Chasing Rainbows

                “Congratulations!” The connection to Isobel in Dubai en route home from her Asian honeymoon was poor, but the grainy voice was filled with pleasure. “I‘m really pleased for you, it’s amazing. What’s Jacob said?”

Emma laughed to herself, what indeed? “He thinks I’m the devil incarnate, seems to believe that I knew and kept it from him. And now he’s back controlling everything I do. It’s killing me.”

Isobel laughed, “that’s funny, I wish you could only see how perfect you are for each other. This baby might be the making of you both.”

Emma groaned, “I really hope not. Because I don’t think we can both live in each other’s company. Anyway, how was the honeymoon?”

Isobel laughed, “no changing the subject, it was amazing, but that’s another phone call. Where’s Daddy then?”

                “Gone out, not sure where, but it’s the first time he’s left me alone since I came out of hospital two days ago. I’m enjoying ‘me’ time.”

Jacob had the benefit of being anonymous; he could watch his target without the other man knowing who he was. And frankly, he needed that time to digest the evening’s activities. He’d decided he wanted to confront Theo Samuel even before the night he abandoned Emma, and once that had happened he had wanted to kill him. But now, as he sat across the room from the man, he knew there was far more going on that he had ever imagined.

Thoughts of that night still pained him, the sight of her with Samuel was bad, but then Emma, unwell, falling to the floor...then the baby. A whole myriad of emotions had filled him, but as the time had passed and he’d taken Emma home to her apartment, he began to believe her, believe that she hadn’t known about being pregnant. She was many things but she wasn’t reckless, and he didn’t believe she was that vindictive. But instead of supporting her at this difficult time, he’d been angry, and now he’d abandoned her. Way to go Dad of the Year!  

But he couldn’t have done anything else, because since he’d taken Emma reluctantly back to the apartment she was renting, he’d barely rested. He’d called Andy his best friend and legal counsel as soon as she’d stormed into her bedroom and locked the door. He could deal with her later, they had a lifetime to deal with their problems, but Samuel was a pressing issue.

                “Can you find him for me? I need to talk to him; I promise I won’t do anything stupid.”

Andy had reluctantly been dragged into his plan, deploying a private investigator he knew in the area to tail the actor.

Coincidentally Andy had called him with contact details when Jacob was truly convinced that Emma was going to be ok, she’d slept for the best part of two days, and wasn’t half as angry with him, though she was a long way from forgiving. In fact she’d been positively ecstatic when he announced he was going out that evening.

His comment of “you could try and act as though you’ll miss me!” Was met with the retort it probably deserved, he grinned as he remembered her anger. He loved having that feistiness in his life. But tonight there had been more pressing issues.

He glanced down at his phone, flashing with an incoming call; it was barely audible over the music inside the club. He was sat at the back of the room, but the music was still loud. Lifting the phone, at the same time as taking a slug of whisky, he connected the call, Andy.

                “You’re not doing something stupid? Promise me?”

Jacob laughed, “I’m not, but I won’t promise you anything.”

That caused a laugh, “so where are you, and what’s your plan?”

Jacob paused to watch Theo for a moment, talking to a man in the corner of the room, a dark, poorly illuminated corner.

                “My plan was to vent my anger and tell him to back off...”

                “But?”

Jacob smiled, Andy knew him so well, “well, it seems that it’s all been a mistake.”

                “What do you mean?”

                “She’s only ever been a smoke screen. Seems he was never interested in anything more than the image she created. He used her, but not in the way either of us imagined.”

Andy stuttered, “I don’t get it, what do you mean?”

Jacob drained his glass then sighed again, “well, his persistent pursuit of my wife has been nothing more than an appearance. He gets the gossip about his new show...a new face, lots of appearances around town, and also another ‘notch’ on his bed post.”

                “I don’t get what you’re trying to say.”

Jacob sighed, “I’m watching him, across the bar, and let’s just put it like this; I’m the only man in here who fancies my wife. He’s actually tickling the tonsils of a rather rough looking young man with his tongue.”

Andy gasped like a gossiping girl, “he’s gay? Theo Samuel?”

Jacob hated to admit it, but that seemed to be the truth, which made the way he used Emma to suit his own means even more despicable, ruthless even. He was jeopardising her reputation carelessly, purely to create a decoy for his own persuasion. This was worse than anything else, selfish, egotistical, and downright wrong. And he had to be the one to explain that.

Hanging up on a still questioning Andy, Jacob stood, then made his way stealthily across the room. He was on the other man’s shoulder before anyone realised. Sliding into the other side of the booth, he waited until the couple opposite detached themselves from each other, giving a halting glare to the two men who’d appeared from nowhere, his hapless security Jacob could only surmise.

Theo looked at him with an eyebrow raised in question, and Jacob met that stare confidently. Sensing this was something serious; Theo dismissed the boy he’d been close to, and the security, then looked at Jacob.

                “Who are you?”

Jacob enjoyed watching his work, trying to decipher why he was sat in front of him, and he had no intention of making this easy.

                “My name’s Coren, Jacob Coren.”

That failed to elicit any reaction, “do I know you?” When Jacob shook his head, he got angry. “What the hell are you playing at?”

Jacob leaned forward, elbows propped on the table between them, “I could ask you EXACTLY the same question.” Jacob looked purposefully around the room then back at the now squirming man. “Though what you do in your own time is private, when you implicate my wife in your trickery and subterfuge I get involved...and angry.”

Theo swallowed awkwardly, and Jacob couldn’t believe that he’d dropped his defence so readily, so easily. “Your wife?” He asked, his voice unsteady.

Jacob hid a smile, “yes my wife. You have seemingly decided that parading around with her, regardless of what that might do to her, me, her family and most importantly her reputation, just to appease your own reputation as a playboy. Sound about right?”

