They sat in a quiet corner of the restaurant, James had booked them at table at a far more upmarket place but Maria had suggested they come here instead. It was a small family run business but Maria loved the food and the atmosphere of the place. It was usually quieter despite the fact that Gennaro served some of the best Italian food she had eaten in her life and tonight that was exactly what Maria needed, peace and quiet. Had she remembered in time she would have cancelled the dinner and stayed at home but she had other things on her mind that afternoon and so here she was.
He looked across the table at her fingering the brilliant white table cloth, "You've been quiet Maria are you still feeling sick?"
She drew her hands under her chin and considered her options. James was a man she hardly knew but she liked him well enough maybe this was as good a place as any to break the news of her baby. "I think I'm going to be sick for a while yet James. I googled it and the morning sickness can go on as late as 16 weeks even longer in some cases. Although quite why they call it morning sickness I don't know, I throw up at the drop of a hat regardless of what time of day it is." She was waffling but her nerves were getting the better of her.
His mouth dropped open making her want to reach over and pop it shut again. "Morning sickness, are you for real? You're pregnant?" His mouth closed of its own accord becoming a thin disapproving line across the bottom of his face.
Was he angry? He certainly seemed to be at the very least annoyed and Maria was at a loss to understand why. "Yes I am but I had no idea I was until this afternoon. The test said 3 plus and that means more than 3 weeks since conception but I have no real idea what that means I'm sure it was conceived 7 weeks ago but does that mean I'm 7 weeks pregnant I really don't know"
"But you were in Syria at that time."
"Yes I know I was."
"Did you meet a fellow journalist?"
"No the father is a Syrian." She almost said "the father was Syrian" but she didn't like the tone he was using with her and she felt an abrupt end to this conversation would be in order and wanted to give him no further information.
"Was it one of the men who took you from Damascus, where you raped Maria?"
She could see why he would assume that but it still annoyed her that he was being so blunt with her. "I'm not going to discuss that with you James. My private life is none of your concern. I came here tonight out of common courtesy but I have no intention of letting you overstep the bounds of our friendship."
Her feet shifted under the table as she prepared to stand up, "I should have gone with my first instinct and cancelled our plans over the phone. I'm sorry if you had the wrong idea about us but I never gave you any reason to think we would be more than friends. I was trying to help you adjust to a new country and we both knew that."
She left, looking apologetically at Gennaro as she passed him mumbling something about feeling unwell. James came down the street calling after her but she never stopped, she hailed a cab and never looked at him until she was driving past him looking furious by the side of the road.
Her dander was well and truly up so she decided to face another fear while she felt ready to handle it, calling her parents to check they were home she redirected the driver to their house in Mayfair. As was much more common Terrence opened the door and bid her a warm welcome, he had been her father's butler for a long as Maria could remember and was always a nice presence around the house.
"Good evening Terrence are my parent's in the drawing room?"
"They are indeed Maria and awaiting your arrival. Shall I have cook prepare something for you?"
She grinned "I don't think I'll be here long enough to take off my coat never mind eat but thank you just the same."
He bowed his face remaining blank but she knew he had his butler head on; he would go downstairs and tell Martha that Maria was here and causing more upheaval as soon as she was out of sight.
Her parents were sitting in the largest of the entertaining rooms, her mother was seated beside the window and her father was in his huge leather chair by the open fire. She wondered when the last time they did something unexpected was but knew it was too long ago to matter. He folded his newspaper onto his lap as she took a seat at the piano. She had spent hours in front of this beast in her childhood and she had become competent but that was all. Ms Jackson her instructor would despair with Maria's lapses in attention but Maria knew she would never be better than okay so her heart had never been in it.
The anger which had fuelled her courage in the taxi had subsided and all that was left now was a desire to get it over with. Her mother moved from the window to sit on the sofa so she could look her daughter in the face no doubt. 'Oh well you wanted their attention and the floor is yours.' A lifetime of failing to meet their expectations and of being told she wasn't achieving all they had hoped had left her a little self conscious around these two. She wasn't afraid of them but she did dread the idea of that one thing she would do that would utterly destroy the tiny shred of love they had for her and this might well be it.
"I have to tell you both something and before I begin I have to say I didn't do this to hurt you or to rebel, I didn't mean to do it at all."
Richard sat forward in his chair no doubt trying to make himself look bigger she thought bitterly. "Well don't keep us in suspense Maria what drama have you gotten yourself mixed up in now?"
Her lungs were screaming at her to smoke and for the first time in hours she wished she had kept them handy. "I'm pregnant. It wasn't planned and I've had one serious relationship in my whole life so I didn't see the need to be on contraception." Probably not the best way to say it but she needed this over fast so she could out and buy some fags.
They looked from her to each other and Maria pressed down on the C flat waiting to see who would serve the opening salvo. "I see and is there any other information you feel might be pertinent to share with us?" She looked up at her mother but offered nothing. "For example who is the father and what are his intentions?"
