My husband

HER

             Dedicated to Sillyseema

          Rachael was at her table in her office when her phone began to ring. It was 12:39 on Monday afternoon and she was just about leaving for lunch, Claire had come in earlier asking if she would be going and Rachael has told her to go ahead since she would be running some minutes after 12, the normal lunch time.

         Glancing sideways from the document she was flipping through and signing, she wondered if Claire hadn't left and was checking if she was done. Her heart skipped a beat and her hands shook so bad her pen fell dropped with a clank on the table's glass surface, startling her and making her jump.

        It was Nicholas calling.

        And she was nervous as hell.

       After Saturday night, she hadn't expected that he would contact her again. Although she had no idea what she had done, well except rile him up which in her opinion,  his reaction was overly exaggerated, she knew she must have really ticked him off to have him throw her out of his car.

       That night, she had gotten home to find her father reclining on his favourite couch in the living room, having obviously slept off while waiting for her. She felt a twinge of guilt as she watched him sleep, she hadn't thought to think that he would wait up for her when she told the cabie she had been lucky to flag down to drive around for a while knowing she'd never get to sleep when she got home.

        Picking a blanket being the couch,  she laid it over him and tucked him in, stepping back quickly when he stirred. She wasn't about to let her father see her like this, the tears that had long stopped threatening to spill unto her cheeks. Heels in hand, she had gone to her room, taken the number of sleeping pills enough to knock her out and cried until sleep claimed her.

         Claire called the following morning wanting juicy details and getting sordid ones instead. The call ended with Claire shouting all form of  curses down the phone against Nicholas and had made her smile, sadly.

        When Edward asked how the date went, she told him it went well and offered him her well practiced version of a fake smile even him couldn't detect to be fake, he had become teary eyed seeing her wearing the ring Nicholas has given her and had even patiently watched Nichols's little stunt on Tv. It was all over the news Sunday morning and even on Monday when she walker into the office, she met some of the interns that occupied the first floor clustered around a desk "ohing" and "ahing" as they watched the news. Sighting her, they had rushed to their desks some congratulating her, some pretending to be busy and others throwing her questioning glances.

          Staring at the phone now, she contemplated not answering the call as she rubbed her sweaty palms against her dress skirt.

         The call ended.

         Sighing, she closing her eyes and relaxed into her chair, glad that a decision had been made for her, only for her phone to start ringing again.

           Picking the phone, she answered the call on a groan.

           "Rachael" came Nicholas's baritone that was unique to him alone, she felt her insides quiver and she almost slapped herself for being pathetic.

           "Hi" she replied form lack of words.

         "Where are you?"

         Rachael snorted in a very unladylike manner, baffled that he would think that be the best way to start a conversation after Saturday.

     "What was that?" Nicholas asked, his voice dropping low and daring.

      Rachael glared at the phone picturing herself throwing it against the wall.

       "In my office" She said instead, speaking first before realizing she had actually ignored his question and remembering how he had reacted on Saturday. A half smile lifted her lips as she gave herself a mental thumbs up because he wasn't here to level those beautiful cold eyes at her.

       The seconds ticked by with no sound coming from his end.

      Frowning she glanced at the screen of her to see if the call was still running which it in fact was

    Slowly she asked, "Hello?" Not sure if he was still there since she didn't put it past him to just drop the phone and leave the call running while she waited. Her voice came out more timid than she would have liked.

       "I'd let that one slide Rachael" he said, drawing out the words one after the other. At loss of how to reply Rachael kept quiet.

        Another pause.

     "Let's meet for lunch" he stated"

     "What?" Rachael blurted, unsure if  she heard properly.

     "Let's meet for lunch" he repeated sounding impatient.

       Rachael frowned, biting hard on her lip so she didn't snort again. Let's meet for lunch?, no apology, no explanation?, he wasn't even asking!, let's meet for lunch?.

         She didn't think it possible that she'd ever feel irritation towards Nicholas McKay, the "love of her life", but at that moment that was the only thing she could discern she felt.

        " No"

        "No?" Nicholas sounded incredulous

        "Yes" Rachael said, "Ummn, I mean no" she continued quickly.

       "Yes or no Rachael, I wasn't...."

       "I'm not going for lunch with you" Rachael said injecting firmness into her voice.

        "I wasn't asking" he said dangerously, he sounded like a man who has never heard the word no.

       Rachael scoffed.

       "I've told you to mind your manners"

      She felt her jaw slacked. This was madness, pure madness.

       "You're not one to lecture me on manners" she retorted.

       She heard him growl, followed by the unmistakable sound of his fiat connecting with a table top, causing her to nearly dropping her as she jumped.

        The call disconnected.

       Rachael stood, depositing the phone on her table and rushing into her private restroom, running the tap, she splashed cold water on her red face willing her breath to return to normal unsure if she was breathing so fast because she had spoken to Nicholas or because of fear.

        She knew Nicholas quite well, or at least she knew him from what he showed the paparazzi, oh she did her research, yet she never realized he could be this cold, she had seen and heard of him be ruthless to people bit this was nothing like she knew. One thing was for certain Nicholas despised her and here she was about to miss another meal because of her soon to be husband.