Chapter Seventeen Sometimes You’ve Got to Quit to Get Ahead
~ Alex ~
‘This is awkward.’ Alex gulped down a mouthful of beer and swallowed hard to disguise his emotional discomfort. Seeing Casey on her own for the first time in over three weeks had reminded him of how much he really loved her, sexual frustration notwithstanding. ‘I’m sorry, love. I really am. I’ve been treating you bad.’
Casey shrugged and avoided his eyes. She made a show of looking around the busy pub. The White Lion was bedecked with garlands, tinsel, and other gaudy accoutrements, and intermittent Christmas pop songs were playing on the sound system. It was early December, and the pub had very much inaugurated the festive season.
Casey was still looking anywhere but at him, and that in itself told Alex how hurt she was. He hadn’t been entirely in his right mind when he had fired off that text introducing the idea of divorce. He had wanted to provoke a reaction, a new dialogue, and he had been stunned when Casey simply replied with an invitation to meet. Her silent and stoic acceptance of his badly thought out proposition rattled him more than any recriminations. He was beginning to feel a little panicked.
‘It is a bit. Awkward, I mean.’ Casey finally spoke. She picked up a beer mat and began shredding it into little pieces. It was a nervous habit she had, and Alex’s heart ached.
‘I was out of my mind when I sent that text. I didn’t really mean it,’ he heard himself backtrack.
‘You did mean it,’ Casey challenged him calmly. ‘You said it in Cornwall, even if you didn’t use the actual word. And all things considered, it’s probably not a bad idea.’
‘You’re not serious?’ Alex couldn’t believe his ears. What a damn fool he had been to send that text.
‘I am.’ Casey stared at the table. ‘I love you so much. But I agree. This’ — she made a helpless rolling gesture with her hand — ‘this can’t go on. It’ll drive us both nuts. I think you’re right. We should call it a day.’
‘You really want a divorce?’ Alex couldn’t keep a note of hysteria out of his voice. Yes, he had been frustrated, annoyed, angry, supremely disgruntled, and completely at the end of his tether. Yes, he had sent the text with the D-word in it. But he had never expected Casey to take him at his word. He had hoped that they would meet, laugh, and jointly decide to dismiss the notion. What a fool he had been.
‘No.’ Casey shook her head. ‘We can’t get divorced.’
‘We can’t?’ Alex breathed a sigh of relief before the real importance of what Casey had said sunk in. ‘You mean, you’ve looked into this?’
‘What did you expect me to do after you asked me for a divorce by text?’
Even though her head was bowed, he could see Casey’s eyes were brimming with unshed tears. Alex reached across the table and clasped her hands.
‘Casey, I was being stupid. I didn’t mean it, honestly. I just . . . I wanted . . . I don’t know what I wanted.’ He sighed deeply and cursed his inability to explain himself coherently. ‘I wanted to see you again. To make up,’ he ventured softly.
‘You great big oaf,’ Casey chided him mildly. ‘Talk about biting off your nose to spite your face. You could have said “hello” or . . . who knows . . . perhaps even “sorry”. I’d been waiting for that kind of message for three weeks.’
‘I know, I know. I was daft. I wasn’t thinking straight. I’m so sorry.’ Alex held on more tightly to Casey’s hands, willing her to look at him properly at long last. But her eyes persisted in skittering all over the place.
‘Alex,’ she whispered. ‘Maybe you think you only sent that text to . . . to get me to meet you, but can’t you see? If it wasn’t what you’d really wanted deep down, you’d have picked a more harmless opening gambit.’
‘You’re reading too much into this!’ Real fear resonated in his protest. This conversation wasn’t going at all how he had planned.
‘I do think we’ve hit the end of the road. “Maybe we should consider divorce to put us both out of our misery”,’ Casey quoted quietly. ‘You think I’m reading too much into that?’
‘You are. You totally are. I didn’t say, “let’s get divorced”.’ Alex rushed his words in a desperate attempt to make her understand. He could see why she could have misinterpreted his meaning, and he needed to fix her misapprehension fast. ‘I said, “we should consider”. I wanted to talk again. That was all.’
Casey smiled ruefully and chewed her bottom lip. ‘Then you could have said so. I don’t think your choice of words was an accident.’
‘Why are you doing this?’ Alex demanded. ‘Why are you twisting my words?’
‘Alex.’ Casey sighed deeply. ‘I’m hardly twisting your words. I simply played them back to you. There’s very little room for twisting.’
‘But I didn’t mean them.’
‘Then you shouldn’t have typed them!’ Casey was starting to get angry.
