String of Fate

Chapter Forty Three

"My name is Evan." He answered. He fell into step beside me as I headed home. I hadn't realised how cold the night actually was. It didn't take me long to make it home and just went in through the back door, finding our cook still in the kitchen, unpacking the dishwasher from dinner. "You live here?"

"Not just me. There're my parents, Stephan the butler, his wife Carla, their three year old daughter Sophie, and my old nanny, Wendy, who is now Sophie's nanny." I told him, pulling him into the kitchen gesturing for him to sit at the breakfast bar. "Carla, this is Evan. I'm feeling a bit generous so could you prepare some dishes for him and his mother, please? If you have any leftovers or anything that he could take to warm up when he gets home would be great."

"Francesca, you should know by now that I do not condone leftovers, however, I may have something for such a fine young man." Carla replied, wiping her hands on her apron. She headed over to the huge fridge that was always full of food. I headed over to the kettle, checking how much water was in there and flicked it on. I was glad that Carla always kept it full. Carla prattled off a bunch of foods – lasagne, Beef stew, some cold potatoes that she could make into a salad. She set about sorting them into a shopping bag, making the salad for him. "What are you doing with the kettle?"

"Making some tea and coffee that he can take home with him. They'll be cool enough for them to drink with their food. Also, have we got any large bottles of soft drink?" I queried. In answer, Carla pulled one from the fridge and added it to the shopping bag. I held a hand out to Evan. "Backpack."

He handed it over. I managed to fit the flasks in alongside the two library books that were in there. There was still room, so, I added some of Carla's speciality cakes. She made amazing chocolate fudge brownies. Before handing it back, I nipped to my dad's study and took an invite from the desk. "What's your surname?"

"Bellemere." He spoke without thinking. I wrote his name in, adding 'and Mrs Bellemere' at the end. I slipped it into his bag. "What is that sheet of paper? You're not going to use that against me are you?"

"No! It's an invite to my sixteenth birthday party tomorrow. There's going to be a catered buffet and it'd be nice to get to know you more. Besides, it's a way of paying me back for this." I explained to him.

"You've done way too much for me and now you're giving me an invite to your birthday party?" He asked, surprised.

"And your mother." I added. "Please come. It'll be someone different apart from my dad's special guests, meaning his business partners and some high ranking employees that I can never remember the names of. I only see them once a year. There's no one from school, and doubtfully less than thirty. Plus, you might actually enjoy yourself."

"How could I possibly say no to such a wonderful person?" He wondered. "Thank you so much, Francesca. I've known you less than an hour and you've already done so much for me. I don't know how I could ever repay you."

"Just come tomorrow and bring your mother." I answered as Carla handed him the shopping bag of food. "I'd really like for us to become friends, Evan. You seem like a really nice person."

The next day, I didn't leave my room as I had a lay in and had a lot of people helping me to get ready. It wasn't necessary. I could dress myself, do a simple hairstyle myself and do my own make-up. For my birthday, my dad had ensured a hairstylist to do a complicated bun with a studded clip that had been my grandmothers and a make-up artist to ensure that nothing was mucked up. People started arriving at 6pm, and I was introduced (as usual) half an hour later.

I kept glancing at my string throughout the whole day.

As I walked down the staircase into the party room, I searched for Evan, but I couldn't see him. Instead, I saw a bunch of older couples who worked with and for my dad's company. I didn't expect Evan to show up. Why would he? He didn't need me. I had only met him the day before.

The party was dull, with music playing, not a lot of dancing and a lot of chatter about the business. This was just another business party disguised as my birthday party. At around seven, I saw one of the guards from the door walk across to my father, speak into his ear, and head back to the front door, my parents following him. I excused myself from the conversation, placed my champagne glass of lemonade on the nearest server tray and followed them.

At the front door, I was I happy to see Evan standing in the porch with a woman standing next to him. She looked like a female version of him – softer features, shorter, a curvier body, and bags under her eyes as if she had been overworking. The other guard at the door was holding the invitation. He handed it to my dad, who looked shocked before looking at Evan. "Where did you get this?"

"From me." I answered before Evan could say anything. I stepped forward, standing next to Evan. "Dad, this is Evan Bellemere, and his mother. I met him yesterday and wanted to get to know him more, so, I invited him to the party. Evan, why are you so late? The party started an hour ago. I thought you weren't going to show up."

"Sorry, I found this little guy in a cardboard box in the park on my way here. I couldn't think of anywhere open to take him and by the time I'd called to everyone I knew, it was already this late. I'm sorry." He explained to me. I smiled, and then took the kitten from him. He was mostly white, but he did have a few ginger patches. "You look beautiful, Francesca."

"Thank you, Evan. This little guy is so cute. Dad, may I keep him?" I asked, turning to my father. He just nodded. "And what about my guests coming inside out of the cold?"

"Welcome, Mrs Bellemere, may I show you inside?" My father responded just like any gentleman should. I smiled as Mrs Bellemere took the hand being held out and my father began to lead her and my mother inside. Evan turned to face me before heading inside.

"Thank you, Fran. I wanted to speak to you about this, though." Evan spoke, holding out his left hand. His red string. "I was surprised, too, since we only met by chance yesterday."

"Maybe you're where the rebellious idea came from. I was meant to be in my room studying." I laughed, looking up at his face from the kittens. He was going to need a name. The kitten. Evan already had a name – and what a wonderful name it was.

Suddenly, I was being pulled around by strong arms that pulled me to a strong chest. There was the sound of a gunshot. The sound of a woman's quick scream. The grunt as someone felt pain from the bullet. My father yelling. I put my hand onto the chest, looking up at Evan. "Are you okay? It's not in you, is it? Evan?"

"It's fine. It's just a graze, but, wow, it hurt. Are you okay? He was aiming at you."

"I'm okay. Thank you. You saved my life."

Then I was pulled away and spun around. I held onto the kitten so it didn't get squished or fall. "Francesca, are you okay?!"

"Mother, I am fine. I hope Carla wouldn't mind me interrupting her for her to check Evan's wound in the kitchen. He has just been shot." I said calmly, handing the kitten to her. I was surprised at how calm I was. I glanced around. One of the guards had gone after the car. It wasn't actually an uncommon sight since my dad was rich and had actually made some enemies in the business world. Some bad enemies. I turned to Evan. "Can you walk through to the kitchen?"

"Of course. It was a shoulder graze." Evan explained. "You are surprisingly calm. I'm glad I could save you. I just have one problem."

"What?" I queried.

"This was my best shirt." He laughed. I laughed too, and then walked over to him and reached onto my tiptoes to pull his tie to allow me to kiss him. His arms wrapped around me and I heard his wince. "Maybe ruining my best shirt was worth it."

"I think it was." I smiled.