AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With Sarai aware of everything that had transpired, at least a little of the story, I was calmer. She’d poured us both wine, and broken open the large chocolate bar. A box of tissues had also featured as I told her what I thought I could.
It was easy to be calm now that I had her empathy. She didn’t think Lukas had been good to me, but she couldn’t think badly of him beyond not understanding why he had gotten upset at me.
Although I wanted to tell her he had seen me talking to Peter, and it had made him think I was up to something, I didn’t know how to say it. There was no way to tell her without making it look exactly as Lukas had described and I didn’t know what she thought of Peter or of me.
Even with that, I wanted to tell her so I wasn’t keeping secrets. I didn’t want her to think I had cheated on him or was using him as a stepping stone. There was a possibility if she knew what had happened entirely, it would make her angry at him. And I didn’t want that for him, either.
All I wanted to do right now was go home.
“You should get some sleep and let me take you back to the project tomorrow. I’ll get Richard to ride with Lukas and say Iwant some girl time with you. Does that make tomorrow easier to face?”
I nodded, appreciating Sarai’s offer more than I could put into words. She was being incredibly supportive while not shutting Lukas out or making it difficult to work with him, and I appreciated her ability to walk that fine line.
After squeezing my hand again, she left. For a few seconds I sat there and tried to think through my options. I still really wanted to just leave for the UK and not come back, but I felt far guiltier about the idea when Sarai had anticipated my distress and given me alternative options.
While I didn’t know how I would finish my work on the project, I knew at least Sarai would try and make it easy on me. Wanting to clean up a little and clear my head, I went into the bathroom. It was only then I noticed the Ben Wa balls sitting on the side of the sink, where I had left them to dry after rinsing them.
Sarai had used the bathroom more than once while she had been with me. There was no way she could have failed to notice them, and in a bathroom, there was only one use for them. She would have known.
I didn’t know what she thought, but I colored up once more, feeling so ashamed of whom I had been this weekend. I had truly let Lukas make a fool of me, and now my boss knew far more than I’d have wanted her to about it all.
I wanted to cry all over again. What should a person in this situation do? I had no idea, but it was done. Sighing, I tucked them in some tissues and took them to Lukas’ bag. He’d left it in the room with me, and I briefly considered wrecking some of the clothes in there for the way he had treated me.
No part of me could do it, however. No matter how much he’d hurt me, I just wasn’t vindictive like that. I tried to considerthe alternatives but before I could do anything or simply go to bed, my phone rang.
“Hello?” I said, barely taking in that it was Stacy before I answered.
“You okay, lovely? I just got back after a small family party.”
“It must be early morning there now,” I replied, surprised she had decided to call me back.
There was a pause as Stacy said something to Matt about going to bed without her. I sat down again, already grateful I wasn’t going to have to beg her to talk to me.
“Tell me everything, lovely. You sound like shit, and I know that can only mean one thing. Lukas turn out to be a major arsehole?”
“Something like that.” Once again I told my tale, but this time all I left out was the kinkier aspect. No one else needed to know about that part. It didn’t change that he had brought me out here and then abandoned me.
“You sound as if you’re holding up pretty well, all things considered,” Stacy said once I had finished my story.
“I’ve already bitched about him to my boss. Didn’t tell her as much, but she had a big bar of our chocolate and some wine.”
Stacy let out a chuckle. “Sounds like a good woman.”
“I’m not complaining. But I’ve not been this calm the entire time. I almost booked a flight and came straight home. This project is going to be hell to finish. Let alone all the others I’m beginning to get offers to do. And we haven’t even done this big final showcase Sarai wants me to be here for yet.”
Again Stacy listened and asked questions about the project and what remained, giving me no judgment for wanting to run away from all of the mess here.
“It sounds like you can avoid him until that final showcase…gala…thing,” Stacy pointed out.
I frowned, almost hoping she’d said anything else. “Yeah, but I don’t want to be showcased, either. And running away right before that would make no sense. I might as well leave now and at least give Sarai time to find someone else to help finish things off properly.”
“There is another option.” Stacy paused, and I waited for her to elaborate. I didn’t like the sound of another option. Not one bit. “You could go to the showcase and then rub your success in his face. Sarai clearly thinks the world of you. She’s known this Lukas guy for a long time, and she came to comfort you, not him. She has your back too, even if she won’t screw him over while the project is running.”
“I don’t want any more jobs here. There’s no way I want to live in a country where I don’t have friendsora relationship. I’m definitely coming back to the UK after this.”
Stacy went quiet and I heard her pour a glass of something in the background. “What if you had friends there for the important bits? You said you can afford to lose the money you wouldn’t get paid for finishing the work. I don’t have any idea how much that is, but we’ve been talking about coming to see you out there. We can’t all quite afford it, or we’d have done it already, and I don’t want to ask you for money, but, if it means you can see this through, not damage your career,andwe can support you… Could you help a bunch of us come over to be there for you?”
I almost dropped my phone. It was a wonderful idea and Stacy was right, far better than me hurting my career.