Alex flinched. This whole thing was out of control. He was standing at the abyss, and the cliff’s edge was disintegrating beneath his very feet.
‘Look.’ Casey’s voice cut through his despair. ‘I do think you’re right. We can’t go on like this. At some point, I’ll want kids. I don’t want to conceive with the help of a turkey baster.’
Alex’s head jerked up. ‘What?’ He laughed despite himself. ‘I’m having visions of . . . you know . . . filling the tube and . . . eurgh.’
‘Eurgh indeed.’ Casey gave him a watery smile. ‘See? This whole not-having-sex-thing, it’s doing us in. I feel like I’m losing my best friend, and I can’t bear it. I’d much rather go back to what we had before we dated than not have you in my life at all.’
Ka-pow. And there it was — the fatal blow. Alex recoiled and let go of Casey’s hands. It was obvious that she had thought this through. Unlike him, she meant what she said.
‘But . . . but that never works. Being friends after a relationship.’ He was clutching at straws.
‘It does if you were friends first,’ Casey contradicted him. ‘We’ll make it work. Blue Heart will see us through this, and we have to sort ourselves out for the band. For Liza and Myles.’
Even while she spoke, she finally began to cry. A fat tear escaped her eye, followed by another, and another. She didn’t make any attempt to wipe them away. She simply let them fall. Alex wanted to reach out and dry them, but he held back.
‘So . . . um . . . right.’ He scratched his head. ‘Where are you going with this? And why can’t we get divorced?’
Casey inhaled deeply and picked up her beer mat again for more shredding. ‘We can’t get divorced because we haven’t been married for a year. But we can get our marriage annulled.’
‘Annulled?’
‘Declared void, like it never happened.’
‘Ouch.’ Alex recoiled. ‘That sounds even worse than divorce.’
Casey lifted her shoulders until they practically touched her ears. ‘I know. But those are our choices. We can either wait until next May, or we can file for nullity now and be done with it.’
‘“File for nullity”?’ Alex echoed, nearly speechless. ‘Why do I get the feeling you’ve researched all this?’
‘I haven’t, as such,’ Casey replied evenly. ‘You forget I’m staying with Sasha.’
Sasha. Of course. Sasha was a legal eagle of some description, something rather high-powered if he recalled correctly. She was bound to know about these things.
‘And we can do this on what grounds?’
‘Non-consummation of marriage.’ Casey chewed her lip. ‘Non-consummation makes a marriage voidable. We’re almost a poster child for it. Almost.’
‘Only almost?’
‘Yeah. We’ll have to agree to bend the truth here a little.’
‘Why? We haven’t had proper sex since we got married. That’s the whole problem.’ Alex was at a loss. ‘Why would we have to lie about this?’
‘Because technically, and I quote, “erection and penetration” define consummation, but orgasm is optional.’
Alex spluttered into his beer. ‘You what?’
Casey laughed — the first proper Casey laugh he had heard for weeks. ‘I had the exact same reaction, but there it is. On account of the two or three times where we achieved’ — she made speech marks in the air — ‘“erection with penetration”, we’ve technically consummated. So we’ll have to agree to disregard those instances and file for nullity on grounds of permanent and incurable incapacity.’
‘No way!’ Alex almost shouted. ‘You must be kidding. I’m not putting that on any form!’
‘You’ll have to. And I’ll declare the same about myself. It’s only fair. This is definitely a two-way issue.’
Alex shook his head. ‘I can’t believe we’re having this conversation.’
‘Me neither.’
They sat in silence while the absurdity of their circumstance hung between them.
Eventually, Alex summoned some words. ‘So, suppose I agree to this. How would it work?’
* * *
~ Casey ~
‘As long as we get our stories straight,’ Casey explained, ‘this will be really straightforward.’ She rummaged in her bag and retrieved a folder with forms that she had printed out at Sasha’s house earlier that morning.
Alex looked at her with wide eyes. ‘You’ve got forms? Don’t we need to go and see a solicitor?’
‘Nope, not if we agree on everything. Look.’ She pointed to a first piece of paper. ‘One of us fills in this form, the “nullity petition”, and files it with a divorce court. We’ll have to pay a fee, obviously.’
‘Obviously.’
‘Right.’ Casey wasn’t going to be distracted by Alex’s sarcastic repartee. ‘So within about eight days, the other one will be asked to respond. The “respondent” has to fill in a form, plus a statement in support of annulment of a voidable marriage.’
Alex seemed dazed. ‘Have you taken up a law degree while I wasn’t looking?’
