Vivian looked beyond Emme for a second, and Emme wondered if she should invite her in. What was the Kristalldorf etiquette for your boss’s boss calling by when you happened to have fucked their boyfriend?
‘Lexy’s at work, I think. She’s not usually back until after five.’
Vivian rolled her eyes.
‘Oh drat, I could have caught her at the Alpenrose!’ She smiled as if she’d been silly. ‘Never mind, I was passing– stairs aside.’ Vivian joked, nodding in the direction of the steep wide sweep from the road up to Chalet Stern, although no staircase could beat her Bambi-like legs. ‘Can I leave this for her?’
‘Sure,’ Emme said, taking the file. ‘Would you like to come in?’
Emme really didn’t want Vivian Steinherr to come in. She was wracked with guilt for the man they had both had inside them. And he had slept with hersistertoo.
‘No it’s fine, I need to get on… thank you.’ Vivian nodded, as Emme’s phone beeped and flashed up with a notification. Her face flushed red as she snatched up her phone in case Tristan was illuminated in all his Insta glory.
Phew.
A message from her sister, against the backdrop wallpaper of her niece and nephew. Emme tried to style out her panic as she pocketed her phone.
‘Right then! Cheerio, I’ll be sure to give this to Lexy as soon as she’s home.’
Vivian looked a little cautious. Emme’s reaction was odd.
‘Great, thank you,’ she said, as she turned away and elegantly bounded down the stairs.
Emme closed the door and looked across at Bella on the sofa, hammering a finger on the iPad screen.
‘Bells, be careful!’
‘I fixed it!’ Bella said proudly as she squinted her eyes and peered at the screen. ‘Pur-chase succ-sex-ful! Now can I watchBluey?’
‘Bella!’ Emme said, more sternly, walking over to retrieve the iPad. ‘What have you done?’
Emme took the screen and studied it.
‘Oh dear. “Purchase successful. You now have 90 days’ cover”. Bella!’
The girl looked up with doleful eyes, as Emme scrutinised the screen to see if she could undo the transaction. She pressed the back button but the screen went blank.
‘Emme! Come and look at my Ninjago set!’ Harry bellowed from the bedroom. And Emme was so surprised that Harrywantedto show her his Lego set that she handed the iPad back to Bella so she could get back toBluey.
Down the hallway Emme poked her head around Harry’s bedroom door. He’d spoken to her with disinterest at best for much of the time since she’d arrived, but now she could tell from the look on his face as he sat onhis knees, turning his Lego set on the plush carpet, that her approval meant something to him.
‘Oh wow Harry, it’s really cool!’ she said, getting down on her haunches.
‘So this is Zane’s apartment…’ he said, before tentatively giving Emme a tour.
After a few minutes and the onset of pins and needles, Emme looked at Harry’s face, his auburn eyelashes sweeping over his eyes, and thought she might have finally cracked him.
‘Ooh, can I have a play with this figure?’ she asked, cautiously.
‘No,’ Harry said, swooping the ninja up off the floor.
‘OK,’ Emme said, pulling herself up to standing and circling her tingling ankle. ‘I need to start dinner anyway, but great job Harry.’
Harry didn’t say anything, but Emme could tell from his smile that he was proud of himself.
As Emme walked down the hall she took her phone out of her pocket to check the time, and ruminated on Vivian Steinherr’s visit. She swiped up to awaken it and was confronted by Tristan’s Instagram again.
That was close. She felt bad about Vivian, but Tristan was so intoxicating, her swirling feelings of passion had managed to overcome the guilt. She studied the screen as she walked into the kitchen. Tristan Du Kok and his father, smiling on a ski slope in Switzerland. It was the last picture he’d posted. He was handsome in his early twenties, but like the Du Kok Estate wines he sold, Tristan seemed to get better with age.
