Page 113 of The Honeymoon Affair

‘I need to be friends with you, Ariel. I know I’ve upset you with Iseult, but you and I . . . Well, you’ll always be important to me.’

‘And for as long as you’re writing your bestsellers, you’ll always be important to me,’ I tell him without looking up from the screen.

‘You’re being very hard on me today.’

He leaves the office and walks up to the house. I see the light go on in his study.

I’m glad he’s working.

I go back to work myself.

I’m absorbed in the finer details of a new contract for Lucy Conway (who, despite being violently ill in the early stages of her pregnancy, has almost finished her current work-in-progress and has already sent me a synopsis for the next) when there’s a tap on the door and Ellis walks in.

I’d forgotten she was calling by.

‘Am I interrupting?’ she asks. ‘You look very fierce.’

‘Busy.’ I push my chair back from the desk and lead her upstairs to the library area. ‘How are you?’

‘Not bad,’ she says. ‘Getting quite a lot of overseas orders for my stuff, which is great.’

‘Fantastic. I’m delighted for you.’

I make us both coffee, though I really shouldn’t have any more caffeine. I’m jumpy enough as it is today.

She chats away about her work and her designs, and when she’s finished her cappuccino, she asks for an update.

‘On what?’

‘The divorce. The wedding. Everything.’

‘Ask Charles.’ Even I can hear how abrupt my tone is.

‘Are you OK, Ariel?’

‘I’m fine. Just fed up with all the drama around him. It’s distracting me from real life.’

‘Oh dear. What’s the latest drama?’

I tell her about Iseult and her ex and that Charles was in my office earlier looking for reassurance.

‘He’s probably madly jealous. And suspicious,’ says Ellis.

‘His jealousy’s not endearing,’ I remark. ‘It never was. Though if the ex is too badly injured to look after himself, he’s too badly injured to make a play for Iseult.’

‘Oh, but you know how women are with helpless men. Fluttering around them and fulfilling their every wish.’

I laugh.

‘Charles is still a feckin’ eejit for breaking up with you,’ says Ellis.

‘We broke up with each other,’ I correct her.

‘Even so. I bet you’d have stayed with him if he’d been better behaved.’

‘Depends on what you mean,’ I say. ‘He never really got over me having other clients in the agency. I think he thought it was strictly for him only.’

‘That was part of it. But that whole thing with your other author . . .’

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