Move with the Times
By Catherine
Disclaimer: I own nothing and am making no money out of writing this fanfiction.
Rating: M just to be on the safe side, could probably get away with a T.
Beta: Betaed by the wonderful CeeChelle Lisa Gisborne-Hardy from . Any remaining errors are entirely my own.
Set in: Modern day Britain
Chapter Sixteen
It was barely 8am when Robin arrived at the office with Much in tow. Neither of them had slept all night, as Robin had been pacing and ranting. He had not been able to get away from Vaisey and the many guests to whom he had been introduced, nor had he been able to avoid the sly jokes about Guy getting his house and now his girl. It had taken all of his self-control not to break Vaisey's nose. He had never been as relieved as when he saw Marian walking back in on Guy's arm, although it made him feel a little sick to see her hanging on his arm and looking so … relaxed. It was the relaxation that really bothered him.
Everything that could possibly have happened to her to make her look like that had gone through his head, and a lot of them had been discussed all night long. He had finally convinced himself that they had been playing boggle and she had won.
Unfortunately, once he had decided that he had to convince himself that Guy had no claim to his land, property or shares. He could not image how he possibly could have, but stranger things had happened and his Grandmother had not been able to shed any light on the situation. From the sounds of it, she had indeed spent far more of his money than she had intended to and made several bad investments, but things couldn't be that bad.
Even without sleep he was hyper alert and ready to leave by 5 am, he had been biting his nails for almost three hours when Much finally announced that it was time to get going. The people on security had not recognised him and it had taken far longer than they had hoped to get through, but they were still the first ones there. Both of them paced as they waited outside the main conference room.
"I cannot believe that they are late. It is as if they don't even care", Robin huffed.
"They are not late yet Robin. We are an hour early", Much tried to calm him down, "Maybe they are worried because soon it will all be resolved".
"Yes, of course that will be it", Robin said, trying to convince himself that it was true. There was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that the Guy he had known would never have lied, he had always been scrupulously honest … annoyingly so in fact.
Guy strode up to the office at around ten past eight, after having had one of the best night's sleep EVER! The knowledge that he was one step closer to his goal was fantastic in itself, but the dreams that he had had featured Marian and the look of pure bliss on her face during the massage although in his slumber the reasons had been quite different.
His grin almost spread from ear to ear as he saw Robin standing in front of the office, looking distinctly ruffled.
"Hood", Guy greeted.
"Gisborne", Robin replied whilst Much just gave a nod in greeting, not wanting to get involved if at all possible.
"I hear from Vaisey that you had a busy night", Guy smiled wickedly.
"You bastard", Robin said, rising to the bait.
Guy just raised one eyebrow.
"You let your boss corner me so that I couldn't get to Marian without destroying her reputation. What did you do to her?" Robin growled.
"Marian's a big girl, she can take care of herself. Besides, did it look like I forced her into doing anything she didn't want to do?" Guy asked, deciding that winding Robin up would be better than his first impulse which had been to strangle the git for implying that he might force Marian … or any other woman for that matter, into his bed.
"What did you do to her?" Robin ground out.
"Oh, let's just say that I thought that I would help her relax".
The knowing smile on Guy's face proved to be too much for Robin, he lunged at Guy, who easily side stepped him.
"What's the matter Robin? Did you really think that if you left you would have a house and a girl to come back to?" Guy stood with his hands at his sides, appearing relaxed but secretly alert.
"Locksley will always be mine and so will Marian", Robin shouted as Much tried to hold him back.
"I wouldn't bet on it", Guy sneered as he turned his back on them and began to walk to his own office. They could wait in the corridor until the meeting, 40 minutes or so to stew would do Robin the world of good.
"No, I bet you wouldn't, you're too scared".
At this Guy stopped walking and turned back around. "Excuse me?"
"I said that you wouldn't take the bet that Marian still loved me, not you", Robin accused.
That was not exactly what Guy had said, in fact it had never entered his head to bet on such a matter but the challenge in Robin's eyes was too great to be ignored. Guy laughed, "Fine, I will take that bet. Whoever marries Marian keeps the stock and the other backs off". He wasn't sure what had possessed him to say such a thing, but as they shook hands he knew that it was too late to go back.
