She stood away from the other mourners, gazing at the gravesite with her lips tightly pressed, sunglasses hiding the pain in her tear filled eyes. A man sheād loved desperately had passed away, even though it had been five years since their relationship had ended, she still had needed to come pay her respects.
He watched her, studying her body language, the way she tried to hold her emotions in, but he saw the tears sliding down her cheek and wondered who the pale woman was. He was certain she wasnāt one of his friendās current women, heād known them all and he definitely would have remembered this elfin beauty.
She left before the ceremony was quite finished, walking slowly towards the waiting cab, she got in and bade the driver take her to the airport hotel. Her flight was scheduled to leave in the wee hours of the morning, sheād try to get a few hours rest.
Peterās mother was not taking her sonās death very well, she had called James and begged him to close up his condo, boxing up the clothes and belongings and getting them ready for pick up by the local Red Cross.
āKeep whatever you want James, any clothes or mementos, I simply cannot face doing thatā.
And so here he was, going through his friendās most private possessions, feeling guilty, like he was intruding. He was going through the video tapes that were in the master bedroom, there were movies that heād collected but also tapes with labels stating sequences of trips and a few of family gatherings.
Then he saw her, the mysterious woman from the funeral, it was in a video that Peter had taken of her, she was doing a cartwheel in the sand near his beach house, making faces at the camera, even mooning him, he could hear her deep throated laughter as she fooled around for the camera, she was a beauty he thought, so tiny in stature but so perfectly put together, a natural beauty, green eyed and dark reddish hair, her creamy skin showed to perfection in the tight swim suit, her breasts were fairly large, her small waist and flaring hips, she had the perfect hour-glass figure.
The video played on showing her taking her suit off and jumping into the surf in her naked glory, she played in the water like a child and Peter must have been enraptured by her antics for most of the video showed only her.
Towards the end of the tape, he was shocked to realize that the scene unfolding was of two lovers in passionate embrace, Peter and the woman were making love, the look on her face left him awestruck, there was no sound, but he could imagine her moans and her screams as the expression on her face was captured at the moments of her ecstasy. He shouldnāt watch this he thought, this was private, but he couldnāt stop the film, she was so beautiful in her wanton abandon that he sat there gazing at the screen wishing it was he that elicited such a reaction from her.
He still didnāt know her name, whenever there was sound on the film, he heard Peter refer to her as āwenchā, āCome here wench and show me some lovinā or other playful comments, but no name was mentioned. The memory of her haunted him for weeks, heād asked Peterās other friends if they remembered him going out with a slight reddish haired lady but not one could recall such a woman.
He had to meet with the company lawyer to finish up the details of the sale of his house and car and other incidentals, the lawyer mentioned that Peter had bequeathed his beach house to a woman by the name of Angelique LeBrun, that she would be coming by to sign the documents and pick up the keys. James asked if he could meet this lady, as the name wasnāt familiar at all. The lawyer agreed and shortly after he was buzzed that there was a Ms LeBrun to see him, he asked his secretary to bring her in and both men stood to welcome her into the office.
James was struck again by her beauty, she had a very plain but obviously expensive suit on, she inclined her head and asked who Mr. Michaelson was, the lawyer stepped forward and took her small hand in both of his, āIām John Michaelson and this is James Newton, Peterās friend and business partnerā . She looked up to James with a half smile and mumbled that it was a pleasure.
She took the proffered seat and clasped her hands in her lap, waiting patiently for Mr. Michaelson to begin speaking. He told her that Peter had made provisions in his will that left the beach house and all its contents to her. There was a sealed letter for her which he handed to her. She left it unopened and slipped it into her purse. James could see her trying valiantly to hold onto her emotions, the clenched hands in her lap, the over brightness of her eyes. The lawyer took out some papers for her to read and sign, James was asked to sign also as a witness. The keys were handed to her and she looked up at the lawyer and thanked him, and looked next at James and with a slight smile nodded to him.
She left shortly afterwards and James asked Michaleson if he had any idea who that woman was in Peterās life
āPete once told me with great regret, she was the one whoād gotten away, they had a brief but passionate affair years ago, sheād wanted permanence and Peter had thought he was not ready for it and so sheād left. He never stopped caring about her, even trying to get her to come back but sheād moved on and never took his entreaty seriously, he said some of the happiest moments of his life had been spent with that womanā.
James left the law offices shortly after she did and was strolling to his car when he looked to the side and saw her in a parked rental, her face in her hands as her shoulders shook from her obvious sobs, before he realized what he was doing heād opened her door and knelt down by her side, she turned her head quickly and her tear stained face and trembling lips were his undoing, he put his large hand on her shoulder and asked if he could help, she shook her head, not trusting herself to speak without breaking down again. āScoot over Miss LeBrun, weāll go get a coffee and sit in the park if you like, I donāt relish seeing you drive anywhere at the momentā.
She studied him for a few moments, then scooted over so that he could fit himself beneath the steering wheel, he had to make adjustments to the driver space before he steered the car onto the highway.
They stopped at a drive thru, he asked what she wanted in her coffee and she said she preferred iced tea, after heād gotten their beverages he drove off in the direction of the local Marina.
āThereās a lovely park there and we can sit and you can gather yourself together, we can talk if you like, Peter was not only my business partner, he was also my good friendā. She seemed to relax a bit and followed him to the park bench where they both sat.
āIām so sorry, you must be busy and here you are having to console me, Iāll be okay in a few minutes, Iāll drive you back to your carā.
āIām not so busy that I canāt spare you some time, Iām surprised that Peter never mentioned you to me, you must have meant a lot to him for him to leave you his beloved beach houseā.