Martha Fletcher has only ever had one job- Executive Assistant to Sam Courtenay.
She'll schedule his diary, pick up his dry cleaning, usher girls out of his apartment first thing in the morning... nothing was out of bounds until one night, that blur...
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"We need to talk later," Martha's voice filled the silence of my office. Tensing, I look up at her, forgetting the paperwork needed for our expansion, and frown. We need to talk are the worst words anyone can hear from their partner. "It's nothing bad. I don't think. It's just something that we should talk about, that's all."
Nodding, my throat is too dry to speak. Instead, I give her a tight smile and go back to filling out form after form, cursing my sister for dumping all this on my desk. I also curse Martha for distracting me with her words. What seemed like a fairly straightforward task two minutes ago now seemed impossible. Tapping my biro on the table, I stare at the boxes I need to fill out only to watch as they all merge into one. Closing my eyes tightly, I massage my temples and sigh heavily.
Feeling a headache about to begin, I decided to ditch work for the rest of the day. Grabbing my coat, I leave the office without telling anyone and head home. Meandering the streets of London, I find myself headed in the opposite direction of my house, heading towards my brother's house instead. I knew he'd be at work but Sophie would be at home. Probably. Unless she's taken Léa shopping to buy more Burberry, Dolce and Gabbana and Armani Baby clothes that a six-month-old doesn't need.
Noticing Sophie's car parked outside their townhouse, I knock on her door before taking out my set of keys and letting myself in. I shout out to let her know that it's just me and follow the shout she sent back to me. Finding her in Léa's playroom, I notice Sophie lying on the floor, turned sideways so she can keep an eye on my niece who is on the play mat next to her, reaching up and pushing the colourful safari animals on the mobile around, her giggles filling the room and making her mum laugh.
"Hey," Sophie greets me, not once taking her eyes off her daughter. Since becoming a mother, Sophie's chilled out quite a bit but more so since Léa had ear grommets fitted and she stopped screaming her head off twenty-four seven. With her dark hair pulled into a messy bun, Sophie was dressed casually in a pair of slack grey track pants and white strappy top, without a stitch of makeup on her face. Not that she needed it. Sophie's always been pretty but being home with Léa and being a mum, she glowed all the time. "What are you doing here, Sammy? Wasn't it just last night that you were complaining that Evie was weighing you down with work?"
Dropping my coat onto the rocking chair in the corner, I kick off my shoes and place my phone, wallet and keys on the side cabinet so that I could lie down on the floor and watch Léa play. "Yeah, well, I left," I answer Sophie's questions. Noticing how her blue-green eyes glided over to me, an inquisitive stare held within them, I knew that I couldn't start with a phrase like that and not finish it. "Martha came in and said that we should talk later when we're home and I couldn't focus, so I left."
"Mhm," Sophie sarcastically muttered, knowing that there was more to the story. When Léa hit the elephant and watched it fly around in circles, she let out a thrilled giggle, a noise which Sophie echoed. "You are such a smart girl, sweetie. You totally take after me and not your daddy. He's an idiot."
