My father storms out of the boardroom, and when they all leave, it’s just Kasia and I in the room. She stares at me across the table, tapping her manicured nails on the shiny tabletop.
“You’re his father, you didn’t see this coming?” She asks, her elegant Polish accent colouring her words.
I shrug, slumping back in the chair. “I should have.”
“Yes.” The word is like an accusatory bullet straight across the table at me. “He has been a little shit for years now. But no one here wanted to pull him into line. And now, well, now we have the fine mess.”
“Yes, we do.”
Kasia gets to her feet, gathering up her planner and phone from the table. “It will be better for everyone when he is gone, and I hate to say that. But it will be.” She pulls a face at the table. “Especially for his wife.”
“His wife?”
Kasia gives a sharp nod. “Yes, his wife. Have you seen who he was in Spain with? The woman he was cheating with?”
I shake my head, and before I can ask any more questions, Kasia brings up a photo with three sharp clicks of her nails on her phone screen.
“Here.” She shows me a picture of a young blonde woman in a red bikini, on a beach in Spain somewhere. “Libby Mills. The actress from the stupid rich people show, the one set in the old times.”
My eyes drop to the caption of the photo.Darnham Abbey actress Libby Mills was having an affair with Arlington FC striker Archie Graves for a year before Spanish split.
“A year?” My eyes flash up to Kasia’s. “A fuckingyear?”
Kasia nods, locking her phone. “One instagram post even said she was pregnant.”
My heart stops for a second, then starts hammering so hard against my chest I think I’m going to be sick. “Pregnant?”
Kasia’s shoulder twitches in a sort of half-shrug. “Only a rumour. But the way Archie was telling Mr Graves about Mia not being able to have children, it feels like it could be a possibility, that he was buttering everyone up.” She starts to stride out of the room, accompanied by the clack-clack of her high heels on the floor.
“But why would a pregnant woman break up with the baby’s father?”
Kasia turns to me with a knowing smile. “Who says she broke up with him?” She leaves me with that question and exits the room, and now nothing makes sense at all.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, my head starting to pound. I knew today would be a mess, but this is a mess I wasn’t prepared for. I look out the window of the board room, at the darkening sky, the training field stretching out below me.
I need to get out of here.
My phone is lighting up almost constantly, one message and email after another flooding in. I go back to Mia’s message, realising I never responded. I start to write something, then stop. Maybe she doesn’t even want to see me again. Sure, she had fun last night, but what if that was all it was? Just some fun, to get her mind off things.
Fuck’s sakes, Graves. You’re too old for this shit. Write her and ask her over.
I type out a quick response before I can second guess myself again.
I’m leaving the club now. Fancy dinner at mine?
I stare at my phone as I walk down to my car, blindly greeting everyone whose path I cross on the way. The message shows as read, but no response comes. I sit in my car for another ten minutes, waiting.
Nothing happens.
I huff out a breath, and start the engine. Maybe she’s mad I didn’t respond all day. Maybe I am an old fool. Or maybe I’m reading too much into things and need to calm the fuck down.
The drive home is slow, the London traffic heavy. Rain starts to fall as I pull into the parking garage, and by the time I’m up in my flat, it’s pelting heavily against the full-length windows.
I check my phone again, and there’s still nothing from Mia. I huff out a sigh. She’s probably too busy. Or she’s upset aboutArchie. Who knows. I need to give her space, this is all hard for her, too.
I set about getting ingredients ready for dinner. I could order something in, but I need to settle my thoughts after today, and cooking has always relaxed me. I pour myself some wine as classical music drifts from the speakers in the ceiling.
The music cuts out for a second, and the doorbell sounds through the flat.
