‘No!’ I scream.
‘Sure?’
‘Yes! Okay! Yes! Stop!’
He pauses then but I can’t stop a smirk from rising to my lips.
‘You tickle like an octopus with no tentacles!’ I say in my fake-Gregory voice.
‘I would never say that,’ he says.
‘Ja, ja.’
The tickling starts again. Relaxed Gregory is putting in a rare and undoubtedly fleeting appearance.
Life is pretty screwed up.
19
‘I don’t want to go back to the city; I love it here.’ As I say the words, I put the overnight bag Gregory packed for me into the back of the Lamborghini.
Gregory runs his hands from my shoulders down my arms and plants a kiss on the tip of my nose. ‘Work is in the city, baby.’
‘I know. I just like our farm bubble. I could actually convince myself that the case isn’t hanging over us here, that life is normal.’
‘Normal isn’t something you’re ever going to get from me, Scarlett.’
That’s becoming very clear.
He presses his lips against mine, leaving my mind to wander as they linger.
Reluctantly, I peel myself away from him and sit in the front seat. He burns through the rush-hour traffic, weaving, speeding, generally driving like a man on the edge. At the Shard, we both quickly change into suits and switch to the black DB9, whichGregory feels is more businesslike than the yellow Lamborghini. Probably true.
He drops me at work after waiting impatiently for me to pick up a bouquet of flowers on the way in. He shakes his head as I hand Paul the spare bagel Amy wrapped up for me, then he heads off to a meeting in Brighton, south of the city. As I watch Gregory swerve away from the pavement into oncoming traffic, thoughts of Dubai and the imminent CPS decision hit me with the force of an express train.
I dump my coat and take a big swig of latte, then set my laptop and screens to life and take the flowers I bought in the direction of Amanda’s office. I get two pencil-skirt-restricted steps into the corridor before being met by an incoming Amanda. She looks pale and not her usual vibrant self, which I put down to her choice of black dress. Her usually flowing, auburn hair is pinned back from her face into a messy knot at the back of her head.
‘These are for you,’ we both say in unison, me holding up the bunch of white roses and lilies as she holds up a bag decorated in peanut M&M’s and a label stating she’s been to M&M World.
We share the shortest of laughs, then both declare our apologies.
‘Coffee and choccies?’ Amanda asks, wiggling the yellow paper bag in front of me. ‘Like old times?’
‘Love to.’ I take the bag from her and hand over the bunch of flowers which she holds to her nose, inhaling deeply.
‘Beautiful,’ she declares. She retrieves her own coffee from her office and brings it to mine, where I’ve already spread the contents of the M&M goodies across my desk. ‘Peanuts for me.’
I throw her the bag of peanut M&M’s, which she catches with one hand and happily tears into once she’s settled into achair next to my desk. I open a brown bag of traditional M&M’s and moan theatrically around a blue.
‘What’s it about the blues?’ I ask.
‘They taste so different to the others,’ she says.
‘Couldn’t agree more. So good. Listen, Amanda, I don’t want us to fall out. Especially not over a man. We always said that would never happen.’
‘Me neither. I’m sorry, Scarlett. I know he makes you happy and Ed and I had a long conversation on Saturday. He helped me understand some… stuff. He told me about Lara and the abuse. And I get it. Kind of. I at least understand why Gregory would hate his pop. And I know he’s not all bad.’
I snort and sip my coffee. ‘I’ll take that as a ringing endorsement.’
