The One That Got Away (20 page)

He then proceeds to make love to me in the
most passionate, desperate way. Still no words are spoken and
nothing else matters but our lust and need for each other. We come
together as one and I now know that there is no going back. We are
joined together and nothing can break us. This moment signifies the
true beginning of our life together. Now I know that nothing will
get in our way.

Chapter
27

Ben and I are lying in bed totally entwined
together. Earlier Ben had made me dinner whilst I told him what had
happened with Nathan. He never told me what he said to him and I
didn’t ask. We both agreed that the secret would probably soon be
out and we wouldn’t deny it. Things would continue as normal and we
would deal with the fallout as it happened.

Ben wanted me
to move in but I declined saying that I needed some normality in my
life. I knew that he wasn’t happy but respected my
decision.

We lie here just happy to be together. He
strokes my arm and I nuzzle closer to him. He bends down and kisses
my neck, “I love you Bella,” he says softly. I feel as though a
huge weight has lifted and finally feel free to enjoy my
relationship with him.

Soon we fall asleep and I couldn’t be
happier.

The next morning Ben drops me off to the
store and it is with some trepidation that I go to work. All
appears normal and I am soon busy getting on with my work. April
doesn’t ask me anything about yesterday and I don’t see or hear
anything from Nathan.

I have decided to go home later as I feel the
need to get back to reality. As I walk through the store I am
conscious of somebody calling my name.

“
Bella, wait
up.” Looking around I can see Tina, Bradley’s girlfriend, racing
towards me. I smile as she approaches and she smiles happily at me.
“Oh thank goodness I have seen you. Are you ok?” She looks at me
concern in her eyes and I smile back. “Tina, it’s great to see you.
Yes I’m fine, despite all that happened since we last met.” Her
face grows serious and she says, “I was sorry to hear about Nathan
and Melissa. He is such a jerk. It didn’t get him anywhere though,
except to lose the one person he loved. What an idiot.” I nod
smiling but don’t say anything else. I don’t want to dredge it all
up again. “Anyway Tina, how are you and Bradley?” Her eyes light up
and she replies, “Great actually. Bradley has done really well at
work and got a huge bonus. We are moving in together. We have
bought one of those new houses in Ripley.”

She looks so excited and her enthusiasm is
contagious. Feeling genuinely happy for her I say, “That must be
some bonus. Those houses are very expensive.” She nods. “I know,
who would have thought that he could earn a bonus so large. I am
obviously in the wrong job.” After a bit more chit chat we go our
separate ways and I think about Bradley’s good luck. He is also in
IT for a large company and I am surprised at how much he has
earned. He never appeared to earn huge sums of money but I am happy
for them.

I get home later and feel instantly relaxed.
Changing out of my business clothes into more comfy ones I find
Phoebe chilling out on the settee.

“
Bella, I
need your help with colours for the bridesmaids,” she says,
gesturing to several swatches of fabric laid out in front of
her.

For the next two hours I immerse myself in
her wedding plans, just glad to focus on somebody else’s life for a
change. The doorbell rings and she quickly jumps up. “That will be
Boris, he is staying tonight. I told him to pick up some take away
for us on the way home.”

She answers
the door and Boris staggers in under a ton of cardboard pizza
boxes. He groans as he plops them down on to the table. “Phew, I
never thought I’d make it.” Phoebe laughs and kisses him
gratefully. “Thanks Bo, what did you get?” He laughs and says,
“What didn’t I get? I wasn’t sure what you wanted so got a
selection. Oh hi Bella,” he says suddenly seeing me.

He ambles over and gives me a kiss on the
cheek. “Hi Boris, great to see you.” I grin at him. I adore him, he
is so likeable and always in a good mood. In fact I don’t think
that I have ever seen him upset or annoyed. He flops down on the
settee and I help Phoebe deal with the pizza mountain. Soon we are
all eating pizza and discussing their wedding. Despite the fact
that it is still five months away, Phoebe more or less has it all
covered.

