Since no one seemed to be coming back to orientate her, although she was pretty sure that’s what Graham had tried to do first thing, she opened her website. She hadn’t meant to neglect it but she hadn’t had much time to devote to it lately. The action on the site had dropped drastically since that sex video had been posted. She skimmed through a few pages and was about to close it out when she noticed there were messages for her.
She opened one email. The subject line simply read, ‘me too’. There was no message and no signature. Tarin knew the woman had responded to the posting she’d put up about date rape and not having any memory of what happened. It had been a general article she’d found on the internet but she’d posted it for a reason. She hadn’t shared her personal story yet but really wanted to find others who’d been through what she had. A faint conversation, a distant, faded memory from that week she’d lost, nagged at her.
It better work this time.
And if it doesn’t?
Well there’s always another one isn’t there? But you better make sure it’s successful this time.
The voices faded but lingered like a song she couldn’t remember the words to. What had someone wanted with her? Why her? Why had no one contacted her since then? What could they have wanted to achieve?
The depraved mind of what someone had done to her, made her not only nauseous but angry. She felt as though she was waiting for the gavel to fall that would drastically change her life and not in her favor. None of it made sense. Something told her other women had gone through what she had, and if that was so, she had to find them. Maybe they had better memories of what they’d been through. Until then, she could at least help other women heal through airing the abuse that had happened to them.
There was another message from a woman who was looking for her daughter. She sent a quick response, telling the woman not to lose hope.
Tarin felt a lump form in her throat. It brought up bad memories from her childhood. She’d always hoped her mom had left temporarily and that she’d return to take her away one day. Instead, she’d been told she’d died and was never coming back which left Tarin to live the perfect life... perfectly orchestrated... perfectly sterile... perfectly lonely.
Every day I dressed up in a frilly pink or white dress. My best shoes. My hair perfectly curled and styled, with a white ribbon to hold it back. ‘Yes sir. No sir.’ were the only words I was allowed to speak, unless asked for more information. I had to greet any guest that came to the house ‘Good day. Nice to meet you.’ I had to sit for hours, staying quiet and listening. Always listen. Learn. But never talk. Never interrupt. Never yell, even if a bee stung me.
There was the barest of sounds as the door whispered open. Without looking up, Tarin swallowed a few times, forcing back her emotions before quickly logging out. Once the website was closed, she reminded herself she’d have to remove that digital footprint from the computer before she left for the day. She glanced up. Bailey was staring at her with a quizzical expression.
“Is everything okay?”
“Fine.” Tarin forced herself to rein in her emotions. Now was not the time to react to the injustices these women who’d joined her site had suffered. She’d have to be more careful in the future.
There was a long pause but no break in eye contact.
“Just leaving. Congrats on your new job. Good luck with it. Don’t let these two run you ragged and when it’s quitting time, leave. They’d work you through the night if they could. They aren’t like normal mortals; they forget some people need to sleep, eat and have a life.”
Tarin forced a smile, glad that Bailey was back on friendly ground with her. “I’ll remember that. Thanks.”
She logged into the email address to which Graham had given her access. There was a ton of spam, which made her wonder how good these guys really were. She waited a while to see if either of her bosses was coming out. After ten minutes, she took a chance and logged back onto her website. She read through several comments on her latest posting about believing in oneself. There was also a new message. LJ had replied.
‘I’ve decided I’m going to look for my daughter. I need to know that her life turned out better than mine.’ LJ
‘I’ve wanted to meet my mom my whole life. Your daughter would be happy to meet you. You’re doing the right thing. A Mom is so important.’ Tarin
With one last look, she logged out and immersed herself in the work for her new position. She spent the remainder of the hour going through all the junk mail to make sure that’s what it was. She deleted most of it but kept a few that looked a bit fishy. She hoped to organize things, and since they hadn’t given her a clear outline of her duties, she figured this was a good place to start. She was tempted to back trace where the emails were sent from, because she was sure that’s where she’d find the information she needed.
“Tarin?”
She rocked backward and looked at Guy, who was staring at her in a way that made her guess he’d called her a few times.
“Sorry. I was trying to get myself oriented and organized.” She smiled. “What do you need?”
“Come on into our office, so we can talk to yo―”
“What the hell?” Graham yelled from the other office. A moment later, he was at the door glaring at her.
Her cheeks heated up in response. He stormed over to her. Reflexively, she shoved her chair back, stood up and put up her forearm as a protective shield. When nothing happened and she realized the room was so silent that an ant crossing the ceramic tiled floor would have been heard, she slowly lowered her arm and looked up. Her gaze darted between the two stunned men, who were staring at her.
“You’re upset. What did I do?”
It took a moment and after a quick telling glance between the two men, Graham said in a much gentler tone as he stepped back, “You’ve started working on the emails.”
Tarin could feel the red heat creep up her face. “Ah. You don’t like what I’ve done. No worries, I can easily undo it.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, what exactly did you do?” Guy asked.
“She rearranged—”
“I was trying to organize—”
Guy laughed. “I’ve been on his case for a while to get the files in order. He says they are. Just don’t ask him to find anything within five minutes because he can’t.”
