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Life's Illusions - 10 years on - Chapter 44
In Montclair Woody was meeting with PJ to finalise his exit from Woodruff Corporate.
As Woody returned to full health, it had been PJ who had sought him out one afternoon, he'd been dozing in a chair on the terrace behind the Chateau and was completely surprised to see his Poppa.
"This is a pleasant surprise, you didn't say you were planning a visit".
PJ sat with him and told Woody why he was there.
"I realise now how selfish I've been, expecting you to, not just maintain, but to keep helping expand the empire I built, I'm sorry son, I want to discuss how we can extricate you from Woodruff".
Woody was caught completely by surprise.
"Poppa, I know how much Woodruff means to you, I'll carry on, there's no need for you to be concerned".
PJ leaned over to hug his son.
"No Woody, I'm absolutely determined, it's not something you want to do, it would be be wrong to have you carry on when you don't have your heart in it, this here, the Chateau, the Winery, the Brand, is what you built, it's a fine, vibrant, flourishing business, and it deserves your full attention".
Woody couldn't argue with PJ, he would have been lying if he'd said he wanted to carry on with his role at Woodruff, but it still felt like he was letting his Father down.
PJ could see Woody's dilemma.
"We're finally going to float it Woody, it's far too big now, we've been its loyal servants for all these years, it's been faithful, it's repaid us by growing into what it is today, but it's enormous now, my dear Gramps, God rest his soul, wouldn't recognise it".
PJ paused to think, Woody didn't interrupt.
"I don't want to be so tied, you don't want to be so tied, and now Josh is telling me the same, we're not getting any younger son, it's time, and more to the point, I know it's the right time because I don't feel guilty about even suggesting it, that in itself speaks volumes".
Again PJ went silent.
"So I guess I'm here to ask you for one last thing, help me float it Woody, it doesn't need us anymore, it's grown to the point where it needs a fully diverse board of professionals to oversee it's needs".
Woody was relieved, it was what he wanted as well, to be able to concentrate on his own venture.
The business Woody, Jacqueline and Jaque had built was now an internationally recognised brand, House of Montclair Wines were vigorously sought after, their forward production already secured several seasons in advance.
And so after months of negotiation and planning the day arrived where Woodruff was listed as a public company on the stock markets, it's new name, Woodruff Incorporate.
PJ had opted to retain thirty percent of the shareholding, that was split according to the share percentage held by the original shareholders of Woodruff Corporate with just one change.
All those years earlier, when Woody had left, following the episode with Will in the Woodruff Corporate Offices, he'd transferred his shares back to PJ, now, on PJ's insistence, Woody once again was the holder of Woodruff shares.
The new board of Woodruff Inc retained Josh as Executive Chairman and Bryan Fielding as Chairman, every other shareholder elected to vacate their position.
PJ and Woody watched the share price progress on the day of the floatation with absolute awe, the shares had been pegged at two dollars fifty, but within the first hour of trading they had reached Five dollars fifty and as trading ended on the first day they had settled on four dollars, a massive increase on the expected value.
That night at Montclair Jacqueline hosted a huge party to mark the launch of Woodruff, one guest attended in a nervous state, it was the very first time he'd trusted anyone to look after Pierre, not once in the year and a half since they'd been back in Montclair had Juan left him.
Aly, Bo and Piers who were frequent visitors to the house on Avenue Montclair had constantly encouraged Juan to get out more, but it was altogether someone else who convinced him.
Most of the wider family were present at the party, including Reece and Josef.
Leo was there with Casey Black and his family.
Also invited, and brought in on one of PJ's planes, was Sofia with her boys.
Before Sofia arrived at Chateau Montclair she'd made an unscheduled, and unannounced stop, at the house on Avenue Montclair which was a complete and overwhelming surprise for Juan.
It had been just after eleven in the morning, Pierre's physio team had just completed his daily exercises when the doorbell rang.
Juan had cursed the inconvenience and opened the door.
He'd stood, not able to speak, mouth agape, she hadn't changed, his beautiful sister, two little boys clinging tightly to her.
