” he said. “The Clidewell account from Germany has just been confirmed.” He sat down on the couch in Tom’s office, looking very pleased with himself.
“That's excellent news, Hayden. Well done.” He paused briefly. “I'm glad you're here. I want to talk to you about that little financial matter you took care of recently.”
“Which matter would that be now?” asked Hayden evasively.
“The Colleen Watson matter, of course.”
“Oh yes,” said Hayden, looking a little uncomfortable. “Tom, I have to tell you, I was surprised that you agreed to give her a sum of money of that size, of any size, frankly.”
Tom tried to explain, “When I knew Colleen all those years ago, she was just a girl. She was bright, happy, funny and sweet. This woman that came to visit me was nothing like that girl I once knew. I had to do something, Hayden. She needed help from someone.”
“But why did it have to be you?”
Tom scratched his chin thoughtfully. “It was just the right thing to do. I mean, I have plenty of money to spare, let’s be honest. I don’t want to argue about this one. What’s done is done. I assume the transfer of funds was successful?”
Hayden seemed surprised by the question, and looked at Tom oddly. “Um, well I just assumed that you saw the news or read it in the newspaper, Tom.”
Tom furrowed his brow in confusion. “I don't follow you,” he said.
Hayden was obviously hesitant to continue because he stood up and began to pace the room. He was also careful to avoid eye contact with Tom. “I don't know how to tell you this,” murmured Hayden. “There was a robbery at the bank, and Colleen was shot.”
“My God! No!” Tom leapt to his feet, irritated that he had not been informed of this matter earlier. The prospect of leaving work that instant to go to the hospital left him feeling flustered. He walked in circles for a few moments, grabbing a jacket off the coat rack in the corner.
“Tom, what are you doing?”
“Which hospital is she at?” Tom demanded. “Have you sent flowers? Where are my car keys?” He rapidly felt through each of his pockets, trying to remember where his keys were.
“Tom, Tom, hold on a second,” implored Hayden. “She didn't make it.”
“What?”
“She's dead, Tom.”
Tom dropped his pen onto the carpet. “Hayden, please.” He was shaken up by the words themselves. “What are you saying? Tell me that isn't true.”
“I'm sorry, my friend. It is true. We got the money back though. So that's one good thing.”
“The money? This is what concerns you? The money doesn't matter, Hayden.” Tom felt his insides collapse. He felt completely unable to deal with the news of Colleen’s apparent murder.
Hayden moved towards the coffee table, intending to pour Tom a glass of water, rather than comfort his friend directly. “I really didn't think that you would react this way. I would have mentioned it otherwise. I mean, the bitch got what was coming to her.”
Tom was surprised by Hayden's matter of fact tone, and he rose slowly to his feet. It was obvious to Tom that Hayden was not saddened by Colleen's murder, and perhaps he was even happy about it. “What do you mean, Hayden?” asked Tom.
“Like you said, coming here, trying to blackmail you! Trying to destroy your relationship with Ellen!” said Hayden in anger. “Someone did us a favour,” he said, while watching Tom carefully.
“Hayden, this is terrible news. I admit that Colleen had changed a lot since high school, but she wouldn't have told Ellen about the child.”
“Well, in any case,” stated Hayden, in a manner Tom found to be a little cold and heartless. “It's kind of irrelevant now whether or not the bitch was going to go through with her threat, don't you think?”
“Do me a favour - please don’t call her that. Colleen was once very important to me, a long time ago.”
Hayden laughed to himself and shook his head. “I have a meeting now, Tom. I’ll send you the name of the investigating police officer this afternoon. You can give him a call if you want more information.” Hayden starting moving towards the door.
Tom looked at his friend, unable to comprehend this news. “Wait! Hayden. How could this happen? I mean, the two of us organised for Colleen to go to that bank. I don't understand.”
“It's just one of those things,” he replied. “A coincidence.”
“Hayden, ask one of the girls to come in, will you?” Tom called out as his friend left the room.
Hayden was gone for a short period before returning. “Tom! Chloe's not at her desk, but Elizabeth will be in when she's off the phone,” he called back.
Tom was left at his desk feeling a strange emptiness that he could not understand or explain.
It wasn't long before Elizabeth entered the room. “Did you need something, Tom?”
“Elizabeth, I am not feeling well, of a sudden. I think I might take the rest of the day off. I’ll go home and lie down.”
Elizabeth looked worried. “Tom, er... your diary is quite full today. Can I get you some aspirin instead.”
“No, I need to go home.”
“Would you like to dial into your meetings from home?”
“No. Please delegate everything that you can to the relevant directors, and send my apologies.”
Elizabeth realised that his mind was made up. “I will.”
“Do you know if Ellen is in the building today?”
“I think I saw her downstairs before. Would you like me to let her know?”
“Actually, send her up, will you?”
“Certainly. Anything else?”
“That's all. Thanks Liz.”
It wasn't long before Ellen arrived. She was as beautiful and radiant as always, although Tom noted that she was looking a little more flushed than usual.
“Hi Elle. How are you? Is everything okay?” he asked, trying to determine why she looked like that.
Ellen nodded. “I’m fine. It’s good to see you.”
Tom could tell there was something more going on, but he was feeling so overwhelmed with the news of Colleen’s death that he decided not to press her. “Listen Ellen. I've just found out that someone important to me has died.”
“Tom, I'm sorry. Is it someone I know?”
“Um, no. I’ll tell you about it another time.”
“Okay.”
He breathed deeply. “I'm going to go home and, well, take the day off. You don't mind if I have a little space tonight? I don't think I will be very good company, in any case.”
Ellen shook her head graciously. “Of course not. Let me know if you want to talk later on.”
“I'll make it up to you on the weekend,” Tom offered.
“Actually, Chloe and I were thinking of going back home this weekend. I wanted to check with you first, to make sure we didn’t have anything planned. But if you are upset, and would rather I stayed, then I will, of course.”
“No, it’s okay, you go.” Tom checked his BlackBerry quickly. “I don’t think we have anything planned, no.”
“And you don’t mind that I go home without you? I know we were intending to visit them together. There is something important I want to talk to my parents about.”
Tom felt a little relieved to hear that he might have the weekend to himself. He needed some time to process the news of Colleen’s death, and he wanted to speak to the investigating police officer too. “Of course I don’t mind. I would like to meet your parents soon, of course. But I’m probably not in the right frame of mind this weekend. Ma
ybe another weekend soon?”
“Of course. There is no rush though.”
“This weekend will be a good opportunity for you and Chloe to spend some time together. I know I’ve been monopolising your time ever since I met you. She probably feels like she doesn’t see you anymore.”
Ellen smiled.
Tom deduced from her expression that Chloe had obviously been saying a similar thing. He continued, “This weekend will provide some time for me to digest the news I received today. I'm not sure why it's affecting me the way it is,” Tom said thoughtfully.
“Take as much time as you need,” offered Ellen.
Tom kissed Ellen on the forehead, before leaving the office. “Have fun with Chloe. I love you.”
“Love you too, Tom.”