‘No. But it really can be very simple if we both agree. So after the response is filed, the court will deliberate on it and give us an agreement. After that, we file for decree nisi and then for absolute. Piece of pie.’
‘I’m in shock.’ Alex sat back and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
‘Why? Isn’t that what—’
‘Don’t say it’s what I wanted, because it’s not. My head’s swimming. You’re so . . . so matter-of-fact about this, almost clinical. I can’t quite believe it.’ He rubbed his forehead vigorously.
‘Alex.’ Casey softened her voice. ‘I only looked into all of this because I thought you wanted it. And once I started thinking about it, it made sense. Everything seemed to click into place.’
‘Well, it hasn’t for me.’
‘I’m sorry.’ Casey shuffled the papers back together and stuck them in their folder. ‘Maybe it’s a bit much. Maybe I am barking up the wrong tree. Only . . . I don’t know.’ She shrugged helplessly. ‘Sometimes you’ve got to quit to get ahead.’
She put the folder into her bag to clear the table of unpleasant paperwork. Then she picked up the remains of her shredded beer mat and rolled her shoulders. She didn’t know what to say or do next.
Alex sipped at his beer. She had never known him to take so long to consume a pint. He seemed genuinely upset, despondent even, and that broke Casey’s heart. She hadn’t intended to hurt him. She had thought that consenting calmly to his idea of ending their marriage would be the best way forward, but now she wasn’t so sure. She wasn’t sure of anything any more.
‘Suppose . . . suppose we go through with this. Suppose we annul our marriage. What would happen to us? The house? Our relationship?’
‘I don’t know,’ Casey confessed. ‘What would you like to happen to it?’
Alex exhaled slowly. ‘Nothing. As in, I don’t want any of it to go away.’
‘Me neither. But on the other hand, the whole point of separating is that we could both potentially find new partners. For, you know . . . having sex . . . making babies.’
‘I don’t know. I get your point, but I still love you. I can’t switch that off.’
‘Me neither,’ Casey echoed Alex’s earlier response.
‘So why do it?’
‘Alex, we’re going round in circles. We’ve got to do something. We can’t stay in this limbo for the rest of our lives.’
‘Or for the next six years or so,’ Alex muttered.
‘Or for the next six years or so,’ Casey agreed. ‘If one were to believe in curses, which, of course, we don’t.’
‘You’re right.’
‘Of course I’m right.’
Alex nodded. ‘You usually are. But how do you see it working? Say we annul. Then what?’
‘I say . . . I say we carry on as normal . . . live together, work together, shop together . . . but without the . . . the pressure. And we’ll see what happens. Maybe one of us will meet someone else. Maybe miracles will happen. Who knows? But I think it’s really important to get us out of this deadlock.’
‘Or wedlock, as the case may be.’
Casey giggled. ‘Now you’re getting there.’
‘I’m not sure I am, but it seems to make a strange kind of sense, as you say. Besides, it’s the final frontier, the last thing we haven’t tried.’
Casey swallowed. ‘You wanna do it?’
‘Why not?’ Alex sat up straighter. ‘What’ve we got to lose? It’s only another set of forms and a bit of money. And if we don’t like being annulled either, we can always remarry.’
‘Again.’ Casey chortled some more.
‘We should commission someone to write our story!’ Alex laughed. ‘But joking apart, why not? I think maybe I’m starting to get it. A clean slate, a fresh start. Yeah. Let’s do it.’
‘You sure? I don’t want to talk you into anything you’re not comfortable with.’
Alex nodded. ‘Don’t go backtracking on me now, or we’ll be doing this dance for days, weeks to come. Go on, let’s have those forms. Might as well get on with them.’
‘What, now? Here?’
‘No time like the present.’
‘You’re not bluffing?’
‘I’m not bluffing. Let’s go for it.’
Casey shook her head. ‘I feel like I’ve been on a loop-the-loop. I don’t know if I’m up or down.’
‘Oh, definitely up. Come on. Things can only get better. They certainly can’t get any worse. And we’re still friends, whatever happens. Isn’t that what you said?’
‘Well, yeah. Absolutely.’ Casey was taken aback by the speed of events. Even though she had brought along the relevant paperwork, she had never considered completing it right away. She had anticipated a few days’ deliberation time, maybe more meetings . . .
‘Are you still staying at Myles’s place?’ she burst out a propos of nothing.
‘I was, but I’m . . . I’d like to come home now and sleep in my own bed. With you, if that’s okay. What about you?’
‘Me too. I miss our place. And . . . and your company.’
‘So here’s the ultimate in dramatic irony. Let’s fill in the paperwork to get split up and then promptly move back in together. What do you think?’ Alex’s eyes sparkled with mischief. ‘No strings, obviously. We’ll soon be annulled, so we’ll have to keep it nice and innocent.’
