Miranda Lee - Contract with Consequences

Scarlet could never understand why John didn’t come home more often.

‘Looks like a big turn-out,’ John said once Scarlet turned the corner into their street.

‘You have your mother to blame for that. If she didn’t put on such a good spread, she wouldn’t get so many people accepting her invitations. It’s always like this when it’s your family’s turn for the Christmas party. Look, there’s your mum and sister on the front porch, waiting for you.’ No father, though, she noted. ‘I’ll just stop in our driveway and you can get out. I want to put the car in the garage.’

‘Fine,’ he agreed, hopping out and taking his bag from the back seat before slapping the car on the roof and shouting thanks to her.

She pressed the remote for the garage door, watching John in the rear-vision mirror whilst she waited for the door to roll its way slowly upwards. He really did look amazing today. Great buns in those jeans. Great body all round. If he’d been anybody else, she might have been tempted to flirt with him.

Just the thought made her laugh. Flirt with John Mitchell? What would be the point in that?

Scarlet laughed again. She was still amused over the idea when she returned to the party.

SCARLET looked for John straight away. When she couldn’t spot him anywhere amongst the crowd of partygoers who’d all gathered under the outdoor entertaining area, she wandered back inside the house. But the only person she found there was his mother, getting a couple of bottles of wine out of the fridge. The large open-plan living room was empty of people, with no sign of John anywhere.

‘Ah, Scarlet,’ his mother said. ‘Thank you so much for getting John. It was very good of you.’

‘No trouble, Mrs Mitchell. Where is he, by the way?’

‘Upstairs in his bedroom,’ Carolyn retorted, sounding a bit annoyed. ‘Said he had to go get my anniversary present but I think he’s just avoiding talking to people. Look, could I bother you to go up there and bring him down? All the food is ready. You look lovely today, by the way, dear,’ Carolyn rattled on before Scarlet could accept or reject the request.

Strangely, she didn’t mind the mission. It would give her the chance to see if he still had all those girlie posters over his walls.

He didn’t. The room was stripped bare of all boyish paraphernalia. John was standing by the window, staring down at the street, his bedroom being at the front of the house. His bag had been slung on top of the bed, unopened. Scarlet glanced around but couldn’t see any present anywhere.

‘I’ve been sent to bring you downstairs,’ she called from the open doorway.

He turned from the window and smiled a rueful smile. ‘Poor Scarlet,’ came his ironic remark. ‘You’ve been given all the awful jobs today.’

She didn’t deny it. The strange truth, however, was that she hadn’t minded driving him home as much as she’d thought she would. And she didn’t really mind coming up here to collect him. But she wasn’t about to tell him that.

‘Did you find your mother’s present?’

‘I did,’ he said, and patted the right hip pocket of his leather jacket.

‘Something small and sinfully expensive?’

‘Could be.’

‘Let me guess-a real ruby.’ What else would a geologist son give to his mother on her ruby wedding anniversary?

‘You always were a clever little minx.’

‘And you always were a sarcastic bastard.’

He scowled at her for a second, then smiled. ‘I tell you what. I promise to go down and face the small talk if you promise not to leave my side.’

‘And what, pray tell, do I get out of that deal?’

His smile broadened. ‘My suddenly sparkling company?’

‘Not good enough, I’m afraid. I have no faith in your company becoming suddenly sparkling. I will need more of a bribe than that.’

‘Would a real diamond do the trick?’

Scarlet wasn’t sure if he was serious, or just teasing her. Whatever, she was tempted to do some teasing of her own.

‘I have no use for a diamond,’ she replied haughtily. ‘Unless it’s sitting atop a band of gold and comes with a proposal of marriage.’

The look on his face was priceless.

‘No?’ she went on saucily. ‘Pity. You’re not bad looking, after all. And you’re filthy rich. Not to mention not gay. What more could a girl possibly want?’

‘Nice try, Scarlet. You had me going there for a while.’

She grinned. ‘I did, didn’t I? Revenge is sweet.’

‘Revenge for what?’

‘For all the times you made me want to kill you.’

‘Mea culpa,’ he said, his tone droll.

‘You’re right there. But today is meant to be a happy day, so I’ll put aside my petty grievances and do what you ask, without payment of any kind. Not that I thought you meant to give me a diamond for real.’

