Page 101 of More Than Nothing
Silence settled over the group. Roman almost checked for tumbleweed. Only Philippa looked even the slightest bit amused.
“My brother-in-law was born in Madrid and he assures me it’s illegal to drive in a thong in Spain,” she countered.
“I guess the law really does protect everyone,” Roman grimaced. The first genuine smile of the evening tugged at his lips. “Not easy to enforce though. Unless he means it’s illegal to drive injusta thong.”
Philippa laughed. Zena shot him a withering look, blatantly torn between pulling him up for being stupid and not wanting to antagonize her boss.
“I need another drink. Anyone else?” Barrett tipped his head in the direction of the bar. The Pompous Ass turned his shoulder deliberately on Roman and asked for a refill. His wife held out her glass but Philippa passed.
“I’m good.” Glacially dismissive, Roman looked away. He wanted nothing from that dick.
Zena drained the last of her drink. “Let me help you.” Bright and artless, one work colleague to another. He watched them impassively as they walked to the bar.
Wondering if Milo had sent him an update, Roman looked around for his jacket. He spotted it draped over the back of a chair behind Philippa. She’d started a conversation with someone he didn’t recognize so, unwilling to interrupt, he stood and brooded. If his scowl put people off talking to him, then all the better.
Raised voices by the bar made them all turn around, a shocked silence cutting suddenly through the babble of noise.
A woman with knockout curves encased in a black bodycon dress was fronting up to Zena and Barrett—another blonde,Roman noted with a flicker of his eyebrow. She radiated fury, an empty cocktail glass held aloft in each hand. Zena’s mouth hung open, a colored, sticky stain spreading from her chest down the front of her dress. She plucked two ice cubes from her cleavage and dropped them onto the floor. Barrett’s hair was plastered to his head, with what appeared to be an olive stuck in its styled sweep.
Roman’s eyes whipped around to Philippa, who had frozen with her own drink halfway to her mouth.
“It’s on me that I bought your pitiful ‘my wife doesn’t understand me’ crap.” Each word the blonde threw at Barrett echoed through the bar. “But it’s on you, you lying sack of shit, that I’m not your only side piece!” Barrett’s flinch dislodged the olive. It rolled off his head and down the side of his nose. The woman aimed a seething smile in his direction. “Apologies for the dramatics—please do enjoy the rest of your evening. But, before that, go fuck yourself.”
And with that impressive mic drop, she slammed both glasses down onto the bar and swept out, her head high.
Roman fought an urge to applaud. He took a stride toward Philippa, closing a gentle hand around her elbow. “Why don’t we share a cab?” he suggested.
“You knew?” she asked him.
“I did.”
“Me too,” she muttered, eyes flashing.
Reaching behind her to snag his jacket from the back of the chair, he took the drink from her hand and placed it on the nearest table. He didn’t spare so much as a glance in Zena’s direction. As they left the club, Roman leaned down to murmur quietly in Philippa’s ear. “In Hong Kong, a wife is legally allowed to kill her husband if he cheats on her as long as she does it with her bare hands.”
“Don’t fucking tempt me,” she answered through tight lips.
There was complete radio silence from both Elenie and Milo. It didn’t concern him as Elenie was often unable to text and Roman guessed Milo was still at the hospital with his cell switched off. He considered calling Dougie just to check in, but it was heading for midnight when he got back to his hotel room. There was nothing that couldn’t wait until morning.
He messaged Elenie once he’d stretched out in bed.
Hey. You there?
He waited for five minutes but there was no answer. The message stayed delivered but unread. Roman hesitated, then began to type.
Missing you, sweetheart. Been a hell of a day but I’ll fill you in when I’m home. I assume you’ve heard Caitlyn’s in labor. Milo dumped me to go to the hospital so I’ll hire a car and head back first thing tomorrow. I hope your day’s gone well. Can’t wait to see you.
He ran a finger over the words on his screen. The simple sentences were a poor excuse for what he really wanted to say, and he couldn’t even send them.
This evening had opened his eyes to everything he’d suspected. Brimming with plans, determination, and fervor for the first time in months, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he wanted to stay in Pine Springs. Everything was different now, and being away from Elenie was as painful as hell; he didn’t plan on making a habit of it. For someone so swamped in drama and difficulty, shewas the easiest company he’d ever kept. She held his heart in her slim hands and Roman had no desire to ask for it back.
Desperate for the connection, he stared at his phone, willing the typing bubble to appear on the screen. But Elenie didn’t reply to his text.
Deleting his second message without sending it, Roman turned out the light. He made plans to be up early and get on the road as soon as possible.
His phone woke him before the alarm.
“Yes.” Roman’s voice was pure gravel from last night’s drinking and the early hour.
