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I’m lost in thought, and I’m therefore doubly shocked when the first thing I see is Cam sitting at the dining table, looking miserable and defeated, nursing a mug of tea.
Well… shit.
Chapter Seven
Henry
I’m just getting out of the shower when my phone vibrates on the sink, announcing the arrival of a text. My heart leaps with the thought that it might be Juliette, but when I glance at the screen, it states my nephew’s name, Rangi.
I pull up the text. Hey, Unc, are you busy atm?
I text back. Just having a shower. What’s up, you okay?
He comes back, Dont spose youve got time for brekky?
I see him a lot, but it’s unusual for him to contact me this early in the morning. I’m tired and grumpy and have a hangover, but Rangi is more important than my own comfort, so I reply, Sure. The Flying Saucer, fifteen minutes?
See you there, he says.
I go into the bedroom, stop, and glance at the bed. It’s impossible not to think about what happened there last night and again early this morning. I stare at the pillow, thinking about the way I moved Juliette’s long brown hair aside to reveal the soft skin of her neck. I recall the light-red bruise of the hickey and feel a mixture of emotions—shame, guilt, and smugness. I shouldn’t have done it. But I’m glad I did. I want Cam to see it. I don’t want to make her miserable, but the only way I’m going to get her is for her to end her present relationship, and if that helps… well, I’m not going to regret it.
She won’t go back to him, surely? Not after what we had?
You’re mine now. Say it.
I’m yours.
My heart was thrilled at the time. Now, the words sound hollow.
I need time.
Time to what?
Decide what I’m going to do.
I told her back in March that I’d broken up with Shaz. If she had feelings for me, surely she’d have made them obvious to me over the last nine months? Maybe it was just physical for her. One night, born out of misery and unhappiness, and she’s intending to stay with Cam and continue to sit next to me in the boardroom as if nothing’s happened?
Ah, shit. Henry, you fucking idiot. And if you refuse to accept it, it’s going to be your fault that your working relationship is ruined.
I’m not going to think about it now. I’ll have to wait and see what happens after she’s spoken to Cam.
Even though this isn’t a business breakfast, I decide to go straight to the office afterward, so I don a navy suit, put on my Apple watch, pocket my phone and wallet, and glance one last time at the bed.
I walk the short distance to the café, trying to put Juliette to the back of my mind.
The Flying Saucer is one of my favorite places to have breakfast. Posters hang on the walls of famous movies like The Day the Earth Stood Still and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and models of UFOs and little green men adorn the counter and tables. They do a fantastic coffee and a terrific cooked breakfast, and I come here a lot.
Rangi is already outside when I walk up, and we exchange a bearhug. He’s nowhere near as big as me, but he’s tall for sixteen, and on the way to developing an impressive build. His black curly hair needs a cut, and his jeans are ripped in a couple of places, but maybe that’s just fashionable, I don’t know.
Christ, I sound old.
“Come on,” I say to him gruffly, “what are you going to have? Full English?”
He nods eagerly, and we order two breakfasts, coffee for me, and a Coke Zero for him. Then we find a table near the window and sit opposite each other.
“You look great, bruh,” he says, gesturing at my suit. “Smart as.”
I smile. “Thanks.”
