Chapter 18
18
Simply being outside in the cool wasn’t enough to stop the hammering in her chest. But it did help a bit. The cold air opened up her lungs a little, but it was the proximity to the shop that kept the adrenaline pumping. He would come out and check on her, she was sure. She didn’t know much about the man, but she knew he was that sort of person. The sort who would race out to help a stranger, despite the fact he had a shop full of customers needing help.
With no other option but to get as far away from the place as possible, she raced forwards. Two sets of traffic lights, four random right turns and two left later, she finally veered off into a small alleyway and slumped against the wall. Her eyes closed with a sigh. Time passed as she propped herself there, mind in overdrive.
When she finally decided to acquaint herself with her surroundings and opened her eyes, it was the busyness of the street that alerted her to the fact that it must be around lunchtime. After a few moments rummaging in her bag, it dawned on her that she had left her phone in the office.
‘Shit,’ she said, and then, realising that heading back there meant substantially more than simply heading back there , she repeated the word. ‘Shit.’
In the nearly five years that Annabel had worked for her, they’d managed the last four years and eleven months without any yelling, or even exchanging an uncivil word. It wasn’t a testament to Fiona as a boss. She’d had employees in the past who she did nothing but yell at, or so it seemed. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. But with Annabel, it had only taken four weeks for her to reach the conclusion that she was a person you shouldn’t, couldn’t shout at. Annabel’s natural good nature went far beyond simple manners. She would only verbalise appropriate thoughts in any given situation and Fiona had no doubt that her inner thoughts were just as pristine as those that she shared. Annabel never did anything unless she genuinely believed it was the right thing to do. People like that were a rare find. The scene that morning had, therefore, been a grave mistake on Fiona’s part. And while she was certain Annabel would try not to hold it against her, she was mortified.
Her pulse rate rose steadily as she climbed the stairs back to the office. It was a struggle too, given that her arms were heavily laden and she was almost about to lose her grip. When the shopkeeper had offered her a plastic bag, the answer had been immediate.
‘Don’t you have any paper ones?’ she’d snapped at the poor woman.
‘We do, but they’re too small for all you’ve got there. You’re going to need a bigger one.’
‘Can I just have three paper ones?’
‘They’ll probably just break. You’re better off getting one of the plastic ones. That would be better.’
‘Forget it, I’ll manage without,’ she had replied and loaded herself up. This was why people hated doing things to save the planet. It was too damn inconvenient.
Crossing the small distance between the top of the stairs and Annabel’s desk felt more like a Walk of Shame than she’d experienced earlier in the week. When she reached it, her assistant lifted her face and smiled meekly, meeting her gaze with red-rimmed eyes.
‘I’m ever so?—’
‘Don’t you dare.’ Fiona caught her before she started. ‘It was on me. That was all me. I’m sorry.’
‘I shouldn’t have questioned?—’
‘You were perfectly within your rights. You were.’
‘No, I shouldn’t have.’
Fiona’s face hardened. ‘You need to stop apologising now,’ she said. ‘Or you will actually make me lose it again.’
A small smile flickered on Annabel’s lips, before she looked towards the objects in Fiona’s arms, at which point, her eyes almost popped.
‘Are they…?’
‘Harry Potter? Yes. Limited edition. All seven books.’
‘They’re, they’re…’ Annabel could barely string two words together.
‘They’re for you. By way of an apology.’
From the lack of reaction, Fiona started to wonder if she’d been off base with the gift, until Annabel suddenly leapt at her and grabbed her in her arms.
‘Seriously?’ The excited girl stepped back, shaking her head. ‘No, I can’t. You can’t. This is too much.’
‘No, it’s exactly right.’ Fiona put the books down on the desk and gave her arm muscles a good stretch. Carrying seven of any book would be hard work, but some of those volumes were huge. ‘One book for each year you’ve worked with me. That’s the perfect calculation by my count.’
‘But I’ve only been here five years.’
‘Think of them as books in lieu, then. Besides, you may end up needing to sell them, at this rate. I’m not too sure there’s going to be as much in the end-of-year bonus this year as we hoped.’
‘Why?’ Annabel’s expression changed. ‘What’s happened?’
‘Well. Let’s just say Octavia wasn’t too happy with my proposals. And, as much as I like to think she won’t, there’s a fair chance she’ll go running to her uncle about it. In which case, we might find ourselves in a spot of trouble.’
A shift in Annabel’s gaze told her what she’d been fearing.
‘He’s rung, hasn’t he?’
‘Quite a few times.’
‘Crap.’
‘And I think he called your mobile too. I heard it ringing in your office.’
