Chapter Five #3
‘Abbey,’ he breathed. Silk. Chocolate. I watched him stiffen and swallow whatever he had been about to say. ‘The offer is generous, Abbey. I need you back.’ The CEO was in the room.
He turned to leave, and I felt my eyes gravitate to his arse in those jeans as he walked away. Hot fucker.
‘Nick.’
Shut the fuck up, Abbey. Do not even think about saying that, under no circumstances are you to throw this man a –
‘I miss him.’
He turned and looked at me with a wariness in his dark eyes. ‘Who?’
I looked at the ceiling, the battle I was having with my brain and what was about to come out of my mouth would surely be on display in my face if I looked at him.
‘Holiday Nick. I miss Holiday Nick.’ My hand covered my mouth after that came out. I dropped my eyes to meet his and, for the first time since I had seen him again, I could almost see the man I’d known.
I thought I saw his jaw move for a second, as if he were going to throw me a smile and march over to me and pull me by the waist of my jean shorts into his mouth.
But his gaze dropped, he opened his mouth and closed it again, deciding not to speak whatever was on his mind.
Then he squared his shoulders and turned and walked away.
And I picked up the roller.
***
The second coat was a torturous chore that no eighties pop song could improve, and I laboured until it was done.
When I finished, I could have collapsed and slept for a week, but I also had shit everywhere, so I huffed and commenced the clean-up.
Finally, I threw myself into the shower to wash off the paint and dirt and got into clean pyjamas, preparing the sofa bed to sleep on that night.
Kate was dressed in scrubs and ready to start her shift at the hospital. She deemed it an appropriate time to broach the visitor from earlier.
‘Old mate’ – she pointed towards the door – ‘is gorgeous, if a bit of an arrogant prick,’ she stated. ‘Google says he’s loaded. Fantastic arse, by the way. How the fuck did you not google him in the first place?’
‘I don’t google people. I didn’t know about his money, although maybe that was lack of perception on my part, and his arse … oh, my God, I know.’
‘He gave me this to give to you.’ She handed me a large white envelope.
It wasn’t sealed, and I knew Kate had already read it, which honestly annoyed the shit out of me.
I seethed inwardly at my sister’s bulldozer tactics with my life.
I pulled out the contract and after a quick glance I think my mouth fell open in shock.
I sat up a little on the sofa bed and reached for a lamp and my glasses. Fuck.
‘It’s a very generous offer. He wants you,’ Kate said in a sing-song voice that sounded like Abbey and Nick, sitting in a tree …
‘It’s ridiculous.’ Nick fucking Northby wanted to double my salary to get me back to Delacqua. ‘Also,’ I said, a little enraged at the complete unfairness of the situation, ‘it’s a babysitting job. It’s ridiculous.’ I was repeating myself and my voice had become a little shrill.
He had trapped me. That money would completely change my life.
I could afford the house without my sister and Kate would be free to go live somewhere else and have a life of her own, instead of interfering with mine.
Maybe I could buy a new car. It was so much that maybe Ella and I could go on our own holiday.
I threw the contract down beside me, lifted my knees, and put my head on them.
‘You don’t want to take it?’ Kate said, reading my mind. ‘Why, Abs?’ Kate was nodding, working it through. ‘You have feelings for him.’
‘I … Maybe I thought I did, but I didn’t know him. I don’t have feelings for him.’
I sounded unconvincing as fuck. Even someone who didn’t know me would have known I wasn’t telling the truth, so my sister snorted at my denial. I tried again.
‘I don’t want to take his money.’ That part was honest.
‘Abbey, you should talk to him about how you feel.’
‘The only thing that has changed since we were on that holiday, Kate, is him. I don’t know this version of him.’
She tilted her head sympathetically. ‘I have to go. Listen, Gran has figured out how to tweet.’
I raised an alarmed set of eyebrows.
‘Yup. A young nurse showed her. Now she’s talking to some impoverished author who is encouraging her to write reviews on .’
‘Ah, Jesus. I cannot imagine.’
‘Gran feels we’ve been holding out on her. Did we not know she was a supporter of the arts? Anyway, I’m on night shifts for a bit, so can you call around and show her how to use her account?’
‘Because I’m unemployed and have nothing to do?’
She shrugged a shoulder and blew me a kiss as she walked out the door.
My phone was in my hand.
I hovered over his name for ten minutes. Then I texted him.
Fine.
His reply came straight back.
Okay.
Passive-aggressive fucker.
Nick
After I left her, I walked to the house next door, out of view of her front window, and leaned back against the dark-brown brick fence. I fought the desire to return, bang the door down and take the paintbrush out of her hand.
