I sniffed in a very unladylike way. "I know it shouldn't have rattled me, but it did. Now, I appreciate your apology for her behaviour, I really do, but right now I need to be alone. I hope you understand."
"Of course. I'll leave you to it. I'm just downstairs if you need anything. I mean it, anything you need, just call or knock." He gave me a small smile, and a slightly awkward hug, before leaving.
I made myself a coffee, and sat at the island. It was only six o'clock, so I pulled out my laptop, and tried to lose myself in the work I had to catch up on. By eight, I was finished, and pacing around the flat, not wanting to watch telly, listen to music, or any other activity. My phone sat on the island, and I scrolled through the texts from my mum, the final one being sent the first Sunday I spent with Ivan.
I almost dropped the damn thing when it made me jump by starting to ring. I answered straightaway, "hi Ivan."
"How are you?"
"Ok. Bored, trying not to think too much. You?"
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"Bored, the girls are asleep. There's nothing on telly."
"Can I come over?"
"I'll send a car." He cut the call. I really need to talk to him about that.
Approximately ten minutes later, I was in the Bentley, heading to Saffron Wharf, and the strongest man I'd ever met. I was escorted up to the apartment by Roger, and almost fell into Ivan's waiting arms. He kissed me softly and sweetly, and sat me on the sofa in the lounge while he poured us each a glass of wine.
We snuggled on the sofa all the evening, Ivan kept an arm around me, holding me firm. We didn't discuss the events of the day, keeping our conversations lighter, mainly about the girls, and their dreadful behaviour at times. By ten, I was fast asleep.
Ivan must have carried me to bed. I woke up at half five, wearing just my bra and knickers, with Ivan and the girls fast asleep in a big sleep heap beside me. I tried to slip out of bed without waking him, but as soon as my foot touched the floor, he opened his eyes. "God, you get up early. Are you staying for breakfast, or do you need to go straight home?"
"I need to go home and start getting ready."
"Just dial 1 on the phone over there, and they'll send a car for you."
"Ok. Thanks." I padded around to the other side of the bed, and leaned down to give Ivan a soft kiss. I called down to the security team before pulling on my shorts and vest from the previous day, and slipping on the flip flops. Ivan had gone back to sleep, so I slipped away, and went downstairs to wait for my car.
The first thing I did when I got into work was to go and see Lewis to tell him what had happened, and to let him know that I'd need to take time off at some point for the funeral and the administrative details. He was full of sympathy, and asked if I needed compassionate leave, which I declined. The idea of sitting alone in my flat doing nothing filled me with horror. I was better off losing myself in work, and was actually looking forward to concentrating on a detailed contract, as it would take my mind off the overwhelming guilt I was feeling. Thankfully, the morning passed in a blur of emails, calls and paperwork. Ivan had sent me an email asking if I was ok, and enquiring how my day was going. I'd replied that I was keeping busy, and was coping fine.
I had no lunch meeting planned, so at twelve, I went to see if Priti wanted to join me for a sandwich. We headed down to her favourite cafe, waving at Giuseppe as we walked past the salon. "Who's that?" She asked.
"He did my hair Saturday for a ball. Put it up in a sort of chignon. Did an amazing job, so I think I'm gonna make him my regular hairdresser."
"I might give him a try. I saw your hair on the Citigossip website. You looked amazing......." Priti paused, "and so did Ivan. You realise I need to know every detail."
"I'm not spilling every detail, some details can't be shared you know. Call it client confidentiality."
She snorted with laughter. "There are certain details you're compelled to share, and I don't mean anything about his legal affairs."
"I know exactly what you're on about, and I suggest you keep dreaming. I didn't realise there would be pictures online. There were photographers there, but there were quite a few famous people attending, so I didn't think they'd be interested in me."
"I saw loads of pictures," said Priti, "and people asking who the lady in red was. Ivan's quite the celeb in business circles."
"Hopefully they won't find out who I am, and move on to someone more interesting." We chose our lunches and sat down. I told her about Oscar's date, the insult, and the actor I had been seated next to, who was a favourite of hers. By the time we had finished lunch, Priti had enough of a gossip fix to stop her asking tricky questions about Ivan. It also stopped me having to tell her about mum.#p#分页标题#e#