AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I wondered if you’d caught up with Craig?”
“Not yet. I’ll pop out later.” I saw Saxon and Damon earlier and revealed what Chloe had told me.
“I still can’t believe he’s having an affair with Renée Garnier,” Saxon says.
“Yeah. It’s incredibly unprofessional when you think we were considering Sunrise Ltd. for production.”
“I meant more that she’s only, like, two foot tall. And she does that weird thing with her hair. And her eyes are too close together. Chloe’s a cracker. Why would you go out for a burger when you’ve got steak at home? I guess she must do great things to his dick.”
“That’s exactly what I said to Alice last night. Well, I didn’t mention burgers and steak, or dicks, but, yeah, it had the same sentiment.”
He grins. “You spoke to Alice? You didn’t mention that.”
“We talked for over an hour.”
“Aw. Are you seeing her again?”
I shrug. Then I meet his eyes and smile. He smiles back. “Didn’t think you’d let a little thing like that put you off,” he says.
“That’s what Marion said, funnily enough.”
Looking at the red nose in his hand, he turns it over a few times. I wait, sensing he’s about to say something. Eventually, he looks up.
“I’m going to ask Catie to marry me.”
My eyebrows shoot up. I grin, and his lips curve up.
“Took your time,” I say, thrilled for him.
“I’ve been thinking about where to do it. I know it’s supposed to be romantic to, you know, take the girl to Paris and propose by the Eiffel Tower or something, but Catie would faint if I took her anywhere near a long-haul flight. She won’t want a fanfare. But I thought it might be nice to do it on Christmas Eve, in front of Mum and Dad. Make her feel like part of the family, you know?”
I nod. Catie’s parents are both dead, and she was brought up by her stepmother, who was apparently a right piece of work and made her life a complete misery. Our parents have already taken to her, and they’re keen to look after her and include her.
“It’s a great idea,” I tell him.
He smiles. “Okay.”
“Do you think she’ll say yes?”
“Jesus, don’t say that. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that she might say no.”
I give a short laugh. “She’s not going to say no. She’s crazy about you.” I lean forward on the table and straighten some papers on my desk. “There’s something I didn’t tell you in front of Damon.”
“Oh?”
“Chloe said that Craig felt it was him against the three of us, and that he was jealous, especially of our relationship.” I gesture to the two of us.
He stares at me for a moment. Then he rubs the first two fingers of his left hand against his thumb. “That’s me playing the world’s smallest violin. Fucking jealous… Boo-fucking-hoo. We’re twins. We’re close. What did he expect?”
“Chloe said it was also one reason Lesley left.”
That makes him pause. “Seriously?”
I shrug.
He studies me, thinking about it. “Are you saying you want to break up with me?”
That makes me laugh. “I dunno. It shocked me, I guess. She never mentioned it to me. But it made me think. Maybe we make others feel excluded at times. Perhaps it’s something we ought to think about.”