"I didn't know if you would welcome me, but I have wanted to come for so long, he saved me, it's so unfair, he gave me back my life, I get to live, but he doesn't, I just wanted to kiss him, talk to him, I promised him I'd bring the boys for a visit one day, I wanted to honour that promise, it was given to someone I owe so much to".
Juan had thrown his arms around her and through tears of genuine joy, invited her in.
Sofia had spent most of the day at Pierre's bedside, talking loudly one minute, whispering the next, many tears were shed as she expressed her genuine guilt that he was where he was, only because his good heart had been set on helping her.
Late in the afternoon Juan asked where she was staying, the look told him she hadn't really thought about that.
"I assumed there would be a hotel of sorts in the area, so I'll just get a cab to take us there.
Juan hoped what he said next would be accepted.
"Stay here Sis, there's loads of room, Pierre took this place on when he was desperate to get away from me, I don't think he actually gave any thought to how big the place is, it must have been a distraction for him, renovating it, then decorating and furnishing it, but in true Pierre style, every room is immaculate".
Sofia wanted to stay, she also wanted something else.
"I'll stay if you agree to accompany me to the party at Chateau Montclair".
Juan was thrown into a mild panic, he'd never left Pierre, except with his daytime physio team whilst he ran errands, never in over a year had he left him in the care of anyone else at night.
When Sofia suggested maybe one of his regular physio team might watch over him whilst they were out Juan relaxed a little, and when Juan approached them, two of them agreed to spend the night, telling Juan to get as drunk as a skunk for once, they'd look after Pierre.
And so Juan arrived at Chateau Montclair with Sofia.
On the drive out to the Chateau Juan broached a rather delicate subject.
"You realise there are people who will be here tonight, you will have to meet them, it's not an option, certain people in particular?".
Sofia knew exactly who Juan was referring to.
"You mean Poppa and Josef?, yes, I know, the difficult part is, I don't know how I'll react".
She went quiet but Juan didn't say anymore, he just let her dwell on it until she finally spoke again.
"I think meeting Poppa will be the most difficult, I hurt him badly when I went away, I know that, and although I was sorry, I couldn't help it, I had to distance myself from you and Josef, Poppa was a casualty of that action, I have to tell him I'm sorry, and I am, I want to make it up to him, I just don't know how at the moment".
Again she was quiet.
"Meeting Josef, that worries me, I adored him, idolised him, all my life, he was the big brother who knew wrong from right, he guided me, he couldn't do anything wrong, neither of you could, the two of you destroyed that image when you hurt Pierre, but it was somehow worse that Josef instigated it, I couldn't deal with that, so I ran away, now I have to face it, and to be honest, I don't know what I'll do".
Sofia was thinking.
"Can I ask you something Juan?, it's personal, it might hurt you but I want to know the answer".
Juan had a good idea what she wanted to know, the stark truth would be all he could offer, but he nodded.
"If Pierre were to wake up some day, what would you do, what if he still didn't want you?".
Juan was quiet for a moment, not because he hadn't thought about just that situation many times, but because he would finally be voicing what he knew was possibly the one thing that could actually break him.
"First, it's not if Pierre were to wake up, it's when Pierre decides to wake up, and he will, of that I'm confident, he will".
Sofia waited for him to go on.
"I'll deal with that situation when it arises, but yes, there is the possibility Pierre will turn me away, if that were to happen I would respect his wishes, it would probably be the straw that broke the camels back, it would hurt me more now than it did before, but I will put Pierre before my wants and needs for the rest of our days, so in answer to your question, if he doesn't want me, I'll go away".
Sofia could see how sad it had made him to answer her question.
"And that is why I can finally forgive you".
Juan was stunned.
"You do?, I don't deserve it".
She hugged him.
"That answer tells me you do, it restores my faith in you".
Meeting her Poppa was every bit as emotional as Sofia had expected.
Reece had aged, he was still an extremely handsome man, but the worry since Pauly's death had weighed heavily on him, he told Sofia that evening he felt responsible for how Josef and Juan had behaved, and at the same time he felt Poppa Pauly would have been annoyed, upset even, with how he'd dealt with it.
