“Don’t bullshit me, Blackwood!” he roared. “Your wife phoned the office this morning and kindly informed me that one of your indiscretions was with my daughter! Mydaughter, for God’s sake!”
Antonio’s heart dropped into his shoes as he desperately tried to remember who the woman had been. Was it Katie? No, Katie hadn’t mentioned a father. Siobhan? He racked his brains, trying to remember the woman, but came up empty. He looked pleadingly at his boss, whose face grew even more thunderous in response.
“You don’t evenrememberher?” William growled, balling his hands into fists. “Well, by all means, let me refresh your memory, then. Sarah!”
Antonio groaned internally as Sarah walked into the room, her platinum blonde hair and hypnotic hourglass figure jogging his memory incredibly painfully. Quite how he’d managed to forget her, he didn’t know, but he had – not that he’d ever admit that.
She’d come up to him in a local bar and he’d found himself flattered by her attention, then stumbling into bed with her. After that, it was fuzzy, but he knew that she’d be more than willing to tell him what had happened. After all, if there was ever a ’kiss-and-tell’ kind of woman, it was Sarah Anderson.
“I am so sorry, sir.” He dropped his head into his hands. “Truly, I am so sorry. We met in a bar, started talking, did a bit of dancing … and one thing led to another ? ”
“One thing led to another?” William roared, his face turning bright red with rage. “My daughter is not some common whore who falls at every man’s feet, Blackwood! God’s teeth, I should drop you where you stand!”
“I wouldn’t blame you if you did, sir.”
“Daddy, don’t be angry,” Sarah put a hand on her father’s shoulder. “He didn’t take advantage of me. It was a mutual decision, and I’m equally responsible.”
“I’m not upset with you, Sarah.” Her father patted her hand. “The difference is that you’re single and he is not. You shouldn’t have slept with him, but he should have refused any advances you made too. He’s married, for God’s sake! Or at least, hewas.”
“Sir, I am extremely sorry,” Antonio felt his heart sink even lower. “Whatever it is you need from me to serve as an apology, I will do it.
“Oh, I know you will, Blackwood,” William sneered. “I’m sure Janice has made you aware of your … move?”
“Yes, sir, she has.”
“Excellent. We have one more change for you, which I’m sure will be no problem for you, since you are very familiar with your new supervisor.”
Sarah pulled a sympathetic face as realisation dawned on Antonio’s face. He stared into her eyes, silently begging her to change her mind, but it was no use. She was just as trapped in the situation as he was, and he had a feeling that neither of them were going to like it.
“That’s right, Blackwood.” He could almost hear William’s smirk. “You work for my daughter now.”
The rest of the day passed by in a haze of misery, meetings, and paperwork. Antonio could scarcely believe how much his life had changed – in the space of a mere twenty-four hours, he’d lost his wife, his boss was on the brink of firing him, and he had to work for the woman he’d slept with. It almost seemed to ridiculous to be true, and yet it was. The worst part of it all was that he could have avoided it, if only he’d had more sense than alcohol in his body.
Doesn’t really excuse anything, he thought, staring blankly at the papers in front of him. Douglas had handed him another copy of the divorce documents, and whilst they were still more of a wall of text than anything that made the slightest bit of sense, he was determined to at leasttryand look them over.
“Blackwood!” he heard Sarah shout from her office, and he mentally prepared himself for another berating. He got up from his desk and walked in, a neutral expression firmly glued to his face.
“Good work on that false imprisonment case. Sorry it landed on your desk without warning.”
Sarah barely glanced up from her laptop as she gave him the unexpected compliment. Antonio was surprised, and didn’t really know what to say, so he stayed silent until she looked up at him again. For a moment, he thought he saw sadness in her eyes, but it was soon replaced with resignation.
“Look, Antonio, I don’t want to punish you any more than you want to be punished.” She sighed, steepling her fingers. “Personally, you’re not at all suited to the tort department, but I guess you could see it as a learning experience?”
“It’s OK,” he smiled bitterly. “I expected a beating of some sort. If it stops the divorce, I’m all for it.”
“Why bother trying to stop it?” Sarah’s gaze returned to her laptop. “I mean, by the sounds of it, she’s putting you through the wringer and then some, so why not just sign the divorce papers and move on?”
For a moment, Antonio stared at her in stunned silence, and then laughed, the sound causing several of his colleagues to look up in surprise. Sarah looked up at him again, raising an eyebrow as if to ask how he could possibly laugh, given the circumstances, and he waved a hand apologetically.
“You’ve never been married, have you?” he asked, to which she shook her head. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked on his toes a little, trying to find a way to explain marriage to her without sounding either too romantic or overly patronising.
“When you’re married, it’s … it’s something else. It’s not just another relationship. It’s a sacred bond, and it … it binds you together, no matter what.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t exactly honour your vow to be faithful, though, did you?” Sarah observed. “I mean, if you valued your wife, and you loved her, why would you then go and cheat?”
Antonio glared at her, and then his shoulders sagged. Sarah was right. For all that he’d just said what was arguably a very beautiful speech about the sanctity of marriage, it rang hollow even to him. And how could he possibly spout on about marriage and faithfulness when he’d strayed from the one woman who loved him? He felt tears prick his eyes again, and this time he didn’t bother brushing them away.
“I don’t know,” he sighed. “I wasn’t unhappy at home, and Alyssia’s always been there for me … maybe I’m just a shit husband.”
