“Well, this won’t,” I state. “I need to get my head back in the game, focus on work. The business. Nailing that Castow Management deal.”
“I’m telling you.” Julian taps my desk, an eager expression on his face. “Nail Melanie Castow, and you’ll have the deal signed, sealed, and delivered. Extremely efficient use of your time. I know you appreciate efficiency.”
My phone buzzes, and I hold up a finger to signal that I need to check it. My stomach flips when I see it’s from Diana.
I hope you’re well. I wanted to let you know that my online course launched yesterday, and I made a thousand pounds. I wanted to say thank you. I’ve never made that much money in one day, ever. Thank you so much for helping me. I’ll owe you forever. D x
I stare at the message, reading it over and over, imagining Diana speaking the words and wishing there were more of them. I can almost hear her excitement, and I’m delighted she shared her success with me.
“Yesssss,” I hiss, fisting my hand and pumping the air.
“Good news?” Henry asks, nodding at my phone. “Is it the Castow deal?”
I can’t stop grinning. “Diana made a grand on launch day.”
Henry pulls back, perplexed. “A thousand pounds?”
“Yes,” I say far too loud. “On her online course. Isn’t that brilliant?”
Julian’s eyebrows shift towards his hairline as he and Henry glance warily at one another. “I’ve never seen you so excitedabout a thousand pounds,” he says. “Normally, it takes fifty mill to see a hint of emotion from you.”
“Absolute fucking disaster,” Henry mutters, just loud enough that I can hear it.
Ignoring both of them, I turn my attention back to my phone, my cheeks aching from smiling as I compose my response.
Henry clamps his hand over mine, yanking my phone out of my grip. “Let me see that.”
“Hey!” I blurt.
He scans the message from Diana. “She’s just letting you know. She doesn’t ask any questions. This isn’t an invitation to reconnect. Tell me what you want to say, and I’ll type.”
“You’re being ridiculous,” I tell him.
“Would you rather let Julian do it?” Henry asks.
Julian holds out both hands like he’s begging for my phone.
“No,” I admit. “But I still think you’re being ridiculous.”
“I’m not.” Henry curses as he drags a hand down his face. “But I’m not going to allow you to make a fool of yourself. You’re a middle-aged man, for fuck’s sake. She’s twenty-one.”
“On the plus side,” Julian interjects. “He’s broken the cycle.”
“What cycle?” I ask.
“The one where you only sleep with women who could be potential step-mothers to Lizzie. Diana could never be that.”
I groan, hating that we’re mentioning my daughter now, and hating that my friends seem to know my every feeling, even when I haven’t explicitly told them. “And you’re eager to shove me back into that cycle with Melanie fucking Castow?”
“Maybe it’s a good cycle after all?” Julian offers meekly. “Maybe if you keep going round enough times”—he swirls his index finger in a circular motion—“you’ll finally find a good woman in it. Maybe you shouldn’t be allowed out of the cycle after all because when you escape the choices you make are… ill-advised.”
I shoot daggers at him, but Julian merely shrugs. “If it makes you feel any better, I’d have followed Diana into that lift too. I still would.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.” I tilt back in my chair and interlink my hands behind my head, adding with controlled vitriol, “That makes me feel like killing you.”
“Go on,” Henry says to me, gesturing with my phone, which he’s still holding. “Tell me what you want to say.”
“Fuck, I don’t know. Congratulations? That’s great? I’m so proud of you?”