Master of Her Virtue - By Miranda Lee Page 0,19
word. Which was silly of her. Even she could see that. Maybe that was why he’d suddenly gone all distant and paternal with her, because she’d betrayed her feelings somehow. Obviously the last thing he wanted was his father’s assistant getting a schoolgirl crush on him. No doubt he was now regretting using her as a protective shield against the unwanted attention of other women.
‘No, Joy,’ she said. ‘Don’t be silly. He’s actually a very nice man. But the rest of the crowd Henry invited... They’re just not me. I’m glad I came, but quite frankly I can’t wait to get out of here now. Would it be possible for you to get here by the time the fireworks finish? Say, about twenty past twelve? You could always record the fireworks and watch them later.’
‘Oh Lordy, I don’t give a damn about the fireworks!’
‘I’m truly sorry to ask you to do this but at least you’ll get to bed earlier.’
‘Stop stressing. It’s no trouble. See you around twelve-twenty, then.’
‘I’ll be outside, waiting for you.’
Violet hung up, put her phone back in her bag and just stood there, reluctant to return to the party. The confidence which had buoyed her up earlier in the evening had well and truly dissipated. She was back to being the pre-party Violet. Or was it the post-Leo Violet? He’d certainly taken all the wind out of her sails with his swift change from attentive Prince Charming to concerned father-figure.
A sharp knocking on the bathroom door almost gave her a heart attack.
‘Violet!’ Henry’s voice boomed through the door. ‘Why are you hiding in there? Get yourself out here, girl. Supper’s served.’
Henry coming to find her worked out reasonably well for Violet. Always comfortable in her boss’s company, she stayed by his side during supper and in the time leading up to midnight. A brilliant conversationalist and raconteur, Henry drew people to him like a magnet. It was entertaining just listening to him. Being with Henry didn’t require Violet to say much, just smile and laugh at the right moments.
Not that she was happy. How could she be when out of the corner of her eye she watched a now-unattached Leo being cornered by the sexiest woman there, the blonde who’d dressed up as Marilyn Monroe? With depressing ease, she lured Leo out onto the balcony where they stood side by side at the railing, the blonde’s face turned up to Leo’s with an adoring look in her long-lashed cat’s eyes.
Unfortunately, the glass wall meant Violet could see both of them very clearly. Once, Leo glanced over his shoulder through the glass and caught Violet’s eye, but she quickly looked away before he could glimpse the misery in her. She hated to think what might happen after she’d left the party. Would the blonde stay the night with Leo? Probably. Violet wasn’t as naive as everyone seemed to think.
‘One minute to midnight, folks!’ Henry announced, dragging Violet’s mind away from Leo and back to the moment at hand. ‘Everyone outside, please, with champagne in hand! Come along, Violet. Here’s your glass. Shake a leg, girl.’
Violet hadn’t been out on the balcony for well over an hour so she was surprised by the noise coming from the myriad boats on the harbour, as well as the surrounding houses. Music; singing; laughter; general hubbub. She stayed by Henry’s side, who thankfully stopped a good way from where Leo and the blonde were standing.
It wasn’t long before the countdown started to midnight, with everyone shouting out the seconds. ‘Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Zero!’
‘Happy New Year, everyone!’ Henry boomed, along with everyone else, clinking Violet’s glass in a toast just as the night sky exploded.
It was impossible to look anywhere else then but at the fireworks display which surpassed the nine o’clock show, both with the sheer scale and variety of the fireworks, as well as the abundance of colours: red; orange; green; blue; gold; purple; no colour was left out, as well as combinations of colours.
Violet’s favourite was the pink flowers which burst above silver showers of rain, though she also loved the red cartwheels rimmed with green. Everyone gasped when blue laser lights suddenly shot up from the arch of the bridge. The display went on and on, seemingly getting more spectacular with each passing second. Golden rain started falling from the bridge into the water below whilst more fireworks joined in from the tops of buildings in the city centre.
The noise was