Cruel Games Read online

  “How can a dog help?” He says, laughing, but Daddy doesn’t get it. As much as he tries to like Sammy I don’t think he likes him very much. I never had pets growing up but Sammy makes up for it now, he makes me so happy. I can see the mixed emotions on Daddy’s face every time I go to do my other work. He’s proud that I do it and he likes that it makes me happy but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t wonder what will happen to his business. I won’t let it go into other hands, the business will be safe with me,I just need to persuade Daddy. I feel like something else is brewing, I don’t know what but I can feel it under my skin and the fact that I keep having that same dream every night is worrying me.

  Why would I be dreaming of Charlton after all this time?

  After everything that he did to me?

  I can only pray that there’s no truth behind it all.

  It is a dream.

  A dream.

  There is no truth in dreams, I’m sure of it.

  CHAPTER TWO

  I’m out with Mummy and Daddy and we’ve come to play at a new friend’s house. Two children who I think I’ve met before but can’t remember come to stand beside their parents, who are stood with Mummy and Daddy. They don’t look like each other, the boy has black hair and hazel eyes and the little girl has hazel eyes with light brown hair. They both look like perfect dolls, nothing is out of place. The boy turns to me with a smile and with a nice voice he says.

  “Hello, I’m Charlton.” He looks very pretty in a boyish way I guess and I just want to watch him. He looks at me with a big smile and then runs back to the climbing frame, my eyes following him.

  “Would you like tocome play with me?” The little girl says as she takes my hand in hers and together we run off to the tree house together. We play together like perfect friends and even Charlton comes over and plays too. They are both really nice to me and just let me join in and play with them and all their toys. When it’s time for something to eat the adults sit around the table in the kitchen and we get to have a picnic on a blanket on the grass. It’s so much fun. I have so much fun and when it’s time to go I really don’t want to.

  The day starts like all the rest, there is no reason for me to think something life-changing is being conspired behind my back. The sun is shining, animal-shaped clouds fill the blue sky and birds are singing as if it is like any other day. I could never have guessed, I mean who does that?

  Who thinks that by the end of the day their world will shatter all around them like broken glass? Well, I don’t but it happensnonetheless and the blow still rips through everything I thought I knew.

  I awake to the cold morning sun shining through my blinds attempting to warm anything that would allow it to, my skin likes the feel of warmth it grants it. As I come to, I feel well-rested even though I had another nightmare andmy body feels like it’s just waiting for the change a new day can bring. I always try to start the day the same way, with a positive attitude. Each day is a new one, a new chance to make a difference. I try to forget the dream that forces its way through my mind as I do every day and as much as I try to forget I can still remember those hazel eyes of his that want toattack my memories.

  They are from my past andas the day progresses and the dream weakens its hold over me, I manage to push them back to where they rightfully belong. I have found that there is no reason to dwell on a past that I can’t change or isn’t coming to get me. No, Charlton Williams is long gone, away in my past where he belongs. I start my day going through emails for our own charity. Two years ago Daddy helped me to start one up, it was linked with the business and we take twenty percent of our profits and put it directly into the charity. It’s a lot of profit so in the last two years we’ve been able to do alot, not as much as I would like but it’s a greatstart, a good starting point. Sammy is at my side and I only realise how much time has gone by when I look at my desk phone and see the time flashing away at me.

  “Want a walk, boy?” I ask Sammy as I reach into the drawer and get his lead out. Sammy’s head lifts up at the mention of a walk and when he gets on his paws his tail starts to wag.

  “Are you excited, boy?” I say. His tail keeps wagging enthusiastically as I put his lead around his neck.

  “Come on, good boy.”I lead him through the back entrance of the shop where deliveries and our staff come in and out and after a while we are at the park. Sammy starts to pull the closer we get. I sit down and eat my sandwich, Sammy running back and fro from me and wherever his ball lands. I’m glad that the sun is still shining from this morning through the crisp air that’s starting to turn warmer but not enough for my liking. I like the heat. Tourists flitter through like lost animals and children run around screaming with their mothers running after them. I let Sammy run around for at least an hour before we start heading back just as my mobile starts to ring in my pocket.

  “Hi, Daddy.”I say, noticing how Sammy seems tired and not as energetic anymore.

  “Hi sweetheart.” I can hear his breathing as he takes a few moments.

  “Could you please come by the office? I need to speak to you.”

  “Of course I can. Sammy and I are just finishing our walk. I’ll be there in a little while.”

  “Thank you, Noelle. See you soon.” He ends the call before I can say bye and I look down at Sammy.

