Page 15 of Daydreamer
“We saw you grab her, twice,” Victoria said, her voice still didn’t betray any emotion. It was like she was describing the weather report not reporting on a man grabbing a woman without her consent.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Will scoffed. “Luce and I were just bantering.”
“Take your banter,” Lottie said, her voice tight with anger. “And sod off. Right?”
Will gave Lottie a filthy look, muttered “jumped-up sidekick”, then stalked off, pushing his way roughly through the crowd.
“You okay?” Lottie asked. I turned from watching Will’s retreat to Lottie’s concerned face and gave her a shaky smile.
“It’s fine. Will’s just a bit pissed off. He thinks I showed him up at the meeting.”
“Lottie put it in my diary for tomorrow. I need to go to the board to have Will fired.”
“No!” I said, feeling a bit panicky. “Honestly, it’s fine. I don’t want to get Will fired.” The last thing I needed was for this all to be escalated, causing more problems for Felix. “He’s a bit of a dick, but to be fair, I am areallycrap assistant.”
“It is not acceptable to grab someone like that,” Victoria informed me. “If that happened to me…” she shuddered, which was the first bit of human reaction I’d ever seen from her. “Well, it wouldn’t be good. I don’t respond well to unwelcome physical contact.”
“Honestly, it’s fine,” I said. “Please don’t say anything. He’s not worth the trouble.”
Victoria cocked her head to the side, considering me. “This is your decision to make, isn’t it?” She turned to Lottie. “This is one of those times when it’snot my choice.”
“Yes, hun,” Lottie said. “It is one of those times, I’m afraid.”
Victoria looked frustrated but resigned. “That is highly annoying.”
I smiled at her. “I’m sorry.”
She nodded. “I find it difficult to accept people making illogical choices.”
“Vicky can have a bit of a tricky time accepting other people’s autonomy,” Lottie put in with a smile. “But I have to say on this one, I agree with her. So if he ever does anything like that again you come to us, okay?’
“Okay.”
“So, you enjoying the party?” Lottie asked.
I shrugged. “Not really a party person,” I explained. “At least not parties like this.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Victoria put in. “Sheer torture. Lottie, how much longer do we have to stay.”
Lottie laughed. “Come on. You’ve spoken to all the peeps on your list. We can do one. Lucy, need a lift?”
“No, you guys go on. I came with Felix, so I’d better let him know before I leave,” I said, scanning the packed room for him.
Lottie and Victoria said goodbye, Lottie with a brief hug and Victoria a small head jerk, and I started pushing through the people towards where I thought I’d last seen Felix. Trouble was, I couldn’t find him no matter which way I turned. Being shorter than most other people was not ideal when trying to pick someone out of the crowd, and the lack of heels really exacerbated the problem. Eventually, I found myself on the other side of the room at the entrance to a small corridor. I heard Will’s obnoxious laugh from somewhere nearby, and on instinct scurried away down the deserted corridor, pushing open the first door I came to.
When I shut the heavy wood firmly behind me, all thoughts of the party, the people, Felix, Will, Victoria and Lottie left my brain as I took in the huge room. It was in the same minimalist style as the rest of the house, which I wasn’t a huge fan of – minimalism always freaked me out slightly. I mean, where’s all your stuff? I was way more of a cosy nick-nack type of girl. But this room had an advantage over the rest. A beautiful desk stood in the centre, with Felix’s laptop resting on top of a large proper ink blotting pad. And the stationary. Oh my God, the stationary: beautiful fountain pens, pencils of all grades, different coloured gel pens, all organised in a leather container.
I took a deep breath in. Felix’s expensive cologne lingered in the air. This room was clearly well-used. After I swiped a blanket from the window seat, I sat in his large leather office chair and held back a moan at how comfortable it was. Leaning back, I let the silence and the smell of Felix wash over me, and my mind started to drift. The thread of a story sparked in myimagination, and my eyes flew open. I knew from bitter experience that if I didn’t sketch the outline then and there, it could easily dissipate in my brain like smoke.
I moved Felix’s laptop out of the way and selected a beautiful pen which was the perfect weight in my hand and was definitely coming home with me. Then I looked down at the first sheet of the blotting pad, and I started to write. My outlines were like spider diagrams. They looked a bit crazy to the outside eye, but it was the only way I could organise my thoughts. I’d soon filled the first page and moved on to the one underneath. I was on a roll.
Chapter 10
“You ate my toast”
Felix
“What the bloody hell are you doing?” I barked, and Lucy jumped in her seat. She was wrapped in a huge blanket which was bunched up around her ears. Only her hand was visible from the folds, holding a pen poised over a large piece of paper on my desk. Around the desk were loads of other sheets, full of complicated diagrams and small, tightly packed writing. Lucy dropped the pen and spent a good while and some considerable effort fighting her way free of the blanket.
