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‘Daddy wants to speak to you now,’ she says, and hands me the offending phone and runs off to drink her orange juice, oblivious to the mayhem in my heart.
‘Hello,’ I say, trying to keep my voice calm, but I hear it waver.
‘Bonjour,’ he says. His voice melts me, and we exchange a few pleasantries. His French is decent, so it’s not unusual for him to talk to me a bit in French, but today feels different. He asks after Daisy and says he’s happy we’re having a good time. He says he’s missing us and can’t wait to come home.
I don’t say a word about the newspaper photo, but he brings it up. ‘Daisy said I’m in the paper for the opening?’
‘Yes,’ I say.
There’s a long, awkward pause as he waits for me to elaborate, but I don’t. I can’t. All my words have deserted me, and my heart feels like it’s crashing in my throat.
‘It’s a business thing,’ he says.
‘What is?’ I ask.
‘The opening party,’ he says, his voice smooth, like velvet.
All my senses are reeling as his words wash over me, but I still say nothing.
What is there to say?
‘What does it say?’ he asks finally.
I take a breath and try to calm my thudding heart. ‘I didn’t read the article,’ I say. ‘We just saw a photo of you with a woman on the front page.’
There I said it. I gulp. It’s true. When Daisy arrived, I stopped reading because I couldn’t hide my tears from her. I’ll take it to my room and read it properly after she goes to bed. That way, I can cry in peace. Judging by my reaction to the photo and captions, I need to read it alone where no one can see how affected I am by my boss taking a date to the official opening of the Rochester Cannes Hotel.
‘What did you tell Daisy?’ His tone is subdued and not like Sebastian’s usually carefree tone.
‘Nothing. What would you like me to tell her?’ I ask, forcing the words out.
‘It’s not important. Nothing at all.’
‘Okay. I have to help Daisy get ready for bed now,’ I fib.
‘Nat?’
I can’t breathe, and the concern in his voice crushes what little self-control I have left.
‘Yes?’ I whisper, and the sound barely registers over the line, but he hears it.
He makes a low noise, like he’s sucking in his breath.
‘I’m sorry,’ he says.
‘I’m sorry too,’ I whisper, and press the button to end the call.
I dash into the bathroom as the tears stream down my face, thinking I can’t live with him like this anymore. It’s too much to bear.
But how can I leave Daisy?
CHAPTER30
Sebastian
When she ends the call, my guts feel like they’ve been shredded. The hurt in her voice destroyed me and I didn’t know what to say. I tried to avoid having a photo with Lizzy at the opening, but it was inevitable. If you don’t give the media something to write about, they make up their own story, and that can be a lot uglier than the truth.
Grandfather is waiting to see the publicity pieces and won’t be satisfied unless there are features in several of the most important publications in the business world. In his eyes, that was the main reason Lizzy attended the event with me, and he would regard anything less as missing the mark.
