Page 24 of Don't Bite The Boss
“That’s the only way to see it,” I shout, my anger at his abandonment, his idiocy over his model, his delicious unattainability, all surfacing at once. I want him to feel the pain I feel, but I know he already is feeling that pain, only, it’s not over me, it’s over another woman.
“Goodbye, Pru,” he sighs, turning and walking away.
“Tristan, wait. You need to know she wasn’t the one for you. She was beautiful, yes. But she was weak, simple. She wouldn’t have lasted the distance even if she knew the truth.”
‘I’m the one for you.’
He keeps walking.
“Tristan. You’ll see it in time. But you can’t just leave, leave everything.”
‘Leave me.’
He doesn’t turn.
I wait a nanosecond before launching myself at his back, but I had not anticipated he would have protection from a very unlikely source, as I am grappled and thrown into the furniture.
“Leave my Uncle Tristan alone,” Valerie spits.
“Oh, this is just precious,” I growl, rising from where she had thrown me and scowling at her. “Does your father know where you are? Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused? Serena is in Italy looking all over for you.”
“I hate Serena,” she says petulantly, “and Uncle Tristan is looking after me.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake! You haven’t heard the last of this,” I shake my finger at her.
“Wait,” she calls, seeing I am about to leave. “I’m supposed to stay with you when Uncle Tristan goes to sea.”
“Like hell,” I snarl.
Turning, I gauge the distance from the boat to the small dingy I had borrowed in order to row here. But looking at Christopher’s little monster, I change my mind and decide a swim is definitely what I need to cool down and wear off some of my rage before I set my plans in action.
I will have just enough time, if I hurry, to catch a flight to Paris – and eat the bitch who broke the heart of the man I love.
Then, I’ll deal with Valerie.
9
It’s been a long six months, I ruminate as I stand back and peruse the villa, but so worth it.
To the initiated, walking onto the grounds might seem like walking into a modern, light-filled green oasis, the kind of home any billionaire might build for himself – but to those who know their history, this villa is a time capsule.
Every aspect of the interior and exterior has been excavated and reinstated as it would have been thousands of years ago. From the mosaic reconstructions to the plantings, no detail has been considered too small to overlook. I’m now just working on one final small bath and garden project about two hundred metres away from the main villa that had been discovered by geophysical imaging.
It might, I presume, have been a lover’s grotto, set away from the main villa. So far, the mosaics I’d uncovered in the square bath that would maybe fit eight to ten, a small pool really, gave a little hint that this may have been the case. The area is small by the standards of the rest of the villa, intimate, and the last piece of the Roman puzzle to be completed. A week, two at the most, and my contract here is fulfilled.
Turning, to face the road, I hear his car approach and steel myself. I’ve missed him so much it feels like a physical pain most days. Throwing myself into reinstating the township and the villa has been a welcome distraction, as have the archaeological students. The parties and fun we had had, both on-site and in the palazzo after I’d suggested they should all just move in, had been like living on a university campus – I hadn’t had so much drunken revelry and debauchery in years.
Of course, Charlotte hadn’t thought it was a very mature thing to do. But Charlotte hadn’t had her heart broken, and Charlotte had kept secrets from me, so she could fuck herself. And anyway, I’ve hardly seen her over the past few months because she is so immersed in helping Serena with her troubles over Valerie and Christopher. She’d phoned a few times, but stopped after a while when the reception she received was lukewarm.
Serena hadn’t called, and I hadn’t tried to contact her either; no more emails, no more phone calls. I figured we were immortal, sooner or later she would come round, or not. Either way, her billionaire had caused nothing but trouble for us since the day they met, just like his daughter and his brother, they could all fuck themselves.
And I’ve been perfectly happy in this resolution, until tonight because tonight all the combined joy and heartache of the past six months without Tristan is about to collide - he is back. Try as I might to tell myself he means nothing to me, every cell in my traitorous body quivers in anticipation at the idea of just seeing him, being in his vicinity again.
The car pulls up, and I hold my breath, waiting for his familiar tread on the paths, his delicious smell and the sound of his heartbeat.
I wait for what seems like forever before moving to find out where he is.
“Nick?”
