The Little Shop of Afternoon Delights

by Sarah Lefebve

  ‘We could always rearrange if you wanted to go home and sort things out,’ suggested Tex, standing up and easing Anna’s chair out for her.

  ‘That’s nice of you to offer but I’ll be fine,’ said Anna as they headed for the exit. ‘Anyway, we can’t have us both homeless!’ She gave a little laugh, which she guessed was probably unconvincing.

  When Tex slipped his arm around her shoulder as they walked across the bridge towards the apartment, Anna found herself snuggling into him, as if it were something they had done a hundred times before, although the fluttering sensation in her stomach told her otherwise. And when he then dropped a small kiss on the top of head, squeezing her gently, her stomach felt as if it could give the spin cycle on her washing machine a run for its money.

  ‘It will be okay,’ he said reassuringly.

  Anna wasn’t entirely sure what Tex was referring to. Maybe he was just being kind.

  When they paused on the bridge to admire the renovated apartment buildings lining the banks of the River Arun, Tex took his hand away and rested his arms on the edge of the stone parapet.

  ‘The apartment we’re going to look at is one of those on the top floor,’ said Anna, trying to refocus on what she was there for as she pointed to the blue shiplapped façade of the new development on the other bank of the river. The buildings consisted of what looked like five flats on each of the three floors. Each apartment had its own balcony overlooking the water and across to the main hub of the town.

  Due to the tidal water and close proximity to the sea, Arundel had been a very busy shipping town in the past. Now, however, the old buildings that had stood empty and run-down for so many years were part of a regeneration project. A lot of them had been converted into apartments or, indeed, pulled down and new buildings constructed in their place, such as these, she explained to Tex.

  ‘And is there parking?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, it’s underneath the apartments. You have your own designated bay.’

  The apartment was stunning and Anna was pleased that Tex seemed to be of the same opinion. It had an open-plan living area, the kitchen being separated by a breakfast bar, and the double sliding doors opening onto the balcony from the living room were a noteworthy feature. The main bedroom, with a small Juliet balcony, also looked over the river, while the second bedroom and bathroom were at the back of the property where the entrance door was, looking over at the buildings behind.

  ‘That second bedroom will be very useful for when my sister visits,’ commented Tex as they wandered back across the bridge. ‘She’s coming in a couple of weeks with her husband and two children.’

  ‘Ooh, that will be a bit of a squash,’ said Anna. They paused again at the bridge to admire the view down the river.

  ‘I can always sleep on the sofa, assuming I have one by then.’ He turned and smiled at her. ‘That will be your next assignment. Furniture shopping with me.’

  ‘People will start thinking we’re an old married couple.’ Anna gave a small laugh.

  ‘Not old and maybe not married but…’

  There he was doing that smiling with his eyes thing again, and Anna knew she was doing that stupid, embarrassing looking away thing in response.

  The afternoon ended by looking around a Georgian house at the top of the hill. Tex agreed it probably wasn’t as ideal as the apartment by the river. The lack of private parking was as big a drawback as the river by the apartment was a major attraction. So with Anna’s help, he paid a deposit and completed the application form for a six-month rolling tenancy on the apartment.

  ‘Are you always as decisive as that?’ asked Anna as she unlocked her car and got in the driver’s seat. They were now back at the old church building. ‘You didn’t think about the apartment for too long.’

  ‘I know when I like something, so I cannot see the point in wasting time looking elsewhere,’ replied Tex.

  Anna went to close the door but he had somehow managed to position himself in the way, one arm casually resting on the roof, the other on the top of the door. He lowered his head so their eyes were level.

  ‘Thank you for your help today.’

  ‘All part of the service,’ replied Anna, her hand still on the door handle.

  ‘I hope you manage to sort everything out with your… err… with Mark,’ said Tex. ‘Make sure you get some legal advice and try not to get upset about it. You will achieve a lot more if you can stay calm.’

  He moved out of the way so she could close the door and stood there with his hands in his pockets, a brooding look on his face, watching her as she drove away.