Fiona rubbed her hands against the tops of her thighs.
‘Okay.’ She sucked in a lungful of air. ‘I’ll deal with this. I’ll sort it. Dominic and I have worked together long enough. I just need to talk to him.’
She was about to go to her office when she noticed how Annabel was staring at her, chewing on the inside of her mouth, as if she had a question she wanted to ask, but was now too worried to mention.
‘What is it?’ she asked. ‘Has he already said something to you?’
‘No,’ she shook her head. ‘Well, yes, he said he was mad, but no, it wasn’t that.’
‘Then what is it?’
She still looked worried.
‘Honestly, you can tell me.’
‘It’s probably none of my business. I don’t want to interfere.’
‘Annabel,’ Fiona growled.
The younger woman took a deep breath. ‘It’s only that, yesterday, when you were away…’ She hesitated again.
‘Annabel!’
‘Well, I went to get my lunch from that little burrito place. You know the one. I really like it. But when I got there, I saw that he was there too. Stephen, I mean. And, well, it looked like he was?—’
‘He was with another woman,’ Fiona said, finishing the sentence and saving Annabel the embarrassment of having to go on.
She nodded.
Fiona was silent. She hadn’t even contemplated telling anyone besides Holly what was going on with Stephen. But if he was going public with this woman… Trust him not to make things easy.
‘And then I thought about the fact that you didn’t go to Brussels,’ Annabel continued. ‘And it was meant to be for your anniversary and everything and I just wondered if… Well, if…’
‘If Stephen had left me? Yes. Yes, he has. He went straight after Joseph went to university. Said he’d met someone else. He’s already given me the divorce papers to sign.’
‘What?’
Fiona tilted her head in a half shrug.
‘So, this thing with Octavia Lovett-Rose?—’
‘Has nothing to do with it. Or, at least, I don’t think it has. It’s quite separate.’ She nodded slowly. Actually, it was true. Stephen hadn’t entered her mind once during her meeting with Octavia. Not like Martha. Martha had been in her thoughts the entire time.
Annabel’s smile returned. It was still a little feeble, unsure around the eyes, but it was getting there.
‘Well, I know you’ll be able to put it right. You’re a Superwoman.’
‘I hope so,’ she said. ‘It should be fine. It was all just a misunderstanding. After all, Dominic’s a businessman. He knows that sometimes, things can get a bit messy.’
She left Annabel excitedly stroking the covers on her new Harry Potter collection. Retrieving her phone, she discovered fourteen missed calls. All from Dominic. It didn’t feel good, not good at all.
Shouting and swearing would have been substantially easier to deal with; it would have given her something to feed off, to push back against. But she should have known that men who were as successful and shrewd as Dominic didn’t get that way by losing control. Instead, she was subjected to long pauses, interspersed with tuts, which reverberated down the line. At least it wasn’t in person, she thought during another of the long silences. At least she didn’t have to try to maintain eye contact with him. Not today at least. That would come later.
‘There are business relationships and personal relationships, Fiona, but I always liked to think that what we had was a mixture of both.’
‘I know. I think that too,’ she agreed.
‘And on every level where Octavia is concerned – she’s my niece, my baby girl – that’s as personal as it gets for me.’
‘I understand. I do.’
‘But your relationship with her is business. Strictly business. Some of the things she told me…’ He sighed, causing her to shrink a little in her seat. It was as if she was back at primary school, being told off for stealing someone’s milk. ‘She is your client, Fiona. Or at least she was. Now, I don’t know if what she told me was exaggerated in any way?—’
‘I suspect not,’ she admitted, not wanting to hear any more, but knowing she didn’t have a choice. ‘I was 100 per cent out of line. I went about things in completely the wrong way. But I need you to know that my intentions were always in the right place.’
‘Telling my niece that she’s an entitled brat came from the right place?’
‘ That was not what I meant. Please, if you could give me time to explain in person. If I could show you why I was so passionate. I know passion is absolutely no excuse for the way I spoke to her but, please, if you could spare the time to hear me out, I feel it would go some way to explaining my actions. It might even turn out to be beneficial. For all of us.’
More silence.
‘I’m not sure what my diary looks like,’ he said, finally.
‘How about tomorrow?’ she offered, knowing she needed a little time to prepare. ‘Any time you choose.’
‘Fine,’ he finally agreed. ‘But I don’t know when I’ll be able to make it.’
‘As I said, any time. I’ll clear my schedule. I promise you won’t regret it.’
‘I’d better not, Fiona. I’d better not.’
A second later, the line went dead.