Sofia hugged her Poppa and almost in joking asked what she could do to make it up to him, the answer, although it surprised her, left her thinking.
"Come home, bring my Grandsons to Torremolinas, I'll give you, The Villa, I'll move out if you prefer, just come home".
She was quiet but when she replied Reece was shocked.
"Let me think about it Poppa, but if I did come home, there would be no giving me The Villa, nor would you be moving out, you would be required to instil some paternal discipline into two impressionable boys, a job I believe you are qualified to take on by way of your past experience".
They'd been laughing, walking towards the dining room when they came face to face.
His expression was clearly one of terror, he had no idea she might be here, he was confused and his only thought was to make a speedy exit.
"Poppa, Juan, Sofia, I didn't expect to see any of you here, if you'll excuse me, I was just leaving".
Sofia dropped Reece's arm and stepped in front of her brother.
"You and I have some serious outstanding business, I've braved my demons to be here, if you walk away now we're finished, there will be no repairing our relationship, ever, the choice is yours".
Josef didn't reply, he simply held out his hand to Sofia and led her out into the gardens.
"If you want me to apologise I will, if I could tell Pierre, I would, I tried you know, so many times, I tried to apologise to Pierre but he was having none of it".
He stopped to think what he wanted to say.
"Even now I'm not entirely sure what happened that day, a combination of things turned me into a heartless bully, the very thing I'd fought vehemently all my life".
She didn't say anything, just waited for him to go on.
"When I think back, I wasn't even bothered by your working at Guardian, it was something that had been impressed on us all our lives, we needed to be useful, productive, freeloading was not an option, but Juan was wound up, and I was stressed, Pierre was bringing more stress, I was trying to push it away, I wasn't pushing him away but I couldn't differentiate, I reacted out of context, my mind wasn't making sense, I know it's not an excuse, but I think everything just came together and the result happened".
Again he was quiet for a few moments.
"I'll always be ashamed of what happened that day, not just sorry, completely, utterly ashamed, I loved him, no, I do love him, he is as much my brother as Juan is, I don't think now that Juan was responsible for anything that happened, I think Juan just reacted to my actions, with catastrophic consequences, it was me who really set things in motion, me who caused it to happen, now I've set the record straight I'm leaving, goodnight".
And he did, he left, not giving Sofia any chance to speak.
When she returned from the gardens, both Reece and Juan were waiting where she'd left them.
"He's gone, he explained it all, he knows, and accepts, that he was the one who caused it, but he can't forgive himself, it doesn't matter if I forgive him, only Pierre could give him the forgiveness he needs".
During the evening Sofia also came face to face with Rick who later admitted, he'd only accepted the invitation because he thought there was a chance she would be there.
She was overjoyed to get the chance to express her gratitude.
"I've wanted to contact you to thank you for what you did for me, you disappeared so fast after that executive was arrested, I didn't get a chance to say how grateful my boys and I are".
Rick took it as a chance to get to see Sofia again.
"If you're going to visit your Father in Torremolinas perhaps we could have dinner, you can tell me how your life's going now".
Sofia smiled, a genuine smile, He was really nice, she felt comfortable in his company.
"I'd like that, I'll let you know when I'm in Torremolinas".
Whilst Sofia and Rick were chatting, Milo, who'd accompanied Rick was concentrating on someone else, his gaze never left Piers.
Piers was aware that Milo was staring at him, even when he glanced almost furtively, Milo didn't look away, finally he had to say something.
"Hi, I'm Piers, I don't think we've met before, Pierre is my brother".
Milo reached out a hand to take the one Piers had extended, as their skin touched they both shivered, it was like having an electric shock.
Piers tried to draw back, but Milo was holding on tight.
"I didn't want to come today, now I'm glad I did, I got to meet you, I think we have a connection, would you like to have a drink with me sometime, or now even?".
Piers was blushing, but he liked this guy.
"I'd like that".
They wandered away from the others with Reece almost giggling as he whispered to Juan.
"I think Piers just fell in love, I'd better find Aly and Bo, they need warning there's a wolf at the door".
As Reece drifted off in search of Aly and Bo, Juan realised he was standing alone, Sofia and Rick had followed Piers and Milo to the Marquee where drinks were being served.