‘Is that a promise or a threat?’
‘Both.’
‘Whatever. Here goes: Do you want to be petitioner or respondent?’
‘I don’t mind. Who fills in the first form again?’
‘The petitioner.’
‘Then that’s what I’ll be.’
‘Alex?’
‘Casey?’
‘You know you’re my best friend?’
‘And your soulmate, I hope.’
‘And my soulmate.’
‘Ditto.’ Alex smiled a wide, genuine smile of affection. ‘I’ll have you know, I wouldn’t do this with anyone else but you.’
‘Same here.’ Casey smiled back. Suddenly she felt light as a feather, carefree, and full of optimism. She wasn’t sure whether anyone outside of their relationship could even begin to comprehend the extraordinary logic of their decision, but she didn’t care. They had been through too much to give a hoot about logic and reason. Going with what felt right was the only thing that remained. And annulling their marriage to rescue their relationship — whether that would be a platonic romance or an unromantic friendship — seemed like the sanest course of action.
‘Right. So. Petition of Nullity . . .’ she began to read out for both their benefit.
* * *
~ Alex ~
‘This is it, then.’ Alex licked the envelope and sealed it tight shut. He leaned against the post box and waved the letter in Casey’s face. He had laughed at her for keeping it unsealed until the last moment, but now he couldn’t get himself to put it in the box.
‘It is.’ Casey grinned. ‘Are you going to post the letter, or are we going to stand here for a while?’
‘Let’s do it together.’ Alex picked up Casey’s hand, and they jointly clasped the fateful envelope. ‘Here goes.’
‘Farewell, decree nisi!’ Casey shouted as they pushed the envelope through the slot at last. They listened in reverential silence for the soft ‘pfft’ of their precious missive landing on a pile of other letters, and the deed was done. Literally.
‘Almost there,’ Alex cheered. ‘This is totally unreal.’
‘It’s amazing what you can achieve in two weeks,’ Casey agreed. ‘Thanks to Sasha’s advice, everything has gone incredibly smoothly.’
‘Who’d have thought it would be such a relief to get this marriage undone?’ Alex mused. ‘I feel like a weight has been lifted. What shall we do next?’
‘We should celebrate,’ Casey suggested. ‘Let’s see our marriage out in style.’
‘Great idea. What did you have in mind?’
‘Nothing in particular. You?’
‘Nope.’ Alex shrugged. ‘Here, give me a hug. I’m happy, but I’m also ever so slightly bereft.’ He wrapped his arms around Casey and held her tightly. Her hair smelled faintly of almonds, and he breathed in deeply. Casey rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes.
‘You’ve a nice body,’ she murmured.
Alex guffawed. ‘Don’t go there,’ he warned. ‘Slippery slope and all that.’
‘I know!’ Casey suddenly straightened up. The top of her head connected with his chin and nearly knocked out a few teeth.
‘Oouff,’ Alex exclaimed. ‘Wow. Now that she’s nearly no longer my wife, she’s beating me up.’
‘Sorry!’ Casey jumped up and down. ‘But I had the best idea. Let’s go to Paris.’
‘To Paris? What, now?’
‘Yeah. Why not? Let’s take the Eurostar and have an adventure. I feel this marriage should end where it started . . . in France.’
‘Okay.’ Alex sounded a little doubtful. ‘But we haven’t packed anything. We haven’t even got our passports.’
‘Don’t we?’ Casey grinned. She dug around in her handbag and waved two aubergine-coloured booklets at him. ‘Or do we? I brought them along in case we needed them after the nisi.’
‘What a coincidence.’ Alex smirked. He didn’t believe a word of what Casey was saying. ‘Isn’t it lovely to have a wife — sorry, a friend — who’s so well prepared?’
Casey elbowed him in the ribs. ‘I’m innocent, I swear. I really took them only in case.’
Alex chortled. ‘So you want to go to Paris right now?’
‘Absolutely. Let’s do something completely crazy.’
Alex nodded. ‘Okay.’
‘Okay?’ Casey squealed with excitement. ‘Really?’
‘Really. Come on, let’s get to St Pancras.’
Alex felt electrified by the very idea of doing something so outrageous. Waiting for their annulment to be finalised, they would elope to the most romantic city in the world. This about summed up their relationship.
His body tingled all over with unexpected anticipation. Of course, there was nothing to anticipate, but Alex relished the thrill, the freedom, the fun. Paris, watch out, he thought.
