Sue Fortin - United States of Love

‘You really want to know?’ she asked, fiddling with her napkin.

Tex nodded but said nothing so Anna would continue.

‘Okay. When my son, Luke, went to school, I got a part-time job working in the offices at the football club Mark played for. Trouble was, after a while I started to hear rumours about what Mark was doing, what he was getting up to when he and the other lads were out. Naturally, I was upset, suspicious, and began questioning him, which caused quite a few arguments.’ Anna paused to have a sip of water.

Tex remained silent, his feeling that there was more was confirmed as Anna began to speak again.

‘As if that wasn’t enough, Mark was jealous if any man spoke to me too much, that included any member of management and any of his team mates. Needless to say, I handed my notice in after just three months, it was more trouble than it was worth. So that is why I don’t mix business with pleasure.’

‘And you think that every business and pleasure encounter will end the same?’

Anna shrugged in response.

Tex decided it was best to keep off the subject of their personal lives. Anna must have thought the same when she changed the subject by asking, ‘So how come you ended up here in England?’

‘Jamie and I were at catering college together but it didn’t take him long before he realised being in the kitchen wasn't for him. Instead, he put his organisational skills to good use and started working for a PR company arranging work placements in the UK for chefs from France and vice versa. This gradually expanded through word of mouth and soon Jamie was helping foreign nationals to settle in the UK. Such was the demand, he had the foresight to leave the PR company and set up his own relocation company.’

‘Good that you remained friends though.’

‘Yes. Through his help I was able to open my first restaurant. That was five years ago. I've been looking for premises in this area for a long time to open another and finally came across this place.’ He gestured in the air with his arms. ‘Next week I need to start looking for an apartment so I can keep a closer eye on the refurbishment. The Guildford restaurant runs itself mostly.’

Anna wasn't quite sure where the two hours went, but when she glanced at her watch she was shocked to see it was gone two o’clock.

‘I'd better go, otherwise I'm not sure what time I'll get back. I think there's a train in about half an hour. I'm supposed to ring Jamie when I get home. He'll think I've resigned before I've even started.’

Tex dropped his napkin to the table. ‘I'll take you home.’

‘Oh, you don't have to.’

‘I know.’ Tex paused as he pushed back his chair. ‘Or does it go against your no business with pleasure rule?’

‘Probably,’ said Anna, ‘but a lift would be nice all the same.’ She silently tutted at the desertion of her willpower. It was very difficult to say no to Tex Garcia.

Twenty minutes later Tex pulled his car to a halt outside Coach House Cottages. Anna noticed both Mrs Meekham's curtain twitching and her car parked in the resident's parking bay a little way up the road. Mark was obviously back.

‘Can I see you again?’ asked Tex, as he turned in his seat to face her.

‘You'd better check with Jamie. He said something about me going to Brighton next week to help a family who want to look at schools.’

‘Not business,’ smiled Tex.

Anna gulped and reminded herself to breathe. His voice was giving her all sorts of problems. ‘Pleasure?’ It was almost a whisper.

Tex nodded. ‘Are you free Friday evening? Me, Jamie and Yvonne are coming down for the weekend. I have a few things to sort out to do with the refurbishment, and Jamie's got a client he wants to see in Sussex. As it’s also Yvonne's birthday, we thought we would go out for a drink. Maybe you'd like to come too?’

‘Did you not listen to anything I said about not mixing business with pleasure?’

‘I was hoping I may have changed your mind and that maybe you weren’t so goddamn stubborn.’ Tex let out a sigh of resignation.

‘It’s hard work being this stubborn. Sorry.’ Anna looked apologetically at him, her sigh matching his. ‘I can’t anyway; I'm going out with my sister-in-law. We were supposed to go out last week but couldn't for one reason and another, so we rearranged for this week.’

‘I understand. Where are you going? Anywhere nice?’

‘Just the Fish and Fly, our local haunt.’

‘Perhaps we could all meet up there? Just for one drink.’

‘I think this is where I'm supposed to say no,’ said Anna, feeling her resolve weaken. ‘That would be against my no business with pleasure rule.’

‘Think of it as, how do you say, a work's do.’

How could she resist that smile, those eyes and that voice?

Anna felt as if she were floating as she walked up to her front door. Funny how she could suddenly justify her actions, relegating her work ethics to the back of her mind. Like Tex said, if they were going to work closely together then it was inevitable that a few social occasions would arise.

Her feeling of happiness didn’t last long. In fact, within seconds of walking through the front door it was totally eradicated.

Mark was standing at the window, glaring at the Ford Ranger as it drove away down the road. As Anna closed the door, he turned to her. From the look on his face, Anna could instantly tell he was in a bad mood. She gave an involuntary shudder as it immediately took her back to the dark days of their marriage.

‘What's with the bloke and the pick-up then?’ Mark said stiffly.

‘Not that it's any business of yours but, if you must know, that was my client today. He kindly gave me a lift home because someone didn't bring my car back in time.’

‘You still got there okay, and got a lift back in style.’

‘No thanks to you.’ Glaring at him, Anna dropped her bag to the floor and threw her coat onto the back of the sofa. ‘You could at least apologise.’

Mark gave a sideways look. ‘I'm sorry.’

He didn't sound particularly sincere, Anna thought, but at least he had apologised.

‘I was just hoping you would have time to think about us. I didn't expect you to be getting it on with your client.’

Anna let out an exasperated sigh. ‘I wasn't getting anything on with my client. It's just business.’

‘So that answers one question. What about the other? Did you think about us?’ His voice was calm and soft now.

Anna sighed sadly. ‘Mark, I think we’re better off apart. In fact, I know we are.’ She really didn't want to have this conversation. She almost felt sorry for him, guilty even, until she remembered how she had felt during their marriage, and what he had done. The pain might not be so real now but she couldn’t forget how much hurt she had endured back then.

‘Listen, there's something I want to tell you,’ began Mark. ‘I … ’

Anna shook her head fiercely. ‘No. Not now, Mark. Please.’ Picking up her bag, she made for the stairs. ‘I'm too tired and I still haven't finished work yet.’

Leaving Mark standing open-mouthed by the sofa, she went upstairs to ring Jamie.

‘Tex was really impressed with you,’ enthused Jamie. Anna wondered whether Tex was referring to her skills as a PA or in being able to say no to him. ‘I'm really happy and confident about giving you more work if you want to carry on,’ Jamie continued.

‘I'd be delighted,’ answered Anna, a morass of feelings swirling round in her head, half of her hoping the work would be with Tex, the other half hoping it wouldn't. She didn't know if she would be able to resist him for too long.

Home from school, Luke grinned with delight at seeing his father seated on the sofa. ‘Hi, Dad! You're back then.’