A familiar voice from behind made him jump.
"It took me a long time to stop wanting to hurt you badly, I trusted you, and your brother, not just with my company, but with something much more precious, my Grandson, you may have done good things with the company, but it can never wipe away the damage you did to my Grandson".
Juan hadn't spoken, he couldn't, everything Leo said was true, Leo just stared, then turned away.
Juan hadn't answered because he knew what Leo wanted, like everyone else, he wanted an apology, and Juan had stopped apologising a long time ago, it wasn't that he wasn't sorry, it was because the only person who he wanted so desperately to apologise to couldn't hear him, one day he would say the words to Pierre".
He was wandering around, saying the odd hello, nodding to people he knew when Aly came running towards him.
"It's Pierre, the guys rang here, they didn't have your cell phone number, they said don't panic but he's become reality agitated, thrashing around, more activity than they've ever seen him display, they've called the doctor out in case he needs some sedation, I said you'd be back in a few minutes, Woody's arranged a car, it's out by the front gates".
Aly kept pace with him as they jogged toward the gates.
As they got into the car Aly realised Juan was crying.
"Juan what is it, surely this is a good sign, there's movement?".
Through tears Juan looked at Aly, not wanting to tell him of the conversation he'd had with Pierre's doctors before he'd brought him home, but he knew he had to, Aly deserved to know, to be prepared".
"The doctors told me he was clinically dead, they said any muscle activity would be his body reacting to his organs shutting down, they said it would be the beginning of the end, I'm frightened Aly, frightened he's decided it's time to go".
For the first time in years, Aly pulled his ex son in law into a hug, Juan's love for Pierre was plainly displayed there in front of him, the boy was genuinely breaking his heart.
"Don't Juan, they've been wrong before, have faith, he's a tough little nut, I wouldn't discount his surprising us again".
When they arrived at the house on Avenue Montclair there was an ambulance parked outside, it was no ordinary ambulance, Juan recognised it from when they brought Pierre home, it was equipped to cope with a full size specialist bed, Pierre's bed, they were planning to take him back to hospital.
Juan went into a panic as soon as he saw the doctors directing operations to get the bed containing Pierre out of the house.
"Stop, you're not taking him to hospital, we won't be able to control his care in a hospital, if he's going to die, it will be here, in his own home".
What the doctor replied shocked both Juan and Aly.
"Far from it my boy, we need the hospital urgently, those tubes are causing him trouble, he's struggling to breathe on his own, they need to come out, and quickly, don't ask me what's happened, I can't answer you on that question, he shouldn't be able to do this but he has, he's back, struggling, but make no mistake, he's definitely back".
Juan collapsed to his knees sobbing, with Aly in a similar state, they hugged each other.
The next few days were a blur for everyone, he was breathing on his own, he would seem to wake, his eyes would open, but he wasn't focusing on anyone, anything, after a few moments his eyes would close again.
The doctors were at a loss, as one of them explained.
"There's monumental brain activity, it's as if he's processing everything he's heard for the last few years, running it back and forth like a non stop film, there is sensation in his limbs we know that, he reacts to tests, but he seems to be stuck in a sort of limbo, all we can do is wait and watch, he's got this far, I for one believe he'll do the next part when he's ready, and finally, I see no reason to keep him here, take him home, let him be comfortable in his own house".
And so the arduous task of transferring Pierre back to Avenue Montclair was carried out the very next day.
Another month rolled by and there was no further change.
For Juan life fell back into a pattern, until the day an angry voice behind him almost stopped his heart beating.
"What are you doing in my house?".
Juan whirled around to see Pierre attempting to get out of bed.
"No, Pierre you can't, you haven't put weight on your legs for years.
Pierre's face was not a happy one.
"What the heck are you talking about, get out of my way,and get out of my house".
Juan was at a loss, he watched as Pierre put weight on legs where the muscles hadn't been used in years, watched as Pierre sank to the floor groaning, then he moved in and scooped him up in his arms, depositing him back on the bed.