I love spending time with the two of them.
They are such good company and spark off each other constantly.
Phoebe reverts to talking about the wedding again and says, “Will
Ben be coming with you Bella?” I look at her in surprise, “Gosh now
you come to mention it I suppose he will. The trouble is I expect
that I will be quite busy being a bridesmaid so I had better
introduce him to everyone before the day, otherwise he will be a
bit out on a limb.” Phoebe nods and then says excitedly, “I know
why don’t we all go out for a drink at the weekend. Then we can get
to know him better and he won’t feel so awkward around us.” I smile
gratefully, although I expect that it will be awkward at first. It
is still so soon after Nathan, everyone is bound to feel
uncomfortable at first.

Boris smiles and says, “What did you say his
last name was again?” Phoebe shouts, “I told you, it’s Hardcastle,
like the department stores.” Boris wrinkles up his nose, “Oh yes I
remember now.” He looks deep in thought and Phoebe gives him a
strange look. “What’s the matter Bo, you look like you have thought
of something?” Boris looks puzzled. “I am sure that the name rings
a bell. I just can’t quite place it.” Phoebe looks at me and I
shrug my shoulders at her. “Oh well,” she says, “It’s bound to come
back to you sooner or later.” I hug them both and turn in, “Night
you two, try not to keep me awake will you?” Phoebe throws a
cushion at me and laughing I head off to bed.

The week passes by uneventfully, thank
goodness, and Friday comes around. I have arranged for us to meet
Phoebe and Boris for a pub meal after work and Ben picks me up in
the usual place. He was fine about going and I feel excited that we
are meeting up with my friends as a proper couple would.

I see him waiting and my heart flips at the
sight of him. He holds open the door and I get inside the car. Once
he is in he grins at me and says, “Are you sure we have to go out
with your friends? All I want to do is take you home to bed.” I hit
him playfully and he laughs. “Come on, you will love them.” I say
smiling. We chat about our day on the way and are soon at the pub.
We are the first ones there so grab a table for four and order some
drinks whilst we wait.

Ben appears in a playful mood and keeps on
grabbing my leg under the table and running his hands up and down
teasing me. Before long the others arrive and I introduce Ben to
them. Phoebe gives him a huge hug and says, “Great to see you Ben.
You obviously agree with Bella, she looks so happy.” Ben smiles at
her and I can tell that he likes her. He holds out his hand to
Boris who I notice has gone rather quiet and looks a bit
uncomfortable. He shakes Ben’s hand but I know that something is
wrong. Phoebe looks at me questioningly and I shrug my
shoulders.

They sit down and we order our food. Despite
Boris being extremely quiet Phoebe chats enough for them both. We
all get along well but I can’t help feeling worried at Boris’s
reaction. I can see that Ben has noticed and is looking
thoughtful.

Towards the end of the meal Ben says to
Boris, “Bella tells me that you work in the City. Who do you work
for?” Boris looks uncomfortable and says, “Rogers and Goldstein.”
Ben smiles and says, “I know them well. Is Simon still the CEO?”
Boris nods and Ben looks at Phoebe and I. “I used to work in the
City several years ago, before the Banking crisis. I worked for
Montague‘s, a rival company to the one that Boris works for.” Boris
nods and says, “I thought that it was you Ben. Small world.” Phoebe
looks at me and I say, “Fancy that. Did you know each other well?”
Ben smiles. “No, not at all, but I expect that Boris knows me more
by reputation than anything else.” Boris flushes and looks awkward
again.

I am intrigued. This is the part of Ben that
I know nothing about. Judging by the atmosphere though the memories
are not happy ones. Phoebe coughs and changes the subject by asking
Ben about his hobbies. Boris catches my eye and gives me a rueful
smile. I feel a bit unnerved and vow to question Ben about it
later.

We manage to get through the rest of the
evening with no more awkward silences and say goodbye to Phoebe and
Boris. As we drive home I ask Ben why it was so obviously awkward.
He looks tense. “When I worked in the City I had a difficult job.
It made me unpopular and I made many enemies. It is why I got out
when I did. Despite the fact that I made so much money, I decided
that it wasn’t how I wanted to live my life, so I invested in my
first department store and you know where that led me.” I sit
quietly thinking about what he said. I am itching to know more but
don’t ask. I don’t want to pry and I am sure that Phoebe will
extract all of the information from Boris anyway, so I make my mind
up to ask her instead.

