Little Ms Cynical

11 - Showdown

Knights Publishing House on Sloane Street stood grandly next door to the Knightsbridge Hotel. Sylvia would have felt pride looking at this building belonging to an esteemed colleague, but today she felt insignificant; the grief of her grandma felt sore in her heart. 

The overcastting grey clouds threatened to pour down but Sylvia did not care, nor did she care for the umbrella that Cameron held between them.

"You were there for me when I wouldn't have allowed any to be. My grandma was so fond of you it's so hard to believe." She glanced at him, her eyes sore but healing from the crying as they had attended the funeral and left Scotland in a matter of a week. "Plus I think I'll hold up the end of my contract. You want to meet your dad. He's in this building."

Cameron tried his best to smile but he couldn't put Sylvia through this.

"Look we can come back another time."

She slightly shook her head, a disbelieving laugh forming from her throat.

"From what I've learnt from my grandmother's death is that you can't delay such things. You've got the opportunity to meet you dad and I suggest you better go in and make that happen."

                                                                        ***

Thomas Knight, proud owner of Knights Publishing, sat on his throne like office chair reading a manuscript. His eyes began to tear up from the words leaping from the page, as if they spoke to him directly. Most novels that came through to his office did not have that certain edge he was looking for and this particular one in his hand would have been thrown away, yet whatever he was going through at this stage resonated in the few chapters he read and reread again.

Grieving, losing someone close to your heart.

And he knew Sylvia Coal could have used his consoling.

So when he peered over his semi rimmed glasses to see Sylvia walk in he put down the manuscript, blinking several times to keep the tears at bay.

"Sylvia," he said, standing up and embracing her. "I'm very sorry to hear about your grandmother Mary. So sad to hear it. I hope you and your family are holding strong."

Sylvia's eyes slithered over the manuscript title, Lamentation, before breaking away from Thomas.

"Death is just a huge part of life that we all have to deal with," she commented, sitting opposite him. "I can't wish that everyone that I have lost will just come back. It is what it is." She then noticed his watery eyes and turned down smile. "And I guess you're going through the same thing."

He glanced down at the manuscript before shaking his head.

"For once something actually made me cry and yet something unusual has happened to me."

Although Sylvia wanted to know what kept him so depressed for he was usually jolly and content with life, she had to diverge.

"In all the years we've known each other I've never known anything about your past. I mean I don't know if you have a family. You know so much about mine."

"What is there to say," Thomas mumbled. "It was a long time ago but I had a wife and a son who I separated from for selfish reasons and it's why I'm in London living this high life." He paused, almost thinking about his past. "The price I paid and it's my biggest regret that I never got to see them again."

Sylvia sighed. Now it was her chance to prove him wrong.

"Well what if you could see your son Cameron again."

Thomas laughed, and it was not a kind laugh, a more mocking type.

"I highly doubt that." He then blinked again. "How do you know his name's Cameron?"

Sylvia stood, edging near to the door.

"You would not believe how crazy two weeks of my life have been. And call it fate or coincidence but I met him and he was so convinced that you were his dad." She turned the door handle and it was ajar. "He's outside eager to meet you."

The last thing Thomas needed in that moment was a prank. As Sylvia ushered towards something he clearly could not make his eyes understand, his acute anger was beginning to surface to full blown eruption.

Cameron walked in, expecting to see a happy and embracing father that he remembered, the memory he clung onto throughout his absence. Instead he was greeted by a red face.

"Is this some kind of a sick twisted joke?"

Sylvia turned to Cameron. "Well say something."

Cameron was baffled, looking deeply into his father's glistening eyes.

Thomas slammed the newspaper onto his varnished table.

"A week ago a man was crushed to death by one my vehicles. He had a rucksack with my photo and a letter addressed to me. I didn't want to believe it was my boy who came so far to find me. His mother and the life we had became a distant memory and now that's all he will ever be."

Cameron looked at the newspaper, the head line and photograph of the dented lorry and blood on the floor.

"No," he managed to say.

He suddenly saw himself walking away from Sylvia after she invited him to her workplace. He turned around to see her disappear but did not notice the kerb or road ahead. When he did he saw the looming lorry and it was too late. His body was crushed instantly and then thrown in the air.

Cameron clutched at his chest, trying to balance as he felt the shock. He turned to Sylvia, his brown eyes wide with terror, at the realisation that he was indeed a ghost.

"And I for one cannot believe you could just waltz in here and mock me. I must ask you to leave."

Sylvia tried to find the words to make this awkward situation any better.

"Mr. Knight I had no idea."

He grabbed her elbow and dragged her away. She turned to see Cameron's unchanged expression.

"Do something Cameron."

His shock turned to acute anger. Grabbing the telephone from the desk he slammed it to the floor. Thomas jumped at the sound and found his phone in pieces. He then saw a pen float against the paper.

"What is going on?" he managed to stammer.

Sylvia moved from his grip and walked towards Cameron.

"He's writing to you," she whispered.

Cameron scribbled a few words. He then made a paper aeroplane and aimed it towards her. She caught it, placing it delicately in Thomas's hands.

As his father read those words that proved Cameron was his son and present in the room he cried heartedly. Sylvia could hear the sob but all her attention was on Cameron. The man that she grown to love would never be hers. He did not belong with her in this life. Everything after his crash: the night spent together, the wedding, her grandmother's death and now was all in her mind. She now recalled all the weird looks she received from people: the porter at the airport, the wedding guests and her sister Cynthia calling her from the marquee.   

Her eyes began to feel heavy and the furniture seemed to float around her. She slumped to the floor and Cameron was beginning to disappear through the dim light.