It might have been a case of too much oxygen getting to her brain or contrary wise not enough nicotine but Maria decided to be honest with them. "It happened in Syria but to tell you about the father I would have to tell you the truth of my time there and you might like this even less than you liked my other news."
She got up from the piano stool and sat on the other end of the couch from her mother. "I wasn't kidnapped I helped them escape. I spent the next two days with them before we were betrayed to government forces and shelled. It was the man who betrayed them who shot me while I was trying to warn them to escape. The father was killed in that attack his name was Altair and he is unlike any man I've ever met in my life."
Their shocked stares should have stopped her but they didn't, "I'm keeping the child because I want to be its mother. I only knew its father for two days and in that time I felt more for him than I have ever felt for any human being. He was not a terrorist he was a good man who died for what he believed in and I miss him every single day. I want to go back there it felt like home to me but I lied to escape punishment and can't ever go back."
Her father stood up and paced in front of the fire while her mother budged as though she was going to move closer to her but Richard's voice stopped her. "You realise what you are saying don't you?" She knew he had much more to say and that no answer was expected so she let him continue. "This isn't you being expelled from school for spray painting the 300 year old statue Maria I can't fix this for you. You are going to have to be a brave soldier and get this sorted out."
"Sorted out?"
"Don't be obtuse girl you know damn well what I'm saying."
"I'm having the child Father."
He moved towards her and she stood to meet him. "You will not defy me. That flat you live in was my Mother's do you think I'm going to let you raise your little terrorist's bastard in her home?"
"She left the place in Kensington to me not you but you can have it and you are welcome to it. How dare you assume you can control me with your money you couldn't when I was 14 what the fuck makes you think I'd let you do it now."
His hand smacking off her cheek stopped her stream of words but lifted her head to his and continued, "I wanted you to be happy for me. Why can't you do that?"
Her mother stood between them and guided her to the door and when her father went to speak Amelia told him to be quiet. She took her into the hallway and for the first time in years she embraced her daughter. "I'm sorry Maria I doubt I will be able to change his mind but don't you give him the house it's yours and I have some money of my own, you mustn't worry."
Maria held onto her mother tighter than she would ever have imagined, "Why are you doing this?"
"Because my daughter's heart is breaking and I know how that feels." Richard's voice cut into the conversation as he boomed for Terence to attend him.
Maria withdrew from her mother's arms albeit unwillingly "I should go, I'm sorry if I caused you trouble I never really meant to do that."
She was halfway down the stairs when a soft voice called her name, her mother stood in the open doorway. "Now more than ever you must stand your ground Maria. I have complete faith that you will be the mother I always hoped I would be."
She went back inside and closed the door leaving her daughter outside.
Amelia walked back to the drawing room and glared at her husband. "Do you think that was appropriate, have you forgotten we were unmarried when Maria was conceived?"
"We were engaged and I wasn't a bloody Arab terrorist, the circumstance don't compare."
She walked past him towards the drinks cabinet and poured herself a generous gin and tonic, "You have a point there Richard it seems Maria actually loved the man who impregnated her."
The two men renting a small room in a house across the street who had begun to think they had been wasting their time listening to the Thorpe's but in the space of half an hour it had become one of their most worthwhile assignments. Picking up the phone he called his superior, "The bug we put in the Thorpe's house has come up trumps. Maria was helping them in Syria and that's not even the best part ...she is pregnant to none other than Altair."
"We'll pick her up tonight and encourage her to share her information with us. Altair needs to learn of this pregnancy and soon. Finally we have something to use against that Syrian bastard."
"Intel suggests he was killed in the attack back in March boss."
The man on the other end of the phone grunted. "Fuck Intel my gut tells me he and the Al Sayf boys survived and we can use her to lure them out. If they are dead then we'll put her in an Animus and harvest the genetic information from the foetus either way she is valuable to us." He leaned back in his chair and let himself enjoy this unexpected bonus. "I'll send a team to get her tonight you boys stay there for a few more days; you never know who might try to contact her folks."
Maria took another taxi but stopped on the way home to pick up some cigarettes. She would stop soon but for now the added stress of nicotine deprivation was probably worse for the baby than her smoking. There was a man standing outside her building and even before he turned around she knew who it was.
"Well now look what the cat dragged in! To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"
Graham grinned, "I wondered if I could talk you into joining me a couple of drinks."
"You show up unannounced on a Saturday night no less, can I assume your other plans suddenly developed good taste and ditched you?"
"Something like that. I think it may be time for me to start looking for a different type of woman Maria, I'm bored with my usual sort."
He took her arm as he led them across the road, "You can't mean cock-a-doodle-do is no longer chasing any-cock-will-do!"
His professionally whitened teeth flashed brilliantly in the twilight, "I wouldn't say never again but it might be time for me to hang up my spurs and give the younger men a chance." Stopping to get his bearings he asked, "Anywhere nearby we can enjoy a quiet drink? I mentioned in my email that I wanted us to talk but you dissed me."
"I know just the place but its not cheap so you better have your bank card mate, if you're talking then you're buying."
