“She’s gone. You look relieved.”
“No, not at all, I?—”
“I really must get on. It was nice to meet you.” He returned to his work, leaving me standing there, unsure whether I should feel guilty or glad.
I looked around for Maia and found her loitering. “What do you know about Julia Whitmore getting fired?”
“I know that she put her hands on you. I know that Mr Tell knows about it. I know that you aren’t naive enough to think he would just let it lie.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out. Alfie was calling me.
“I told him you were finding out about Julia,” she said with a shrug.
Of course she did. I answered the phone as I stalked back to the house. I wasn’t dealing with drama without breakfast. “You got Julia fired?”
“Julia got herself fired.”
“Alfie, this is my work you promised you wouldn’t interfere.”
“This isn’t just work. She broke club rules, there has to be punishment.”
“We agreed her punishment was getting kicked out of the club.”
“And I decided she wasn’t sorry enough. Apparently, her using her position of authority at work to pressure women into sex, isn’t a new thing. I wanted her punished professionally as well as personally. She’s a Dominant, she understands consequences for actions.” The line fell silent as I struggled to make a counter argument. There was none. He was right. I was just annoyed that once again I was blindsided. “I hear Jeff is very professional and also not remotely attracted to women.”
I rolled my eyes. “I could spank you right now.”
He chuckled. “I’ll see you this weekend.”
“For spanking?”
I heard a laugh in the background that did not belong to Alfie. “Am I on speakerphone?”
“No, Damien just has exceptional hearing.”
“Oh God,” I groaned.
“Good morning, Lola!” I heard Damien shout down the line. “Your little town is adorable! I’m looking forward to seeing you at the wedding.”
“The wedding? Natalie’s wedding? Why is he coming to that?” He’d never met Natalie and I was pretty sure that he and Riley weren’t exactly besties.
“He got wind that Keira was coming.”
“How?”
“I told him.”
“Alfie…”
“So he invited himself as my plus one.”
“He’syour plus one? And what am I? Your sidepiece?”
Alfie laughed. “I have to go. I love you. Spank you later.” He hung up. I stared at my phone wondering when I’d turned the cold grey billionaire into a man who said ‘spank you later’. It was probably around the time I tied a blue ribbon around his wrist and called his penthouse a shit hole.
Work was a joy, even more so without the threat of Julia breathing down my neck. Sid made a pointed comment about it but didn’t say more than that.
As I worked, I let my mind wander. My days were filled with roses, a sea of white and blush as I painstakingly constructed the beloved creation of Beatrix Potter. Jemima Puddle-duck was unassuming, sweet, a gentle creature. Under my supervision, Sid created a cunning Mr Fox from marigolds, using the red in french bolero varieties to give him depth and texture.
