CHAPTER 17 - RACHEL
I can see Ava and Adrien staring at each other. I put all the papers back in the box and tap on Bailey's knee to follow me. We walk to the dining room table and I start unpacking the box.
Halfway through unpacking I stop to look at Bailey.
"You really don't remember anything?" I ask Bailey with as much compassion as I can muster under these confusing circumstances.
"I'm scared, Rachel" she says looking towards the door we came from. I understand. I feel nervous too.
I start to pack the documents in date order. Newest documents at the bottom. Oldest documents at the top. It should read like a story.
I neaten the stack of papers in my hand and take a seat at the table. It does read like a story.
The first documents show Ellie getting into a university where she wanted to study. There is also a contract for an apartment near the university and a proof of payment for the entire first years rent. I cannot understand why Ellie never went to study.
The next document is a waybill for a delivery on the day after school ended and a note from Greyson telling Ellie to join him in Paris. Then there is a single plane ticket back from Paris a month later. I read the note again. It was an invitation for dinner. If they planned on staying there for a month it would have told her to pack well. The ticket back here is also economy class. Greyson obviously didn't accompany her back.
The next set of documents are cancellations. There is a cancellation of the course she would have taken at the university. There is a letter stating that she will have to forfeit a percentage of the fees she already paid and that the other monies will be paid over to her in due time. There is also a cancellation of the apartment she was going to stay in.
"I don't understand why she cancelled everything. She was set to go study and she already had an apartment. She cancelled everything and she paid penalties for it. It doesn't sound like Ellie at all." I look up at Bailey as I finish speaking to myself.
Bailey doesn't seem to have heard me anyway. She holding a document in her hands. She seems lost in it.
"What is that, Bailey?" I touch her arm to get her attention.
"It's a non-disclosure agreement. What doesn't make sense is that it is drawn up for Ellie. There are six of these. If you read through it, it sounds like Ellie was a very exclusive prostitute." Bailey seems stunned. She hands the NDA to me and picks up another.
Exclusive enough to only have six clients. I look around her apartment. She is actually doing better than she would have if she did finish her studies.
I feel great sadness for the life Ellie had chosen. I doubt that she wanted it this way. She always felt so embarrassed by her aunt.
I read through the documents and it seems that Bailey is right.
Adrien comes storming out of the room. He walks past us without greeting and leaves the apartment. He slams the door on his way out. He is clearly very upset. Ava appears in the door coming from the hallway. Her eyes are red and swollen.
I hold my arm out to her and she walks into it. I wrap my arms around her and let her cry on my shoulder. Bailey walks to the kitchen to get us something to drink.
When she returns with three large mugs of coffee, we sit around the table. I put the documents all neatly in the box and move the box to one side.
"What happened, Ava?" I prod gently.
"Rachel. I cannot make sense of everything that happened ten years ago. I know it is in the past and nothing can be done to change anything but I feel things took unnecessary turns for the worse."
"That is exactly how I felt when I went through this box of Ellie. She had a bright future already set in place and suddenly absolutely everything went wrong. She was forced to take a life path that she hated." I tell Ava what we found in the box and how things looked from the story the documents told.
"Why is Adrien out of here in the state he was in. He seemed very angry." I ask Ava when she seems calmer.
"I told him I never sent him messages to end our relationship. He told me he never received my calls or messages I sent to try and get hold of him. He made a call asking someone to check some mobile phone records and then he stormed out." She tells it almost as if she is asking a question.
"Do we need to pack up this apartment?" Ava asks me.
"I suppose we will have to, eventually."
My phone starts buzzing in my pocket. I pick up the phone to answer it. I do not know the number that is calling me.
"Hello"
"Rachel? It's Ryan"
Hearing his voice after all these years splits a deep ache open in my chest.
When I do not answer he just continues.
"I just spoke to Adrien. I think it is very important that we get together as soon as possible. Could you meet me somewhere?"
"Yes, of course, where would you like to meet?"
"Across the street from Ellie's place is a restaurant. It has private dining rooms. We can talk there." He says and ends the call.
"He didn't give a time," Bailey says in a flat voice. She always reacted this way when Ryan made instant plans back in the day. She could never understand how Brandon could just flat out follow Ryan in whatever he did.
"That means the time is now" I tell her as I stand up. I take the cups from the table and quickly rinse them in the sink in the kitchen. When I get back to the other ladies, they are already good to go.
As we approach the restaurant across the street a waiter sees us and stands closer to the door. He greets us and asks us to follow him as he turns and walks into the restaurant.
Bailey gives me a nervous look. She also picked up that the Morton's have already arranged for us to be received by the door. We follow the waiter to a private dining room. He opens the door for us and stands aside for us to enter the room.
The four Morton brothers are seated at the table. Back in the day they would have taken seats with an empty seat between each of them. Today they are all seated next to each other.
We take the seats on the other side of the round table. There are eight seats. When we are all seated my eyes fall on the one empty chair. The pain of Ellie's absence twists around my heart. I pull my gaze away from the empty seat and look straight in front of me. My eyes meet with Ryan's.
He aged well. He looks really good. For a moment I want to tell him that. He gives me a feint smile.
He places his hands on the table and takes a breath.
"The three of you have always been a sight to behold. Especially when you were grouped together and moving as one." He smiles a genuine smile. "I always enjoyed watching how other girls stared after you when you walked by."
Greyson clears his throat.
"Of course. We are not here to reminisce about the past. We have a lot to discuss with you." He takes time to make eye contact with each of us. He is not just talking to me.
"There is something I need to tell you. Firstly, I would like to apologise. Our mother had quite a hand in manipulating circumstances to make life hard for you girls. The moment we realised this we vowed to walk away from all of you in an effort to save you from her wrath."
I look at Ava. I can see the confusion of everything of her past that didn't make sense start to fall into place. We were sabotaged.
"Secondly. We do not know where our mother is. She disappeared two years ago and we have not been able to find her. We now know exactly how dangerous she is so we need to keep you safe at all costs."
The room is almost too quiet. I can see Ava wringing her hands in her lap. Bailey looks even paler than she usually does. From the moment we met up for the funeral Bailey was scared senseless. I suspect Bailey knew how evil Marcella was all along.
"Thirdly," Ryan's voice is softer now. "There is someone you need to see."
With this the door to the private dining room opens and a woman comes walking in. I stand up. The room around me is turning. I stare in disbelief at the woman in front of me. Relief and confusion overwhelm me.
"Ellie!"