Chapter 28

Over the next few weeks I am surprised to
find that our relationship is still not common knowledge. Nathan
keeps out of my way and if I do see him in the distance he goes the
other way. I am surprised given how angry he was and mention it to
Ben over dinner one evening. He looks at me with a grim expression.
“I very much doubt he will say anything or come near you again
after what I said to him.” I raise my eyes. “Which was?” Sighing he
looks directly at me. “I told you that I would do anything to
protect you. I merely said that if he valued his job and reputation
he would keep away, and that if I heard one word about our
relationship getting out from him then he would be dismissed.”

I look at him the shock I know very evident
on my face. He reaches over and holds my hand. Looking deeply into
my eyes I can feel them drawing me in. “I will not apologise for
what I said. He doesn’t deserve your sympathy and he is just lucky
that I kept him on.”

I don’t know what to say, using his position
to intimidate Nathan doesn’t sit well with me but I sort of
understand it too. I jump up to clear the table and I can feel
Ben’s eyes burning into my back. I know that he is ruthless. Phoebe
told me as much when I caught up with her after our evening out.
She told me that Boris had said that Ben was feared in the City.
Apparently many “good men” as he put it had lost their jobs because
of him.

It was just before the banking crisis when
everything was up in the air. Boris wasn’t sure but he heard
rumours that Ben was more involved in that than was common
knowledge. He left around the same time with a huge pay out
obviously, otherwise how could he afford to set up his store
empire? Phoebe told me to be careful, she said that Boris was
usually right and she didn’t want me to get hurt. I never told Ben
what she said and kept it to myself. It’s not a side of him that I
recognise and I don’t want to know about it. I told myself that all
that mattered is how he treats me and my family and I cannot fault
him on that. The past should be left behind, although it is ironic
as he is my past returned.

Despite Ben’s constant demands that I move in
with him I stay put at my flat. I still spend most of my time with
him but I don’t feel ready to make that step just yet. Gradually we
are transforming the store and it is beginning to take shape. Ben
is often away at the other stores and life settles back to almost
normal.

A few months later as I head to the staff
room for lunch I notice that Nathan is sitting with a stunning
woman. She has long dark hair and is slim and pretty. Her clothes
are very fashionable and she gazes up at him seductively as they
sit, their heads together almost touching. I can see that they are
attracted to each other and I wonder who she is. They don’t see me
as they are so wrapped up in each other and I just feel pleased
that he has found somebody new.

When I return to my office I mention it to
April who looks at me awkwardly. “Oh that’s Sophie. She has just
transferred from Brighton. She is the department manager for
fashion.” I smile and say, “Come on then tell me the gossip, are
they going out?” She looks at me with concern and I laugh, “April,
Nathan and I were over a long time ago. I am pleased if he has
found someone else.” She visibly relaxes and smiles. “I am
surprised that you didn’t hear about them sooner. They have been
dating for about a month now. She seems nice and Billy says that
Nathan is a lot happier now.” I smile and sitting down in my chair
think about what April has told me. It did feel strange to see him
laughing and flirting with somebody else, like he used to do with
me and I would be lying if I said that it didn’t affect me at all.
He was always such good fun and as much as I love Ben he is always
more intense and nowhere near as light hearted as Nathan was. I get
on with my work and tell myself that I am pleased for him.

Ben is away for the next few days so I go
home for some much needed time with Phoebe. She runs towards me as
soon as I am through the door and says, “Bella thank goodness.
Please will you come out with me tomorrow to look at dresses? My
Mother and Auntie Doreen are coming so I need somebody sane to be
there too.” I laugh at her as she is totally right. She obviously
inherited her wacky ways from her mother and her aunt isn’t much
better. I am looking forward to it and agree readily.

The next day dawns and we find ourselves at
the local bridal shop knee deep in wedding dresses. The shop is
beautiful and the three of us are sitting on a cream couch sipping
champagne whilst Phoebe tries on every dress in the shop. Her
mother is hilarious and cries at every dress that she puts on, even
the hideous ones. Her aunt just rolls up laughing at every one
which sets me off. Phoebe is having a ball I can tell and I haven’t
laughed so much in ages.