Page 65

I was desperate to know – what was the big deal? “Sorry, Riley.”
“That’s alright. I can’t tell you about the club but I can tell you he offered me this job shortly after he took over the company. I was new and green but he gave me a chance anyway. He’s a decent man, deep down, it’s just buried under societal pressure and bullshit privilege. As someone who has lived on both sides of the coin, trust me, Lola, you and I are the lucky ones. Look, I’ve gotta go. Give me a call when those plans are ready, alright?”
I said I would and we hung up, leaving me with a lot to think about.
Before I could begin to unpick my thoughts, the phone rang again, and I delved into the deluge of back orders. I checked my email, refreshing the page and hoping yet dreading that there would be a response about my college application. Still nothing.
Around mid-afternoon there was a knock at the door. I looked up to see a delivery man standing there with an array of wild flowers in a decadent bouquet.
I signed for them and thanked him, taking the flowers back to my desk. I breathed in their gentle scent and sighed. Butterflies did little pirouettes in my stomach. I picked out the card and opened it.
Lola,
I hope you’re working hard on your garden.
If you’re struggling for inspiration, just imagine me fucking you in it.
A.
I burst out laughing. Alfie Tell had a sense of humour. I read the message over and over, securing the words to memory as well as his elegant script. Wild flowers. Not generic roses.Wild flowers.I danced my fingertips along the delicate petals and sighed.
Yeah. I was in way too deep.
That night found me back in Alfie’s bed, sweat glistening on my skin, my chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath. I’d long since lost track of time. The man was an animal. I looked up at him, revelling in his dishevelled state for a moment before he pulled me back into him and we began all over again.
The moon rose higher and we didn’t sleep. We lay in our sex stained sheets and whispered in the moonlight. The darkness seemed to ease the words out of him. I had to ask easy questions at first, getting monosyllabic responses in return, but slowly, he started to relax and the man under the suit, the man in just his skin, started to talk.
He talked about art—pieces he owned, pieces he loved. History fascinated him and it surprised me that he knew so much about Harrington House. He was a keen cuisine connoisseur too, telling me where in the world I could find the best sushi, the best vineyards, the best chocolate. He talked about travel, skiing in Whistler and yachting in Monaco.
“It sounds incredible. I’d love to go to any of those places one day.”
“Why don’t you? You should travel, O’Connell. Everyone should but especially you. This town seems too small for someone like you.”
I smiled at the compliment and snuggled into his chest, his fingers tracing patterns on my back. “I don’t know. I’d love totravel, but I worry about leaving my family behind. I—” I cut myself off. It had been on the tip of my tongue to tell him about college, but something stopped me.
“You what?” he pressed and I bit my lip. After listening to him talk about his incredible life, admitting that I couldn’t even get onto a garden design course was embarrassing. I puffed out a breath.Screw it.
“I’ve actually been trying to get into The London College for the last few years. They have an incredible design course but they’re very selective.”
“They rejected you?”
“Yeah, they rejected me a bunch. This year will make it the fourth year in a row.”
“That’s easily solved. I can make a call tomorrow and?—”
“No!” I shot up, peering down at him in the darkness. “Don’t you dare, Alfie. If you try to pay my way in I swear I’ll throw up.” I could just make out him blinking in surprise.
“I wouldn’t expect anything in return.”
“That’s not the point. I want to work for something, I don’t want to have it handed to me,” I told him, settling back into his arms. “Promise you won’t interfere. I mean it, no craziness.”
“I promise I won’t interfere.” We lapsed into silence for a few moments. “I’m glad you have enough pride and willpower to want to do it on your own. I seem to often find myself surrounded by people who want to gain much by doing little.”
“That doesn’t bother you?”
“It’s the way of the world. People have always been interchangeable and my wealth has always been limitless, so vapidity and materialism in a lover didn’t usually have a noticeable effect on me or my bank account. I was never trying to find love amongst my lovers, Lo.”
“It sounds lonely,” I said, pressing my cheek into his chest just above his heart. “Maybe I’ll get into college and you can lookme up when you’re in London.” I looked up at him, finding him peering down at me, quizzical. “I know you can’t stay with me in this tiny town forever. You’ve got an empire to run and those yachts won’t yacht themselves,” I joked. Why had I brought up the subject of him leaving?