Page 27 of Amber's Fall

“I asked you to call me. Okay, I said, if you needed me, and I’m guessing you don’t right now, but I thought you might have.”

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint, Daniel.” I glanced up at Bill, who smiled and walked away.

We chatted for about a half hour. Mostly about the freakish weather patterns we were having. It was rather surreal.

“I wondered if you’d like dinner sometime.”

“Erm, oh. Erm, I’m married, Daniel,” I said, not knowing how to respond.

“Yeah, right, on paper I guess. Come to dinner with me, just as friends.” He snorted at first. “Please?”

I laughed. “Okay, when?”

“Tonight, after work. That way you won’t have much time to think about it.”

I totally surprised myself by agreeing. Andrew wouldn’t be home that night. We had fallen into a pattern of him being away for the first half of the week, back for the second, then away again over the weekend.

I replaced the handset slowly. What on earth had I just done?

Bill smiled again when he walked past. “You could do a lot worse than Daniel... You do actually do worse, but you deserve someone nice.”

“I’m married. Andrew would...”

“Beat the shit out of you?” He stopped and rested against my desk. “We see the bruises, Amber. I can’t stand it. I hate that you’re living that life. I want to smack the crap out of him. And I would if you let me.”

“Whatever you give him, will come tenfold back on me. I’m working on it, Bill. I’m leaving as soon as I can. But there are things I have to get into place first. I’m pregnant, I haven’t told him, I won’t. I also know that I can’t stay with him. If he doesn’t kill me, he’d kill the baby. He doesn’t want children; it would interfere with his career.”

Bill shook his head. He came around my side of the desk. “Tania is your girl, Amber. You can’t do this alone. We are here for you.”

“I know that. I appreciate that. I will call Tania when I’m ready, when I’ve got everything in place.”

“If it’s money, I can give you some to get you on your feet.”

Tears sprang to my eyes.

“That’s so kind, but you know, I’ll have to go, leave London. He won’t let me just walk out. His ego wouldn’t stand it.”

Bill sighed. “I thought that. Tania had to leave Scotland and she loved it there. I mean what I say, though. You don’t go anywhere until you’ve let us help you.”

I patted his arm. He had turned into a good friend and one I knew would come through on his words.

“I can’t believe I’ve agreed to dinner with Daniel!”

“You deserve something nice. Go home, get ready.”

* * *

Excitement coursedthrough my veins as I showered and washed my hair. I would tell Daniel that I was pregnant right from the get-go so he wouldn’t get any ideas that I could enter a relationship with him.

It would be nice to have a friend, though.

I slathered on moisturiser and picked an outfit from the wardrobe. Just a simple shirt and trousers, with some medium sized heels. I dried my hair and applied some makeup. I’d lost even more weight, but I had a glow to my cheeks from the pregnancy. I knew I had to watch my diet and try to eat more for the baby. It was something I’d look into when I made the first doctor’s appointment. I knew I was about three months gone at that point.

Just as I was filling my bag with keys and lipstick, Andrew walked through the door.

My heart stopped.

“Why are you home?” I blurted out.

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