Twelve Days The Beginning - By Jade Reyner Page 0,25
sense of the ridiculous conversation she had just had. Or rather the conversation that Vaughn had just had. The arrogance of the man knew no bounds. He didn’t ask - no. He just assumed that she would want to have a thing with him. He was probably used to women falling at his feet but she wasn’t just another one of his conquests; she was a married woman, and his comments were dismissing Dale and her vows as if they meant nothing. Regardless of how she felt when she was around the man and how his presence affected her, she couldn’t let him walk all over her just because the mood took him. She had commitments – hell, she had a life and even if it wasn’t perfect, it was her life and nobody else’s business. If her marriage was to be compromised, that would be her decision and no one else’s. She needed to stick to her resolve to keep away from Vaughn Granger. Spending any more time with him would only lead to trouble. That was an absolute certainty.
Chapter Eight
Elise had finally managed to make herself a cup of tea and was sitting in the still darkened lounge, trying to piece together how her life had changed so dramatically in such a short space of time. Idly, she looked around the room as she contemplated her situation.
She loved the living room of this house. It was small but she had decorated it to have a cottage-type feel and to make the most of the space. There was no fireplace but, on the centre of the main wall, she had hung a huge tapestry; rich in gold’s and red’s which provided the backbone of the room. The main walls were painted in a warm cream and all the accessories were red, gold or green. The room boasted two occasional sofas, one deep velvet green and the other deep velvet red, both of which complimented each other and the other decor. The warmth of this room shone out and Elise always felt comforted whenever she snuggled onto the sofas, particularly if she used one of the co-ordinating throws.
Elise and Dale’s house was in the small town of Mertonville, a suburb of the main city of Eastwood. Eastwood itself was situated on the borders of Devon and Cornwall and was where both Elise and Dale worked. It was also where the hospital and all the amenities were situated with a brand new out-of-town shopping development as well as a traditional high-street precinct. Elise had been born and raised in Eastwood with all of her family still living locally; Dale, however, was from out of town but had attended the university, which is how they had met. Their house was situated on a relatively new suburban development and they had had the luxury of being able to buy the house from new when they had first got married ten years ago.
At university, Elise had initially been studying Law and Dale, Advanced Accountancy. Their paths had crossed as both courses shared one of the core subjects and after spending a few weeks sitting next to each other, they’d gone on a date and had been pretty much inseparable ever since.
Once they had graduated, Elise had decided not to pursue her chosen career, as she did not want to move to London or one of the bigger cities so far away from her family and Dale. At the time, all she really wanted for her future was the good old-fashioned marriage and children and so she hadn’t felt the need to carve out a dedicated career for herself.
Initially, she had picked up temping work from various agencies until she had secured a receptionist role at a local hotel. She had loved that job - particularly the interaction with the guests - and had stayed there for a number of years. Once their marriage hit its seemingly endless ‘rocky’ patch however, Dale began to find fault with her shift patterns, complaining that she was never at home whenever he was and so she had eventually and reluctantly left, managing shortly afterwards, to secure her existing job at Andrews & Andrews. The working hours were more traditional and gave her and Dale something in common as they were both now working in the same industry. At the time, she had been hopeful that this fact alone would help to heal their rift and for a while it had - but it didn’t make any difference these