Page 26 of About Last Night
Well, at least he’d fully admitted he was wrong to fire her, even if he was still trying to defend his actions.
She stared at the sandwich in her hand, which looked and smelled all delicious and tempting.
Well, there was no sense in wasting food. She peeled back the wrapper and sank her teeth into the soft floury roll.
Heavenly.
It was just after lunchtime when the next delivery arrived. Lula rushed to the door, trying not to get too excited, aware of the manic beat of her heart and how foolish it was to allow herself to respond like this.
This time a courier held out something the size and shape of a shoebox to her.
She took it inside and opened it up.
It was a pair of black mule-style slippers with six-inch heels and a fluff of feathers framing the open toe.
She’d never have to answer the door feeling short again.
There was a strange tingling feeling behind her eyes as she opened the note attached to the shoebox.
Respect to you for standing your ground…
Something squeezed hard in her chest. Brushing the feeling off, she stooped and slid the slippers onto her feet. They weretotally over the top for wearing indoors and she’d never owned anything so ridiculous in her life – but she loved them.
Striding into her bedroom, she stood in front of the long cheval mirror and stared at her reflection. She couldn’t help but laugh, the impulse surging up in great bursts of joy from deep inside her.
It had been a long time since she’d felt this buzzed.
Staring out of the window, she toyed with the idea of going out. The sun was pouring down onto an unseasonably bright and balmy London, but she couldn’t quite be bothered.
It had absolutely nothing to do with wanting to see what Tristan would send next or what might be written in the note that came with it.
Nothing at all.
Just as the discomfiting heat of her self-denial began to warm her face, there was another loud jolt on the buzzer.
A brand-new pair of top-of-the-range headphones was waiting for her this time. She signed the courier’s electronic pad and took them eagerly into the house, pulling them out of the box to study them properly. She’d been meaning to get herself a pair of these for a while. They had amazing sound quality and were incredibly comfortable, which was imperative when you had to wear them for hours at a time.
He’d really thought about all his gifts, targeting them directly at her needs and whims.
Clever. Very clever.
She pulled off the note taped to the box and read it with her heart in her mouth.
You are appreciated. We need you here. Please come back.
P.S. If you line the cards up, the first vertical row will tell you how I’m feeling right about now.
P.P.S. I’ll be picking you up for dinner at 8p.m. and we’ll get into those ‘perks’ that we never got around to discussing yesterday.
Wear what you like. I suspect you look good in everything you own.
Tristan
Exhilaration, driven by pure unadulterated excitement, shot straight through her. What did he mean by ‘perks’? Was he referring to business-type bonuses or an altogether more saucy sort of incentive?
Her heart fluttered and she had to sit down as the sudden excess of adrenaline made her woozy.
She read the note still clutched in her trembling fingers again:…line the cards up, the first vertical row will tell you how I’m feeling…
