her finger in the air as. ‘Er, rewind that a moment. What did you say –
stale
?’
‘It’s the house situation, too much work, the kids being around – it’s not the same as it was in the beginning.’ He did have the cheek to look guilty as he dropped
that one, thought Lara.
‘It’s not the same as it was in the beginning?’ she echoed back at him. Calmly, even slightly amused. He’d rushed her into his house, thrown at her the child-care and the
domestic duties which his au pair refused to do, gave her rubbish sex and then had the gall to say they’d gone stale. He had intimacy and attention on tap but he had still returned to Miss
Spicy Sex. ‘James. It’s YOU who is at work all the time. It’s YOU who isn’t putting any effort in. And, in case you have forgotten, they’re YOUR bloody
kids!’
God, if only her friends could see her now. May and Clare thought she had such a perfect set-up. They probably imagined she was passionately ravaged by a besotted James from the moment she
walked in through the door at night whilst the children made ‘I love you, Lara’ cards in their bedrooms and Kristina busied herself in the kitchen cooking lobster. What would they say
if they only knew the truth?
Lara’s adrenaline-fuelled composure crumbled just as surely as if it had been hammered with a wrecking ball. She turned back towards the front door and her fingers closed around the door
handle to open it.
‘Ti— Oh God, I mean Lara, don’t go like this.’
He couldn’t even get her name right first time.
Lara opened the door then slammed it behind her so hard, she wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d felt the reverberations in Glasgow.
Chapter 18
Lara concentrated fiercely on the driving, occasionally wiping the unwanted tears leaking from her eyes. She didn’t want to cry. James didn’t deserve her tears. He
had probably gone straight back upstairs and carried on where he had left off giving Tianne bloody Lee a good time. The whole Galsworthy family didn’t give a toss who they stood on to get
what they wanted. James hadn’t got as far as he had in his career by having a selfless conscience, she should have known that. Top management had to have spare hearts of brick for when they
needed to call on them.
‘Stop it, now,’ she told herself. ‘No tears. No more.’ She pressed her side where there was a real throbbing ache as if her heart were bruised from banging itself in
frustration against her ribcage.
Pictures of Tianne writhing in ecstasy from James’s oral attentions tried to force their way into her head, but she drove them back. She could hear her phone ringing in her handbag and she
knew it was him because she had assigned the tune ‘My Guy’ as his ringtone. She wondered if Tianne was still tied to the bed whilst he was dialling her number. She didn’t even
contemplate answering it.
She parked around the corner from May’s house to reapply some make-up and check that her eyes weren’t even more bloodshot than she suspected them to be. Her phone rang again as she
was putting her mirror back into her bag. She both didn’t want to hear his voice – and she did, very badly. He had bought her that phone. Stored in its memory were so many of his loving
texts and photos of them together in her flat – before they got ‘stale’. She opened the car door, threw the phone on the ground and stamped on it hard with her heel until the
damned ringtone stopped. Every stamp was accompanied by a primal grunt of anger. May’s elderly neighbour, Mr Wilkinson, walked his Labrador hurriedly across the road to avoid her. Then Lara
took a deep breath, pushed down the rest of the tears that were threatening to spill out of her, and strode purposefully to May’s door.
At the sound of the doorbell, May checked her reflection, hoping she didn’t look as tired and drawn as she felt. Alas, she did. She opened the door and forced a big
smile, throwing her arms around Lara.
stale
?’
‘It’s the house situation, too much work, the kids being around – it’s not the same as it was in the beginning.’ He did have the cheek to look guilty as he dropped
that one, thought Lara.
‘It’s not the same as it was in the beginning?’ she echoed back at him. Calmly, even slightly amused. He’d rushed her into his house, thrown at her the child-care and the
domestic duties which his au pair refused to do, gave her rubbish sex and then had the gall to say they’d gone stale. He had intimacy and attention on tap but he had still returned to Miss
Spicy Sex. ‘James. It’s YOU who is at work all the time. It’s YOU who isn’t putting any effort in. And, in case you have forgotten, they’re YOUR bloody
kids!’
God, if only her friends could see her now. May and Clare thought she had such a perfect set-up. They probably imagined she was passionately ravaged by a besotted James from the moment she
walked in through the door at night whilst the children made ‘I love you, Lara’ cards in their bedrooms and Kristina busied herself in the kitchen cooking lobster. What would they say
if they only knew the truth?
Lara’s adrenaline-fuelled composure crumbled just as surely as if it had been hammered with a wrecking ball. She turned back towards the front door and her fingers closed around the door
handle to open it.
‘Ti— Oh God, I mean Lara, don’t go like this.’
He couldn’t even get her name right first time.
Lara opened the door then slammed it behind her so hard, she wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d felt the reverberations in Glasgow.
Chapter 18
Lara concentrated fiercely on the driving, occasionally wiping the unwanted tears leaking from her eyes. She didn’t want to cry. James didn’t deserve her tears. He
had probably gone straight back upstairs and carried on where he had left off giving Tianne bloody Lee a good time. The whole Galsworthy family didn’t give a toss who they stood on to get
what they wanted. James hadn’t got as far as he had in his career by having a selfless conscience, she should have known that. Top management had to have spare hearts of brick for when they
needed to call on them.
‘Stop it, now,’ she told herself. ‘No tears. No more.’ She pressed her side where there was a real throbbing ache as if her heart were bruised from banging itself in
frustration against her ribcage.
Pictures of Tianne writhing in ecstasy from James’s oral attentions tried to force their way into her head, but she drove them back. She could hear her phone ringing in her handbag and she
knew it was him because she had assigned the tune ‘My Guy’ as his ringtone. She wondered if Tianne was still tied to the bed whilst he was dialling her number. She didn’t even
contemplate answering it.
She parked around the corner from May’s house to reapply some make-up and check that her eyes weren’t even more bloodshot than she suspected them to be. Her phone rang again as she
was putting her mirror back into her bag. She both didn’t want to hear his voice – and she did, very badly. He had bought her that phone. Stored in its memory were so many of his loving
texts and photos of them together in her flat – before they got ‘stale’. She opened the car door, threw the phone on the ground and stamped on it hard with her heel until the
damned ringtone stopped. Every stamp was accompanied by a primal grunt of anger. May’s elderly neighbour, Mr Wilkinson, walked his Labrador hurriedly across the road to avoid her. Then Lara
took a deep breath, pushed down the rest of the tears that were threatening to spill out of her, and strode purposefully to May’s door.
At the sound of the doorbell, May checked her reflection, hoping she didn’t look as tired and drawn as she felt. Alas, she did. She opened the door and forced a big
smile, throwing her arms around Lara.
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