  “He called me Noelle.” Sammy looks at me with his big brown puppy-dog eyes.

  “It must be important. Shall we go see Daddy, boy?” He gives me a little bark and a nudge on the side of my knee and I lead him to my family building. When we get there I walk through the doors with Sammy at my heel and a nervous flutter in my heart.

  What could Daddy want to talk about?

  I try and think through things that I have recently done but I don’t think there is anything that should worry him.

  What could it be?

  The inside of our building is still something to behold. I continue to make my way through the entrance where beauty counters line the floor with pretty packaging and sweet smells. I can feel my palms begin to sweat and the feeling of nausea wants to attack the back of my throat.

  Why am I feeling like this all of a sudden? I’m only going to see my father and I know I haven’t done anything bad that could damage the business. We get on so well but it’s as if my body is trying to pre-warn me about something and it’s starting to unsettle me to the core.

  That’s just stupid, Daddy would never do anything that would upset me. The walls around me are painted beige with dark wood panelling all around, the floors have white tiles with the same brown markings and dark wooden desks. As I walk through, the beauty department is replaced by jewellery and accessories. I can feel the odd customer looking at Sammy, wondering what he’s doing here but I’ve gotten used to it by now. The odd new member of staff has approached me in the past telling me no dogs allowed except assistance dogs and I had to hide behind my laugh as I told them who I was.

  I walk through the rest of the floor, Sammy is being so well-behaved as we continue towards the lifts. I swipe my company card for the seventh floor and then an old couple join us and they give Sammy a fuss before we stop on the first floor where I can see the different women’s clothingdesigners. I’m glad to see that everything is in good working order. Once the elevator closesthe sickness tries to rear its ugly head again. I just need to get this meeting over with and find out what’s got Daddy so worried. Finally the doors open on my floor and I’m greeted by more warmth, more beige and dark brown wood. I walk through the hallway where both mine and Daddy’s offices are. I see Daddy’s receptionist and then he walks through his office door and he’s a few feet away from me. It’s as if he’s growing shorter from what I remember as a child, his short dark hair has too many greysglistening through the strands and the kindest of blue eyes. He has perfect features, but a round belly I used to love snuggling into when I was a child. He looks good even though he’s into his late sixties.

  “Hi, Daddy.” He gives me a warm smile, but I notice how i
t doesn’t reach his eyes, that’s so unlike him.

  “Come on, sweetheart.” He gestures for me to go into his office and I lead Sammy through. I take out his little bowl from my handbag and pour out some water from the bottle that is in there too.

  “There you go, good boy.” I say to him as I put the bowl on the floor by his front paws and then take the seat opposite Daddy’s desk. Daddy looks almost sick as he sits down and takes me in.

  “What’s wrong, Daddy?” Worry consumes me, what else is going to happen to our little family? We’ve already lost Mummy, we can’t cope with anything else. Daddy and Sammy are the most important things in the world to me, I can’t lose anyone else.

  “Daddy?” He continues to look at me, his eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks.

  “I...I.It’s time. W...W.We all signed a contract.”

  Panic starts to thrash through my veins as I try to understand what he might be trying to tell me.

  “What do you mean, Daddy?”My mind starts to spin as anticipation starts to mount in my heart.

  “It’s time.”

  “Time for what? You are not making any sense whatsoever, Daddy.”

  “You need to marry”

  I get a sudden sinking feeling in my stomach as I try to digest his words.

  “Excuse me?” I demand after a few moments of just staring at Daddy. I’m sure I have heard him wrong. There is no way my father would put such a demand on me like that. I’ve been on a few dates in the last few years but none of them were anything special, they didn’t give me butterflies in my stomach, like he did. Daddy has always told me not to go for anything but the best when it comes to matters of the heart. I just haven’t found that since Charlton.

  I must have heard Daddy wrong. I just have to have had, because the Daddy I know would never say this to me.

  “You have to marry Charlton Williams.”

  The moment that name crosses my Daddy’s lips I can see those hazel eyes again, even though I have managed to fight them away for most of the day. Visions from my past try to force themselves to the forefront of my mind, some good but mostly bad, all the things he did.I have to use all the control I possess just to appear calm as Daddy says that name. My blood starts to boilunder my skin just thinking of that man and if I were to lose it right now, I don’t want to think what I would say.

  “C...C..Charlton?” I manage to say, even though it tastes like poison.

  “Yes, Charlton. You need to marry him.”

  “You mean Charlton Williams? I haven’t seen him for years. I hate him, Daddy, I can’t marry him,we have nothing in common. I don’t think he’s even back in the country.”

