Hi readers here's chapter two, hope you all enjoy, and many thanks to Angelicsounds for doing such a lovely job. As always feedback is much appreciated. Thank you.
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Nicole awoke the next day feeling refreshed and energized.
This is how Rip Van Winkle must have felt after waking from his long sleep
, she thought with a smile.
She yawned loudly and reached for her mobile phone on the night table. Scrolling through, she saw she had twenty missed called and five texts. Half the calls were from her mother, Hyacinth, and the rest from work or friends. The texts were from Keisha, all filled with apologies.
Nicole decided to call her mother first. She wanted to have a long talk with Keisha. Nicole felt ashamed for the way she had spoken to Keisha the day before and two wrongs didn't make a right. Yes, she was upset, but staying mad at Keisha wouldn't solve anything.
Her mother answered on the second ring. "Nicole, my child, is you well? You come back from Jamaica and didn't even call me to let me know you were okay!" ranted her mother, switching from Jamaican patois to British cockney.
"I was going to call you. I was knackered, that's all."
Nicole felt like a naughty child, her mother sometimes had that affect on her. She chatted with her mother for the next thirty minutes, promising to drop off the Over Proof White Rum and patties she had brought back from Jamaica.
After hanging up, she called Keisha and started to apologize. Keisha sounded embarrassed and at a loss for words, because deep down she knew that saying 'sorry' to Nicole wasn't enough. Nicole decided to alleviate her pain and distress by suggesting that they meet up for dinner at a local restaurant they frequently dined at. By meeting Keisha in person, they could both apologize face-to-face, but before they met up, Nicole would take some time to put a written apology on a card as well.
After that was settled, they talked for hours about nothing in particular, like the price of petrol, Kanye West, to her trip to Jamaica and her upcoming trip to Scotland. They also talked about Keisha's new beau, although she was a bit evasive as to whom he was.
After they hung up, Nicole lay there and staring at the ceiling and wondering about her upcoming trip. Nicole was due in Scotland in two days for a two-week seminar on a marketing prospectus. She worked as a financial controller for a well-known bank. She enjoyed working there and had no problem with her bosses.
Nicole had visited Scotland several times with her sister, Lisa. Nicole and Lisa had been close growing up, but now their relationship was strained, at best. Lisa resented her for asking about Hayden's father, Derrick. Almost a year before, Nicole had voiced her concerns that he might be an alcoholic as well as a drug user and their relationship was never quite the same after that.
Nicole loved her sister. Lisa used to be her best friend and confidant. Nicole didn't know if she could continue not speaking with her sister on a regular basis. She had tried to call Lisa several times, but she never answered her phone and didn't reply to the many messages Nicole left.
Sighing, Nicole slipped out of bed and stood barefoot on the carpet. She pulled off her pajamas and walked into the bathroom. In passing, she glanced at her reflection in the closet mirror. She had a massive case of bed-head, with her hair sticking up in all directions. After a quick shower, she dressed in black leggings and a woolen sweatshirt. She had a quick breakfast, slipped on her ankle boots, grabbed her jacket, scarf, bag and keys and was out the door.
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The tube ride seemed even longer than usual, with the constant chatter from the passenger sitting beside her. The older lady was rattling on about her dog and how her neighbors were threatening to call the police, claiming her dog's constant barking was depriving them of sleep, which seemed like a legit complaint.
While the woman was babbling, Nicole suddenly remembered an episode of Judge Judy, where a family was suing their neighbors who refused to control their noisy dogs. Judge Judy had shouted at the defendants to keep their dogs in their bedroom so the animals could only disturb them and not the neighborhood. "Judge Judy is a character," Nicole murmured to herself.
"What did you say, my dear?" asked the elderly lady, tugging at Nicole's jacket.
"Nothing, Ma'am," she replied, chuckling softly.
The elderly lady huffed and resumed talking.
Nicole sighed as she started feeling the build up of a headache.
Bleeding hell
!
First Keisha now this old biddy, what's next?
She was about to put her headphones on when the train stopped at White City and there was a mad rush from the platform onto the train. Two unruly looking teenage boys, about sixteen years old, ended up standing in front of her seat. The teenagers seemed rebellious. They both had numerous tattoos and were obviously truants; it was a school day. They were sipping beer from the cans they held as they hit each other from time to time.
Nicole sighed and swore under her breath when one of the boys asked her where she was heading. She lied and gave him the wrong location. He then asked her for money. She didn't feel like giving her money to some snot-nosed hooligan, but he was pretty insistent and inebriated.
What the fuck is this
? Nicole began to panic. None of the other passengers said anything, including the old granny who was so mouthy minutes before. Nicole frowned in thought, both from annoyance and anger.
At her hesitance, the boy started to threaten to beat Nicole up if she didn't give them some money. The kid was skinny, but looked strong. Scanning the train, she saw that no one was going to help, so she gave him the twenty pounds she had in her jacket pocket, that was all the cash she had anyway. He took it and thanked her. Luckily, the train arrived at the next stop and the two teens exited. It was then that the other passengers decided to speak up. Nicole spared them not a glance.
Nicole sat frozen for about ten minutes. She felt as if she had been holding her breath and her thoughts, to minimize the noise in her head for at least half that time, before she realized she was safe. Then she felt angry and cursed herself.
"I would have gladly paid twenty pounds in congestion charges by driving to avoid the headaches," she said out loud to no one in particular. First her plane trip, then this. Could it get any worse?
Two more stops to go.
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Laird Eyon McClain stood at the antique mahogany chaise in his bedroom and studied the oil portrait of his mother that hung above it. Her beautiful green eyes looked backed at him, bright and bold, and for a moment he could imagine she was smiling at him. A small sigh escaped Eyon's lips. How he missed her. Eyon's mouth tightened. He would give anything to see his beloved mother once again.
His whole life, he had lived to please his father and learn what was best for the clan. That used to be fine, but now he had his own ideas of what was best, especially for him.
Devoted to his wife, Eyon's mother and Kieran's aunt, Laird Callum had been unable to carry out his duties as elder to the clans after her death. Word spreads fast and furiously in the Highlands when clans become disorganized. Knowing that other clans would take the opportunity to seize their many holdings, both Eyon and Kieran had taken on the role of Lairds to unite the clans. They made sure that the clans were prepared for attack by training them and ensuring they were fully armed. Thus, they had both became leaders to a generation of their Scottish clan. It was expected of them.
