Till Death Us Do Part

by V, Krissy

  "I don't know if I can make that promise, I can however promise that I'll never say you told me, but I do have a mind of my own and can make my own conclusions. I will be keeping a good eye on him from now on" he stands up from the couch "Now do you need anything before I go? Drink? Food?"

  "No Luca I'm fine thanks. Felix will be home soon and I'm sure he will look after me" I say. I hear him say something under his breath but I ignore it.

  "I'm taking you to another interview tomorrow aren't I? Is it the same time?"

  "Yeah Luca I have to be there for 8.00am are you sure it's ok? I don't want to take advantage.

  "Tasha it's fine honest, now you just relax and I'll see you in the morning honey ok" he leans forward and places a kiss on the top of my head and then he let's himself out.

  I sit there thinking about today, about the interview, then I remember that I am supposed to be going to Plymouth tomorrow, so I ring the office and remind them so that they can send someone else. I think about the conversation with Luca and then this afternoon watching silly movies and I begin to realise I've enjoyed today, Luca is a good man. I forgot to ask him about Kammie, I’ll do that tomorrow. I smile to myself.

  Felix comes home about half an hour later, he walks in the door and comes straight over to me and kisses me "Hey babe how're you feeling? Where's Luca?"

  "I'm ok thanks, I've had a good enough day, I haven't cooked dinner though, is that ok? Luca had to go about 20mins ago" I say putting my arms around his neck gently, because it hurts when I stretch "How was your day Felix?"

  He kisses me again then stands up straight "Of course it's ok. I'm going to cook dinner for you, I thought Luca would be here, I was going to cook for him too. My day was ok, just you weren't there, so I missed you"

  "Well if I get a new job I won't see you, but we will be able to have lunch together like dates" I smile at him sexily.

  He laughs and turns away, I think I hear him say "that's what you think" but I can't be sure. He walks into the kitchen and I can hear the sounds of pots and pans and then I can smell something lovely. After about 15 minutes he comes back into the room and holds out his hand to me "Dinner is served Madame" he helps to slowly pull me up from the couch. I allow him to pull me behind him, although it reminds me a little of Saturday night, but I push that thought to the back of my head. When we walk into the kitchen I see that he's laid the table and it all looks so lovely and romantic.

  "Oh Felix it looks lovely, thanks so much" I pull him to me and kiss him. I only kiss him gently on the lips, but it makes him smile.

  "Anything for you Tasha, anything" he pulls my chair out for me to sit, this is the Felix I fell in love with and married.

  We spend the evening talking about my interview, I mention Douglas a couple of times, but he never once said he knew him, strange! He seems keen on me getting this job, which pleases me. I tell him I have to wait to hear from HR to find about a third and final interview. Soon it's time for bed, Felix has washed all the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. He follows me up to bed with a drink for my tablets and helps me to get undressed and ready for bed. He rolls onto his side facing me when he gets into bed and he looks at me while he is rubbing my arm. "I love you so much Tasha, I really do. I don't know what I would do without you in my life" he leans over and kisses me hard, he is careful not to touch my ribs, I can feel his tongue trying to gain access to mine and I open my mouth slightly so they can meet.

  He abruptly stops and kisses me gently on the lips "Sleep tight babe, sleep tight. I'll wake you for your interview"

  "I love you Felix" I reply and I can feel myself drifting off.

  Chapter 11

  THE NEXT MORNING RUNS like yesterday with Felix waking me, picking my clothes, dressing me and Luca showing up at the door when I'm ready to leave. He shouts "Hi" to Felix and then closes the door behind me.

  "Come on honey let's go” Again he puts his hand on my lower back, somehow this makes me feel safe, he helps me into the car and then closes the door and goes around to his side. "So where are we heading today Tasha" he asks

  "I need to be at Blue Eye if that's ok" I say to him smiling. He’s in a good mood today, hopefully we can get through it without talking about me and Felix.

  "That's fine honey, now tell me about this job" he seems genuinely interested.

