Page 64 of I Dreamt Of You

“I’m here!” Charlie bursts into song. I laugh and move in for a hug. I may hold her a little too long, but I need this.

“Everything alright there Millie? Did you need a hug this morning?” I nod and pull back, resting on my desk.

“You are just what I needed. What are you doing here?” I ask.

“Well, that’s a long story I want to tell you over lunch. Can you spare me a few hours?”

“I can do more than that. I’ll give you lunch and drinks after work. How does that sound?”

“Amazing, but why can’t you ditch work? You’re dating the big handsome boss man; there have to be some perks. Right?” Grabbing my bag, I lead her out the door.

“There are plenty of perks, believe me, but none of them I can do this week. We have the Summer Ball on Saturday, and prep is well underway yet a little behind. So I can’t take time off, not this week, and well with everything else going on, I don’t want to. I need the distraction.”

“What are you on about? It’s been like a week since we have spoken. What’s happened?”

“I’ll fill you in over lunch,” I say as we walk out the door into the restaurant. I fill her in on everything.

“Shit!” That’s all she has said for the last few minutes, on repeat. “I need to tell you something on that note.” She takes a big breath in. “Do you remember the notifications we set up on the security system for the house?” I nod. I’ve never looked at it; I turned off all the notification reminders. I also know what’s coming next: “Well, shit hit the fan, the video notification came through, and I’ve never seen him that angry…” Oh fuck.

“I don’t want to know anymore,” I say, stopping her dead. I know exactly what he’s like. I don’t need to know anymore. “That’s why I now have a security detail, well, we all do. I bet you can’t spot them?” I know I’m ignoring the point she just made, but if I saw the video, I’d lose what little control I have left of my emotions if I saw it.

“Okay…Oh wow, really, I bet you I can...” she starts looking around, and spots Leon immediately pointing him out; he nods at her and continues to look around.

“There are two of them…you will never guess the other.” I know where he is, he is sitting on the table next to us. He can hear every word, and no doubt ready to pass on this new piece of information. So I have to be careful what I say.

“You’re right, I have no idea, I think it’s only big Ted over there.”

Owen stands up. And Charlie doesn’t even glance at him, when he stands behind her, leans down and whispers something in her ear. Her cheeks instantly go red. It’s not often Charlie gets flustered, but right now, she has no idea what to do. I start laughing when he walks away, moving towards the bar.

“That’s Owen, what did he say to you? I don’t ever remember seeing you go red, or being flustered.”

She starts fanning herself with the menu, and I can see Owen smiling, looking towards us from the bar.

“Um… well…I’m not sure I can say it out loud.” Her cheeks flush again. I hand Charlie her glass of wine, she drinks it in one go.

“I need something stronger, he just told me…he...no I can’t say it, some things are meant to be kept between two people. But I think I’m going to like it down here,” she says, her fingers lingering on the glass.

“What do you mean?”

“Well…I’ve quit my job, and I’m moving down here to be closer to you. Plus, I have nothing left in London. My family is all down this way. I hated my job, it got a little too serious for me. The hours sucked, and I want to be a florist.”

My mouth is quite literally hanging open—so much information in such a short amount of time. My brain is trying to catch up.

“But…what… you worked so hard to become a solicitor. Wait, what about Andrew?” Andrew was the love of her life, well I thought he was; they got married a few months after our trip to Ibiza, six years ago. I thought they were happy, I guess I was wrong.

“Being a high profile solicitor is not worth the drain on your life. Andrew got bored of waiting to have kids, slept with someone else and got her pregnant. Blamed it all on me for working too much. The little prick. Although to be honest, I worked like eighty plus hour weeks and weekends. So I filed for divorce just over seven months ago. I need a change, I’ve been doing a floristry course on the side for a while now, and I can’t tell you how much I enjoy it.” She sighs filling up her drink. “Oh and I bought a shop on the high street.”

“I don’t know where to start with all of this information Charlie!” I put my head in my hands, still processing. “Right now is possibly the worst moment to be closer to me. Until Glen is in custody, you would be better off staying in London. He knowsyou.” This has just got so much worse; my heart is in shreds, she’s moved down here to be with me. Everyone I love is all in the same place. I can’t take it!

“Are you crying?” Charlie asks, her hand reaching for mine.

“No.” This is too much.

“Yes you are…there are tears running down your cheek, it’s a sure giveaway,” she says, giving my hand a squeeze.

“This last week has been a lot, and now you have decided to move to be with me, I just feel…I don’t know.” I wave my hand flippantly; I can’t tell her what I’m planning. If I run, they will be safe.

“It’s okay, I get it, it’s like you’re living in a movie, psycho ex, arson, finding the man of your dreams.” She winks at me and I can’t help but burst out laughing.

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