* * *
~ Casey ~
Awesome. Casey sat on the train and couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. She had absolutely no clue where her mad idea had come from. The passports had made it into her bag this morning on a real whim. There was no premeditation, yet she and Alex seemed to be following their fate, their destiny. It was only a short hop to Paris, and they would find themselves a fancy hotel and dine royally in honour of their annulment.
‘You okay?’ Alex cut into her thoughts. ‘You look like the cat that could have the cream if only she were daring enough to take it.’
Ha! Casey swallowed. If only he knew! The scent of Alex’s aftershave kept wafting up her nose, and she had a hard time keeping her hands to herself. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been so attracted to him. Which was really, really weird. Her body was responding to his on an almost primal level. Her boobs were tender, her ovaries were beside themselves with excitement, and her nipples were chafing against her bra. She was having first date nerves. She could only hope that he didn’t pick up on her involuntary signals.
‘I’m good,’ she finally squawked. ‘This is so exciting. Naughty, somehow.’
‘I know what you mean. And we don’t even know where we’re going to stay tonight.’
‘Paris is full of hotels. We’ll find somewhere,’ Casey predicted.
Alex sighed and leaned his head back against the seat. ‘We could always do some Christmas shopping, too. I’m totally not organised.’
‘We could,’ Casey agreed. ‘It’s only a week to go. What do you want for Christmas?’
‘You,’ Alex blurted out. Casey did a double take, unsure whether she heard correctly. Alex turned bright red and shook his head. ‘Sorry. No idea where that came from. Ignore me.’
Casey smiled. ‘Well, you got me, in a manner of speaking. Anything else?’
‘Oh, you know. The usual. Music. Coffee makers. A Ferrari, maybe.’
‘Of course. Me, I’ll have a necklace from Tiffany’s and a trip up the Empire State Building.’
‘Perfect.’ Alex nodded. ‘Although I’m not sure we can do the Empire State Building in Paris. We might have to make do with the Eiffel Tower.’
Casey’s eyes lit up. ‘Oh, can we? That would be wonderful.’
‘Let’s see if we can fit it in.’ Alex leaned forward, and their hands brushed against each other. An electric current shot up Casey’s arm and straight to her brain. For a moment, she had to close her eyes and hold her breath lest she moaned with desire. What the hell was going on?
* * *
~ Alex ~
She felt it too. Alex was certain of it. When their hands touched, he thought he would pass out with shock. What was going on with all those subtle, subliminal signals? They were behaving like first-daters. It was ridiculous. They had known each other for years. They had just sent off their decree nisi, for crying out loud. He breathed in and out and tried to calm down.
* * *
~ Casey ~
By the time the train finally pulled into Gare du Nord, Casey could barely stand to be in close proximity with Alex. Every hair on her body tingled. She could hardly restrain herself. This couldn’t be happening. This shouldn’t be happening.
Fixing an overly bright smile on her face, Casey bounded off the train before Alex had a chance to hold her hand or touch her in any way. One more of those little electric shocks would be enough to send her over the edge. She would throw herself at him, and to hell with the consequences. Their adventure would end in tears. No way.
‘Come on,’ she shouted. ‘Paris is waiting for us! Let’s grab a taxi and find somewhere to stay.’
‘All right, all right,’ Alex said with a laugh, running to catch up with her. ‘Good job we don’t have any luggage. We might want to buy a toothbrush though.’
‘Yeah, whatever. Oh look. Taxis.’ Casey flung herself into the first taxi in line. ‘Bonjour, monsieur,’ she uttered breathlessly before Alex had even sat down beside her. ‘Can you take us to the nearest five-star hotel?’
‘Five stars?’ The driver looked at her for confirmation.
‘Five stars?’ Alex mouthed.
‘Yes, please,’ Casey replied to both. ‘We said we’d celebrate, right?’ she added for Alex’s benefit.
‘Absolutely,’ Alex confirmed. ‘Awesome.’
Casey swallowed and edged her body away from Alex as the driver put his car in gear and set off. To distract herself from her scandalous desires, she observed her surroundings as though her life depended on it. They had arrived in Paris shortly after four o’clock in the afternoon local time. It was getting dark, and the roads were illuminated by tasteful white Christmas lights and stunning decorations.
‘It’s so beautiful,’ she breathed. ‘I feel quite Christmassy all of a sudden.’
‘Me too,’ Alex croaked beside her, sounding most insincere.
‘Are you hungry?’ Casey asked. ‘Shall we go for a meal when we’ve checked in?’
‘Definitely hungry,’ Alex acknowledged, a dangerous gleam in his eye.