Graham rolled his eyes before spinning on his heel and returning to his office, shutting the door behind him.
“He’s stressed. Don’t let it get to you. Show me what you’re doing and I’ll see if I can help you set up a system he can live with.”
After a quick stop for lunch, Guy spent the afternoon conducting an orientation with her. He explained how they repaired computers downstairs and did internet researching for companies upstairs, finding what was legitimate and what wasn’t. He went through some emails to show her which ones they might consider and which ones they wouldn’t.
“So how come so many requests? Many that look—”
“Well that’s why we hired you. We think we have a prankster out there trying to make our lives difficult, probably some fifteen-year old who’s bored. So we really need you to divide them into bogus, maybe bogus, could be something and sounds good.”
Tarin nodded but didn’t respond. There seemed to be a whole lot more going on but she wasn’t going to question her boss on her first day. The bell chimed from her purse.
“You know you can answer your cell phone. We don’t want it to be a habit but it seems someone is really trying to reach you.”
“Uh... It’s okay. Sorry. I’ll silence it. I leave it on for emergencies and if it is from someone I need to respond to, I have a different sound programmed. I’m really—”
“Don’t worry about it.” Guy showed her a few more things before it seemed that they were done.
“I hope this is okay to ask, but I noticed you have some pictures of Caspian Winery on the walls. Can I ask why?”
Guy leaned back in his chair and watched her for a second. She was used to being scrutinized, so she held his gaze.
“It belongs to Bailey’s grandmother.”
Something she’d never had. At least not that she remembered. Her grandmother had passed several years before and she knew that only because she’d found the information by accident on the internet. It had made her wonder if her grandfather would ever want to see her. Her dad had always said he was a vicious old man trying to destroy his business. She’d never really known what to believe but the newspapers didn’t portray him that way. He seemed to be well liked and respected by other businessmen and by his employees—not something her dad could say.
“Tarin?”
She kept staring at the picture of an elderly woman, unsure what he’d be able to read in her face. “I take it she’s not very involved in it?”
“You’d be wrong. She’s eighty and at the helm, steering her ship.”
“Wow. That’s not something you see too often. Is it a very big operation?” She tried not to sound surprised, but learning an old woman ran it wasn’t what she’d been expecting. Her name was listed on the website as CEO but she’d figured that was just a figurehead title.
“Yes. They’re one of the top five wineries in Ontario. They ship all over Canada, although mostly in the west and to several places in the United States and a few places in Europe.”
“I’d say that’s really big. That must keep her very busy. I can’t imagine working like that at her age.”
“Most can’t at her age. She’s an amazing woman.”
Tarin smiled but found she couldn’t respond; just once she’d love to be able to talk about someone with that kind of love and affection.
“Where’s the winery?” She hoped that sounded normal, as though she didn’t already know.
“Oh, outside of Toronto about an hour or so.” Guy stood up. “You know what? I think your first day is done.”
She glanced at the time on the computer, shocked to see that it was 5:00 already. “The day went by so fast. Thank you so much for your help.”
“No problem. Graham’s really an easy-going guy.”
She prevented herself from rolling her eyes, and instead she nodded as though she understood. He’s a jerk. Not that she said that out loud. She needed the job for longer than a day.
The inner door flew open. “Jesus Guy, you’ve got to see this.” Graham disappeared as fast as he’d appeared and without a glance in her direction.
It was time to leave and that was all she cared about. She was proud of herself, although she wondered if Guy thought she had a bladder problem as she went to the washroom every hour on the hour. Since she’d been calling to talk to Chance, she figured she’d done pretty well, considering she’d never been away from him before. The tears in his eyes when she’d left that morning had almost been enough to change her mind.
Tarin was more than ready to go home. Although the closed door begged her to find out what was so urgent, she headed down the stairs instead. As she exited the building, she was sure she’d seen someone dart around the side of it. Curious, she was about to look when her phone chirped again. Frustrated, she pulled it out to find twenty-three texts from Stephen. She didn’t want to read them but knew that she was going to.
Dammit Tarin, answer me... Come on, sweetheart.
I got you a new diamond ring...
I’ll take you out to your favorite restaurant. Chance can come...
I miss the little guy, at least let me see him...
You’re not being fair.
It’s my right... I’ve had it. I’m sending the cops after you... I’ll find you...
You bitch. You’ve screwed me for the last time.
Cringing, she closed her phone. She couldn’t read anymore. She’d meant to piss him off but hadn’t really thought beyond that. The missing clothes, the scissors sticking out of the ten-thousand-dollar dress he’d bought her and her not being at his beck and call, seemed to have pushed him over the edge. It was so out of character for her to have done that. She still cringed when she thought about it but she felt strangely justified when she considered all that Stephen had done to her. She was nothing more to him than a means to an end. She had been his arm candy—having a gorgeous woman on his arm, in his mind, made him the envy of other men.
It had never dawned on her that he would want to find her. In her mind it was over. He wasn’t one to persevere; if it didn’t come easy, he quit. She’d assumed that would also apply to her, especially since he had a girlfriend with whom he preferred spending time.
How much effort was he expend to discover her whereabouts?