the conclusion of the interview today Cecelia was heading there.
‘Well, thank you for coming in,’ Cecelia said as she walked Sabine to the elevator. ‘You can expect to hear from me by the end of the week.’
‘I’ll look forward to it.’ Sabine smiled and the women shook hands.
Cecelia really didn’t like her, but it would seem she was the only one to feel so.
‘She seems really nice,’ Bridgette commented as Cecelia walked back from the elevator.
Yes, it was probably for rather personal reasons that she didn’t like her, Cecelia guessed, and decided that she would be putting Sabine forward.
Luka could make the final call.
‘I’m going out for a couple of hours,’ she told Bridgette. ‘I won’t have my phone on.’
‘What should I say if Luka calls because he can’t get hold of you?’ Bridgette checked, because his PA was always supposed to be available.
‘Tell him I’m...’ She didn’t know what to say. ‘Tell him I’m taking a long lunch.’
Lunch didn’t come into it.
Instead, she took the underground until she was practically home and spent the next hour sitting in the waiting room at her GP’s surgery.
Cecelia was rarely there and finally, when her name was called, she rather hoped she would be in and out in a few minutes with her mind eased.
Dr Heale introduced herself and Cecelia told her the reason she was there.
‘It’s probably nothing,’ Cecelia started. ‘In fact, I’m sure I’m wasting your time...’
‘Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?’
Very well.
Why was discussing sex always so awkward for her? The shame came from her aunt and uncle, Cecelia knew. They spoke in whispers and were still mortified by the salacious circumstances in which her mother had died.
Cecelia did her best to push all that aside and to speak in a matter-of-fact tone. ‘I had unprotected sex last week.’
‘When?’
‘On Monday night,’ Cecelia said. ‘Or rather on the Tuesday morning.’
‘You’re on the Pill?’ Dr Heale checked, reading through her notes.
‘Yes,’ Cecelia said, ‘though I usually take my Pill at night...’
‘And you didn’t?’
‘No.’
‘Well, you’ve left it too late for the morning-after pill.’
She hadn’t really thought about it the morning after, but now Dr Heale was telling her that she’d had a window of a week.
That window was closed to her now.
‘But it’s probably fine?’ Cecelia pushed, only Dr Heale wasn’t exactly rushing to put her at ease; in fact, she was reading Cecelia’s notes.
‘Are you still with your fiancé?’ she asked.
Cecelia remembered the last time she had been there, carefully going on the Pill before she and Gordon did anything.
There had certainly been no up-against-the-wall sex with him!
‘Er, no.’
‘Do you have a new partner?’
‘Not exactly,’ Cecelia croaked. ‘It was a one-off, well...’
‘That’s fine,’ Dr Heale said. ‘But with a casual encounter it is, of course, more important that you’re careful.’
She was right, except there was nothing casual about Cecelia’s feelings for Luka.
And there was that sting of shame again—not that Dr Heale turned a hair. If anything, she was very practical.
‘Perhaps, while you’re here, we should run a sexual health check,’ she suggested.
It looked like Cecelia would not be in and out in a couple of minutes; in fact, she returned from lunch a full hour late.
‘Luka’s been calling the office,’ Bridgette warned. ‘And he’s not best pleased that your mobile’s turned off.’
He certainly had been calling, Cecelia thought when she turned it back on. She had barely sat down before he called again.
‘How was the dentist?’ he asked, and there was an edge to Luka’s voice for he was quite sure where she had been.
‘Excuse me?’ Cecelia flared.
‘You’re the one making up excuses. Were you off visiting your new office? Or perhaps having lunch with your new boss—whoever that may be?’
‘No,’ Cecelia calmly responded. ‘I had an appointment. Now, what can I do for you?’
You can get here, Luka wanted to answer.
He had never had to chase or pursue, and the one woman who could have made him feel better had distanced herself from him.
‘How did the second-round interviews go?’
‘Very well. I have a shortlist of three for you to interview.’
‘Bring them in early next week.’
‘So you’ll be back on Monday?’ Cecelia checked.
But Luka had already rung off.
CECELIA KNEW HE was back the very second she stepped out of the elevator.
That tangy citrus scent of him had never really left the place but it was stronger today.
There was a knot of tight nerves in her stomach and she had no idea how to play this. She sensed he had come out of his office as she hung up her jacket, and this was confirmed when she heard him speak.
‘Hi.’
His voice was low and deep and, though expected, she still had to fight not to jump. Instead she turned around at his greeting.
He looked amazing, and even if he had gone home to deal with a difficult situation it was clear there had been time spent in the sun.
‘Hi, Luka.’
‘How are things?’
‘Great. But Mr Garcia
