She needed to work things out in her own time, without anyone else's thoughts or opinions. After all, this was about Nicole and Paul, nobody else. She didn't want anyone else to influence her decisions and she knew that she would tell her sister as soon she got her head straight, but not yet.
"I forgot that we need an accountant and we have to register with revenue as being self-employed."
"Don't worry, I already took care of that side of things, but it'll be handy to have dad on board if we need him."
"Absolutely," Evette agreed. She set a full Irish breakfast in front of her sister along with a steaming mug of coffee.
"Yum," Nicole appreciatively inhaled the delicious aroma of bacon, egg, sausage, pudding and warm, buttery toast. "Just what the doctor ordered." She immediately tucked into her breakfast. Evette watched in amazement as her sister quickly demolished her food.
"Wow, that's the most I've seen you eat since you got here," she grinned.
"There's nothing like a good night's sleep to work up a hunger," Nicole smiled in between mouthfuls. "Where are you off to this afternoon, anyway?"
"It's my last day at the clinic today. I handed in my notice last week. Then I can dedicate myself full time to Elite Weddings."
"Excellent," Nicole smiled.
"What time is it anyway?" Evette looked distractedly at the clock. "I better run. I don't want to be late on my last day. 'Bye, see you later."
"Catch you later."
Moments later Evette was gone and Nicole was alone at last. She finished her coffee and picked up her mobile phone. She took a deep breath and typed in Paul's number. She hadn't installed his contact details on her new mobile, but there wasn't any need as she still knew his number off by heart. Her heart raced and she had butterflies in her stomach as she heard the dial tone. It seemed to ring on forever before Paul finally picked up. She held her breath.
"Hello," he answered quietly. He sounded tired and drained.
Nicole was suddenly at a loss for words. Her carefully prepared speech evaporated at the sound of his voice.
"Hello?" he repeated.
Nicole cleared her throat. "Hi." Her voice came out in a croak.
"Nicole?" he asked uncertainly.
She couldn't help the feeling of annoyance that immediately swept over her. Who else would it be? She wanted to yell at him, but she managed to restrain herself. "Yes, it's me, Nicole."
"Nicole! Hi. It's so good to hear from you!" he exclaimed. He sounded thrilled.
"Thanks."
"How are you?" he asked. "Sorry, stupid question."
"No. I'm fine, Paul. How are you?"
"I'm ok, not too bad.” He seemed, unsure of himself. It was peculiar for her to hear him like this. He was usually never at a loss for words.
There was a long pause between them as they both desperately tried to think of something, anything to say to each other.
"Paul, can we talk sometime?"
"Talk? Of course we can talk. I'd love to talk anytime," was his enthusiastic response.
She couldn't help smiling at his eagerness.
"Is everything ok with you? You're not in any kind of trouble or anything?" he asked uncertainly. He seemed genuinely worried.
"I'm fine, Paul, honestly. I'd like to talk about us."
"Ok. Name the time and the place and I'll be there."
"Can I text you?" she asked.
"Sure you can text me. I can't wait to see you."
She hesitated for a moment, not knowing quite how to respond. "Bye, Paul." She hung up the phone.
She was nervous, more nervous than she had ever been about anything else in her entire life, even more nervous than she had been about the wedding, but that was more excitement than nerves. It was official. She was going to give Paul another chance.
She was relieved that she'd made the call to him and she knew deep in her heart that she wanted it to work between them, but she didn't know where to begin or how to behave.
She wanted to talk to him properly, to give him a chance to explain as she desperately needed to understand why he'd cheated on her.
I wonder if he's willing to be completely and brutally honest with me, she pondered.
Chapter 14
"You're not going to believe this!" Evette clutched her hair and stared at her computer screen.
"What now?" Nicole asked in exasperation.
Evette had been complaining for most of the afternoon. Nothing seemed to be going her way and she was really starting to get on Nicole's nerves. The two sisters had been working long hours for most of the week. There had been numerous meetings with suppliers and they'd spent the weekend at two wedding exhibitions looking for ideas and inspiration as well as networking with potential clients. They'd achieved a lot in the few short weeks that they'd been in business but they were on a steep learning curve.
"I didn't realise that wedding planning was such hard work! I feel like I need a wedding planner to help me plan these weddings and take some of the pressure off me. I don't think I've ever been so stressed in my entire life! No wonder our clients hired us to organise everything. All they have to do is show up to a few meetings here and there and agree to the decisions that we've already made for them. My head is wrecked!" She buried her head in hands, finally running out of steam.
"What's brought on this outburst?" Nicole asked, trying her best to maintain an even tone. She was up to her eyeballs herself with work and she wasn't particularly in the mood to have to babysit her sister. She desperately needed Evette to pull her weight and hold it together.
"Amanda is so demanding. Every suggestion I've emailed her hasn't been good enough. She always wants something else. She's just emailed me now to say that she's not happy with the stationery I've chosen for her and could I try again! Try again?! This is the fourth discussion we've had about the bloody stationery! I feel like screaming at her sometimes and telling her to plan her own damn wedding!"
