Diamonds Are Not Forever

CHAPTER THIRTY

Elliot: I assume that your silence means you have familiarized yourself with the Agreement. I will pick you up from your home address at 9.30am tomorrow.

Me: I will ask my boss Ashley if I can have tomorrow off. Once I have it approved by her, I will let you know.
Me: And how do you have my address?
Me: Actually, don't answer that. I can guess... My personal file.

I quickly threw my phone into my top draw and locked it shut so I couldn't see his response, determined to go about my day with as much normality as possible. I set back to the task of making the necklace molds, but my body flinched every time I heard the muffled buzz against the metal of the draw, indicating another message from Elliot.

When Carol and Ashley wondered into the back office at 5.30pm, exhausted after a day filled with dealing with the general public, they were adamant we needed an after-work drink to take the edge off.
"C'mon Jewel, it will be fun. We haven't had drinks in ages!" Carol chimed, grabbing her fur-lined coat from the rack by the door and throwing it on her shoulders.
I was desperate to go home and tell my mum I had the money for Milo's trip to America, but the sound of a few cocktails sounded so appealing.
"I feel like we need to catch up on a  crap load of stuff. I need girl talk, like immediately!" Ashley locked away some documents in the filing cabinet as she spoke, her eyes flitting between me and the sticky lock that always got jammed if you didn't turn the key in a particular way.
"I dunno, I really need to head home." I eyed the door longingly.
Carol walked around my desk and held the back of her hand to my forehead, mumbling to herself as her cold hand swept the skin above my brow. After the second sweep I gave in and asked her what she was doing.
"I'm checking your temperature." She mused.  "You must be ill, because the Juliette I know would never miss an opportunity for cocktails."
I giggled and batted her hand away, knowing I'd lost the fight. "Okay! I'll come, but just one drink."
Carol beamed triumphantly. "Great news! Maureen are you coming for girl talk and drinks?"
Maureen had already packed up for the day, her designer handbag flung over her shoulder as she was almost half way through the door. "No thank you, I have plans. You ladies have a good night though."
"Plans? What plans?" Ashley quizzed her mother, kicking the cabinet with the heel of her stiletto in frustration when it wouldn't lock, before turning to her mum for her answer.
"I'm allowed to have things in my life that you don't know about, I'll see you tomorrow sweetheart." She blew Ashley a kiss and flashed her a wink, before turning and leaving through the back of the store.
"Well, that was weird." Ashley mused, finally giving the key another turn until the cabinet eventually clicked closed. "Shall we go get shitfaced?"
Carol cheered and I laughed as I collected my things and followed them both to the bar across the street.

