Lost and Found

Chapter 7

Chapter  7

Wednesday 25th October 2007

Amelia had never taken a day off sick, ever. She’d dragged herself into work in various states of ‘at-deaths-door’, but yesterday she was unable to tolerate anything more than moping around the house. Martin was shocked, to put it mildly, after all he’d just placed her in the superhero position, and she’d bailed on work the next day. What would he think? So here she was arriving at the office, feeling like shit. She’d been broken into pieces by the only man who’d ever hurt her...again.

Part of the reason she’d stayed at home was to avoid seeing Sol, if he’d turned up in her life the previous day, she knew it would have killed her, or she may have killed him! Now as she rode the tube to work she was more angry at herself for letting him get to her. How much hope and how much of her future had she bestowed on one man? For years she’d been strong, independent, never needing anyone, and within a week of Sol being back in her life, she’d broken into a zillion fragments. And the cold reality was he owed her nothing, all he was really guilty of, was not telling her he was getting married.

When she got to the office, she rushed to the bathroom in the reception and gave herself a virtual smack on the backside; she hadn’t become the most, what had Clay called her? The most promising broker this side of the Atlantic. She hadn’t got that on pity and self doubt.

Back in control, tall and calm, she stormed out of the toilet straight into the broad, firm chest of Sol Tanner.

                “No, no, no, no!” She chanted the word like a mantra a she backed away from him. “Don’t do this Sol!”

                “We need to talk!” he reached for her hand, but she snatched it away.

Scowling at him she hissed a response not wanting to draw attention to them, “you’ve had ample opportunity to speak, to talk, to explain...about how you’re getting married! It’s nothing to do with me, I have no claim, no stake in you or your future, but you lied to me Sol, after all that’s happened.”

                “I can explain,” he answered reaching for her arm and securing a hand around her wrist, “you owe me that!”

She turned, uncaring of anyone else, “Oh no, you’ve made it perfectly clear neither of us has any obligation, but I did think you may have still had some respect for me! Now get out of my way, and out of my life!”

The elevators were all stuck at the higher floors and she needed to escape, so she rushed, at full speed to the stairs. Eleven stories, sounded like a good idea at the time, but as she panted her way up to the right floor in her work heels, she realised that she’d lost the upper hand a long time ago. It didn’t help that as she burst into her office Clay was lounging in a seat, gazing out at the horizon, feet on her desk, his ankles crossed.

His casual and over familiar manner should have angered her, but it didn’t, she merely smiled. Furiously sweeping away the beads of perspiration she felt coating her brow, she announced her arrival, “Clay, it’s good to see you!”

He jumped to his feet offering her his hand, “Amelia, sorry I got carried away with the view.” She loved his drawl, “I was just hoping that yesterday, being ill, wasn’t due to our announcement?”

Shaking his hand Amelia smiled, “no of course not! I felt a little ill in Italy last week, just a stomach bug, it’s better now. It’s not that I can’t deal with long hours and travel you know?”

Clay laughed, “We’ve already decided on you, a day of sickness won’t make you look any less of a perfect candidate! I just feel we thrust it upon you and you obviously had no clue.”