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Alex sighs, though. “Aw, Juliette…”
“Don’t…” Fighting back tears, I take the book and walk away.
I try to enjoy the rest of the party, but it’s impossible when I feel so miserable. Everyone else’s high spirits eventually get to me, and I slip away, back to my office, collect my purse and laptop, and then head out to the lobby. Nobody will notice I’ve gone.
That proves to be a lie though, as I head for the front doors, only to hear someone call, “Juliette!” behind me.
I stop and turn, and sigh to see Henry—minus the Santa suit—jogging toward me. He slows as he nears, and stops a few feet away.
We study each other for a long moment. I’m conscious of Rachel sitting behind the reception desk with a glass of bubbly, out of earshot, and we’re also visible to everyone in the workroom through the glass walls.
“Are you going home?” Henry asks.
I meet his eyes and nod.
He frowns, but it’s not a glare. It’s more a look of concern or worry. “I know you said he wants to talk,” he says. “And that’s fair enough. But… don’t sleep with him.”
His gaze locks onto mine like a heat-seeking missile, and I can’t look away. Was it really only this morning that we were making love? That he told me my name feels like a spell in his mouth? That he said I’m never going to be able to look at you again without thinking about being inside you?
I haven’t been fair to him, but even so, he shouldn’t ask me something like that. Cam is my partner, and Henry can’t demand that I don’t go to bed with the man I’ve lived with for seven years.
“I have to go,” I tell him. “I’ll see you on the twenty-eighth.”
“Juliette.” He calls as I begin to walk away. I stop and glance over my shoulder, knowing I’m going to cry if he asks me again.
“Meri Kirihimete,” he says. It’s Maori for Merry Christmas. He holds out his hand. On it is a small velvet box.
I lift my gaze to his warily. “No,” he scolds. “Not yet anyway.” He gives me a mischievous look. “Go on, open it.”
I should refuse it. But I don’t. I take it from him and crack the lid.
It’s a pair of earrings. They’re in the shape of lotus flowers, an important Hindu symbol. They could be silver studded with cubic zirconias, but I know Henry better than that. They’ll be white gold or platinum, and they’ll be diamonds.
“I haven’t got you anything,” I say, my voice little more than a squeak. We take part in the Secret Santa and don’t tend to buy each other gifts.
“You’ve already given me the best Christmas present I could ask for,” he says. “It was fun unwrapping it.” He smiles.
He looks so handsome standing there, his hands in his pockets, a twist to his lips. His hair is flopping over his forehead. But his blue eyes are gentle.
I should say I can’t accept the earrings. I should give them back to him.
My eyes prick with tears. “Meri Kirihimete,” I whisper.
Clutching the box, I walk through the door, and out into the sunlight.
*
I get home before Cam, who’s also having his office party today.
I go straight into our bedroom and put the velvet box with the earrings into my bedside table without looking at them again. Then I go back out into the living room.
The apartment is quiet and a bit stuffy. He prefers to put the aircon on, but I like to open the windows, even though I appreciate that city air isn’t the same as being in the country. I open the sliding doors onto the balcony, then go back in and through to the kitchen, and pour myself a glass of white wine.
I take it through to the living room and stand in the middle of the room. It’s relatively quiet—music drifts up from a balcony below, some cheesy ballad from the seventies. It makes me think of Henry singing Dr. Hook’s A Little Bit More and chuckling while he pressed kisses all over my face. I close my eyes and sway a little, remembering when I said It’s not fair to you.
I don’t care, as long as I get what I want, he replied.
Sighing, I have a large mouthful of wine. I shouldn’t have slept with him. Twice. I groan out loud. It was such an idiotic thing to do. I’ve changed our relationship, and I can’t undo it, like when you mix different colored paints on a palette. You can’t turn purple back into red and blue, or orange into red and yellow. It’s done. All I can do is paint a new picture with the color I’ve ended up with.
