Resolution (Saviour #2)(33)
“Lauren, good morning, how are you?”
I watch her ankle twist and tilt to the side as she stumbles towards me and have to turn quickly back to my bag that I’m retrieving from the car so she doesn’t see me grin…Deep breath
“Morning Karen”
She takes off her sunnies and stands next to me as I gather some fabric swatches I have brought to show her for the pool house. There’s an awkward silence
“The house is packed full of builders so I’m glad I’ve seen you out here, Gabe has told me everything about what went on between you two.”
“Oh but th…”
“Let me finish please Karen, as far as I’m concerned, it was a long time ago and quite frankly none of my business, I hope this isn’t going to cause any issues in our professional relationship, we’ve always worked well together and I hope that can continue through this and any future projects.”
Wow, I had no idea what I was going to say when I opened my mouth.
Well I did but it went along the lines of, “Fuck you, you f*ckin whore, keep your f*ckin claws away from my man, else I will rip your scrawny throat out.”…But I didn’t think that would be good for working relations. So all in all, I think I did well. She’s looking down at the floor, obviously embarrassed, finally bringing her eyes up to meet mine.
“Thanks Lauren, You can’t imagine how embarrassed I feel over all of this, as you say, it was a long time ago and something I’m not very proud of, can we just forget about the whole thing?”
“Sure,” I shrug.
She eyes my car again.
“New car?”
Bitch is judging me.
“Yeah, I um, I needed a car for work, Jay hasn’t let me have anything other than a few personal bits so Gabe has bought this through the business for me.”
“So it’s serious then, between you two?”
“About as serious as it gets, I’ve moved in with him.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, wow.”
“So there’s no chance of getting back together with Jason then?”
“No, no chance, I have an intervention order out on Jay, he assaulted me.”
I don’t know why I’m telling her this, she seems genuinely interested.
“Oh really? It’s a shame it had to come to that; is he angry? That you left him for Gabe I mean.”
“What? No, I didn’t, I’d only known Gabe a few hours when I left Jay. I left him because he assaulted me.”
This is probably what the whole world is thinking. Poor Jay, who can blame him for lashing out. Lauren was shagging a younger man, deserved a back hander. I’m pissed off now and don’t want to talk about my private life anymore, especially with a client.
“Well I wouldn’t blame you, he was good looking when he was young, he’s quite spectacular now and the family have done very well for themselves, he must be loaded.”
Is she for real?
“Karen, let’s get a few things clear; I never left Jason for Gabe, I am not with Gabe for his money and if you talk about him like that again, I will punch your lights out, keep your eyes and your hands to your f*cking self and you and me will get along grand.”
I am shaking from head to toe, who the f*ck does she think she is.
“Now I have a lot to get through with you, can we start work now and leave our private lives out of our working relationship, because if it’s going to be an issue for you, I will walk now and you can bring someone else on board.”
She is glaring at me and I just know she has so much she wants to say but at the end of the day, I know what she did and when she did it and with whom and the last thing she will want is any gossip about this, I wouldn’t do that, it’s none of my business but she can’t be sure about that. She swallows and gives her head a little shake, I bet it’s been a while since anyone spoke to Queenie like that. .Am I bothered? Like f*ck am I.
I grab all that I need from the boot and walk across the drive and into the hallway, I meet Dave the site manager on his way out.
“Dave, Karen Palmer is here, in six inch heels and no hard hard…go get her tiger.”
This should be interesting…
CHAPTER 10
October sails along on a cloud of domestic bliss. Gabe proposes and brings me gifts on an almost daily basis, flowers, sexy lingerie, practical lingerie, a book on interior design from the 70’s that I absolutely love and a very plain and simple silver bracelet from Tiffany and Co. I’m not big on jewellery but this is simple enough that I can wear it every day, and I do. I could have been like the women you read about in books and have said “Oh no, it’s too much, please don’t keep buying me gifts”, but truth be told, I f*cking love it, I love the gifts, I love the attention he pays me, I love the proposals, I thrive under his sexy arsed compliments and there are very few women out there that I know of that wouldn’t.
Jake stays with us for a further week, in which time we see him exactly twice, he then moves in with Jo. Gabe and I are flat out busy with work, I am either up at Bella Vista – what a crap name, I think every time I pull up outside. So clichéd darling. Dave the Scotsman and I now get on like a house on fire after our first angry encounter, I don’t think he’s quite sure what to make of me and it’s not until he sees my number plate that he finally works out how I know what’s going happening on site before he has even told me. He broaches me on the subject when I come in the morning after he watched me pull away the afternoon before.