‘Unless you want to join us, Abs?’ Ollie stood, putting on his jacket.
I looked at Nick, who raised an eyebrow, wrinkling his forehead. I read this as:you can if you want to. But I had other commitments.
‘I’m all good. Ella has cooked, which is vaguely alarming. Still, I’m curious.’
‘Good luck with that,’ Nick mumbled.
‘I suspect I might need it,’ I returned.
After that, we were slightly more comfortable with each other. Oliver worked from home and Nick did not come in on Thursday, which I confess I was a little disappointed about because I had definitely felt the ice thaw and I had wanted to see him. Either way, I had a pretty chilled day, which one can never complain about.
I was in a good mood when I got home, but it quickly turned to rage when Kate presented me with a dress. A dress bought by Nick.
The designer bag hanging in the kitchen prompted me to interrogate her, and she confessed to gin and tonics with my boss/ex-lover or whatever – the flare of irritation I felt in my gut had nothing to do with jealousy, of course – and that she had agreed she would ‘get me to the ball’ on Friday night.
Naturally, I stamped my foot, telling her in no uncertain terms that that was completely and utterly unacceptable. I refused to even look at the dress or even think about discussing it withhim. The gall of that man.
I would return the dress over the weekend – an absolute pain in the arse, by the way – and give him back his bloody money the next week.
I avoided him at work on Friday by spending the entire day at the hotel. The Delacqua Sydney had been rebuilt two years ago, and it was big, glassy and shiny. I found it vaguely depressing and lacking personality and, apparently, so did the Northbys, because I had taken notes on Monday in a meeting with their architect where Nick had called it cold, unwelcoming and lacking in character. But the ballroom had the benefit of a large balcony and views overlooking the city and harbour.
I headed home just after four and walked in the door, dumping my bag on the floor of my newly renovated room, which looked like just the slice of heaven I needed this Friday night. Sliding my shoes off my tired feet, I padded into the lounge room, only to be confronted by all three of the Cavendish women. My daughter sat next to my sister, who had pulled in her trump card, my grandmother. It was an aggressive move and could only have been my sister’s idea of an intervention.
Iris looked as if she had just climbed down from the deck of a yacht. She had on a thick cream jumper over navy culottes and canvas sneakers, definitely channelling Lauren Bacall.
‘Abigail.’
I walked over to her, kissing her and wrapping her into me. She was warm, smelled like Chanel and she made my heart ache with love and devotion.
‘Hi, Gran.’ There was a warning in my tone, but I could not hide the warmth and affection I felt for her.
‘Mum, Aunt Kate says you’re not going to a party tonight because you don’t want to wear a fancy, expensive dress someone bought you.’
‘Ella, dear, will you please go pop the kettle on and make tea for Granny?’
‘Of course, Gran.’
‘Thank you, child.’
We all watched Ella leave the room and waited until we heard the kettle start.
‘Kate, this is completely unacceptable,’ I hissed.
Kate lifted her chin and looked at the ceiling.
‘Abigail, darling,’ Gran said, dropping her voice. ‘You have been holding out. Kate says your new boss is also your Maldivian lover. How very serendipitous.’
I looked at Kate, horrified. ‘He’sEnglish. I’m not sleeping with him … anymore.’ I was mortified as I realised how sad I sounded.
‘And, Gran, there is this fancy-arse party tonight that Abbey is refusing to go to. She claimed she had nothing to wear and then a dress appeared for her, and she won’t even look at it.’
Kate was dobbing me in as if she was eight, making me want to pinch her. I threw what I hoped was a dignified, daggered stare at her instead, and she folded her arms and huffed.
‘Abigail, when a man buys you expensive presents …’ Gran said, shaking her head.
‘He is being manipulative. He accused me of taking money from the company and almost fired me over it. And now he is trying to pay off his guilt. He has already doubled my salary, and now this.’ I pointed accusingly to the bag.
Gran and Kate shared a look.