‘If I did, you’ve missed out now. Still, be a nice, sweet, agreeable companion for the rest of the day and I might give you one.’

‘In your dreams, lover.’

He laughed. ‘You’re right there, Scarlet.’

John knew full well that that was one thing he would never be-Scarlet’s lover. Which was a pity. She looked utterly gorgeous today in that purple and black outfit. Shame she wasn’t one of those girls who could enjoy a fling without always looking for a ring on their finger in return.

But that was the way she was and nothing would ever change that. Which was also a pity. John suspected one of the reasons Scarlet hadn’t found her Mr Right was because she had ‘desperately seeking marriage’ written all over her. What she needed to do, in his opinion, was lighten up.

Perhaps he would tell her that later today if he found the right opportunity.

‘Come on,’ he said, flashing Scarlet a warm smile as he hooked her arm through his. ‘Time to get ourselves downstairs before they send out a search party.’

SCARLET could not believe how much she enjoyed the party, and John’s company, though she would not go so far as to say he’d ‘sparkled’. After giving his delighted mother her ruby-which was uncut but simply enormous-he’d actually deigned to make a small speech, praising his parents’ fortitude in staying married for so long and wishing them all the best for the future. Then, even more surprising, after the buffet luncheon was over he’d made the effort to talk to his father. It had been a slightly awkward conversation-Scarlet had been hovering nearby at the time-but it was Martin Mitchell who’d sounded the more awkward, she thought, after which the fool had spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Melissa’s little boy. Admittedly, Oliver was a delightful child, with a highly engaging personality. But still, one would have thought Martin could have afforded to spend some more time with a son who’d flown all the way from South America to be with his parents on their special day.

Scarlet had felt seriously annoyed with the man, which made her even more solicitous towards John. She also downed a good few glasses of wine, which she had a tendency to do when she was upset. Being tipsy brought out the flirtatious side in her, which was helped by the fact that he invariably sought her out if she left his side for too long, whispering to her each time that she wouldn’t get a diamond if she kept deserting her post.

By five-thirty, the party was winding down, with people gradually leaving. By six, the Mitchell place was almost empty of guests, and Scarlet and her mother stayed back to help Carolyn and Melissa clean up. Oliver had been put down for a nap, whilst the men-Martin, John and Leo-had retired to the living room to watch the evening news on TV.

‘I had my four-month ultrasound on Friday,’ Melissa said out of the blue as she and Scarlet were restacking the dishwasher together. Their mothers were outside at the time, piling up more dirty plates to carry in.

Scarlet stiffened as she always did these days when girls she knew started talking about their pregnancies. She’d known Melissa was pregnant again, but the subject hadn’t come up that day as yet.

‘Oh?’ she managed to reply as casually as she could manage. ‘Everything well, I hope?’

‘Marvellous. Leo was there with me, of course. He actually cried when they told him it was a little girl. So did I. Oliver’s a darling boy, but there’s something about little girls, isn’t there?’

Scarlet was on the verge of tears herself. She didn’t give a damn if she had a girl or a boy. She just wanted a baby.

‘Would you like to see the pictures of the ultrasound?’ Melissa asked her. ‘I brought them with me to show Mum. They’re just upstairs. I’ll go get them,’ she added before Scarlet could say yes or no.

John saw the stricken look on Scarlet’s face the moment he walked into the kitchen.

‘What is it?’ he asked straight away. ‘What’s happened?’

‘I have to get out of here,’ she muttered.

Too late. Melissa was back in a flash with the dreaded pictures. Scarlet had no choice but to look at them and make all the right noises, for how could she do anything else without making a complete fool of herself? Melissa insisted John look at them too, which he did, though he didn’t gush, for which Scarlet was grateful. At some stage, their respective mothers re-entered the kitchen. Scarlet now had to endure Carolyn Mitchell raving on about how lucky Melissa was to be having a little girl and how lucky they were as grandparents to have their daughter living so close. She then added that it was obvious they were never going to get any grandchildren from John and, even if by some miracle they did, they’d probably never see them, since he preferred to live in South America than Australia.

John had no idea what had distressed Scarlet earlier, but he suspected-by the look on her face-that she still wanted out. He did, too. Hell, yes. And the sooner the better.