  Anna knew what Tex had said was right. She definitely needed to speak to her solicitor, and she also needed to stay calm when she confronted Mark about the house sale. However, now she was nearing home, her lovely little flint cottage that she loved dearly, she could feel the anger rising up inside her again, the pure impudence of what Mark had done stirring her fury once more. No way was she going to be able to stay calm.

  Chapter Fourteen

  ‘Please, Anna, let me explain,’ pleaded Mark, walking across the living room towards her. ‘Sit down. Let’s talk about this civilly.’

  ‘I don’t want to sit down and have some cosy chat about it. I want to know what’s going on.’ Anna could feel anger raging through every part of her body. She actually felt like she could be violent towards him. ‘Tell me!’

  Mark nodded his head slightly as if conceding defeat and capitulating to her demand. ‘Just hear me out before you say anything.’

  ‘Get on with it then.’ Anna folded her arms and jutted out her chin.

  ‘I was going to tell you. No, I was. Don’t raise your eyebrows like that. I tried to tell you a couple of times, but you didn’t want to talk. Every time I said there was something else, you avoided getting into a conversation.’

  Anna sighed inwardly as she took in what Mark was saying and realised that he was right. ‘You could have told me when you first came back. It would have been easier.’

  ‘I didn’t want to upset you as soon as I got here.’ Mark moved closer and put his hand on her arm. ‘Come on, Annie, let’s sit down.’

  Anna shrugged off his gesture, ignoring the pet name he used to call her. She wasn’t that much of a pushover. ‘You can’t just sell the house. Where are we supposed to live? More to the point, why? Why are you selling it?’

  ‘It won’t be that bad. There are loads of places to rent in Chichester. I won’t leave you and Luke homeless, give me some credit.’

  ‘Rent! We’re going to have to rent? Luke needs security. We can’t just rent, we could be asked to move in six months. No, that’s not on, Mark.’

  ‘People rent all the time. You can get twelve-month tenancy agreements. I’ll make sure everything is sorted. Like I said, you won’t be left homeless.’

  ‘You still haven’t answered me. Why are you selling?’ Anna closed her eyes and exhaled, suddenly feeling tired, physically and mentally. She needed to sit down. Her emotions were taking a hammering today. ‘Please, Mark, just tell me.’

  Mark sat down on the opposite sofa to which Anna had slumped into, leaning over, he rested his elbows on his legs, clasping his hands together. He was like a chameleon, thought Anna, one day aggressive and spiteful, the next subdued and sorrowful.

  ‘Mark?’ she asked again, this time more gently.

  ‘Things aren't going so well in the States with the football academy. I need the money from the sale of the house,’ his voice vacillating. ‘The bank's starting to get twitchy for its money and I need to put cash into the business to develop it. Selling the house is the only way I can raise more funds. I know you can’t afford to buy it.’

  ‘What makes you so sure?’

  ‘Well, can you?’

  Anna shook her head and swallowed down her pride. ‘No, I can’t. I wish I could but I just don’t earn enough to get a mortgage.’

  ‘Exactly. Why bother saying that?’

  ‘You still should have
asked though,’ said Anna, although she knew she was only point scoring. ‘Isn't there any other way, any other way at all?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘What about your business partner? Your parents?’

  ‘No. I've tried everything. I need a lot of money and the house proceeds are the only way to do it.’ He looked up at Anna. ‘I’m sorry, I know I should have told you sooner. I tried. I wish there was some other way, I really do.’

  Anna looked at Mark sitting there. He didn't look his usual confident, some might say arrogant, self. Instead, she saw a vulnerable, forlorn and humiliated man. How could she hate one man so much and yet still feel compassion for him? It was madness. She couldn’t fathom it out at all.

  ‘Will the money actually save the business or will it just get you out of a hole for now? What I mean is, are you sure you’re not just throwing good money after bad? Is the academy actually a viable business?’

  ‘Fucking hell, Anna, you sound like my sodding bank manager!’ Mark leant back, looking up at the ceiling. ‘Of course it’s viable, but if I don’t put the money in now it will be closed within six months, twelve tops.’