  I spend the journey into the city telling Luca about the Administration Manager’s job at Blue Eye. He asks some questions and the journey flies by. When we arrive he stops outside the building to drop me off and again looks around to see where we are then he remembers that The Cozy Place Coffee Shop is a few minute walk, but I know where it is. "I'll be fine, I'll meet you there, I shouldn't be longer than an hour" I say getting out of the car.

  "No problem, ring me if you need help Tasha and good luck". I say thanks and close the door. I stand up straight and take a deep breath, which instantly makes me groan from the pain, I hope I can make it through without anyone noticing my pain. It’s not time for me to take my pills yet.

  I go to reception and announce myself, I'm told to wait for a few minutes for the HR Manager and the Operations Director. I'm sitting there when this man walks towards the exit, oh my god is all I can think. He is gorgeous! Wow! I didn't think people like that existed, he is like a Greek god. He looks at me and smiles, he seems familiar like I’ve met him before but I just can’t put my finger on it, he looks like he is going to say something but stops himself, instead he turns and walks back to reception. He talks to the receptionist and then turns to leave, as he's walking past me he stops and looks at me like he's double checking something. I can't quite place him, maybe he was going for an interview for the same job or something. I smile at him and nod my head. He smiles at me and I can’t breathe, it feels like I’ve forgotten how to do a simple thing like breathe.

  He walks past me slowly, looking deep into my eyes as he goes past. It is only when he walks out the door that I remember how to breathe and blink. I can't help myself turning in my seat to watch him out of the window and I see him stride towards a car and as he opens the door he turns to look at me. I'm so embarrassed; I quickly turn away so he can't see me looking. I've never looked at another man like that, not even Felix, but then again I’ve never been affected by another man quite like I was just now.

  While I'm waiting for Helen, the HR Manager my phone rings, it's not a number I recognise, but I answer it anyway "Hello, Tasha speaking."

  A deep husky voice, which reverberates through my body, says "Hi my name is Caleb, you gave me your number on Saturday night" I'm trying to remember Saturday night, who is this and why did I give him my number?

  "I’m sorry Saturday night was a difficult night for me, can you elaborate? I don't remember giving anyone my number" I say, I’m a little bit angry now, did I actually give someone my number? As I am saying this, I remember giving my number to the guy who I spilled my drink on, I don’t say I remember him though.

  "That's a shame that you don't remember me, I certainly remember you.” He pauses and my mind goes into overdrive. “In fact, I haven't stopped thinking about you. You tripped and spilled your drink on me and then you offered to pay for my dry cleaning" he says and I think he must be smiling because it sounds like he is.

  "Oh my god, yes I remember now. I'm so embarrassed. Just let me know how much it is for the dry cleaning and I’ll pay for it" what a klutz I am. I’m trying to remember what he looks like, but I can’t piece it together. Anything that happened on Saturday night is overshadowed by what happened when I got home.

  "It's ok it's all been dry cleaned. I think that maybe you should take me for a cup of coffee as payment instead" he says with a little chuckle.

  "Erm, well, erm, I could do that but erm I'm married you see" why am I not just telling him a straight no, what has gotten into me. I feel really flustered, I can feel myself getting hotter by the minute.

  "Ok, I didn't ask for a marital status! I only want a coffee, nothing else, honest. You owe me at least that" now
he's definitely smiling, I can hear it in his voice.

  "Ok, ok” I’m surprised at how easy I’ve given in, but I do feel guilty for spilling my drink on him. “This week is a bit difficult for me, I'm off work as I had a bit of an accident so I can’t drive or walk far, but I should be able to have a coffee next week providing I'm back at work" I say, and I can feel my voice vibrating slightly because I'm really nervous.

  "Are you OK? What happened? Were you badly hurt? God I wish I'd phoned before now! I hope you are ok" he sounds genuinely concerned and he doesn’t even know me.

  "I'm fine, just a couple of broken ribs, but I'm recovering well thank you" I say, and I can feel myself blushing. I have no idea why I’m blushing I’m only talking on the phone!