Theo had turned a bizarre shade of puce and was spluttering somewhat, “who’s your wife?”

Jacob laughed, “does that mean that you regularly wine, dine and orchestrate paparazzi shots with more than one woman at a time?”

Looking him up and down Theo gasped, “Emma? You’re married to Emma?”

Jacob leaned forward and snarled in his face, “you got it in one, and you abandoned her on Friday when she collapsed on the pavement next to your car, ran off to what...a hot date? You’re despicable. Now I only have a small deal for you, you treat her like your number one star, she will not be slighted or ignored, and then she’ll be released at the end of her contract with EXCELLENT reviews, glowing reports and a healthy pay check. Do you get me?”

Theo nodded, “she would anyway.”

Laughing Jacob stood, “really? I doubt it.” He looked down at his hand and tensed his fingers into a fist, “and there was me thinking that I was coming here to knock out a rival...the irony.”

With that he turned and left, not knowing when he last felt so good.

His euphoria at bossing the situation with Samuel deflated like a burst balloon when he came home to a closed bedroom door and the sound of tears coming from inside. For all his male bravado and alpha male behaviour, he had a woman who was devastated, on so many levels. And a large part of that was his fault. He had to make amends.

Knocking the door, he waited for a reply, when he heard a rather hopeless, “what?” Jacob had a little optimism.

                “Are you coming out Emma? I know you’re feeling down...”

The door swung open and an irate Emma stood there, Jacob took in the blood shot eyes, the puffy cheeks, and his heart bled. “Down? Is that what you call it? The way you have spoken to me over the last three days...to say I’m down is an understatement, but don’t worry, I’m seeing the doctor tomorrow, and once she’s given me the all clear, you can rack off back to Jacob world!”

He sighed; he’d honestly cruised on the euphoria of his encounter with Theo, and hadn’t really anticipated Emma’s stagnant reaction.

                “Look I know I’m your perception of total hell, but will you just listen to me? You need to eat Emma, and you’ve not been over the door step since leaving hospital. I know this little cafe a few blocks away, we can walk there...”

                “So you’re in charge of my diet and exercise too now are you?”

Emma saw the surprise flash across Jacob’s face and felt guilty, he’d been good to her, and she knew he was thinking of the best for her. She just wished he didn’t have that control over her. But since they’d both found out about the baby, then he had a huge control over what she did, and it was that lack of control that had reduced her to tears, hours after her phone call to Isobel had finally perked her up.

It was all so helpless, and hopeless.

With a grunt she agreed to a take out, and was rewarded with him being absent for the next forty minutes collecting something.

                “What did you do?”

Jacob’s head snapped up from the focus of his laptop at Emma, stood in the doorway hand on hip, venom in her eyes. He groaned, somewhere in the last twenty four hours they’d come to some sort of truce, and now? He’d been engrossed, Emma was like a good omen to him, whenever he was in her presence things started to go well for him. Andy had just sent him details, unbelievable details. The men he’d met in London had visited the team testing his prototype game, and they’d been more than impressed, Andy was ecstatic phoning and been emailing him information all day. He needed to get back to San Francisco to sign off this deal, let his lifelong work, his baby go. Although not completely, as the Japanese software company wanted him to spearhead another project once they’d bought this current one.

Emma was more than angry, he had to work out how to deal with this, “what? What have I done?”

She shrugged then scowled, “I don’t know, that’s what I’m asking you. Theo...” Jacob fought a snarl at the other man’s name, “he was frosty with me all day, and with him being the director and all that...awkward is putting it mildly.” She sighed, though it was anything but a relaxing gesture, and she stormed past him into the kitchen. “And when I asked him why he was being so awful, what do you think he said?”

She turned from her position in front of the fridge and stared at him, when he didn’t answer she snarled again, “that he didn’t want to tread on my husband’s toes...my husband!” She shouted, “how the bloody hell do you think he found out that I was married? Hey? Husband darling?”

Jacob was thinking on his feet, he had a split second to decide how to play this, he could make up a story, an elaborate excuse, or he could tell her the truth, and that was something he never wanted to reveal. But lies had caused the problems between them, when they met in Vegas they had fun, they got on, all that had happened since then had been due to lies and half truths.

He took a deep breath, waiting until she was filling a glass with orange juice before he said, “I went after him, the night I left you here.”

                “What the fuck...?”

He held up a hand to silence her, “look here me out, I’ll tell you the truth, I’m sick of all this fighting Emma.” She looked a little awkward, but then she nodded acceptance. “He was there when you collapsed, but he got in his car, drove off.”

If she was shocked she hid it well, “I was annoyed that someone you care about could be so ruthless.” He was still unsure how far he’d take this story, but he wanted her to at least know some of the truth. “I confronted him on the night you collapsed, as he walked away, but I kind of felt he owed you an explanation.”

Emma watched Jacob talking and realised she didn’t care, she didn’t want to hear about Theo, not really, she was angry with Jacob for interfering, but then she could be angry with him for a million reasons, because you care,  a voice whispered in her brain, but she shook it away. She had ten days more of filming, then she was free until the publicity started, she’d wanted to go home, back to London. But that was looking doubtful now, Jacob was still studying her, and she was too tired, too exhausted to fight him now.

She took a long drink and then met his eyes, “I don’t care for Theo Samuel, I have never, in fact I have less respect for him on a daily basis. What I do care about is you acting all macho and bravado at my expense. That needs to stop; I am not your possession. OK?”

The change of mood shocked Jacob, but he wasn’t about to complain, he smiled, “I’ve been cooking all day, wanted to get you healthy dinner...am I allowed to do that?”

She nodded, “you are.”