"Now stay put, I'll explain everything, but you can't get out of that bed again, I'm not losing you now, just because you woke up in a bad mood, with a face that looks like a slapped arse, smile, I promise you, this is a good day".
Pierre's expression hadn't changed.
"I asked you what you're doing in my house, I take it I've been ill, I'm guessing you came to visit, still trying to impress everyone, well I'm better now, you can leave, get out".
Juan left his room and called Piers.
"He's awake, in a bad mood, you'll need to arrange someone to look after him, he's ordered me to get out, I'll wait for you to get here, then I'll pack and leave".
Piers was initially euphoric, but as soon as he got to the house along with Aly and Bo, his mood changed, Pierre immediately launched into an attack on all of them.
"How nice of my family to think about me, after I wake up to find him in my room, too much trouble was it, couldn't be bothered, you just let any Tom, Dick and Harry do the dirty work".
Piers was incensed but he allowed Pierre some slack.
Pierre, you're the one who left Power of Attorney to Juan, he's been looking after you for nearly three years since it happened.
Pierre was totally confused.
"Since what happened?".
This time piers didn't sugar coat it.
"Since you died, you were in a road traffic accident in England, you were pronounced clinically dead, thanks to Juan you survived, though I have to say, if you don't drop the attitude you may not make it through another few minutes, because right now I'm tempted to smack you repeatedly in the mouth".
The shock registered on Pierre's face.
"Dead?, why did you keep me going?".
Piers was still not happy.
"We didn't have any say in it, Juan has cared for you night and day for nearly three years, he refused anything and everything associated with helping you to die, he was always convinced you'd wake up one day, he put his whole life on hold for you, even though he knew you might wake up and still not want him, I still remember his words, 'As long as he's alive somewhere on this planet that's enough for me', you might want to think about that now that you've ordered him to leave, you're only alive because of him".
Pierre was silent, shocked, he just kept repeating.
"Three years, he did that for me".
Aly took over, talking gently to Pierre.
"It's us you should be angry with, non of us believed you could survive, but not Juan, he's been resolute all this time, cared for your every need, been with you almost every waking minute, when you started to get muscle spasms the other night his heart was almost breaking, the doctors had told him that would be a sign your organs were shutting down, I seriously believe if you had died, he would have followed you from a broken heart, he's truly sorry Pierre, please, speak to him, at least thank him, you're only alive because of him".
Pierre nodded.
"Would you ask him to come see me, then leave us alone".
Aly had found Juan packing clothes into two bags.
"He wants to speak with you Juan".
Juan didn't stop packing.
"As soon as I'm packed, I'll stop off at his room before I leave".
Juan knocked on Pierre's bedroom door and heard the muffled answer to come in.
"I'm leaving now, there's a detailed schedule on the table in the lounge, what times everyone comes in daily, physio team, cook, cleaner, even the gardener, every bill is paid in advance through to the end of the month".
Pierre suddenly thought about the bills.
"Do I need to swap my bank account back to me taking charge?".
Juan didn't show any emotion.
"Your accounts have not been touched since you last used them nearly three years ago".
Pierre blurted out.
"Don't leave Juan, stay on for a while, see how we get on, I owe you so much apparently".
Juan was on the verge of breaking down but he answered calmly.
"I can't stay when all you feel is a sense of gratitude, that's the only reason you feel the need to offer me a place in your home, but I'm not blind, there's no offer of a place in your heart or your life".
He paused, as much to get his emotions in check as anything, he didn't want to give Pierre any reason to pity him.
Be absolutely clear about this Pierre, you owe me nothing, not a thing, all I've done these last three years is what I should have done on that day years ago, I should have looked after you, protected you, loved you, but back then I didn't, for a few silly moments I didn't, and for that stupid mistake I'll be eternally sorry, I'll leave here hoping that one day you might find it in your heart to forgive me".
At that Juan lifted his bags and turned to leave.
"What if I tell you I love you, I want you, I need you, I forgave you a long time ago, then will you stay with me, please?".
The only sound was of his bags hitting the floor as Juan spun around, in moments he was holding him, hugging him, whispering only four words.
"Yes my love, forever".
TBC ARB Allan
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