you, lady.' He looks at me with utter smugness.
'You don't.' I snap. 'If you did, you wouldn't abandon me halfway to orgasm.'
'Hey!' he yells. He looks pissed. 'Don't ever question whether I love you. It'll make me mad.'
I try and plaster an apologetic look on my face, but in my unexploded state, I'm struggling to convince my brain to do anything other than yank him back into me and make him sort me out. He's turned on, I can see. How is he walking away?
'Have a nice day.' His eyes soften as he leans down and rests his lips on my cheek. 'I'm going to miss you like crazy, baby.'
Oh, I know he will. But it's only six hours until our lunch date. He'll live.
Once I'm ready, I make my way down, clinking on my heels through the foyer as I delve through my bag for my sunglasses.
'Morning, Ava.' I hear Clive call to my back.
'Morning,' I slip my shades on and emerge into the sunshine, coming to an abrupt halt when I spot John leaning against his Range Rover.
Really?
He lifts his glasses up and shrugs his big shoulders at me. Oh good, he thinks this is stupid too, but I need my car today so I can collect my stuff from Matt's after work.
I walk over. 'John, I can drive to work.' I say on a tired tone.
'I don't think you can, girl.' he rumbles. What's he talking about? 'Your car's being valeted.' He shrugs again and slides behind the wheel. I swing around and see an army of men cleaning my car.
Oh, for God's sake. I drag my keys from my bag and find my car key missing. Later, I will be explaining to Mr Control Freak that snooping through a woman's handbag - and phone, come to think of it - is bloody rude. Why didn't he consult me on this? This is bad news. I could ring Kate. She'll take me. I dial her.
'Yo!' She's chirpy.
'Hey, can you take me to Matt's after work to get my stuff?' I spit my request out as fast as I can.
'Sure.'
'Great, see you for lunch. Oh, by the way, Jesse is coming.' I hang up and jump in next to John. He is wearing his usual ensemble of black suit and black shirt. How many black suits can one man have?
'Do you think he's unreasonable and challenging?' I ask casually, flipping the visor down to put some lip gloss on.
'Yes, girl,' he rumbles. 'But, like I said, only with you.'
I drop my hand into my lap and look over at John, who is tapping the steering wheel as usual. 'So, he doesn't behave like a madcap at work then?'
'Nope.'
I frown. 'He's easygoing?'
'Yep,'
I sigh heavily, just so John knows that I want more than that. 'Why?'
He looks at me, dazzling me with his white teeth, and I catch a glimpse of the illusive gold one. 'Girl, don't be too harsh on the crazy mother fucker. He's never cared before you.'
I sit back in my seat and listen to John commence humming to match his taps. Jesse can't have never cared for anything. He's thirty seven.
'How old is he?' I ask on a smile, earning myself another dazzler from John.
'He's thirty seven. But you know that now, don't you, girl?'
Oh no!
I die a thousand deaths on the spot and turn a thousand shades of red. I forgot Jesse had to be rescued. I bet John got a right eyeful. I start laughing to myself when I think of what John must have walked in on - a bedroom, with one naked God handcuffed to the bed, a diamante embellished vibrator, my new black lace underwear sprawled on the floor and the aforementioned naked God making holes in the wall with said vibrator. I bet John thought it was hilarious and Jesse obviously explained how and why he ended up handcuffed to the bed.
I'm beyond embarrassed.
We make the rest of the journey in silence, except for John's humming. I can't look at him. He drops me off at Berkeley Square and I run to my office to escape my discomfort, giving him a quick wave over my shoulder. How am I ever going to face him again?
I wander to my desk and see Sally at the filing cabinet. She looks suicidal. The high neck, polyester blouse is back and the fire cracker nail polish has disappeared. It is definitely as I expected. Men are such wankers. I elect not to mention it,