She found herself for the second time that night in a quiet corner but this time would be easier, Graham was here to talk about himself and that was just fine. She watched him waiting to be served and found herself comparing him to Altair. Graham was exactly the sort of man Maria would never fall for, all spray tan and aftershave. She remembered when Altair had carried her into the village and she was close enough to take in his scent -deep musky and entirely natural- had that been the beginning of her attraction to him?
Her fingers drummed on the highly polished surface of the small round table and she bit her lip. 'You have to stop doing this to yourself Maria.' But she knew it would be a long time before she could think of him and not feel loneliness and regret sting at her very core.
Graham sat opposite her placing her soft drink and his short on the table. "You weren't fucking kidding about the prices here, next time we go to a proper pub in Tooting." He slid her glass across to her, "Take your time with that girl I'm only a lowly cameraman; another round might put me in the poorhouse."
She took a sip and glanced around at the clientèle, all people she should feel completely at home with – young professionals with disposable income to prove it- but she was once more close to being overwhelmed by that feeling of not belonging. She wanted to go back to Syria, even if it meant being alone something about the people and that place had struck a chord within her.
"A penny for them."
"Oh sorry I was miles away."
He gave her a knowing look, "Syria?"
"How did you guess?"
"You were too green for that assignment Maria you should never have been sent. I'm not saying you are not going to be a great reporter, you have real potential and the camera loves you but maybe it was too soon."
A young man joined the woman at the next table. As he introduced himself he was fiddling with his Aston Martin key fob and the woman noticed at the same time as Maria, she clearly approved. 'Seduction by income, is that what we've become?'
"What was with the lies in Syria Maria? Ahmed told me you had fucked off with some guy then I learn you were kidnapped. Was Ahmed involved?"
She had this covered, no need to think fast. "I didn't have my phone anything sent from it was from the men who taken me. By the way thanks for not reporting Ahmed's dodgy claim for the car, he deserves a beamer just for putting up with our crap."
He shrugged, "It's not my money what do I care if Sky pays him a thousand times what his pile of shit was worth."
In the end all he wanted to do was to make sure she was okay and that surprised her no end. This perma-tanned poser had depth she never saw before, not much but more than she would have given him credit for. He walked her home after a couple of hours in the wine bar and Maria stopped him at the end of her road, "You better get a taxi from here you could wait hours for one to pass my house."
He looked and saw her building in the distance, "Okay so long as you'll be okay. Do the junkies in Kensington ask nicely before they take your bag?"
She chuckled, "The junkies in Kensington drive porches love."
He stepped forward awkwardly and placed his arms around her back, "I let you down in Damascus and I'm sorry."
'Fuck he blames himself for my alleged kidnapping.'
Regretting not being able to put him right she hugged him back, "It wasn't your fault don't blame yourself because I promise you I sure as hell don't hold you responsible."
They parted and she began walking the hundred or so yards to her house when she noticed a man crossing the street ahead of her. No alarm bells rang in her head when she saw him; she just kept walking at a steady pace. She heard a car door close behind her and footsteps coming up behind her, quickly. This did alarm her, no matter how nice the area that is the last thing a woman wants to hear at night.
She quickened her step only seconds from her door now when she felt a hand on her arm and another covered her mouth. "Scream and you will only make it worse come along quietly."
'FIGHT' that was her first and only instinct. Her brain screamed at her to resist, she knew worse would happen if he got her off the street. She pulled her body down and turned into his body clamping her teeth around his fingers. He struggled with her unexpected assault and she managed to break free. She lifted her knee to his groin and landed a good solid blow to his balls before turning to run but another hand grabbed her hair and tugged her backwards onto the ground.
He grabbed under her arms and hoisted her back to her feet but Maria wasn't done fighting, she grabbed for his face and dug her fingers into his eye sockets. The other guy recovered enough to take hold of her arms and pull her back, he lifted her off the ground and they both spun around from her attempts to free her arms. That is when she saw him moving toward them with unerring calm.
'He's alive!'
His arm moved past her head and she heard a thick wet fleshy sound behind her then the unpleasant feeling of what she guessed was blood covering the back of her neck. Altair pulled her out of the way as he turned his attention to the man holding his face. With one swipe of his arm she saw a jet of blood spray from his neck, it made a rainbow in the air between his neck and the pavement.
"There will be more of them we can't stay here." He took her arm and pulled her to a waiting car at the end of the street. Opening the back door he helped her bundle in before he moved to the driver's seat.
Reeling in a way she never thought was possible she looked around and saw Malik sitting on the back seat beside her. "Hello Maria it's nice to see you again but a question if I may? Why don't you answer your fucking emails?"
There was someone else in the front of the car but Maria's head was spinning and at that point couldn't have given her own name let alone form a coherent thought. "It's nice to see you too blacksmith."
Shorter than anticipated but it will be while before I can add to it so I'm posting what I have now. I never had time to edit this and I thought better to post a few mistakes than leave it weeks waiting for me to have a chance to fix it. Sorry but both this and Crescent and Cross won't be updated for a while, real life needs my full attention. Back when I can :)