Danielle Steel: Journey

“I love you too, Bill,” she whispered as he held her. And as they fell asleep in each other's arms, they knew that they were blessed. It had been a long journey through two lives to find each other, but the trip, and the sorrows, and the pain, and even the losses they had both sustained, had been worth it to both of them.

Chapter 23

THE SECURITY GUARDMADDY HAD hired met her at Bill's house the next day, and she explained to him that all she wanted to do was go to the house she had shared with Jack and pick up her clothes. She had enough empty suitcases there to pack them in, and she had rented a van to transport them. She was going to drop them off at the apartment she had rented for Lizzie, and that was all there was to it. The art, the furniture, the mementos, all the rest of it, she was leaving for Jack. She wanted nothing more than her clothes and personal items. It seemed straightforward and simple. Until they got to the house.

The guard was driving the van for her. And Bill had offered to come, but she didn't think it was right, and assured him he didn't need to worry. She figured it would only take her a few hours, and they went after she knew Jack would have left for work. But as soon as she got to the front door, and turned her key in the lock, she knew something was wrong. The door wouldn't open. The key seemed to fit perfectly, but when it turned, it opened nothing. She tried again, wondering if something was wrong with the lock, and the security guard tried it for her. And then he looked at her and told her the locks had been changed. Her key was useless.

She was still standing outside the house, when she used her cellular to call Jack, and his secretary put her through to him promptly. For a moment, she'd been afraid he wouldn't talk to her.

“I'm at the house, trying to pick up my stuff,” she explained, “and my key doesn't work. I assume you changed the locks. Can we come by the office and pick up the key? I'll bring it back to you later.” It was a reasonable request, and her voice was level and pleasant although her hands were shaking.

“What stuff?” he asked, sounding blank. “You don't have any ‘stuff at my house.” It was an odd way to put it.

“I just want to pick up my clothes, Jack. I'm not taking anything else. You can have the rest.” She also had to pick up the clothes she kept in Virginia. “And obviously I'm taking my jewelry. That's it. The rest is all yours.”

“You don't own the clothes or the jewelry,” he said in a voice that sounded frozen. “I do. You don't own anything, Mad, except whatever you're wearing right now. I paid for it. I own it.” Just like he used to tell her he owned her. But she had seven years of wardrobe and jewelry in the house and there was no reason why she shouldn't have it, except if he wanted to be vindictive.

“What are you going to do with it?” she asked calmly.

“I sent the jewelry to Sotheby's two days ago, and I had Goodwill pick your things up the day you told me you were leaving. I told them to destroy them.”

“You didn't?”

“Of course I did. I didn't think you'd want anyone else wearing your things, Mad,” he said as though he had done her a big favor. “There's absolutely nothing of yours in that house now.” And even the jewelry didn't represent a big investment to him. He had never given her any really important jewelry, just some pretty things that she liked, and wouldn't bring him a fortune when he sold them.

“How could you do that?” He was such a bastard. She was standing outside the house, stunned by the meanness of what he'd done to her.

“I told you, Maddy. Don't fuck with me. If you want out, you'll pay for it.”

“I have for all the years I've known you, Jack,” she said evenly, but she was shaking from what he had just done to her. She felt as though she'd been robbed as she stood outside their house wearing the clothes Bill had bought for her.

“You ain't seen nothing yet,” Jack warned her. And his tone sounded so sick it scared her.

“Fine,” she said, and hung up and went back to Bill's house. He was there, working on some things, and looked startled that she had returned so quickly.

“What happened? Had he packed it all up for you before you got there?”

“You could say that. He says he destroyed everything. He changed the locks and I never even got in. I called him. He says he's selling the jewelry at Sotheby's, and he had Goodwill destroy all my clothes and personal things.” It was like a fire that had taken everything with it. And she had nothing. It was so cruel and so petty.

“The bastard. Screw him, Maddy. You can buy new things.”

“I guess so.” But somehow she felt violated. And it would be expensive to buy a whole new wardrobe.

She felt shaken by what Jack had done, but in spite of it, they managed to have a nice weekend, and she was bracing herself for an inevitable encounter with Jack when she went back to work on Monday. She knew how difficult it was going to be working for him, but she loved her job, and didn't want to give it up.

“I think you should give them notice,” Bill said sensibly. “There are lots of other networks that would love to have you.”

“I'd rather keep the status quo for now,” she said, though perhaps not sensibly, and he didn't argue with her. She had had enough trauma for one week, between the bombing, and losing everything she owned to her soon-to-be-ex-husband.

But she was totally unprepared for what happened when she went to work on Monday. Bill dropped her off on his way to a meeting with his publisher, and she walked into the lobby wearing her badge and a brave smile, as she prepared to walk through the metal detector. And she instantly saw, out of the corner of her eye, the head of security waiting for her. He took her aside, and explained that she couldn't go upstairs.

“Why not?” she asked, looking surprised. She wondered if they were having a fire drill or a bomb threat or even a threat against her.

“You're not allowed to,” he said bluntly. “Mr. Hunter's orders. I'm sorry, ma'am, but you can't come into the building.” She was not only fired. She was persona non grata. If the guard had hit her it wouldn't have stunned her more than what he had just said to her. The door had been slammed in her face. She was out of work, out of clothes, out of luck, and for an instant she felt the panic he had intended her to feel. All she needed was a ticket to Knoxville on a Greyhound bus.

She took a deep breath as she walked outside again and told herself that no matter what he did to her, he couldn't destroy her. She was being punished for leaving him. She hadn't done anything wrong, she reminded herself. After all he'd done to her, she had a right to her freedom. But what if she never found a job again, she asked herself, or if Bill got tired of her, or Jack was right and she was worthless? Without thinking, she started walking and walked all the way back to Bill's house, which took her an hour, and when she got there, she was exhausted.

He was already back by then, and when he saw her, she was sheet white, and she started to sob the moment she saw him, and told him what happened.

“Calm down,” he said firmly, “calm down, Maddy Everything's going to be okay. He can't do anything to hurt you.”

“Yes, he can. I'll wind up in the gutter, just like he said. And I'll have to go back to Knoxville.” It was totally irrational, but she had been through too much in a short time, and she was completely panicked. She had money in the bank, that she had saved from her salary without telling Jack, and she had Bill, but in spite of that, she felt like an orphan, and that was precisely what Jack had intended. He had known exactly how she would feel, how devastated, how terrified, and that was what he wanted. It was war now.