"Ok, ok," Nicole soothed. "Let's try to stay calm. Why don't you take a break and make us a cup of tea? You've been staring at your computer for hours without a rest."
Evette pushed her chair back and marched into the kitchen.
Nicole sighed and rubbed her aching eyes. She could feel the beginnings of a headache and prayed that it wouldn't develop into a full-blown migraine. She glanced out the window and watched the torrential rain pouring down outside.
Her mind wandered to Paul and the meeting that they'd arranged for the following day. I suppose it's a date, really, she thought. It’s our first date in a long time. She had butterflies in her stomach when she imagined seeing him again and almost cancelled several times, but luckily work was so busy that she'd managed to stay distracted.
She still hadn't told her sister about wanting to try to rebuild her relationship with Paul and dreaded telling her. Evette would be livid and would probably lecture her, in no uncertain terms that she wasn't doing the right thing. She didn't want to let her sister down, but she knew it was inevitable. Hopefully Evette would understand in time.
Nicole was meeting Paul for lunch the following day at The Bistro. It was a new French restaurant in town and she'd waned to eat there for quite some time. Evette hated French food so she hadn't really had the opportunity to try it out. She and Paul had loved discovering new places to eat and they both enjoyed French food so she knew it would be a treat for him as much as it would be for her. Evette had meetings organised for the whole afternoon so she knew that there was little chance of bumping into her sister. I'll tell her soon, she thought as she gazed unseeing out of the window.
"There you go, girl," Evette set a cup of sweet tea in front of her sister.
"Thanks," Nicole smiled gratefully as she took a long sip of the comforting drink. "Are you feeling any calmer?"
"Slightly. Sorry about my outburst. I know you're under a lot of pressure too."
"Don't worry about it. If you can't vent at me then who can you vent at and you've listened to my moaning for long enough
."
"I'm dreading meeting Amanda tomorrow," Evette sighed.
"Maybe you should try being more assertive with her," Nicole suggested gently.
"There's a fine line between assertive and aggressive and I'm afraid I'll flip into aggressive. You don't want me to offend our first official client, now do you?" Evette teased.
"No, I most certainly do not. So what's on the agenda for Amanda tomorrow?"
"You mean apart from pulling her hair out?"
Nicole raised her eyebrows.
"Thankfully, she doesn't need my help with the wedding dress. She's already found a wonderful vintage number apparently and she's wearing her grandmother's veil."
"It sounds wonderful," Nicole said dreamily.
"Hmm, I wouldn't fancy wearing somebody else's wedding dress, vintage or not. I wouldn't want somebody else's history entwined with my wedding."
"Have you made a list of what you need to discuss with her?"
"Yes. The list seems to be getting longer by the hour. We have appointments to sample the cake with several bakers in the early afternoon. Thankfully Amanda and Kian have settled on a traditional wedding cake, so that shouldn't be too trying. Kian's sister is a dressmaker and she's providing the bridesmaids dresses as a gift. Kian is in charge of organising the suits for himself and the men in the party. They've already obtained their marriage licence. They still haven't sent out the invitations because Amanda can't choose the stationery."
"You seem to be making good progress," Nicole tried to encourage her sister.
"It doesn't seem like much progress to me," Evette groaned. "There's still a million little details left to take care of and Amanda seems to think that we've all the time in the world. Anyway, enough about me, have you met your mystery man yet?"
"Pardon?" Nicole squeaked. She felt the blood draining from her face and her head began to spin slightly. How could Evette possibly know about her meeting with Paul? Surely Dad hasn't told her?
Evette looked at her quizzically. "Isn't William Kennedy your mystery man? Remember, he wants to plan a surprise wedding for his girlfriend and he's asked us to organise everything?"
Nicole swallowed as relief swept over her. "Of course," she laughed. "It's going very well. William's the perfect client. He's left nearly all the decisions up to me and he always agrees with everything that I suggest and he's already paid half our fee upfront."
"Wow," Evette was impressed. "When do you think you'll meet him?"
"He says he's very tired up with work commitments until the wedding so we probably won't meet him until the wedding day itself."
"Really?" Evette said in amazement. "He's very trusting, isn't he?"
"I suppose," Nicole shrugged. "I'm sorry that I'm having such an easy client and you're having the client from hell."
"Oh, Amanda's not that bad really. I make her seem a lot worse than she actually is. Besides, you've been through enough stress recently. I'm glad you have a decent client."
"Thanks, Ev," Nicole couldn't make eye contact with her sister. She was afraid that Evette would see the guilt on her face.
"Right, back to work," Evette plonked herself back in front of her computer and began to type again.
Chapter 15
Nicole dressed carefully for her meeting with Paul. She agonised over what to wear and tried on four different outfits before finally deciding on jeans, stiletto boots, a pretty cashmere sweater and a leather jacket. It was casual enough for lunch, but not too casual. It was important to give the impression that she'd made an effort but not too much of an effort. She definitely did not want Paul to think that she was trying too hard to impress him. After all, he was the one who needed to impress her.
