Chapter Twenty-five
Ellen's breathing was returning to normal. She needed to put Chloe and Tom out of her mind, and focus on getting to the police station. One step at a time, one problem at a time. Ellen stood up and started to walk when she heard a scream, and then an explosion. It was close by. The horror unfolded about twenty metres from where she was sitting. A body had fallen from one of the windows onto the footpath in front of her apartment building.
Ellen rushed over, but was instantly repelled by the sight. The body was terribly mangled, but she was sure that it was Chloe. And she was sure that Chloe was dead.
A car on the street skidded to a halt, and a woman walking nearby started to scream uncontrollably. It was lucky the body didn't land on her as she was only about five metres away.
Ellen returned to the seat, and collapsed. She realised she was hyperventilating, and tried to slow down her breathing. What was going through Chloe's mind to make her jump to her death? She had seemed almost pleased with the pregnancy. Had Ellen read it all wrong? Perhaps Chloe had been ashamed and devastated with guilt? Perhaps Ellen should have stayed with Chloe, and said that everything would work out in the end.
Suddenly, Hayden from the office, Tom's best friend, was walking towards her.
“Ellen, you're alive!” he said. “Everyone has been so worried about you.”
Ellen stared at him with a blank confusion. What was Hayden doing here?
“Ellen, it's Hayden from work. Are you okay?”
Ellen nodded slowly.
“I was passing by and heard the commotion. Are you okay?”
Ellen couldn't answer as her breathing was still quite erratic. She pointed towards the body on the footpath. He didn’t seem to have even noticed. Ellen put her head down and tried to focus on breathing normally.
“Does someone have a bag?” Hayden cried out, looking towards the small crowd of people gathering on the footpath. He took off quickly, but returned before long, with a small paper bag. “Breathe into the bag, Ellen. Try and slow your breathing. In and out.”
Ellen tried to do as he instructed and before long, the tingle in her hands and toes started to fade, and her breathing returned to normal.
“Good girl. That’s good. Keep breathing slowly. You’ll be okay shortly.”
Ellen was finally able to speak. “Thanks, Hayden. It’s lucky you were here.”
“You were in shock I think. Why don't I get you out of here?”
Ellen let him put his arm around her, but she refused to move from the spot. “It's Chloe, Hayden. The jumper. It's Chloe, my flatmate.” Ellen pointed towards the body again, which could no longer be seen because of the crowd of onlookers. She could see someone on a phone, talking to the police, and giving directions.
“Oh dear,” said Hayden sympathetically. He finally seemed to notice the body.
“I can't believe she jumped,” Ellen said.
“She was a good friend of yours, wasn’t she? Well, I'm sorry for your pain. I'm sure Tom will be sorry to hear of this too.”
Ellen sat silently, as new tears were welling up in her eyes.
Hayden continued, “Well, I'm happy to see that you're alive though. I know poor Tom has been suffering without you. Everyone at work has been worried too. Your sudden disappearance was very strange. I thought it was very, how should I say it... uncharacteristic, from what I know of you. I'm sure you have a good explanation for leaving, and for the text messages you sent Tom. You mean everything to him, and well, that makes you important to me too.”
“I'm not sure how much I mean to Tom actually, Hayden.”
Hayden turned to her with a bewildered expression on his face. “What makes you say that?”
Ellen shook her head. “It's a long story.”
“I’ve got time to listen.”
Ellen briefly explained her whereabouts over the last week, and noticed a deep anger building in Hayden's eyes, when she talked about the masked man. “I was on my way to the police station, but Chloe and I had a terrible fight, and then she jumped to her death. Everything is just so crazy. I don't know what is going on in the world.”
“The important thing is that you are safe now, and that you and Tom can work everything out together.”
Ellen shook her head again, and started crying harder. This time her tears were for Tom; for the love she could never feel again.
