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“NO ONE BUT A WOMEN can help a man when he is in trouble of the heart...”
Bram Stoker, Dracula
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GABRIEL RETURNED HOME for the Easter holidays reluctantly. He would usually be going skiing with Nate, but Easter was so late this year that there would be no decent snow. He had suggested they do something else but, to his disgust, Nate was sticking around at home to go to some party with Ellie. Gabriel might previously have broken up the visit home by going away for part of it to see Vanessa, but that was no longer an option. She had tried to call him once or twice that last week, but he was still too angry to speak to her. She’d made her choice. Part of him wondered if it was good to live with so much anger inside him all the time, but hell, he was used to it; sometimes he felt he wore it like a coat that kept out the cold cruel world.
The atmosphere at home was strained by his return, he could tell. He tried not to be constantly bad-tempered but it was hard work. He buried himself in studying plays and practicing acting techniques, but in truth he felt lonely.
He put in some time with his younger brother Michael. The two of them had always been so close, especially after their mother died, but they had naturally grown away from each other these last few years, with Gabriel at boarding school.
Michael was growing up, Gabriel realised. He still thought of his brother as a kid, but he was nearly sixteen. Gabriel felt envious of how well-adjusted Michael seemed. But at least it must mean that Francesca, his stepmother, was still making an effort to care for him. Gabriel felt guilty all the time that he wasn’t around more for his brother, but it had been Michael’s choice to stay at home and so Gabriel tried to use the holidays to cement the bond between them a bit more. Together they went to the cinema, and riding, and played laser tag in the nearest town at least three times. Laser tag was something Gabriel pretended was completely immature and a total drag, but secretly rather enjoyed. In the evenings when Gabriel wasn’t locked in his room, they spent ages killing each other on the PlayStation, Michael, in particular, being a crack shot Sniper.
All the while, Gabriel was steeling himself for another interview with his father. He tried to be polite to Francesca, mainly because he wanted his father to okay his application to the London Acting Academy.
After a week of being on the best behaviour he could manage, he asked his father for a private chat.
Together they went into his father’s study. Gabriel loved the study. Though his father had given up cigars a long time ago, Gabriel could still pick up the slight scent of old cigar smoke that had permeated the books. The study was book-lined from floor to ceiling, and an ancient walnut desk dominated the small room. Countless ancestors, through the years, had used the desk, and one day it would probably be his. What he didn’t like was being on the wrong side of that desk. As his father sat down in a massive brown leather desk chair, Gabriel was forced to take the seat opposite, an uncomfortable green Queen Anne armchair with a broken spring which stuck in to his behind. Sitting on the armchair somehow always made him feel like a naughty schoolboy about to be told off. He sighed, thinking that it wasn’t massively far from the truth.
His father poured himself a brandy from the decanter on the small drinks table, and Gabriel wished he could do the same, but felt his father wouldn’t allow it.
“Brandy?” His father held up a small-bowled glass.
Gabriel nodded, trying not to let his surprise show. Perhaps his father was finally seeing him as an adult.
Gabriel held his drink up to the light, admiring its amber depths. He sniffed it appreciatively; his father always kept excellent brandy in. He swilled it around the glass, imitating his father’s movements, and then promptly ruined the effect by taking a large sip and choking.
His father smiled at him almost fondly. Feeling emboldened, Gabriel went straight in with his request.
“The thing is, Dad, I want to go to stage school. I’m sure you’ve realised by now how serious I am. I’m applying to the LAA, and if they accept me then I’d like to start in September.”
His father puffed his cheeks. “We’ve discussed this before, Gabriel. You know how I feel. I just can’t support it until you’ve got your A levels under your belt. Do that and then we can talk again.”
“And then you would say yes?” Gabriel felt his irritation rising and tried to clamp it down.
“Then we will talk again.” His father emphasised the point.
“That’s not good enough for me.” Gabriel’s grip on his emotions began to give way. “I want to go now!”
“Stop acting like a teenager!” His father raised his voice.
“I am a teenager!” Gabriel levelled his voice but it was still thick with anger. “The thing is, Dad, I’m going to be eighteen on the second of September, and I’ll get the inheritance Mum left me. It’s more than enough to fund my studies, so I don’t actually need your financial support. It would be nice, of course, but what I want is your approval! Clearly I’m going to just have to manage without it!” His voice cracked slightly as he felt their relationship fray a bit further.
