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‘Everyone’s gone for the evening. It’s just you and Marie.’
‘Thanks, Tina. Have a good evening.’
‘You too. Are you okay...?’
Tina shot him a puzzled look, and Alex nodded and smiled back at her. The last thing he wanted was to make his relationship troubles the talk of the clinic.
He heard the front doors open and then slam shut again. He had to do it now. Before his courage failed him and wanting Marie took over, driving everything else from his mind.
Alex walked upstairs, feeling his burden increase with every step. Marie’s office door was open and he stopped in the doorway, afraid that if he went in and sat down he wouldn’t be able to do this.
She looked up from the papers in front of her and her eyes seemed suddenly hollow, as if she hadn’t slept for a week. ‘You’re back.’
‘Yes.’
No invitation to come in and sit down. It seemed Marie had nothing to say to him—which was fair enough because he had nothing to say to her. They’d always understood each other, and they understood this as well.
He t
ook a breath. ‘I think we should stop. For good. We’ll tear each other to pieces if we don’t.’
She nodded. ‘Yes. I think so too.’
That was the most difficult part and it had been achieved in a matter of a few words. Alex bit back the temptation to fall on his knees and beg her to fight him. That would just prolong the agony, because he and Marie had never been meant to be together.
‘I’m going to bring forward my trip,’ he said.
The trip had been planned for him to scout out sites for new clinics around the country. It was an ideal excuse to get him away from London for a couple of weeks.
‘After that I’ll be concentrating on development, so I’ll be working from home most of the time.’
‘But... No... I’ll clear out my things. There are plenty of jobs for qualified doctors in London. I’ll just call an agency and I’ll have another job by the weekend.’
She was regarding him steadily, her lip trembling and her eyes filling with tears. This wasn’t what he’d meant to happen at all.
‘What? No, Marie. We always kept our private lives separate from our work before. You can’t leave.’
He knew he was in no position to tell her what she could or couldn’t do. Thankfully Marie overlooked that.
‘I’m not sure I can stay, either.’
Alex thought fast. It was beyond unfair that a broken relationship meant Marie felt she had to walk away from her job. If she decided to leave he’d make sure she was paid until the end of the year, but that wasn’t the point. She’d put her heart into this place and given it life. It was as much hers as it was his, and she’d see that once the initial shock of their parting had subsided.
‘Stay for a couple of weeks at least. I need you to be here while I’m away. We can talk again when I get back.’
She nodded. ‘All right. Just until then, Alex.’
It was almost a relief to walk away from her, so he could no longer see the pain in her beautiful eyes. He’d never wanted to hurt Marie, but all he’d brought her was sorrow. He’d come to love this place, but he’d give it up a thousand times over if it meant she would stay.
He needed her in his life, and he hoped desperately that in time they’d learn to be friends again, but he was beginning to doubt that. There was no coming back from this.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
IT HAD BEEN ten days since she’d seen Alex. He’d walked out of the clinic that evening and Marie had been able to hold back her tears only just long enough to hear the main doors close downstairs. Then she’d got unsteadily out of her chair and walked over to the corner of her office. Sliding down the wall, she’d curled up on the floor, sobbing.
But they’d done the right thing. They needed completely different things from a relationship, and it never could have worked. That didn’t mean it hurt any less.
The emails had started the following day. Alex’s first one had been short and polite, and Marie had replied in the same vein. They’d loosened up a little as the days went by and his itinerary took him further and further away from London. Maybe after a year or so one of them might crack a joke.