There was definitely a suggestive tone in Alex’s voice. She wasn’t dreaming it. Oh my gosh.
Her resolve was crumbling faster than you could say ‘annulment’. ‘Perhaps we can organise some bubbly to be sent up to our room? We must have bubbly if we’re celebrating.’
‘Bubbly. Yes,’ Alex rasped.
‘And ’ere we are,’ the driver interrupted their terse conversation. ‘Five stars, as promised. Quite possibly the best ’otel in Paris.’
‘Wow. Thanks! How much do we owe you?’ Alex pulled a wad of euro notes out of his wallet. He grinned at Casey. ‘Good job you reminded me to get some cash before we boarded the train.’
The driver named his price, and Alex paid without haggling. Casey was grateful for that. She needed to get out of that taxi as badly as she had needed to get off the train. Any minute now, she would spontaneously combust.
* * *
~ Alex ~
‘A room for tonight, please.’ Alex placed his credit card on the counter and flashed the receptionist his most dazzling smile.
‘Only for tonight, sir?’
‘Definitely for tonight. We’ll see about tomorrow,’ Alex replied. He shot a quick look at Casey. Is that okay? his eyes asked of her.
Of course, hers appeared to reply. At least that was what he thought. He was finding it difficult to think clearly.
‘And your name?’ The receptionist tapped away at her computer.
‘Mr and MrsMorgan,’ Casey chimed in quickly. Alex snorted.
‘What?’ Casey hissed at him under her breath.
‘Nothing.’ Alex shook his head. ‘This is one strange situation.’
‘Yeah, you can say that again.’ Casey sounded tense. Wired, somehow. He wondered if she was getting the same vibes as he was. But no, not possible.
‘That will be room number six hundred and fifteen on the sixth floor.’ The receptionist proffered a key card. ‘Is there anything else I can do for you?’
‘Oh yes, please.’ Alex remembered his and Casey’s conversation from the taxi. ‘Could you send up some champagne please?’
‘Certainly,’ the receptionist said.
He took Casey’s hand and led her to the lifts.
* * *
~ Casey ~
Alex was hot, there was no doubt about it. Casey could feel his excitement through his hand. He was trembling. Plus his breathing was fast and shallow like he was on the cusp of, well, that. Not possible, of course. But still.
The lift doors opened, and Alex pulled her inside impatiently. He hit the button for the sixth floor with more force than was strictly necessary. Neither of them said a word, but there was a certain tension around them. The lift doors closed, and the car moved up.
‘I’m sorry,’ Alex yelped suddenly. ‘I . . . I can’t help it.’
And before Casey could ask a question, he had wrapped her in his arms and was kissing her deeply. She closed her eyes, and her mind went blank.
* * *
~ Casey and Alex ~
Deep though it was, the kiss only lasted a few seconds before they realised what they were doing.
‘Oh my gosh,’ Casey exclaimed. ‘What was that?’
‘I don’t know what came over me,’ Alex replied breathlessly. ‘But it was good!’
All at once, the lift shuddered and stalled, and the lights went out.
Casey gripped hold of his arms tightly. She hated confined spaces, and getting stuck in a lift without lights didn’t feature on her list of things to achieve before she died. ‘I hope they fix it quickly,’ she whispered fearfully.
‘I’m sure they will,’ Alex replied, taking her in his arms and kissing her senseless.
Sometime later — neither could say whether it was minutes or hours as they had lost all sense of time — the lights came back on, and the lift started moving again.
Alex and Casey looked at each other. ‘Did that really happen?’ Alex asked with an uncertain laugh.
‘I think it did,’ Casey replied, equally shaky.
The lift shook and rattled slightly as it continued its upward journey. Casey held on tight to Alex’s hand.
‘Thank goodness. Here we are.’ Alex breathed a sigh of relief as the doors opened onto the sixth floor. He took hold of Casey’s hand again and led her towards their room.
‘Six hundred fifteen. In we go.’ He opened the door and gave a chivalrous bow. ‘And look, the bubbles are here before us. Just how long were we stuck in that lift?’ he mused. ‘Shall I do the honours?’
‘Yes, please. And let’s have a toast,’ Casey blurted out. ‘I feel this deserves a toast.’
‘You got it.’ Alex opened the bottle of champagne and poured two glasses. ‘What shall we toast to?’
‘To us. And to life,’ Casey suggested. ‘And friendship.’
‘To us. To life. And friendship,’ Alex repeated. ‘Cheers.’ He and Casey clinked glasses, smiling and looking each other in the eye while they each sipped at their champagne.
