Master of Her Virtue - By Miranda Lee Page 0,50
I suggested.’ She had to have some excuse for the phone calls he’d promised to make.
‘Shouldn’t he be paying you for your advice? Those movie people work on big budgets.’
‘He did offer but I said no.’
‘Silly girl.’
‘I said he could buy me a return ticket to London instead,’ Violet invented suddenly. ‘And he said yes.’
‘Ooh, smart girl. That’s probably worth more than a consultancy fee. And you won’t have to pay tax.’
‘I never thought of that. I’ll have to get a passport, of course. I don’t have one.’
‘That’ll take a while. When were you thinking of going?’
‘Maybe during the Easter break?’
‘No point in going all that way for just a few days, love. Ask Henry for some extra time off.’
‘Yes, yes, I’ll do that.’
‘I dare say you’ll be a bit nervous, going on a plane again.’
It was testament to Violet’s obsession with Leo that she’d temporarily forgotten about that. No doubt she would be nervous, flying again. ‘Probably,’ she admitted. ‘But I can’t let that stop me, can I? You’re the one who said a life lived in fear is no life at all.’
‘True. Heavens, but you have come a long way in a short time, haven’t you?’
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Easter Thursday morning, three months later.
VIOLET’S FIRST THOUGHT when the flight attendant woke her for breakfast was surprise. She hadn’t expected to sleep at all, let alone so well. She’d anticipated that nervous tension over being in a plane again would keep her awake. But she’d been wrong; she’d slept like a baby. Admittedly, flying first class was an extremely comfortable experience, a far cry from the cramped seats you had to endure in economy. Violet could just imagine what it would be like to go from Sydney to Paris squashed into one of those!
When Leo had first told her she would be flying first class, she’d protested, saying it was an unnecessary expense. But he’d brushed aside any objection with the argument that he didn’t want her arriving in a state of exhaustion.
‘Suffering jet-lag is bad enough, Violet,’ he’d told her with the voice of experience, ‘without you being dead on your feet at the same time. We only have five days together. I don’t want to spend the first two days watching you sleep.’
And neither had she, so she’d ignored the momentary feeling that it wasn’t right and accepted his overly generous offer. Now, at last, the long wait was over and the moment was at hand. Breakfast was done, Violet was refreshed, dressed and sitting up once more, thinking to herself that soon she would see Leo again.
But first she had to face the dreaded landing, the captain having just announced their descent into Charles De Gaulle airport. It was impossible not to tense up as the plane slowly descended, her hands gripping the armrests with whitened knuckles. But there were no last-minute dramas. Despite letting out a huge sigh of relief after their very smooth touch-down, Violet still wasn’t totally relaxed, her stomach muscles remaining tight with a different type of tension.
Sexual frustration was something Violet had come to know well. There hadn’t been a day during the last three months when she hadn’t at some stage been overwhelmed with desire for Leo. Understandable, given she’d been in contact with him every single day either by phone, text or email. Mostly by phone. Just the sound of his voice turned her on.
Not that he ever talked about sex. Their conversations always involved their day-to-day lives and their work. Leo would tell her all about that day’s shoot and she’d tell him what had been going on in her life.
Which was quite a bit; Joy had sold her house, complete with all the furniture, for well over the reserve back in late January. By mid-March, Joy had jetted off to Florida, taking nothing with her but her clothes, having given all her bits and pieces, including her precious gravy boats, to charity shops. She’d given her car to a very touched Violet who’d wept buckets at her dear friend’s departure from her life.
Violet had originally planned on finding some shared accommodation, till Leo had advised her not to rush moving in with a virtual stranger, but to take Henry up on his offer to let her use his other apartment till she found a place—and a flatmate—that she really liked. Which she’d done.
Leo often gave her good advice. In truth, if anyone had overheard them talking, they would have thought they were business associates or best friends, certainly not