Bittersweet Love - Cathy Williams [27]
She was preparing to leave for home on the Friday when the outer door opened and she looked up to see Anna staring down at her.
‘Mr Marshall isn’t here,’ Natalie informed her without bothering with niceties, which she knew would have met with a brick wall anyway. ‘He had a meeting in the Midlands and he won’t be back this evening.’
‘He didn’t tell me,’ Anna said, piqued.
‘It was a sudden thing.’ Natalie strapped her bag over her shoulder and switched off her computer terminal.
‘Well, I’ll see him tomorrow, anyway.’ Anna shrugged but didn’t move. ‘Kane tells me that you will be there with that boyfriend of yours.’
Natalie nodded and wondered whether he made a habit of discussing her with his girlfriend behind her back. The thought made her feel slightly uneasy for some reason.
‘I might as well tell you that I’ll be sticking to Kane’s side like glue, so if you think you can use the opportunity to wheedle yourself next to him, then you’re in for a shock.’
Natalie moved towards the door, her body stiff with anger, but she still managed a smile. ‘If you don’t mind, I’m just about to lock up and go home.’
‘He doesn’t look twice at you, you know,’ Anna said, flouncing out of the door towards the lift. Natalie followed her reluctantly, not having a great deal of choice.
‘I never implied that he did,’ she pointed out, stepping into the lift with the other woman and absent-mindedly staring at the buttons as the doors swished shut in front of them.
‘I told him that you fancied him,’ Anna continued and Natalie turned to face her, enraged.
‘You did what?’
Anna threw her a sly look. ‘Well, I thought it just as well to warn him. Men can be so stupid where women are concerned, and I didn’t want him to find himself in any embarrassing situations.’
Natalie could have hit her. No wonder he had been so amused at the thought of her and Eric conducting a passionate affair; no wonder he had not believed a word of what she had said. Why should he? Anna had said her piece and hadn’t Natalie herself responded to his lightweight kiss like some inexperienced teenager?
What a joke he must find it all.
‘How good of you,’ she said through gritted teeth.
‘I hope you don’t mind,’ Anna said carelessly, pleased with the reaction which she had managed to stir.
‘I don’t really care.’ The lift deposited them on to the ground floor and Natalie stepped out into the foyer with a feeling of intense relief. ‘You can tell Kane Marshall anything you like,’ she said quietly, in control of her emotions now, ‘if it makes you feel better. But if I were you I would think very carefully about your relationship with him. I would say that if it was a solid one you wouldn’t be looking over your shoulder continually, wondering whether you can trust him near other women.’
Anna gave her a look of spiteful hate. ‘Of course I can trust him,’ she hissed, but there was a shadow of doubt in her eyes. ‘It’s just that men are easily tempted.’
‘Only if they want to be.’ Natalie turned and began walking away, not daring to glance back behind her.
That unexpected meeting had left her feeling drained and depressed. She arrived back at her flat with that deflated, slightly sickened feeling still there in the pit of her stomach, and on impulse she went into her bedroom and began packing for the overnight stay, including an absolutely outrageous flame-red outfit which she had bought to celebrate her weight loss and which she had so far not actually screwed up the courage to wear.
Why should she fade away in greys and browns simply to keep a low profile? She threw in a pair of skin-tight flowered leggings which she would wear with a turquoise silk blouse on the Sunday morning, and by the time she had finished was actually feeling quite a bit better.
For all those years she had been an insignificant