A faint rumbling sound filled the room, and, for a second, the abandoned champagne bottled jiggled and danced on its serving trolley. Casey and Alex froze in their toasting movement and stared at each other. Only when the room was once more quiet and still did Casey lower her glass and speak.
‘Please tell me you felt that too.’
Alex shook his head and nodded at the same time. ‘I did. I most certainly did.’
‘I don’t believe it.’ Casey giggled. ‘I . . . this can’t be happening.’
‘We toasted,’ Alex panted.
‘We did.’
‘We didn’t think of anything particular.’
‘But we meant every word, and we maintained eye contact.’
‘The earth moved.’
‘It did. At last!’
‘Do you think—’ Alex couldn’t finish his sentence.
‘No idea. Absolutely none. We tried before, didn’t we, way back when, when Sasha and Liza told us about the wretched curse. It didn’t work.’
‘But we were still married then.’
‘And now we’re technically not. Maybe that changes things. Maybe we had to go through the whole divorce thing to set the stage for a counter-toast.’
‘And we were doing it for effect last time we tried this tack . . .’
‘. . . whereas we did it just now without conscious deliberation.’
‘Are we overanalysing?’ Alex shook his head. ‘I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation. There’s no such thing as curses.’
Casey shrugged. ‘But something just happened. You can’t deny that.’
‘No, I know. I accept that.’
They sat in silence for a moment.
‘You know what I want to do now. What I really, really want.’ Casey set her glass on the table.
‘Do you now?’ Alex put down his glass too.
‘I do.’
‘So do I.’
Alex cupped Casey’s face in his hands and kissed her on the mouth. She responded eagerly, feeling his arousal and matching it beat for beat.
‘Sing to me,’ she whispered when they parted for air. ‘Keep singing. It ain’t over until the newlyweds sing.’
‘Or the nearly annulled,’ Alex corrected softly. He thought for a second and selected a song. Gently, tenderly, he breathed line by line into Casey’s ear as he began to undress her. He could feel her reacting to his touch; he could feel her heat and her passion, and his longing could barely be contained.
Abruptly, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed.
‘That’s enough singing for now,’ he murmured. ‘There’s something else I want to do if . . . if that’s okay with you.’
‘Love me, Alex,’ came her dreamy response. ‘Love me like you’ve never loved me before.’
‘What about the annulment?’
‘We’ll annul it. Maybe it invalidates itself if we finally . . . consummate right now.’ Casey grinned. ‘Or if not, we’ll get married all over again.’
Alex laughed. ‘I love you, Casey Morgan.’
‘And I love you, Alex Morgan. Now take me to heaven.’
‘With pleasure. But first . . .’
‘First what?’
Alex dug his hand into his trouser pocket. He had had no idea why he had brought it, but now he was glad he did. Casey shook her head.
‘What are you doing, lover boy? You’re not chickening out on me, are you?’ Casey was freaked out. Everything seemed to have gone so well, and suddenly Alex was prevaricating? They had been there too often in the past months. Her mouth went dry with fear.
‘Not at all,’ he assured her with a smile. ‘I wanted to give you this.’ He held up something in between his thumb and forefinger. Something round and glittery. Casey drew in a breath.
‘Oh my gosh, it’s beautiful!’
‘It’s an eternity ring. I meant to give it to you in Cornwall, but the right moment never came.’ Alex grinned and lifted his shoulders.
Casey laughed. A carefree, happy, genuine laugh. ‘You great oaf!’ she said affectionately. ‘You went and got me an eternity ring, and then you didn’t give it to me?’
‘Things worked against me,’ Alex replied defensively.
‘I know.’ Casey nodded. ‘Things were against both of us. But, oh, it’s beautiful. Can I see it properly?’
‘I want you to wear it.’
‘You want me to wear it?’
‘Isn’t that what rings are for?’
‘Well, yes, but . . .’ Casey giggled. ‘I bet I’m the only woman in the history of mankind, like, ever, who gets given an eternity ring for an annulment present.’
Alex frowned and allowed a slight pause to develop while he wrapped his head around the situation. Then he exploded with laughter. ‘I bet you’re right. We’re going to have to keep shtum about this one!’
‘And the mad rampant sex we’re about to have,’ Casey added while she slipped the ring on her finger. ‘Goodness, it’s stunning.’
‘Just like you.’
Casey patted her cheeks. ‘Now you’ve got me blushing.’
‘I’m delighted I can still make you blush.’
‘Thank you, Alex. Really. Thank you. I . . . I’m lost for words. And I’m sorry for everything that went wrong between us.’
‘You’re welcome. And me too, for what it’s worth. It certainly was the weirdest marriage that anyone could imagine.’
