Into You

Chapter 11

"What the fuck do you think are you doing here?!?!" Lauren shouted, as the woman's eyes regard her impassively.

After seeing Lucy appear on the screen, she silently freaked out. Trying desperately not to let it show, livid that the Colombian will think of turning up here to worm her way back into her life. She'd been rapidly escorted to the conference room on Lauren's orders by one of Normani's team. Lauren was anxious to keep the woman away from the press before she could spread any more lies about them.

"What does it look like, Barb? You didn't return my calls, so I came here to see you in person."

"Don't fucking call me that, Lucy. How the fuck did you find out that I was here?"

"It was a guess, Barb, but it doesn't take a genius to work it out. Your office said you weren't there and you're all over the TV linked to this place, so I took a chance. I saw the press outside and made a bit of a fuss about who I was and sneaked my way in here past your Dobermans on the front desk."

"Sneaked your way in!" she yelled, her anger at the woman's calm demeanor pretty much consuming her, "you told the fucking press that I was your fucking girlfriend, Lucia! What the fuck was that all about?"

"I wanted to see you, Barb - needs, must and all that. Besides, I am your girlfriend, or, at least, I was."

"Fuck you, Lucy! Fuck you and the fucking horse you rode in on. Girlfriend!? You're not my fucking girlfriend! You fucking walked away from me, remember?! You were the one who fucking ended us because you couldn't accept me for who I am. Why don't you just fuck off and leave me alone? or should I just say 'stay the fuck out of my life'!?"

She threw the last words the woman threw at her in the past, feeling the rage pulsing through her body as she remembered how it had gone.

-o-o-o-

The necklace that she had given Lucy was the first thing she saw as she walked in to meet her again. She was wearing it as Lauren looked at her cool, smug face in the conference room of Cabello Towers.

It was a gold necklace that she had bought for the woman when they were in Dubai. Lucy had sent it to their base camp through an unnamed parcel four days after throwing her out of their flat.

She had contemplated of selling it or pawning it which might have helped to clear some of her debts. She was broke, beyond broke, in fact; but no one else knew it; not even Lucy.

She had been living far beyond her means all the time they had been together what with all their holidays together, meals in expensive restaurants, tickets to Dubai, little gifts and too many nights out. She needed the combat pay that another tour in Afghanistan would bring her, to try and bring herself straight again.

But in the end, she decided to place the necklace back in a padded envelope and mailed it back.

It wasn't hers. It was Lucy's; whether she wanted it or not.

The first thing that came into her mind upon seeing the necklace is whether her ex was wearing it as a trophy, or as a symbol? She's not sure which, but it hung around her neck to remind Lauren what she was really like.

It was probably Lucy's third mistake after coming to the office and lying to the press.

"I'm going nowhere, Lauren. I wanted to speak to you. I missed you... and they said on the TV that you'd been hurt and that you had to leave the army."

"Oh yeah," she sneered back, her anger not abating. "Yeah, you really missed me, didn't you, sweetheart? I'm sure you missed me as soon as you saw my face on TV yesterday. I know you would have been notified of my injuries back in December, Lucia. I never did remove you from my next of kin information. They would have written to you, but you never once tried to get in touch, did you, babe? If you missed me so much, why did you never try before, huh?"