Chapter Forty-three
Robyn
Sasha had been like my shadow today, following me around the house, eating when I ate, and even offering to dry my hair for me after I’d had a shower. If she’d been bearing gifts of chocolate or wine I might have tolerated it for a bit longer, but by just gone lunchtime her constant closeness was starting to grate on my nerves.
‘I’m not going to break, you know? What’s with the constant supervision?’
Sasha attempted an innocent, unaware expression, as if she had no idea what I was talking about, but after I propped my hands on my hips and gave her a firm look she relented and held her hands up in defeat.
‘OK, OK, so Oliver may have asked me to keep an eye on you today.’
‘May have?’ I demanded, wondering why everyone around me seemed to think I needed wrapping in bubble wrap since the stuff with Dominic had occurred. Yes, it had been fucking terrifying at the time, but I’d dealt with it. A couple of trips to a therapist this week hadn’t hurt, but I was fine now. Genuinely fine.
‘OK. He did ask me to keep an eye on you. You know, coz it’s his first day properly back at work, and your first day being here on your own.’
Oliver’s concern was very sweet, and I’d absolutely loved having him here pretty much non-stop for the past week, but he was going to exhaust himself if he tried to keep up this level of protectiveness.
‘I’m fine, Sash, honestly.’
She grinned at me, and knocked her shoulder against mine in that way she had. ‘I know you are, chick. But you know Oliver, he’s very difficult to say no to when he asks you to do something.’
Ha! Wasn’t that just the truth?
‘What about you, though? Shouldn’t you be at work?’
‘Nah, it’s cool. I was owed a couple of days off in lieu. It was about time I took them.’
The sound of the doorbell ringing made both Sasha and I jump, but wanting to prove that I really was fine now, I rolled my eyes and went to see who it was.
I checked the spyhole. A man in a delivery uniform held a huge bunch of flowers, so I pulled it open.
‘Hey. I have a delivery for Sasha Mortimer.’
It was actually two separate bunches of flowers, so after signing the receipt, I cradled them into my arms and went back inside, closing the door behind me.
‘You have some flowers,’ I remarked, inhaling the beautiful scent.
Sasha skipped over gleefully. ‘For me? Makes a change!’ she remarked. She had a point, because the flat was already swathed in several bunches of flowers that Oliver had bought for me – one each day this week.
She took the card from the first bunch and read it. Her nose crinkled up and she held it out to me. ‘Boo. These are for you.’
Juggling the other bunch across to her, I took the arrangement that was for me, and read the card.
Robyn, I’m glad to hear you are feeling recovered. Marcus.
Well, it was straight to the point, I supposed, but very sweet of him to send them.
‘They’re from Marcus. What does the other card say?’ I asked, placing mine down on a table and glancing across just in time to see a blush creeping its way up Sasha’s neck. Wow. This was new – she hardly ever blushed.
‘It says, “Sasha, sorry I scared the crap out of you. I’ll work on not being an insensitive arse. Marcus.” Then there’s a little winky face.’
A laugh burst from my throat at the expression on Sasha’s face, and I moved closer to have a look. ‘What does it mean?’
Sasha was still looking a bit of a funny colour, but then she seemed to shake herself out of it and put the flowers down. ‘Well, on the night you … well, you know … the night that all the shit happened, Marcus was searching for you, but he found me on the dance floor. Chloe was in the loo, and instead of calmly asking if I’d seen you, he strode up and declared that you’d been fucking kidnapped.’ Her description came to a dead halt as she slapped a hand over her mouth and cringed. ‘Which obviously you had … but at the time it sounded crazy, and as his note says, he scared the absolutely crap out of me.’ She let out a dry chuckle and reread the card. ‘Later on, I told him he was a shit messenger, and an insensitive arse, hence the second comment.’
‘Maybe next time we see him you should ask him to buy you a drink by way of apology,’ I ventured, fairly sure that Sasha still liked Marcus way more than she was letting on.
‘Hmm. Maybe…’ was all the answer I got before Chloe wandered into the lounge and came up short.
‘More flowers from Oliver?’ She gawked in bewilderment, taking in the two new bunches on the table.
‘Nope, these are from Marcus,’ Sasha informed her, tucking the card into the pocket of her jeans.
Chloe made a face, as if she wished that she were the one being bought flowers, then glanced around the room. ‘So where is Oliver?’
‘At work. Then I think he was playing squash with Marcus and then he’s heading home for the night.’
‘He’s not staying here again?’ she asked in surprise. The idea of not having him here after seeing him near constantly for the last week caused my stomach to clench, but I gave what I hoped was a nonchalant shrug and shook my head. ‘Nope. I told him to go home. He can’t exactly stay here forever, can he?’
‘Not really. But you could stay at his. Have you even seen his house yet?’ she asked. To my ears, there was something slightly off about her tone and I stiffened. Not this topic again.
‘Not yet, but he lives miles away in Holland Park. It’s easier for him to drive here.’
‘Easier, is it?’ Chloe mimicked, crossing her arms and frowning.
‘You work near there, Chloe, you know how difficult the trains are to get there,’ Sasha intervened.
I studied Chloe’s expression intently, feeling my hackles rising at her interest in my relationship. ‘If you have something to say, Chloe, just spit it out.’
She let out a huffed breath and nervously chewed on a fingernail. ‘I just keep thinking about that woman he was with in my office, Robyn. They looked really close … and he still hasn’t shown you his house.’
‘What exactly are you implying?’ I demanded, slamming my hands onto my hips.
Chloe looked uncomfortable with this inquisition, but seeing as she was the one to start it, it was tough luck. ‘Like maybe he’s hiding something? I dunno, something just doesn’t sit right with me.’
Just as I was about to step up and defend Oliver, Sasha, my trusty sidekick, did it for me, bless her. ‘Fuck off with your pessimism, Chloe. You’ve seen how protective of Robyn Oliver has been since the shit with Dominic. He’s got the feels, big time. There’s no way he’s playing around.’
Chloe took in a breath as if she was planning on saying more, but then snapped her teeth shut and nodded. ‘That’s true …’ Running a hand through her hair, she offered me an apologetic smile. ‘Sorry, Rob. I’m probably just being paranoid because of my shitty relationship history. Forgive me?’
Stepping forwards, she held her hands out in the offer of a hug. After rolling my eyes, I stepped forwards and accepted her apology cuddle.
‘Well, after causing all that trouble, I’m off to the gym. See you guys in a bit.’
Once Chloe had gone, Sasha approached me from the side, holding out two bottles of beer and the television remote. ‘Ignore her, babes. Oliver is a total dude. It’s been obvious from the get-go just how into you he is. So, how does beer and a movie sound?’
Grinning at my bestie, I nodded. It sounded pretty awesome to me.