At nine o'clock on the dot, the doors swung open and everyone filed into what would prove to be one of the most important meetings of the year. Guy and Vaisey sat at the front as normal, with their new associate Dr. Blake and Marian's father as the new head of philanthropy.
Marian took her normal seat and was somewhat annoyed to find the Robin had taken the seat next to hers. She had been attempting to avoid him so far that morning, making sure to arrive at the very last moment possible. It was too difficult for her to be around him, she hated him for what he had done to her, her father and even to the company and wanted Guy to succeed in getting his family's land etc. back, but she also knew that Robin was a good man and did not deserve to lose everything. She wished that there was a way for them to both win, but she doubted that that was possible.
Her father had told her that in these matters there was no point in trying to figure out one's feelings as they would have no bearing on the outcome. It was better just to wait and see where the chips would fall and to try to make the best of them when that happened. At least she knew that she, and more importantly her father, would not be involved; she trusted Guy's word not to harm either of them.
"Where did you disappear off to last night?" Robin whispered to her as he leant over.
"I don't see how that is any of your business", she replied, shooting him the evil eye before returning her attention to the people at the front of the room to wait for the meeting to start.
"Marian, wait. Now is not the time, I know, but I must say you are … more than ever … your eyes, and even when you look at me in anger, I feel you. I believe you can still, even after all this time, you can see into my soul", Robin tried out his best material and leaned further in, brushing an imaginary stay lock of hair from the side of her face. This was his move, soon he would try to kiss her and she would be putty in his hands.
"It's been years and you're still peddling the same old dribble. Does it ever work?" Marian knocked his hand away.
"You'd be surprised", he gave her a cheeky smile.
"Amazed, more like", Marian rolled her eyes and began to fiddle with her iPad. She was aware that she was being watched, but did not want Guy to know that she knew that he was watching her. Until she knew what was going on she wanted to keep out of this as much as possible, although she could not help but steal glances at him when she thought (or rather hoped) that he wasn't looking.
It was only when the meeting was called to order that she looked up, thinking that it would only look like she was being polite if she focused all of her attention on Guy. He was looking as handsome as ever although a good deal more smug that usual. It was the same look he had worn that day in the park when he had made her moan. Marian may have got lost in her memories of that day if Vaisey had not then decided to start discussing the matter at hand.
"As we all know, two days ago the sad case of the Locksley estate was discussed. Due to a declining market and some rather imprudent investments the estate almost crashed. I am happy to say that through the diligent hard work of Mr. Gisborne and this committee it was saved and therefore will not pull this company down into the quagmire", Vaisey allowed everyone to take this information in and to breathe sighs of relief. It went against the grain with him to compliment anyone, especially Guy, but he had to admit that the boy had done well and was really shaping up, especially after last night. Bedding the opposition in view of her fiancé was really something.
"Unfortunately", he continued with a sly smile, "this has required selling off some assets in an unfavourable market to settle the debts levelled against the estate. Mr. Gisborne has somehow found people who would be willing to help. As Dr. Blake here will explain, this was all perfectly legal and above board. So, from now on there will be no Locksley estate, the shares will be divided between, Blake, Gisborne and myself and the house will belong to Gisborne as will some of the other minor investments. I am sure that we are all greatly indebted to him", the smile widened.
There was a gasp from Robin and Much which was covered by the murmur of people agreeing with Vaisey. "It is of course a shame that it has come to this and that so much extra work has been caused, however, as a sign of good faith, we have decided not to bill Mr. Hood for this inconvenience", Vaisey sat down as a round of applause started up.
Everyone was happy, it appeared. Everyone except, Edward, Marian, Much and Robin that is.
Edward had closed his eyes as the news was conveyed, from his information and the call that he had made to Robin's grandmother he had gathered that this was likely to be the case, but had had hoped that something would occur to prevent it. As angry as he had been, and still was, with Robin, he could not help but remember the small boy who had always been over at their house in his youth and wish that Robin had given either him or Marian the power to protect him from this. Still it was too late now, and he had to protect himself and his daughter and so he clapped along with everyone else, knowing that his movements were being watched.
