Autumn - In Love With My Boss (An Office Romance)| Completed

Chapter 18 - James

As I anticipated, the restaurant is packed with people; couples enjoying candle light dinners, business partners discussing work, families on their night out. Sitting among them at an inappropriately romantic table, the waiter and I patiently watch Fiona studying the menu. I know exactly what she is going to order, she always picks the same.

"Lobster sounds amazing," she lets the waiter know, handing him back the menu card. "Along with that, I'll have a glass of Merlot."

Okay, there are two things here I can't let go without commenting on. First of all, lobster. It's really not that great and much too expensive, let alone the brutal way it is prepared. Secondly, that woman has no style at all. Merlot with lobster? Chardonnay, Roussane, yes, but Merlot?

I order a steak and brace myself for the conversation to come as the waiter leaves our table.

"Isn't it great? You and me, here, just like it's used to be."

Here we go.

"We never really were great together, and you know it," I remind her.

"I think we were," she insists. "We had a lot of fun together."

"Those days are over, Fiona."

"Don't you think we could give it another try?" Sweetly, she adds, "For Julie."

"For Julie," I snap. "Leave Julie out of this. I never told you to go to my best friend's house and fuck his brains out, now, did I?"

Rage is boiling my blood, I can't believe her audacity.

She pouts her lips innocently. "You were never around and I felt lonely." Ugh, that shit again. She's so phoney it's disgusting.

"I didn't mean to sleep with him, you know that. It just happened. And everyone deserves a second chance."

"You're telling me you accidentally ended up having sex with Greg? Yeah, I can see how that happens." I glare at her, barely able to contain myself. "So, you want another chance? Is that why we're here? Because you want me to come back?"

She plays shy and whispers, "Yes."

"God, Fiona, we've been through this before. Many times. I'm never coming back."

"But," she sniffs dramatically. "I still love you."

The waiter reappears, serving our food, so I hold back until the plates and glasses are on our table, before I respond.

"I'm sorry," I say coolly, completely unaffected by her revelation. "I don't love you anymore. This feeling has stopped the moment Greg's wife showed up at my doorstep, weeping inconsolably about the fact that she had just walked in on her husband and my wife."

"But ... "

I'm sick of hearing any more of this bullshit and raise my hand to stop her.

"No but, Fiona. It's not going to happen. I have found someone else."

"Someone else?" She stiffens and looks so taken aback it makes me grin.

"Yes, someone else. Another woman."

"You're kidding."

Well, she certainly is shocked.

I shake my head. "No, not kidding." Not really.

Fiona narrows her heavily painted eyes disdainfully. "One of your cheap flings? I thought you

knew better than not to confuse sex with love."

Geez, that woman has nerves.

"You're talking to me about cheap flings? What about your lawyer guy, or poor old Jerry you sucked dry and spit out when he didn't pay anymore for your designer clothes and jewellery? What about them?"

"It wasn't like that," she gasps for air like a fish on land. "I liked them."

Sure she did. I lean back and take a sip of my beer, deciding silence is sometimes better.

"So," she starts to pester me again. "Who is it? Do I know her?"

"No, you don't," I lie. It's none of her business.

"Is it that redhead you took to the Brandon Gala last year?"

"No," I sigh. "It's not Kelly. I thought you knew my cousin."

"Well, then the brunette from last Christmas dinner?"

"No. Just let it go."

"Or," her eyes go all cold and calculating. "Is it that little office whore of yours?"

"Watch it, Fiona," I hiss, infuriated by her choice of words. How dare she speak about Miss Lewis like that?

"Oh," she raises her perfectly sculptured eyebrows. "So, it is her, then. I thought you had better taste than that."

I've had enough. I stand and throw some bills on the table with our untouched food.

"Are you leaving?" She is mad now, too. "You can't just leave me here!"

I look at her, shrugging on my coat I had draped over the chair.

"I can and I will."

"You know that it is me who decides if you can see Julie, right?"

Oh, you fucking bitch. I'm going to take care of that, too, once and for all. I'm ready to fight for my Julie.

"You have no right to deprive me of my child. If I want to see her, I'll see her. In fact, I think she would be better off without a promiscuous, luxury-obsessed mother who is never at home and leaves her with constantly switching nannies. She deserves a good, stable home, and I'm going to give it to her."

I let that sink in for a minute, watching her as she comprehends what I just implied. Then, I turn around, ready to leave.

"You can't do that," she yells, drawing the other guests' attention to us.

Without looking back, I wave nonchalantly. "You'll hear from my lawyer, Fiona."