"So I have a dilemma."
We were three rounds of Tequila Sunrises deep when Ashley started on her much needed 'girl talk'.
So much for one drink.
"What's your dilemma? Is the toy boy too much for you in bed or something?" Carol joked as she slurped on her straw.
Ashley's whole face twisted up in frustration. "No. We haven't even had sex."
I choked slightly on a lump of ice from my cocktail. "What? You haven't done it? I thought..."
"Don't get me wrong, we've done stuff, great stuff actually. But we've not gone all the way."
"All the way? You sound like you're from the 50s Ash." Carol drawled, her words starting to slur as the alcohol kicked in.
Ashley's face flushed slightly, it was obvious even in the mood lighting of the bar. "I feel like I'm in my 50s when I'm with him. Frankie is so mature for his age in most ways, I forget sometimes that he's so much younger than me."
It was still a bizarre notion to me that Ashley wasn't with Paul anymore. It was even more bizarre to think of her with Elliot's brother given our recent relationship agreement. Not to mention the business relationship she and the Truman's now shared.
"Anyway, that's not my dilemma." Ashley's face hardened as she got the conversation away from her sex life and back on track. "My dilemma is that me and Frankie agreed we were just going to be casual, not rush anything, but this morning he text me to tell me his parents have invited me over to have dinner with them on Friday."
I froze mid drink as Ashley's words washed over me.
She didn't notice the horror in my eyes as she continued. "Meeting the parents seems pretty serious right? Like, I'm not being crazy am I?"
"Yeah that's pretty serious." Carol nodded her head in agreement, slightly distracted by one of the better looking waiters who had passed our table.
"What did you say to Frankie, about meeting his parents?" I asked, my voice coming out more forcefully than I intended it to.
"I said I'd think about it. I don't want to run before we've even learnt to walk."
"You should totally go, Frankie is a hottie and him and his parents are richer than God. I bet the food at his place will be top notch." Carol chimed in, Ashley giving her a playful pat on the arm as Carol rubbed her fingers and thumb together when she mentioned Frankie's money.
Ashley then turned to me, expecting a more appropriate and helpful answer. "What do you think Jewel?"
"Well eh-I think you should...well..."
I was lost for words, torn between if I should tell her to skip the dinner so I didn't have to explain why I would be there too, or come clean and tell her to go so I would have at least one person in my corner as I undertook the task of meeting Elliot's family.
I was on my third round of debating with myself when Ashley snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Hello, earth to Juliette! What's up with you tonight? You seem...off."
I let out a sigh, taking a long gulp of my drink before deciding on which route to take. "I think you should go to the dinner...because I'll be there too."
Ashley's eyes widened a fraction. "What do you mean?"
"Elliot invited me to dinner to meet his parents." I breathed, my head fuzzing from the nerves coursing through my body, mingled with the buzz from the alcohol.
"Why would Elliot want you to meet his parents?" Carol's face flashed with pure confusion, a similar look on Ashley's face as they both stared me down from across the table.
Here goes nothing.
"Because, Elliot Truman is kind of my boyfriend."
"WHAT?!" Ashley and Carol gasped in unison, their jaws nearly hitting the floor.
"When did this happen, last I checked you hated the guy!" Ashley spluttered.
"Elliot Truman is your boyfriend? What the actual fuck Jewel!" Carol snorted.
Their words jumbled together as they talked over one another, desperate for information.
"It all happened so fast, but after our one night stand, and our meeting at Truman HQ, we decided we actually have more in common than we thought...it sort of just went from there." I hated lying to my friends, but I'd signed a legal document that specifically said I couldn't divulge the true nature of why me and Elliot were together.
"Wow. I can't believe it." Sitting back in her seat, Ashley crossed her arms over her chest and blew out a breath she'd clearly been holding in.
"Neither can I." I agreed, seeing off the last of my Tequila Sunrise until there was nothing but ice left at the bottom of the glass.
Carol seemed more impressed than annoyed that I'd not told her about my rich new boyfriend. "Our little Jewel, all grown up with a man. A very sexy and filthy rich man."
"Hmm." Ashley didn't seem convinced, which didn't surprise me at all, she could read me like a book.
"I'd love it if you could be at the dinner too, Ash." I reached my hand across the table and placed it on top of her arm. "I'm sorry for not telling you sooner about me and Elliot, it's just been a whirlwind..."
After a second, Ashley's eyes brightened and her mouth curved into something more resembling a smile. "It's okay, sorry Jewel. It's not my place to question who you want to date." She put her hand on top of mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It would be fun for us both to be at the dinner together, we can divide and conquer the Truman family!"
Carol started to sulk in the corner. "Do Elliot and Frankie have a sexy uncle or something? I want to come to this fancy dinner!"
I let out a laugh. "Not that I know of yet, but I'll keep you posted Caz."
Ashley started to flag down a waiter to order us another round, the young man who Carol had been eyeing earlier came over to take our order. His eyes glazed over when he got a good look at Ashley up close, she looked stunning even after a long and draining shift at work.
"Three more Tequila Sunrises, please. Then I'd like to settle my tab." She flashed the waiter a perfect smile before turning back to us both. The waiter jotted down the order and disappeared back towards the bar.
"So, what are you both wearing to this fancy shmancy dinner?" Carol asked, a hint of envy in her voice.
That reminded me that I needed to ask Ashley for the day off to go shopping with Elliot.
"Actually, Elliot wants to take me out shopping tomorrow for an outfit. Would it be okay if I put in an annual leave day?" I turned myself to Ashley, crossing my fingers under the table that she would say no, so I could set boundaries with Elliot about making last minute decisions that could affect my career.
Instead, she beamed. "Of course! How exciting, you're going to be like that scene in pretty woman!"
"Just less prostitute-ey." Carol laughed.
I breathed out a false and nervous laugh, quickly pulling my phone from my bag so I could let Elliot know I could go with him shopping, whilst Carol and Ashley started talking about outfit options and what colour would best compliment Ashley's skin tone.
When I saw my missed text messages from Elliot that I'd been pretending didn't exist, my breath caught in my throat.

Elliot: I'm your boss's boss, which does in fact, make me your boss.
Elliot: Your information is on a company database that I have access to, every employee of Truman & Son's has one. I've not done anything shady to obtain the information, if that's what you're suggesting?

Elliot: I don't like to be ignored Juliette.

I audibly gulped as I typed out a response, only a few hours after the last messages were sent.

Me: I wasn't ignoring you, I was at work...
Me: Ashley has approved my day off tomorrow.

His reply came through instantly.

Elliot: Its 7.30pm Juliette, has Ashley changed the stores opening hours and not informed me?

Me: No. We're out at a bar.

Elliot: Which bar? Are you drunk?

My cheeks burned in response to his question. I was a little tipsy, but I wasn't drunk. I could also go out and have a few drinks after work if I wanted to, nobody could tell me otherwise.

Me: I am not drunk.
Me: I will see you tomorrow at 9.30am.

Elliot: Which bar are you at Juliette?

Me: Goodnight Elliot.

I placed my phone face down on the table just as his caller ID flashed up on my screen, I wasn't in the mood to have him chastise me over the phone – let alone on text message.
When I looked up, the waiter had returned with our last round of drinks and the receipt for the tab we had started. Ashley graciously took the cocktail glasses from the tray and distributed them out, before taking the receipt and handing him her credit card.
When he was gone, Carol snuck a look over Ashley's shoulder at the damage, her face lighting up instantly as she read the receipt. "Oh my god, he's left you his number!"
I quickly grabbed the strip of paper from Ashley's hand before she could pull it away. "No way! Is there no man safe from the charm and beauty of Ashley Goulding?"
In the bottom corner of the receipt was a handwritten note, an 11-digit number and the words 'Call me – Josh :)' scribbled on in rough handwriting.
"Are you going to call him?" Carol asked.
"Of course not!" Ashley snatched the receipt back out of my hand and shoved it in the bottom of her bag. She, then proceeded to raise her glass to us and gestured for us to do the same.
"Cheers ladies!"
We all clinked glasses, my phone buzzing against the table the whole time.