I’d forgotten he was one of the accountants, Simon something, I didn’t particularly care.
“Three years. I moved here to take the position. I was in America before that – Seattle. Have you ever been?”
I looked away, knowing full well she hadn’t because we’d been talking about where she’d visited – before Rose – yesterday. A three-week trip to Australia, a long weekend in New York, a summer spent walking the Inca Trail in Peru and the girls’ holiday to Ibiza which she’d given very little away about, making me suspect it had been wild.
“Once,” she gave him a smile. “Callaghan Green has offices in New York too, so maybe I’ll get the chance to visit again soon, or even take my daughter.”
“You have a daughter?” He sounded incredulous. “You don’t look old enough.”
Georgia took a sip of her drink and smiled at him. “I’m plenty old enough but thank you for saying so.”
“Is your husband looking after her tonight?”
No, she’s left her at home with a wolf to babysit, fishing fuckwit.
“My sister has her. I’m not married.”
I debated stretching my arm out across the back of her chair, but I wasn’t the sort of man who wanted to piss on his territory. And Georgia wasn’t my territory.
“How old is she?” He wasn’t giving up.
“My sister or my daughter?”
He laughed like it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. “You’re daughter.”
“She’s four. Sometimes four going on fourteen.” Another sip of wine.
Simon Something nodded. “I don’t know much about kids. What do four-year olds do?”
I stood up, pushing my chair back. “Excuse me.” I couldn’t listen to his droll questions any longer and if Georgia wanted to get out of answering them, she had the ability to do so.
The bar was packed, Lomax Taylor having invited a hundred or so people to the event, but I wanted a whisky and to get away from Georgia’s scent and hair and everything else for a few minutes.
A familiar face looked shocked when she saw me approaching, then she hurriedly composed herself. It had been a long time, but not long enough. My stomach churned, a feeling I’d almost forgotten about.
Cassie Miller had been the person I thought could’ve been my soul mate for nearly ten years. We’d met the first week of university and for the next few years we’d intermittently been together. On again, off again, more times than a television.
It’d ended more than three years ago, when she’d hammered down the final nail in the coffin and I’d spiralled into a bit of mess that resulted in my twin coming back to London to yank me back into normality.
I did not have good memories of Cassie. The last I knew, she’d moved to work for a law firm in Leeds so seeing her tonight was a surprise I didn’t need.
“Seph.” She gave me a forced smile. “How are you?”
“Good. I didn’t expect to see you here.” I didn’t smile back.
She shrugged, blonde hair framing her pretty face. “I was in London today and one of the associates in my firm couldn’t make tonight, so they asked if I wanted to come. I thought I might bump into you. It’s been a while.”
“It has.”
A hand touched my shoulder from behind and my body warmed. I turned and saw Georgia, her smile serene and curious.
“This is Georgia Marston. She’s just joined Callaghan Green as a partner. Georgie, this is Cassie Miller. We went to university together.” I wondered if Cassie would want to elaborate. I hoped not.
“Nice to meet you, Cassie,” Georgia smiled. “Seph, one of the junior associates was looking for you. Do you have a minute?”
I had more than a minute if it meant I could get away from my ex. “Sure. Nice to see you, Cassie.”
“Maybe we could meet for coffee sometime?” The look she gave me was one that usually started us on a pathway to bed.
