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and he saw that she was shaking.
    “I’ll call you. We can talk about this later on.” Kane couldn’t believe that she was really leaving.
    “No. Don’t call me. Ever again.”
     
     

Chapter 8
    Waves of shame and regret rolled through Ellen as she left Kane’s apartment on foot. She had left with only one shoe on, in a bid to get out of there as quickly as possible. The alcohol and sleeping pill had created a hung-over drowsy feeling in her, but luckily her mind was clearing rapidly. The fresh air must have been helping too. Tom would have a reasonable explanation for his dinner date last night. It was her who had betrayed his trust.
    Remembering that her phone was off, she found it in her handbag switched it on. Three missed calls from Tom, and two text messages.
     
    Hey Elle. You’ve got your phone off, I guess. Call me when u r free. Xox
     
    Going to bed now zzz. Hope the dress fitting was fantastic. Can’t wait until big day. Love you. T xox
     
    Ellen’s phone started ringing once she was finished reading the message from last night. It was Tom.
    “Hi,” she said, answering.
    “Hey, your phone’s back on.”
    “Sorry. I forgot it was off.”
    Tom laughed. “That’s not like you. How was the fitting? I’m dying to hear about it.”
    “Postponed. The designer was sick.”
    “Oh, no. If I’d known I would have come over. What did you get up to then?”
    Ellen paused. This was definitely not a conversation to have over the phone. “Listen, I’m not feeling too well.”
    “That’s not good. I was going to see if you wanted to meet for breakfast.”
    “Are you free later on?”
    “Of course. Wait a sec.” Ellen guessed Tom was checking his calendar, as the line went quiet. “I can pop over after eleven. Will you be home?”
    “Yes.”
    “Can I bring you anything?”
    All Ellen wanted in this moment was to relive the past twenty-four hours again, and to do things differently. Maybe Panadol and coffee were a close second place, but she herself could find those things. “No, thanks. I’ll be fine.”
    “I missed you last night. I’ll see you soon.” He seemed sincere.
    Ellen was feeling very silly all of a sudden for the way she had reacted. She checked her watch. It was a little past seven o’clock. The sun was up but its rays offered her no warmth. Her heart was cold and afraid.
    Normally she would be up at this time of day and preparing for a workout. How had everything gone wrong so quickly? She would need at least a couple of hours to freshen up, and could only imagine how bad she looked at the moment.
    When Tom arrived after eleven as promised, Ellen had scrubbed her skin to remove any trace of Kane’s touch, cleaned her teeth thoroughly and drank three coffees. She was alert and focussed, and ready to hear Tom’s version of events without jumping to any conclusions this time. She was definitely not ready to talk about what had happened with Kane. She herself didn’t understand it yet.
    He kissed her softly on the cheek, while looking quite worried. “How are you feeling?” Ellen was about to answer when he revealed a takeaway container which smelled of hot soup. “It’s chicken noodle.”
    She smiled, trying to look pleased. Eating was the last thing on her mind. “Thank you. Now that you’re here, I’m feeling better.” Being around Tom helped her forget about the past twenty-four hours. It was starting to seem like a bad dream.
    “I had a missed call from you last night. I had my phone off too for a short while.”
    This was Ellen’s chance. “What were you doing?”
    “Just business.”
    Ellen’s heart sunk. It certainly hadn’t been business that she saw. Why wasn’t he telling her the truth?
    “What’s wrong, Elle?” He could read her so well.
    “Elizabeth told me about your restaurant booking. I dropped in and I saw you...” She said the words slowly, trying to find meaning in what she had seen.
    “Oh.”
    “You were out with a woman, who was pretty