  "I’ll wait for coffee until you're ready” he pauses to think “I’d like to call you to see if you are getting better if that’s ok? I know that might seem strange to you, but I hate to think I caused you any problems on Saturday night, I saw how you left the club!” What can I say to that? If I remember rightly he was gorgeous, but he was also the cause of what happened later.

  "I don't know if that is a good thing Caleb, but I will arrange to meet for a coffee next week, hopefully. I never renege on a deal and I offered to pay for your dry cleaning so I’ll do that" I smile to soften the blow slightly.

  “OK Tasha, I’ll ring you later in the week and we can make arrangements then.” Again he pauses, it’s like he is taking time to think. “I’ve got to go into a meeting now, but I just wanted to tell you that you look beautiful today” and then he hangs up.

  I look around to see if anyone is looking at me. What the hell? Where is he? I wish I could remember what he looks like. When did he see me?

  I see someone walking towards me and I look up and I see it is Helen, the HR Manager, “Hi Natasha, are you ready? The Operations Director is ready to see you now” I try to stand up without showing the pain I am in and shake her hand. I know I looked a bit awkward getting up from my chair, but I’m determined to get through this interview as I really want this job. This feels like a good place to work. If I manage to get the job, I know I will be happy here.

  I follow her down to a meeting room, which has glass doors and walls so that you can see straight into it. There is a man sitting in the room and he is talking on his phone “OK I’ll let you know, don’t worry big man I’ll take it easy on her”, he hangs up the phone and then he stands and turns towards me as I walk in. I shake his hand and he says “Good morning Natasha, I’m Dillon, pleased to meet you, I’ve heard wonderful things about you” he gestures to the chair for me to sit down.

  I sit down, so does Helen and then he sits down too. For the next hour, I get drilled on procedures, how I would handle situations and when it is all over, I’m drained. Dillon stands and offers his hand to shake mine, I push the chair out and struggle to stand up. I’m stiff and my pain killers must be wearing off, it hurts, but I manage it by leaning on the table, so I stand and shake his hand.

  He looks at me with great concern and asks “Are you OK Natasha? You’ve gone very pale!”

  I really can’t hide the pain and I have to hold onto the table to keep myself stable “I’m really sorry” I take a shallow breath in so as not to cause anymore pain. “I didn’t want you to see me in pain. I had an accident on Saturday night and I broke a couple of ribs, but I really wanted to come to this interview because I am really interested in the position you have here” I can feel tears coming to the surface, I don’t want Dillon or Helen to see them so I look to the floor.

  “Oh my god Natasha! You should have cancelled the interview” he says coming over to me.” He reaches out to touch me on the shoulder and I flinch, it isn’t intentional. I think it was because I am in pain. He pulls his hand back and looks at me “we would have understood” he says. “Can we get you a cup of tea or a glass of water or something?”

  “No thank you I’m fine. I didn’t want to cancel because I didn’t want to let you down and I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it” I say and I’m so embarrassed. “I’m fine honestly, thank you so much for seeing me today, I really appreciate this opportunity.” I start to walk towards the door.

  “As long as you are ok to leave!” Dillon says. “You can stay here for a few minutes if you want to get your breath back!” He smiles at me with beautiful chocolaty eyes.

  I turn as I’m going through the door and I smile at him. “Please don’t hold this against me, I’m really interested in this job”

  They both look at me and Dillon says “We won’t, don’t worry, not at all” I smile and turn away and start to walk to the exit.

  Chapter 12

  WHEN I GET OUTSIDE of the building, I stop and lean back against the wall and start to cry. I don’t know what I’m crying about, I just feel like crying. I think it’s because I got caught out after the interview and also because I’m in pain. I take a few deep breaths and ring Luca, I need him to come and get me, I don’t feel like I can walk a couple of blocks to meet him.

  “Luca can you come and get me please, I can’t walk to the coffee shop” I’m crying when I’m talking to him.