Marian's shoulders slumped as she heard the news and she dared not look up at Guy, she did not think that she could bear to see the triumph he must be feeling at another's demise. She knew that he had done nothing wrong legally, and understood why he had done it but she could not feel that it was right. But then again, Robin taking Guy's house in the first place had not been right.
Much was beside himself with anger and bewilderment. It could not be true! He got to his feet ready to shout at the top of his lungs that they could not do with to his best friend. That Robin was a good man who had risked his life to serve his country and that he deserved better than this but he felt himself being pulled back down to his seat.
Robin tugged at Much's shoulder until he sat back down. Then he buried his head in both of his hands. He had lost and he knew it. As Dr. Blake stood up and began to drown on about the legal particulars he felt desperation wash over him. He had known that he was sunk and without any hope of rescue from the moment that he had seen Edward's face after the news was delivered. If there had been any possibility of restitution he was confident that Edward would have known of it. He bitterly wished that he had signed everything over to him or to Marian rather than to his grandmother, but it could not be helped now. He would just have to find a way of winning everything back, even if he had to steal to do it.
Guy gloried in his victory. He actually grew a couple of inches. He had finally completed step one of his plan and everyone knew it. Robin and everyone else who had hurt his parents had better beware. There were only four people in the room who were safe from his wrath, Marian, Edward, Blake and Much.
He saw Blake give him a knowing look and glanced down at his iPad, he had a new message which read "Before all else be armed" and felt another warm wave of excitement crash over him. He could hardly wait for step two of the plan. Then Marian would be all his and he would have all the power he could desire.
As he looked over at the object of his affections he could not help but anticipate the day that she would be all his.
Robin slumped against the wall, oblivious to everything around him. He knew that the meeting must have ended and that he must have left but he did not remember doing so. He did not even remember how he had got here - wherever here was -; he had been in such a daze.
He had lost everything, his house, his stock, not to mention a large part of his fortune. Sure, he still had more than most did but a few million in some low yield investments was of little use to him. He had no home to go to, his friends had all but turned their backs on him, he had nothing and it was all the result of someone else's careless actions.
"Oh God", he murmured, as his knees gave way and he sank to the floor. This must have been what it was like for Guy and Isabella. At the time he had been too concerned with his own injuries, the loss of his father, the way that everyone had shouted at him when the fire had started even though it had only been an accident. He had even resented Guy for not having thanked him for forcing his grandmother to buy their land when no one else would have. He had never really thought about what it would mean to them.
They had lost both of their parents, they had been taken into care. Sure that would have been financially alright and had family who they had clearly chosen to live with instead of going to live with Marian and her father – Robin did not know the real state of affairs – but still they had lost their house. It was only now that Robin realised what a real tragedy that was for them.
His whole body felt heavy and numb, but he tried to rise anyway. Slowly he managed it. He looked around and saw that he was in the men's lavatories and that Much was hovering over him looking concerned. He had clearly been speaking about something but Robin had tuned him out. Another stab of remorse dug into his stomach like a knife. Much had followed him everywhere, had been his only friend in war and now the one thing that he had always promised him he was unable to deliver.
"My friend", he rasped, "I am so sorry".
"Don't be, it was not your fault", Much tried to assure him.
"I should have left my estate in other hands. I have very little cash myself, I will have to go to my grandmother's and you will have to go home to your family. I know that it will be a long commute for you every morning but I will help …"
"Don't", Much said simply, "don't worry about me. I will be fine, just worry about yourself".
"I do not deserve you", Robin said with feeling as he embraced his friend, "I will get back what is mine and then you will go on to be the best GP in England".
"Do you really think that you can get anything back?" Much asked, doubtfully.
"I don't know yet, but I am determined to try. Marian will help me, I just know it". As he said this, a plan began to form. If he could convince Marian that he was the injured party then she was sure to want to help him, they would find out what tricks Vaisey and Guy had played and then he would get back his money, but he could also make Marian fall in love with him again – if she had ever really fallen out of love – and then he would win the bet as well.
Confidence swelled inside him as he set off to see Marian.