“Tom is my father, Hayden. I just found this out from Chloe. We did a DNA test but Chloe now says that she switched the samples. He apparently admitted that he fathered a child with Colleen Watson, who is my biological mother.” Hayden tightened his grip around her shoulder, and she stared into his eyes.
“He is not your father, Ellen,” Hayden said.
Ellen squinted at him, through her tears. His eyes seemed so familiar, up close. She wiped her face dry, ready to listen. Hayden obviously knew something about the matter.
“I am.”
The words were shocking. How could that be? Neither of them spoke for a moment. Somehow this new information made sense to Ellen, although she couldn't fathom how at this point.
“Listen,” he continued. “You've had a rough week. Why don't we leave all the details til you've had a chance to recover a little.”
“No,” Ellen said firmly. “I need to know everything now. I can handle it.”
Hayden’s eyes assessed her carefully before continuing, “Well then, okay. But where to start?” Hayden rubbed his chin before continuing, “Tom and Colleen were a couple back at school. But he went away for a month. Colleen had too much to drink one night, and I took advantage of the situation. It's not something that I'm proud of. Colleen obviously didn't remember it the next morning because she never mentioned it to me. The next thing I know, Tom says he has gotten her pregnant. Well, I knew the child could be mine or his.”
“And? What happened next?”
“When you were five, Tom asked me to visit you, and see if your adoptive parents needed anything, financially speaking. Well, I knew you were mine right away. I mean we have the same skin and eyes for starters. My goodness, you look exactly like my younger sister did when she was your age. There is no way you are Tom's kid.”
Ellen looked at Hayden with fresh eyes. A number of her features were indeed present in his face. It could be true. “Why did you hate me when I turned up at Satinol that day?”
“I was just surprised, that's all. Modelling is not the career path I would have led you towards, if I'd had the chance to raise you.”
“Oh.”
“Now, listen to me. I don't want Tom to know the fine details here - about my sleeping with Colleen, I mean.”
“I'm sorry, Hayden, but no. There can't be any more secrets in my life.”
“It's just going to upset him unnecessarily.”
“I was about to tell him about Colleen being my mother, so he is going to think he is the dad as a result.”
“Fine, but go and get a DNA test. Go together. It will be negative, and Tom will realise that Colleen tricked him all those years ago.”
“He is going to ask a lot of questions if the test is negative.”
“Of course it will be negative. Let him ask questions, but there is no need to tell him about my being your father.”
Ellen thought it through. “I suppose not.”
“Good girl.”
“There is something else that Chloe told me something before she jumped. She said that Tom and her made love.”
Hayden made a face as though the thought sickened him. “I find that hard to believe. Listen, go and talk to him. All I can tell you is that when he thought it was over with you, he was devastated. I’ve never seen him so low.”
“Well, before I can think through any of this, I need to be sure that he isn’t my father. I love him you know. I want him to be my husband one day, more than I've ever wanted anything before.”
Hayden stared into Ellen eyes. “I guarantee the test will be negative. I guarantee you that I am your father. But the thin
g is, I really don't want to be. I never wanted to be a father. I'd like us to pretend that nothing has changed. You have parents that love you back home. I want that to be enough for you.”
“Oh, it is.” Although Ellen was glad to know who her biological father was, she had felt a coldness coming from Hayden since he sat down, and was happy to hear that he didn't want to develop some sort of later life father / daughter relationship.
Everything was starting to fall into place. Police were arriving and a team of men dressed head to foot in white. The police ushered them from the area, as they set up a visual barricade around Chloe's body.
“Well, I really should be off to the police station now, Hayden,” said Ellen.
Hayden nodded in agreement, and then left her without another word. It was as if he was cementing his decision not to be a father to her in any manner.
Ellen's phone rang from her pocket. It was Tom. Ellen happily answered the phone, content in the knowledge of who she was, and what she wanted for her future. There were a number of matters to discuss in due course, but Ellen felt Tom's love as she spoke to him. They agreed to meet in ten minutes, and Ellen hurried to make it in time.