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time-out was over and I couldn’t see him again. I knew that before the evening began, but now the thought scorched through my head and I desperately wanted to pull it out and stop the pain.
    I arrived back at the flat exhausted by my sobbing. Daniel’s driver didn’t say a word about my inexplicable tears. He didn’t even glance in his rearview mirror, for which I was very grateful. How would I explain my state to Charlie? Hopefully he would be fast asleep. I crept into the flat, trying to navigate the dark in order to avoid waking him by switching on the lights.
    When I reached the bedroom, Charlie wasn’t there. I checked my phone, no message. All I could think was how relieved I was that I wasn’t confronted by his physical presence. I could delay the full extent of my feelings of guilt. Then it occurred to me that maybe something had happened to him. I checked my email and he’d sent me a message that he would be working very late and might not make it home. God, he was working his behind off at the moment, and for what? To provide for our future together. And there it was: The guilt poured over me.
    I think I must have drifted off at some point , although I couldn’t be sure. I certainly didn’t feel rested when the alarm went off. Charlie hadn’t been home all night. I texted him and asked him if he needed me to bring a change of clothes into the office for him. He normally kept a clean shirt there but he’d done a couple of overnighters recently, so I thought he might be have used them up. When I came out of the shower, he’d texted back to say that he was coming home for a shower shortly.
    I ran around getting ready as quickly as I could. I wanted to get out of the flat before he arrived, I couldn’t bear to face him. I left him a note saying I would cook dinner for him this evening if he was going to be home. I would begin to make amends.
    When I got to my desk, I was confronted by a bouquet of white roses sitting in a vase. Brendan came waltzing over.
    “Roses after six years . He’s either cheating or working too hard—or both!”
    I laughed as convincingly as I could. They weren’t from Charlie. I knew that without looking at the card. White roses had always held a bit of fascination for me, something I associated with true love and fairytales since I was a child. But I’d never received them, and it wasn’t a fascination that I’d ever shared with anyone. How did he know? And how had he even gotten flowers to me by 8 a.m.?
    Apart from Brendan there weren’t many people in the office, and I reached for the card without fear of anyone sneaking a peek over my shoulder.
    Thank you ... for an intense evening.
    Dx
    I hid the card in my handbag and took a deep breath. This had to be over. Whatever this was, it couldn’t continue. Not even the email flirting. It was all too dangerous, too frightening, too intense. And I was engaged.
    I threw myself into work and by the time people began to arrive, my was head down. During the course of the day, I managed to catch up on the work that had built while I was absorbed in the presentation pitch.
    I jumped three feet out of my chair when Patricia came over that afternoon.
    “Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you!” We both laughed. “I hear you did a fabulous job yesterday.”
    “Did you? That’s so nice, thanks. To be honest, I really enjoyed it more than I expected to. I’d love to get involved again if and when the need arises.”
    “I’m so pleased to hear you say that , because I have a bit of an ulterior motive. David had a potential new client call in earlier today about representing them through a sale process. It’s a small chain of boutique hotels. Palmerston—have you heard of them?”
    I shook my head.
    “David said you acted on the Daleton sale, so you have some good industry experience. And because you did so well yesterday, you seem to be the perfect candidate for this pitch and presentation. What do you think?”
    “Wow ,