Page 154 of The Black Trilogy

The guard spluttered an apology. “I’m sorry. So sorry. She said she had an appointment. I did tell her she wasn’t on the list, but she said it didn’t matter because she was family.”

“Just to make things crystal clear, I don’t have any family. The only appointment I’ll be keeping with Miriam is her funeral, and I’ll only go to that so I can check that someone’s put a stake through her heart. Now get rid of her.”

I flung the phone down on the counter and a bit of plastic chipped off the edge.

“Flipping phone!”

“And breathe,” Nick reminded me. “You’re taking this not swearing thing really seriously, huh?”

“I am breathing. And yes, I’ve still got six months to go in my new non-sweary regime. But with Miriam around, you have no idea how hard it is.”

“I can imagine.”

“There just isn’t room for that woman in my life.”

I only had one go at it, and I didn’t intend to waste either my time or anymore thoughts on her.

“There isn’t room for Miriam in anyone’s life,” Nick said. “Literally. You can probably see her butt from space.”

“If it got any larger, Earth would start orbiting it.”

“And she’d block out the sun.”

You know that old saying that you either have to laugh or cry? Well, today I laughed. Hysterically. Nick and I both did. I’m not sure whether it was about Miriam’s butt being so big it had its own zip code, or at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation with her accusations and threats. At least I wasn’t crying. That was a step in the right direction.

By the time security called back to say Miriam had left, we’d both collapsed on the sofa, spent.

“Are you staying for dinner this evening?”

“Uh, I actually have a date. But I can cancel it if you want me here.”

“Don’t be silly. Go on your date. I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself for an evening, and Toby’s already made me food.”

Nick got to his feet. “If you’re sure?”

“I am. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Just call if you need anything, and I’ll come back. I don’t mind. Honestly. I’ve been out with this girl twice already, and last time, she cooed over a baby at the next table which is always a bad sign.”

Nick headed off to change before meeting the lucky lady. And she was lucky—women threw themselves at Nick with abandon, and wherever he went, he left a trail of disappointed females in his wake. Since Jana, none of his assignations had lasted longer than a few weeks, but I wasn’t surprised—nobody wanted to risk that kind of devastation more than once in a lifetime.

Nick’s departure left me at a loose end, so I made myself a coffee. Then I wrote a list of things to do at work tomorrow. Then I screwed that up and started again, scoring a bull’s-eye as I threw the paper in the trash. After four attempts, I decided to bypass the writing stage and just lobbed the wadded-up pages at the bin instead.

After I’d wasted the entire pad of paper, I wandered out to the kitchen, made another cup of coffee, and ate a Snickers bar that Toby had somehow missed when he threw the edible food out of my cupboards. Then I felt guilty for ruining my diet. One Snickers wasn’t so bad, right? After all, if a single bar weighed two ounces, I’d have to eat 965 of them to consume my own body weight. Plus they contained peanuts, and a girl needed her protein.

I made yet another mug of coffee and spent an hour watching YouTube. Perhaps I should get a kitten? They were so freaking cute.

Hold on. I hated wasting time on the internet. What was wrong with me?

Grief, Emmy. It’s called grief.

I missed my husband, and I was doing anything to avoid thinking of him. But it hadn’t worked, had it? Because there he was, front and centre of my mind again.

How about trying a different tactic? What had Nick suggested when we were back in England? Writing a letter to tell my husband how I felt. Letting all my pain out onto the paper and putting my agony into words.

Well, it was worth a try, because my current tactics sure weren’t working. And if it didn’t help, I could always stab myself in the eye with the fountain pen.

CHAPTER 6

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