Twelve Days The Beginning - By Jade Reyner Page 0,26
days. They didn’t talk anymore so it really didn’t matter where Elise worked or what she had to say. Dale never listened anyway.
Mentally shaking herself back to the present, Elise sipped on her tea and wondered how everything could have gone so wrong for her and Dale. They had been textbook lovers with a textbook marriage, so what had happened to them over the years?
Despite his obvious flaws she still managed to love him on some level and she knew that he loved her too, but she was really starting to worry that they wouldn’t be able to get through this anymore. Today, when he had come to her office, it had shocked her and shaken her to the core. Up until now, all of their problems had been kept behind closed doors and, whilst there were only a handful of people who witnessed the events this morning, that didn’t mean that rumours wouldn’t spread around the office. It was bad enough having Cole on her back on a daily basis, without adding in Vaughn and anyone else who may feel they deserved to have an opinion.
Vaughn – there he was again, popping into her head. He was a total mystery. She had no idea who he was, where he had come from or how he had come to have enough money to buy over fifty percent of a large, up and coming accountancy firm. His behaviour of the night before and his arrogant belief that she and he would become a ‘thing’ confused and rankled her. He seemed to have his mind set on pursuing her but she had absolutely no idea why. Perhaps this was just some kind of game to him?
What did he do? Did he join a new company, scope out the talent, try it on for size (Olivia) and then choose the most unavailable woman in the office (her) and woo her ceaselessly until she caved in? Would he then love her and leave her and move onto the next willing victim? For all she knew about Vaughn, this could be exactly his MO. After all he was her age or possibly a bit older and he was the most stunning man that she had ever seen. He also appeared to be financially comfortable, so she couldn’t work out why he wasn’t already married, unless of course he was some kind of playboy. In which case that gave her even more reason not to get involved.
Frustrated that her thoughts had once again turned to Vaughn rather than the more immediate problem of her husband, Elise jumped at the sound of the door knocking. Hardly anyone knew where she lived, so, fully expecting it to be a double glazing salesman, she wrenched the door open with more than a little force, ready to tell him that he had picked the wrong day to try and sell her several windows and more than one door!
Anger gave way to shock and surprise as she took in the beautiful figure of Cole standing under her porch. She couldn’t see much in the dim light but she could tell that he had been put through the wringer. There were several cuts on his face; some quite deep with one running along his hairline and disappearing behind his ear. His right eye was swollen and had started to blacken up – and all she could think was that her beautiful friend was damaged and that it was all her fault.
“Shit, Cole, I am so sorry,” she sobbed, “I am so sorry that he did this to you. Jesus, I had no idea you were so badly hurt.”
She reached forward to touch him but then realising that they were still standing in the doorway, she quickly ushered him inside. His gaze briefly flickered over the hole in the wall in the hallway but he said nothing. She watched as he lowered himself onto the green sofa, wincing slightly as he did so.
“What can I do for you, baby? How can I make it better?” she asked; eyes heavy with unshed tears at seeing what a mess her whole life was, right before her eyes.
“Hey, hey,” Cole said gently, “Don’t cry. I’m good. Honestly. It’s all superficial. I have a bit of a bruise on my hip where he got in a good kick but, other than that, I’m just fine. They patched me up and released me but I couldn’t face going home and the questions from Mum and Dad - not