  ‘Couldn’t you get a mortgage on the house? That way you could free up the equity without selling it.’

  Mark shook his head. ‘No UK bank is going to lend to a US resident whose business finances are in the shit, and likewise no US bank is going to lend on a UK home. Not these days with the way the economy is for everyone.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Mark, but you got yourself into the financial mess you’re in, it’s up to you to sort it out without it affecting Luke, and selling the house is taking away any security I have for him.’ Suddenly she felt empowered. She was standing up to Mark, something she should have done before. ‘You’ve got a responsibility to him until he’s at least eighteen. You have to provide a home for him. I’ll fight it in the courts if I have to. I’m not agreeing to you selling the house.’

  Mark stood up, looking at her for a few seconds, his lips pursed. When he finally spoke, the menace in his voice sent a slither of alarm snaking down Anna’s spine.

  ‘In that case you don’t leave me with any choice. I was hoping to avoid this.’

  He went to his briefcase by the side of the fireplace, and from the inside pocket pulled out a white envelope which had his company logo printed in the top left-hand corner. He tipped the contents onto the coffee table. The half a dozen or so photos that scattered the surface made Anna recoil in horror.

  She looked at Mark, not daring to say what she was thinking. She had forgotten all about them. Intimate photos of her, taken by Mark, one very drunken night probably over ten years ago now.

  ‘I didn’t know you still had those,’ she ventured at last, crouching down at the table, turning them over one by one before attempting to gather them up.

  Mark’s hand clamped down on hers. ‘Oh no you don’t. They’re mine. I took them. They belong to me.’ Before she realised what he was doing, Mark had swooped them up and dropped them back into the envelope. He smiled smugly. ‘Great night that was, don’t you remember?’

  ‘You know I don’t,’ snapped Anna. ‘I was so drunk I didn’t know what I was doing. You, on the other hand, knew exactly what you were doing. Now give me the photos.’

  ‘I don’t think so. You see, they are my insurance policy.’ Mark popped the envelope back into his briefcase, shutting the lid firmly and ensuring it was locked.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Anna struggled to keep the tremor from her voice.

  ‘If you stand in the way of selling the house, if you persist in applying for a divorce, I may just be forced to send copies of these out to your friends and colleagues, oh, and pop them on Facebook.’

  Anna gasped. ‘You wouldn’t!’

  ‘You wanna bet on that?’

  ‘That’s blackmail.’

  ‘Blackmail is a rather unpleasant word.’ Mark cocked his head to one side. ‘I much prefer to describe it as encouraging you. Encouraging you to see things from a different angle.’

  ‘And you wonder why I want to divorce you!’ Anna could hear herself screeching at him. ‘It’s because you always want things your way, on your terms. You only ever think of yourself and satisfying your needs. Never mind about anyone else and what they want.’ She couldn’t stop herself from screaming at him. The words just continued to flow as the panic took hold. ‘You’re just being difficult about the divorce because you’re not in control. It’s not me you really want, it’s just the money from the house.’

  ‘It doesn’t have to be like this, Anna,’ said Mark calmly. ‘There is another solution.’

  Anna sat bolt upright. ‘What’s that?’ She knew there must be a way. Thank God!

  ‘I could let the business go, move back to the UK. Back here.’ He jabbed his finger towards the floor several times. ‘If you agreed, if you wanted to, we could make a fresh start. You, me, Luke. A family again.’

  ‘Oooh! Who’s the new boy then?’ crooned Christine as she swanned into the business premises. ‘And look at you in your lycra. Very nice. Both of you actually.’

  ‘I wasn’t expecting you,’ said Tex. ‘We didn’t have a meeting booked in, did we? This is Nathan Palmer, my personal trainer.’

  ‘Hello, Nathan.’ Cooed Christine as she shook hands with him. Tex didn’t miss the coy smile and fluttering of eyelashes that she did so well. ‘No, no meeting, Tex, not at all. I just thought I would pop in. It’s been a bit quiet from you. I just wanted to make sure you were happy with all the arrangements.’