“Go to your room!” His father stood up and pointed at the door.
Gabriel swilled back the last of his brandy, then stormed out of the study – tripping over Michael, who was right outside the door.
“Why can’t you mind your own business?” he shouted at Michael. “Don’t you have anything better to do than eavesdrop on me?”
Gabriel felt awful as hurt filled Michaels eyes; he didn’t want to push away the one person he had left in the world who loved him unconditionally. He would have to apologise later, but right now he was too angry.
“I wasn’t eavesdropping,” Michael declared hotly. “I was just coming to say there’s someone here to see you!”
“Here? To see me?” Gabriel was momentarily taken aback. Wentworth Hall was pretty remote, people rarely “dropped in” except their nearest neighbours, and Michael knew all of them.
“Yes, a girl. A very pretty girl.”
Gabriel stilled, thoughts of Flora going through his head. Surely she wasn’t so stupid as to turn up at his home? He thought he had dealt with her silly crush. Or Vanessa? No, she wouldn’t come uninvited to his father’s house, she knew better. His father had never liked the sound of her and so Gabriel had never let them meet.
Coming into the hall, he was brought to a standstill by the beauty in front of him. A very pretty girl just didn’t cut it.
Vanessa stood in the late afternoon light in a white sundress and sandals, large white sunglasses perched on her head. At her feet were six matching white suitcases. He forcibly restrained himself from smiling at the sight of her. After all, she was a model, she was good at accessorising.
“What are you doing here?” he asked coldly.
Francesca came through the front door from the drawing room. “I invited her,” she said. She smiled worriedly at Gabriel. “You seemed so unhappy.”
Vanessa shrugged, “You wouldn’t answer my calls. And if Mohammed won’t go to the mountain...” She broke off, daunted by Gabriel’s expression.
“Then the mountain must come to Mohammed.” Francesca finished the quote. “And a very stylish and slim mountain at that.” Francesca stepped forward and air-kissed Vanessa. Looking her up and down she queried: “Versace?”
“Yes,” Vanessa looked thrilled and gave Francesca’s dress the same once-over. “You too?”
Gabriel groaned theatrically. Clearly these two women were kindred spirits, and now they would gang up on him together.
“Well, this is all very heart-warming, but I didn’t invite you! If I wanted you here I would have said so.” He deliberately turned his back on Vanessa and pointed a finger at Francesca. “And you, how dare you interfere in my life? Mind your own bloody business! Now if you’ll all excuse me...” He gave a last angry glance at his father, who had come out behind him to see what was going on, “I believe I’ve been sent to my room!” With that he stomped up the main staircase, round the gallery, and then banged his bedroom door behind him.
“Don’t mind him, dear, he’s been like that since the two of you broke up,” Francesca said calmly. “I’ve put you in the Blue Room, it’s next door to Gabriel’s, and I’m sure the two of you will work things out. Michael darling, could you give us a hand with the luggage?”
Gabriel sat silently through dinner glowering at the table. Everyone seemed to be ignoring his feelings. What he didn’t understand was why his father and Francesca were making such an effort to be nice to Vanessa. Surely they disapproved of her? But no, they were all laughing together like old friends. Too little, too late, he thought, morosely eating his meal.
He went to bed early, leaving them all downstairs playing card games. He heard Vanessa come up about an hour later. He glared at the connecting door, hating the fact he could hear her on the other side of it but couldn’t see her. He lay there filled with frustration. He was so angry with her. They had never resolved their row about her spending Valentine’s Day with her male “friend” Francis. But that didn’t stop him from wishing she was in the room.
As if sensing his thoughts, the connecting door opened. Damn Francesca, he thought, she must have unlocked it.
Vanessa leaned against the doorframe, wearing only her underwear. It was white as well, with little pink bows on, which seemed ridiculously childlike for her. But while her stance was provocative, the expression on her face was uncertain.
Gabriel surrendered instantly. How could he resist that mixture of sweetness and seduction?
“Oh bloody hell. Come here.” He held out his arms and she slid triumphantly into bed beside him.