‘But we made it.’
‘In a manner of speaking.’
‘Well. We’re here, aren’t we?’ Casey patted the bed and winked. ‘Together. Wearing a new ring.’ She waggled her fingers suggestively, and the diamonds set all around the ring sparkled extravagantly as they caught and reflected the light.
‘We are. That’s true.’
‘So . . .’
‘So.’
‘I feel a desperate need to hug you to say thanks properly,’ Casey announced and half raised herself off the bed. Alex gently pushed her back. ‘Stay. I can think of another way for you to say thanks.’
‘Is that right?’
‘That’s right.’
‘Well, then.’
Casey slipped out of her shirt and shimmied out of her trousers. It probably wasn’t her most graceful performance, but her hands were shaking and her whole body was trembling in anticipation, so she couldn’t concentrate on a slow seduction routine. It would simply take too long. And it had been too long since . . . Well.
Finally freed of sartorial inhibitors, Casey laid back and breathed in deeply. She stretched across the bed, trying to show off every curve, every limb, undulating her body this way and that. Suggestively, she cupped her breasts in her own hands, then released them and ran her hands up to her collar bone and up along her face, ruffling her hair, finally coming to a rest behind her head. She was open, accessible, ready for the taking.
Alex sat back for a moment to drink the sight of his naked almost-or-possibly-already-ex-wife sprawled out before him. Her creamy smooth skin. Her gorgeous curves. Her arms flung high behind her head. Her fine breasts with those pink rosebuds beckoning to him.
Casey moaned and shifted her hips again. Her body was positively aching for Alex. She watched through half-closed eyes while Alex languidly removed first his shirt, then his trousers. He took his time slithering out of his tight jeans, showing off his six pack, muscles rippling under the skin, until Casey could make out the soft trail of downy hair leading to his hardness. She couldn’t remember seeing him perform this erotic half-dance before, not ever. His deliberate slowness was designed to tease her, and it turned her on. He knew it, too, and he was milking it.
Casey licked her lips and lifted her hips. Come on, her body said. I’m waiting.
Alex leaned over her, naked skin on naked skin. He supported his weight on his elbows, entrapping her body on both sides. Casey wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him bodily upon her. Two can play your game.
Alex groaned. With infinite restraint, he lowered his head towards Casey’s breasts and flicked his tongue slowly over her nipples, caressing, licking, sucking. A sharp intake of breath rewarded his actions, and he ground his hips hard against hers. She was moist and ready, he could tell. Intrigued, he trailed a finger down the length of her body, over her breast, down to her waist, across her hip bone, and towards her warm folds. He found Casey’s sweet spot and gave it a quick caress, savouring the sense of power as she suddenly bucked beneath him, relishing the feel of her frantic breathing against his chest.
Casey thought she might faint when Alex explored her with his fingers. He had always been the master of arousal, and he hadn’t at all lost his touch for lack of practice. Her body responded all by itself, bypassing conscious thought, and wave after delicious wave of pleasure rolled through her. She craned her neck, straining to connect lips to lips, finally making contact, kissing Alex again, kissing him deeply. While her tongue strayed into his mouth, her hands wandered onto his buttocks, and she held on tight, pressing, pushing, encouraging him along the way.
Alex could hold out no more. Blood was roaring in his ears, and his breath was coming in short, sharp bursts. Pleasure lights danced behind his closed eyelids, and he responded to Casey’s insistent kiss, her urgent movements. Slowly, gently, deliberately he drove himself home, and this time, there was no turning back.
At last! Casey lifted her hips, welcoming Alex, accommodating him, absorbing him, rocking her body in time to his, and then rocking in time to her own ecstasy as she succumbed to the explosion of pleasure.
Alex felt Casey cresting the waves, and he finally allowed himself to let go, to savour the release that he had been craving for so long. For a moment, he lost himself completely in the sensational, exquisite, unprecedented bliss, forgot about the world, forgot the preceding months, forgot even Casey and himself, as he lived and breathed solely for the satisfaction of the fulfilled climax.
For the first time since their wedding day, nothing had come between Alex and Casey and their long overdue, explosive, and quite extraordinary union.
Nor did anything come between them the next time, nor the time after the time after that, nor first thing the next morning, nor back at home the following evening, nor when they finally got to christen their brand new super-king-sized bed in their newly decorated bedroom. They had a lot of catching up to do.
In fact, nothing ever came between Alex and Casey again until the arrival of the pitter-patter of little feet — in whose conception no turkey baster was harmed — but that’s another story for another day . . .
THE END