  Tex wasn’t entirely sure if Christine was actually talking about the artwork he was buying or whether she was talking in code, referring to their short but sweet merger. After that evening at the Fish and Fly, he thought he had made it clear he wasn’t looking for any sort of relationship with her, he thought she had understood this. Now though, he wasn’t so sure.

  ‘I could pop back in half an hour, if that helps at all,’ suggested Nathan.

  ‘No, it’s fine…’ began Tex, but was interrupted by Christine.

  ‘Actually, if you could just give us five minutes, Nathan, that would be great. I just need to speak to Tex about something.’

  ‘Sure, no problem, I’ll just wait in the car.’

  ‘No need for that,’ interjected Tex. What the hell Christine was playing at he didn’t know. ‘Me and Christine will go into the office.’

  As soon as the door was shut, Christine pounced on Tex, wrapping her arms around his neck. ‘I was hoping you might want to reconsider your decision about us. I’ve missed you. I don’t like just having a professional relationship.’ She let go momentarily to make quotation marks in the air, before replacing her hands around his neck and moving in for a kiss.

  Tex moved his head backwards out of reach. Taking hold of her hands, he unhooked them.

  ‘Look, Christine, I’m sorry but I meant what I said. It’s better this way. Believe me. I’m sorry if you expected more.’

  ‘Let me get this straight. I didn’t actually mean anything to you, it literally was just a couple of shags. And now you’ve got Little Miss Bilingual in your sights, you don’t want me. I saw you and her the other day, trotting around the town. I thought you two looked a bit cosy, which is what made me come over today. I thought to myself, Tex’s not the shag-them-and-leave-them sort. No, he’s more of a gentleman. I was obviously wrong.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Christine. I thought you knew it wasn’t anything serious.’

  ‘Well, you were wrong. I may have thought that myself initially, but after spending time with you, Tex, I really liked you.’ She held up her hand. ‘And don’t apologise again. I understand this time.’

  ‘I hope this doesn’t affect our working relationship,’ said Tex, which he really did mean, as Christine had a great eye for art and had negotiated a very good deal for him. ‘I would hate to lose you from this project.’

  Christine looked at him thoughtfully. ‘I don’t have any choice in the matter.’ She paused in the
doorway. ‘I will see you at the end of the week for our meeting then.’

  After she had gone, Tex let out a deep sigh. That had been awkward, but Christine seemed okay about it in the end. For a moment there he thought maybe Anna’s belief about it being dangerous to mix business with pleasure would be proved right. Since Anna, he had not given his fling with Christine another thought. In fact, the resistance and intrigue surrounding Anna was too much of a distraction. For some reason he felt a strong pull towards her and everyone else just fell by the wayside. Quite strange and quite different to anything he had experienced before.

  Anna wasn’t particularly looking forward to furniture shopping with Tex, but Jamie was paying her, and as Tex was officially her client now she couldn’t really refuse. She knew Tex would ask her about her confronting Mark over the house sale, and she also knew that he probably wouldn’t be impressed with the outcome.

  ‘Sorry, but am I understanding you correctly?’ frowned Tex as he and Anna wandered around the local furniture shop looking at the beds. ‘Mark needs to sell the house to support his business, and you are going to let him because you feel sorry for him? Not only that, but you have not been to see a solicitor?’

  ‘Pretty much,’ bristled Anna. ‘What about this bed? Is this the sort of thing you’re looking for or is the bedstead a bit girly for you?’

  ‘I don’t like the metal frame. I would prefer a leather headboard. And you are changing the subject.’

  ‘There’s nothing else to say and I am actually here to find you a bed.’ Anna walked off towards some more king-size beds. ‘What about this one? It’s got the headboard you like and the mattress is really deep.’ She pushed down on it with her hand. ‘Quite firm.’

  Tex stood on the opposite side of the bed. ‘The only way to tell is to test it.’ He laid down on the bed, stretching his jeaned legs and trainered feet out, putting his hands behind his head. ‘Come on, lay down. What do you think?’