  I know he has been away, I know too much about him thanks to his coverage in all the newspapers and magazines. He is turning into the perfect upper-class playboy and Daddy wants me to marry him.

  “I..I can’t.” I whisper as I look up into Daddy’s eyes.

  “You have to and he is home and he’s quite excited about seeing you again.”

  I suddenly want to ripout every hair on my head, scratch my skin till I bleed with frustration.

  Daddy isn’t listening to me.

  Why won’t he listen to me?

  “I can’t do that, Daddy.” I feel so angry, I don’t even know what I want to say at the moment.

  “You can.” Daddy says with a gentle smile, trying to soften his blow.“You have to, baby.”

  It all feels so surreal, like it could be happening to someone else or in a dream but this is happening. Oh God, I want to be sick as what my father is saying tries to sink in.

  “You want to hand me over to some stranger?”He frowns and then leans forward.

  “He’s not a stranger. You’ve known Charlton since you were little.”

  “I didn’t know him then and I definitely don’t know him now.” I say, shaking my head with disgust.My life feels like it’s just been shaken to the core just having to think of Charlton bloody Williams.

  “I want you to be happy, Noelle. I want you to have someone with whom you can share the burden of running a company like ours.Someone to look after you.”

  “Excuse me, I can do all that quite happily on my own. I do not need Charlton Williams or anyone else to help me.” I get up and grab hold of Sammy’s lead, the poor thing already having a nap after his run around. I can hear Daddy sighing before he says.

  “Noelle, please don’t go, we need to talk about this.” I march over to the door anyway and when I get there I turn back to Daddy.

  “I never knew the real Charlton Williams when we were younger and I definitely don’t know him now.” I stop for a moment just to allow myself to calm down.“And right now I don’t know if I know my own Daddy either.” I get my march on and storm out of his office to the lift where I swipe my card again, hoping it gets me upstairs and to the safety of my flat as soon as possible.

  CHAPTER THREE

  It’s my first day at school and both Mummy and Daddy take me to my new class. There are loads of children running around and I soon see the little girl Louisa from when we went to her and her brother’s house for lunch. Louisa comes over, calling my name, taking my hand from Daddy’s.

  “You’re here Noelle.” She says as she takes me back to where she had been playing with another little girl. We play with a dolls house all the other children are playing and laughing, we are all having lots of fun. All of a sudden there is clapping and everyone stops laughing and turns around to where our teacher, a nice-looking lady who is standing very tall and looking at us all, is waiting for us all to stop what we are doing.

  “Ok everyone, that’s enough. Why don’t we all sit down on the blue mat please.”

  We all do as we’re told and we end up singing songs about the different letters and how they all sound. It’s really fun but we’re all pleased when we can go outside for playtime. The other kids go off to play and Louisa takes a hold of my hand and we go off to play too. It feels like we are sat there and all a part of our own mission, the goodies fighting over the nasty bad guys for hours, I just want to play like this forever.It’s so much fun.

  I think the moment I first met him I knew deep down that nothing good could ever happen with him I was just blinded by him and young. I was too young to know what love was. My child -sized heart was infatuated with his boyish charms and pretty eyes. The way he grew into one of the popular kids and would still give me the time of day when it was just us and his sister. As he got older things changed but he was always going to be my Charlton. He could have done anything and I would have always loved him. That’s what I thought anyway and then he changed the game plan. He changed and I hated him to the ends of the earth. The Williams family was one of the biggest in the UK, their name and land had graced the country for centuries, going down to each son. Our family, on the other hand had made our name, our millions, but as children that never mattered and we had a mutual understanding between us. I never thought we would be good enough for marriage with a Williams, to them we were like new money, not the same as them.

  I haven’t seen him in years and now my Daddy wants to throw me back in the line of his fire, he would burn me to a crisp if I let him.I enter my flat, my hands shaking as I fumble with the lock. Sammy follows at my heel and when I manage to open the door and walk in I slam my front door with as much strength as I possess, just trying to get rid of some of the tension inside me.

  How could my own Daddy say that to me?

  Force me into marriage?

  Doesn’t he know me at all? I get my mobile from my handbag and press Louisa’s number and I’m relieved when it only rings a few times before she answers it with her cheerful voice.

  “Hel.....” I interrupt her before she can finish her greeting.

  “Tell me you didn’t know?”I ask her with a shaky voice.

  “Noelle, what are you on about?” And I can hear the worry in the tone she uses.

  “Your brother, Louisa. A contract, marriage.”

  “What about my
brother? What are you on about?”