Page 88 of The Last Saturday In July
Only it wasn’t just about her anymore, Jess realised. The moment she’d cheated on Simon, was the moment she’d completely messed up her life. Briefly, she closed her eyes. She seemed to be going around in circles. Her phone buzzed and she opened a message from Zoe.Sent you a file with the pix from yesterday. Hard copies should be with you now too.
‘Is that Simon?’ Kate looked closely at Jess.
‘No, just a work thing.’
‘He has his stag tomorrow night.’ Kate’s voice was flat.
Shit, she’d completely forgotten that. There was no point trying to arrange to meet him then. Jess’s smile felt strained. ‘I hadn’t forgotten.’
Jess returned to the office, feeling worse than ever, and collected the photos at reception. ‘Thanks, Emily.’ She squinted at her. ‘Are you okay? You look very warm.’
‘Yeah, cool.’ Emily lowered her voice. ‘So, I was just wondering, like, is Adam seeing anyone? Only, we were talking a few minutes ago and he’s so sweet.’
Jess told herself firmly that it was none of her business if Emily and Adam got together.
In fact, it would probably be a good thing. She hated herself for hesitating. ‘Is he not a bit old for you?’
‘Whoever he is, he’s probably not good enough for you, Emily.’
Jess and Emily both jumped as Adam strode up behind Jess. He stopped, frowning.
‘You okay, Emily? You look a bit hot.’ He nodded to the envelope in Jess’s hands. ‘What’s that?’
‘Just photos from the shoot. I’m about to take a look at them.’
‘Mind if I join you?’
The thought of her and Adam in close proximity after the weekend was unsettling, but Jess couldn’t think of a reason to say no. ‘The boardroom is free. Let’s work there.’
‘These photos are incredible,’ Adam said, a while later, as he passed more of his favourites to Jess, who was sorting through a selection of black-and-white, sepia and colour shots Zoe and her team had taken.
‘Hmmm…’ Jess slipped some into an A4 folder and scribbled some ideas on the outside.
‘This is marked private.’ Adam handed Jess a separate envelope. She peeked inside: they were the photos of the engagement shoot with her and Simon. She shoved the envelope into her bag, just as the lights flickered out and the room was plunged into darkness.
‘Did we lose our power?’ Jess glanced around.
‘I think so. Trust us to pick a room with no windows.’ Adam scraped back his chair and walked over to open the door. ‘The building’s out. Our own generator should kick in shortly. In the meantime, we could tell ghost stories.’
Jess laughed, feeling some of the earlier tension of the day disappear.
‘Hey, did you see the photos of us?’ Adam said.
‘Not yet.’
‘I have them here. You look pretty good.’ Adam sounded gruff and Jess was glad the room was dark. He cleared his throat. ‘You know, we have our own generator on the farm? It’s used more than you’d imagine.’
Jess latched on to the change of subject. ‘You know, about the farm ...’
The lights flickered back on, and Jess met Adam’s eyes. He gave a half smile.
‘What about the farm?’
Before Jess had a chance to speak, his phone rang.
‘Better take this.’
Adam left the room and Jess heard him talking in the corridor outside. Quickly, she found the photos of her and Adam at Linford and flicked through them. It was incredible, Zoe had made her and Adam look like a real, happy couple.