Her house was cute and clean and had a warmth I knew came directly from Abbey. It was significantly more modest than I had expected. If the numbers didn’t tell me she had no involvement in Eric Linden’s crimes, her house certainly did. She hadn’t a penny she didn’t work for.
Her sister was a lioness. Protective and strong. What that told me, from personal experience, was that she considered Abbey weaker than herself. More susceptible to arseholes like me.
It would be arrogant to think that in the short time I’d known Abbey, that I knew her better than Kate did. But the thing about Abbey was that she was strong, she just wasn’t aggressive.
Three offers? She would take the deal I’d offered her. I had made it impossible for her not to. If one of them outbid me … the thought made me anxious. It made me want to go back in and grovel, apologise for not calling, apologise for remaining silent during that meeting …
It was best not to spend time analysing the need I felt to have her back in the business. She was the best person placed to help Oliver succeed, and that was that. Purely professional.
Unlike my desire to paint her fucking walls.
She missed Holiday Nick. Fuck – I did too. How did I tell her that Holiday Nick wasn’t real? That he wasn’t someone who appeared at that bloody resort once a year. That I had actually never met Holiday Nick before … before her.
There was another Nick once who was similar, but he did not survive his marriage.
And then Regular Nick’s driver was parked looking at him, waiting for him to get off a fence in front of a girl’s house and get in the bloody car. So I did.
***
Our apartment in Sydney is fantastic. We own the top floor of a harbourfront building I got for a steal.
I’d bought it years ago and then had it renovated when I realised how much time we might need to spend there, with the acquisition.
When the neighbouring apartment had come up, I bought it for Ollie, though he is mostly at mine.
So I was not surprised when I opened the door and saw his feet on my dining table.
‘How’d it go?’
I rolled my eyes. I had expected her to text a yes please by now. ‘Fine.’
‘So she’ll come back?’
A short breath escaped my mouth, and I nodded and then shook my head as I reluctantly admitted, ‘I don’t know.
’ I went and sat at the table opposite him, also putting my feet up on it.
He slid a glass of single malt to me. ‘She’s getting other offers, and she was …
’ I drank. ‘Upset with me. With us … Mostly with me.’
‘Well, we can hardly blame her. We both sat there and acted as though she was a stranger to us, while an employee of ours accused her of being a slut and stealing money. She might be able to forgive me … I’m charming and handsome, but you were her lover on that holiday, and you are an ugly, miserable old bastard and therefore you are fucked. ’
I ran my hand through my hair and pulled at my T-shirt, uncomfortable with how accurate and blunt he was.
‘Did you speak to her … on a personal level?’ Ollie asked.
‘We have nothing to discuss of a personal nature.’ My voice was clipped.
‘You get to lie about that now, Nick. But the minute she signs that contract, you will disclose to me if that changes. You will follow the Northby rules. Am I understood? It will actually be my business, so I’ll need to know if you are having … feelings … of a personal nature.’
I scoffed. Clearly he had forgotten the Northby rule about who was the actual boss around here. And that I would never mix personal with business, and that I was a fucking master of control.
Determined to make a liar of me, Abbey popped into my head. I don’t know why I thought to say what was on my mind to Ollie, but it just came out. ‘She was painting her bedroom by herself and there is something about her house that is so warm, so her. Oh, and her sister is fucking terrifying.’
‘Really?’ Oliver laughed. ‘I don’t know why that surprises me.’
‘How did you find Bondi Beach?’ I asked. He had declared this morning that he was going for a surf and had to purchase a board – apparently, he thought the minute one arrived in Australia one could surf.
‘Fucking horrendous. The ocean here is angry all of the time. The views were lovely though,’ he said, finishing his glass with a knowing smile, and standing. ‘As a result, I have a date tonight with Marissa from Maroubra.’
‘Well, I wish you luck with that.’ I lifted my glass at him.
‘Why don’t you come? Australian women love our accent. And all women love our money.’
I shook my head. ‘No thank you, Ollie. Have a lovely evening.’
‘Nick.’ He looked at me with a serious expression. ‘You can take risks in life as well as business.’ He shrugged a shoulder at me, then gave me a slap on the back. He left, not waiting for a response.
I sat there, drinking Scotch, watching as the sun set with Hollywood-film-like perfection and then, as the evening darkened, the harbour was lit by a thousand glittering lights. Waiting.
Fine.
I sat up, reaching for my phone. I snorted and my heart pounded. It was such a passive-aggressive response, and it had come hours after I’d expected it. I could feel how pissed off she was at sending it. She’d wanted to say no to me.
Okay.
I smiled. Inside, my gut did a little victory dance, but my shoulders and heart sagged in relief.