  “Tasha what’s wrong? Why are you crying honey” I can hear him opening the door to the coffee shop and starting to walk towards me. “I’m coming Tasha, just stay where you are. I’ll be there in a few minutes ok, stay on the phone and talk to me, tell me about your interview, how did it go?” he’s trying to calm me down, trying to get me to talk about something “normal”.

  I just can’t speak for some reason, it has been a very strange morning and I need some pain killers quick “I’m ok Luca, I just need some pain relief, I hurt myself standing up after the interview and I’m in pain, please just come and get me, I don’t think I can stand for much longer” I’m sobbing.

  I can feel myself sliding down the wall when I see Luca running towards me, he catches me just before I fall to the ground. Why am I reacting like this? I don’t know what’s happening to me. I can feel Luca’s arms around me and I lean into him sobbing “I’m here Tasha, I’m here, come on just let it all out” He holds me for about 10 minutes as I just cry. I finally stop crying and then I stand back and look at Luca. I’m really embarrassed.

  “I’m sorry Luca, I don’t know what happened. I stood up after the interview and I hurt myself and they saw me wince and asked me about it. I told them that I had broken ribs and they said I should have rearranged the meeting and then I just started panicking. “What if I’ve ruined my chances now? I really want this job Luca! By the time I got outside I realised how serious this all is and what could have happened to me on Saturday night and I haven’t even told my Mum and Dad because I don’t know how to explain it all to them.” I take a deep breathe, I can feel myself getting hysterical. “Luca, can you take me to my Mum’s, I think I need to talk to them and tell them. Firstly, I need a drink to take my pain killers with. I really need to take them before I go there and talk to them”

  “Tasha, of course I’ll take you to your Mum’s. Come on there’s a shop over here, we’ll get you a drink and then we’ll go to the car and drive to your Mum’s” He says taking me by the arm and walking slowly with me to the shop.

  We are in the car on the way to my Mum’s when Luca asks “What are you going to say to your parents Tasha?” This is the question I’ve been dreading, I don’t know what to say to them, they wouldn’t believe me if I told them the truth. I am not sure that even I believe what the truth is.

  “I’ve always been clumsy they’ll understand when I say that I fell down the stairs. I just feel like everything is falling apart and I can’t stop it. I’m sure I’ll be fine I just need a Mummy hug!” I chuckle as I turn to Luca.

  Luca doesn’t say anything but drives to my parents, he helps me out of the car and puts his hand on my lower back to support me as I walk to the front door. I stop and take a deep breath, then I open the door and walk in. “Mum, Dad, it’s me” I yell to let them know I’m here.

  L
uca and I walk into the house and Mum comes out of the kitchen to hug me, when she does I flinch because it hurts. She sees me flinch and asks me what happened, I explain to her that I fell down the stairs and hurt myself, she believes me because I have always been clumsy.

  “Mum, I’m not going back to work for over a week, I need to go for a check up on Friday to get the OK to go back to work. I need some help this week. I need YOU to help me, will you come and stay with me this week?” I ask her but I’m not sure she will as I have been so independent for so long, but she looks at me and hugs me gently.

  “Tasha I will always be there for you as long as you need me even though you’ve never needed me before. I will always be there for you baby girl.” She kisses me on the cheek. “I’m going to get packed and talk to your Dad about this” with that she walks out the room. Luca looks at me and smiles.

  While she talks to Dad and gets organised, my phone rings and it’s a strange number, I just know it’s Caleb. I answer with trepidation and walk out the room.

  “Tasha are you ok?” he sounds so worried “I heard…. I had a feeling you were in pain, is everything ok? I know you don’t know me but after you told me about your accident I was worried about you” I can’t believe what I’m hearing, who is this guy? Why is he so worried about me?

  “I’m fine, I had a bad morning but you don’t need to concern yourself Caleb, honestly! I’ll ring you next week so I can take you for coffee, ok” I say, I’m touched that he is worried and is interested enough to check up on me, but I really don’t need this complication in my life right now.