Page 53 of About Last Night
‘Years.’ She put a hand up to her face and rubbed her templeas another horrible thought struck her. ‘I’m the most expensive person here,’ she muttered, recalling how her salary had skyrocketed when she took on the Breakfast Show. Flash could probably retain the rest of the staff if she was off the payroll.
She stood up, and turned for the door, not wanting him to see her face. ‘Actually, this has all come at an opportune time. I’ve been offered a job in Australia, a really good job, and I’ve decided to take it.’ She couldn’t look at him in case he saw the pain in her eyes. ‘You’ll be able to keep everyone else on here if you’re not having to pay me.’
‘What the hell? Where did this come from?’ He advanced on her and she backed against the wall, her blood pounding in her head, making her feel lightheaded.
She held up a hand. ‘Truth is, I can’t do this any more – pretend I don’t want things to work out with you – because I do, and it’s going to drive me crazy to never be able to have what I want.’
‘Whatdoyou want, Lula?’ His voice was deep and low and fierce.
She raised her gaze to look him dead in the eye. ‘The hope that you might want to get married to me one day,’ she blurted. ‘To have an equal partnership and a strong unit for my children that I never felt I had. For you to put a relationship with me before everything else. Even your commercial empire.’
He looked as though she’d slapped him round the face. ‘This is about me not wanting to getmarried.’
‘Ultimately, yes.’
Rubbing a hand over his face, he huffed out a dry laugh. ‘I think my head might be about to explode.’
Tears welled in her eyes at the flippant way he was dealing with something that meant so much to her.
‘If you couldn’t bring yourself to marry the woman who was “perfect for you” then Lord knows I don’t stand a chance,’ she whispered, her chin trembling as she tried to hold it together.
He frowned. ‘Hang on, are you talking about Marcy?’
‘I can’t be your rebound woman, Tristan. I care about you too much for that.’
He didn’t respond, just stared at her open mouthed for a few beats longer.
She nodded once, knowing he couldn’t – or wouldn’t – give her the reassurance she longed to hear, before pushing past him and walking away.
10
Tristan stared out of the window as his plane flew over the rolling hills of Northern England on its way to Edinburgh, and reflected on the insight that had struck him hard in the middle of the night: that what he needed was to get some sort of closure there so he could move forwards again.
If he wasn’t going to spend the rest of his life messed up and alone, he needed to get past the anger and frustration that had been dogging him for months – no, truthfully,years– now.
Standing on the doorstep to his brother’s and Marcy’s house a couple of hours later was both nerve-racking and bolstering. Before this point, even the thought of seeing either of them had been untenable, so this was definitely a positive step forward.
The look on Marcy’s face when she opened the door to him was a picture. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes nearly popped out of her head. ‘Tristan!’
He waited for the thud of bitter resentment to hit him, but it didn’t come. Strangely, looking at her now, she seemed kind of ordinary, like the sparkle she used to project had gone. ‘Hi, Marcy, can I come in?’
She glanced behind her into the house as if checking for backup. ‘Jon isn’t here. He’ll be back in a few minutes though.’
‘That’s okay, I’ll wait. I need to talk to you both.’
After hesitating for a couple of seconds she nodded and opened the door wider so he could walk inside.
She led him into the living room and stood there awkwardly while he looked around at the ultra-modern interior. ‘Nice place.’
‘Thanks.’
She clasped her hands together and stared out of the window.
‘Why didn’t you ever tell me you were unhappy, Marcy,’ he said.
She gave him such a look of disbelief he wondered for a second whether he’d accidentally sworn at her or something. ‘I tried, Tristan, but you were always too busy to take my concerns seriously.’
He stared at her in confusion. ‘There were plenty of opportunities to talk to me and you know it.’