Nicole had been a nervous wreck all morning at the thought of seeing him again. She'd caught Evette watching her closely several times, but she hadn't said anything and she knew that her sister was suspicious at her jumpy behaviour. Usually she was the steady, calm one, but she'd lost her temper twice already that morning and had snapped unnecessarily at Evette. She hadn't been able to get much work done as she was too distracted by her nerves.
She carefully straightened her hair and lightly spritzed herself with perfume. Then she applied her makeup; lots of light-reflecting concealer to cover the dark circles under her eyes, lashings of black mascara to lengthen and thicken her eyelashes, a light dusting of blusher across her cheeks and a final slick of lipstick.
She was finally ready to go. She stood in front of her full-length bedroom mirror and scrutinised her reflection. “I'll do,” she muttered as she grabbed her coat and handbag and headed out the door. Nicole glanced at the kitchen clock on her way out. It was quarter to one. She'd arranged to meet Paul at one o' clock in The Bistro.
How she wished she'd been able to tell Evette about her lunch date. It would have been such a comfort to have discussed the situation with her sister, but she knew that Evette would have been extremely annoyed with her and she didn't want to deal with her mood.
This was about Nicole and Paul, nobody else, and that's what she had to stay focused on. She missed Paul. She remembered the many good times they'd had together. She remembered when they'd first fallen in love and how he would listen to her so intently. He could make her feel like she was the most important person in his world. He would always made time for her, no matter how busy he was and she knew unquestionably that he truly enjoyed being with her.
However, that had changed hugely. Paul had become the centre of his own universe and he expected her to revolve around him and his needs. The more successful and important he became in his career, the less time he had for her. He hardly listened to her anymore and his eyes would glaze over when she talked about her day.
I wonder if he’s capable of changing, she thought. Can he go back to the old Paul, the man I love so much? She didn't know, but she did know that she was willing to give him another chance.
She walked slowly to The Bistro. The closer she got to the restaurant, the more nervous she became. She forced herself to keep walking. The city was crowded with office workers and students on their lunch break. It was a relief to have the company and anonymity of the crowd all around her. “Damn boots!” she swore under her breath as her stiletto heels began to pinch her toes. She tried not to hobble as she slowed her pace.
"Need any help?" an amused voice behind her made her jump. It was Paul.
"Hi," she grinned sheepishly. "I'm ok. These boots are a little too tight."
"They're very sexy," Paul said appreciatively.
She squirmed at his compliment. It didn't feel right to have him talk to her like that anymore. It was too familiar. "Thanks," she replied stiffly.
He noticed her awkwardness and shoved his hands in his coat pockets. They walked the rest of the way in silence.
"Good afternoon. Welcome to The Bistro." A very pretty, young waitress greeted them as they entered the restaurant. She had long, platinum blonde hair tied back in a sleek ponytail. She wore a tight black tee-shirt and short black skirt. The uniform, although plain, still managed to accentuate her stunning figure.
Nicole stole a side-long glance at Paul to see how he would react to her, but he hardly seemed to notice the girl. The place was very busy with the regular lunch-time crowd but Paul had had the foresight to make a reservation.
"I've booked a table by the window, for two please, under the name of Schofield," he said matter-of-factly. Their waitress checked the restaurant log and quickly ticked their name off her list.
"Follow me." She led the way to their table and handed them their menus. "My name is Pippa," she smiled brightly at them. "I'll be back in moment to take your order."
Nicole was grateful for the distraction of the menu. She buried her head in it and studied the lunch-time specials. The silence that descended upon them was palpable and was only broken by Pippa's return.
"Are you ready to place your order?" She looked at them expectantly, with her pen poised over her notebook.
"Yes," Nicol
e replied immediately. "I'll have the garlic breaded mushrooms, followed by the Caesar salad and a portion of onion rings, please." She was trying to send Paul a message that there wouldn't be anything romantic happening anytime soon, if ever, between them.
"I'll have the same," Paul grinned at her.
Nicole couldn't help returning his smile. He knew her so well.
"What about drinks? Would you like to see the wine menu?" Pippa suggested.
"I'd like a white wine please," Nicole replied.
"What about you, sir?" Pippa turned her megawatt smile on Paul.
"Would you bring us a bottle of the Pinot Grigio, please, Pippa?" he smiled politely at her.
Nicole carefully studied their exchange. It irritated her that Paul always felt the need to address everyone by their name. She knew it was a habit he'd had ever since she'd met him, but it bothered her to hear him use Pippa's name. She tried to shake off her feelings of annoyance. She'd promised herself that she'd give their relationship a fair chance and she was determined to keep that promise.
Paul cleared his throat, a habit he had when he was nervous. Nicole wracked her brain for something to say, but she couldn't think of anything. She was grateful for the background murmur of the other clientele. Paul smiled nervously at her.
"How are your feet?" he asked.
"They're much better now, thank you," she answered quickly. "It's a relief to be sitting down." She forced herself to smile. "The price we pay for fashion."
"Yes, indeed."
Nicole glanced out the window at the pretty view outside. The restaurant overlooked a canal and there was a boat moored at the water's edge. Paul followed her gaze. "Lovely, isn't it?"
Bestsellers: Duo - the Wedding Day and My Love Page 10