Twelve Days: The Beginning Part 19

Resignedly Elise realised that it actually didn't matter what anyone's feelings were. This girl in front of her seemed to think that she had some claim on Vaughn and it would be far easier for all of them if that were the case. Perhaps as Olivia said, he had just been after the challenge and although Elise had allowed herself to believe in love like never before, that didn't mean that he felt the same way. And in the cold light of day, she knew she had no right to allow herself to want another man she was still a married woman.

Despite everything, her loyalty had to be to Dale. She was going to end their marriage but she owed it to him to do it right - to talk to him properly and sort everything out. Not by going through the back door. That had been wrong and she felt ashamed at her actions. She had to let Vaughn go but in reality, perhaps he had already gone.

Elise rolled her shoulders back and took a deep breath, facing Olivia for what she hoped was the final time. She needed this conversation over.

"There is was nothing going on between Vaughn and I. Nor will there ever be. If you think that you have a future with him then you go for it. It is none of my business and I will most certainly not be standing in your way. Rumours are just that rumours - and I would appreciate it if you didn't spread any more untruths about me or Mr Granger. I have no interest in him other than on a professional level. I have no claim on him, nor does he have any claim on me. He is just my boss and that is all that he will ever be."

She turned away from Olivia, afraid that the other girl would see the tears in her eyes and realise that she was a fraud. Those words had cost her more than she could ever have imagined and she was completely and utterly drained.

Elise collected her keys from where she had dropped them on her desk and began to leave, picking up her bag and her coat.

"Elise?" she turned back at the sound of her name, hoping that Olivia wasn't going to launch at her again as she just didn't have the energy left. Without warning, Olivia drew her right hand back and slapped Elise hard across the side of her face and she felt her head snap back reflexively, her neck muscles groaning at the sudden movement.

Elise grabbed at her cheek, speechless and watched as the expression on Olivia's face turned vile. "You are a b.i.t.c.h - a dirty b.i.t.c.h and don't think that your pathetic little speech makes any difference because it doesn't. I know who you are and what you are and this will never end between you and I. Never. I hope I've made myself clear."

There was nothing left to say. Shaking, Elise grabbed what dignity she had left and began to walk away, tears already coursing down her cheeks.

"Oh, and Elise?" This time she didn't turn back, she just carried on walking. "Thought I'd let you know.......Dale called."

And as the implication of those two final words sunk in, Elise slowly and wearily left the building, accompanied by the sound of an ugly laugh coming from someone who just a few short days ago, she had considered to be a friend.

Chapter Twenty-Eight.

The drive home was torture, traffic was heavy as it was a Friday night, and Elise's mood swung from one of absolute fear and dread, to panic and then through to hope that perhaps Olivia had not said anything to Dale. The girl hated her - that had become obvious in the last half an hour - but with the exception of Elise's relationship with Vaughn which she really didn't feel warranted such a level of hatred, she had absolutely no idea why.

It had begun to rain and Elise absently turned on the radio, wondering whether or not this would turn to snow in the coming days and if they would be blessed with a white Christmas. Despite all of the horror that her life represented, she still smiled childlike at the prospect of waking up on Christmas morning to a pure blanket of whiteness. She remembered that it had snowed one year when she had been little and her Mum and Dad had wrapped her up warm and they had all gone sledging. She wished that she had bottled those times and kept them safe so that she could open them up and draw on them and remember how innocent life used to be before she became a grown up and made her own rather messy way in the world.

Dale's car was already in the driveway when she pulled in and she had to force herself to cut the engine, get out and walk to the door. She had no idea what she would be faced with when she entered and she was absolutely terrified. If Dale even had a hint of a thought that she had been unfaithful then she wasn't sure she would have the strength or resolve to live through his punishment. As she had left the office Cole had begged her to wait for him, to come home with him and leave Dale once and for all but she couldn't do that. Even though she knew that things were over, she felt she owed it to Dale to be honest and up front rather than to run away and hide leaving everyone else to sort out the mess.

She had not seen Vaughn at all since he had left her in the car park. His car had still been there when she had left so she a.s.sumed that he was either still upstairs or in his office, waiting for the time when he could be with Olivia? Who knew what the truth was there but if he had cared about her at all, she would have thought he would have made some effort to contact her before she left and not left it to his 'mistress' to deliver the happy news of their a.s.signation. Despite the hole that it left in her heart at the thought of him meeting Olivia, she recognised that it was probably for the best. She could get on with sorting out her life without worrying about his feelings and she knew that in reality she needed to focus single-mindedly on that.

The front door opened just as she was about to put her key in the lock and Dale stood there with a huge welcoming smile on his face and Elise immediately noted that he was sober.

"Hi, gorgeous!" he pulled her into an all-enveloping hug before closing the door behind her and relieving her of her coat and bag. "I've missed you so much. I couldn't believe it when I called your office and they said you would be home early. I've been working so many hours recently that I managed to swing it to leave early tonight, thought we could have a cosy night together catch up on the gossip, that sort of thing."

Tentatively, Elise looked at Dale. She wasn't used to him being this friendly and reasonable and although she knew that the lack of drink helped, part of her was nervous about what this sudden change in mood could mean. He had referred to calling her office but only in pa.s.sing so she could only hope that, despite the other girl's hatred, Olivia had not given out any details of the circ.u.mstances of her early return. Immediately she felt a wave of relief wash over her that she wasn't going to have to deal with that particular battle tonight and she hugged Dale back, albeit a little half-heartedly.

He released her and manoeuvred her towards the lounge and as he did so, she became aware of a delicious aroma coming from the kitchen. Dale had cooked? He never cooked ever.

"It's only one of those two-person bags of Chinese." He said as he obviously noted her glance towards the kitchen. "Thought you could do with a break from the cooking after your busy couple of days."

Elise searched his words for any hint of sarcasm or irony but found none and began to finally relax, relieved that she didn't have to cook and could just rest her weary legs and begin to make sense of everything that had happened.

As she entered the lounge though she stopped short shocked, unable to comprehend the transformation that had occurred since she had left on Thursday morning. Dale had moved some of the furniture around to allow s.p.a.ce for a large artificial Christmas tree in the corner, which he had fully decorated with lights and baubles. He had even put some tinsel around the picture frames on the walls. Elise gasped, unable to formulate any words as she stared at the scene and then belatedly, she began to consider its implication.

Like cooking, Dale didn't do Christmas. Last time she had bought a tree he had hastily removed it to the garden and it had ended its life at the local landfill site. She couldn't even begin to comprehend what on earth had possessed him to get a Christmas tree this year, especially when he must have realised that things were so finely balanced between them.

Dale was watching her as she took in his handiwork and his grin became even broader.

"Thought we could celebrate it properly this year maybe like a new start? I got the tree and bits this afternoon after I had spoken to Olivia and realised that you would be back early. Thought I would surprise you. What do you think?"

Olivia? Hang on a minute, first of all he had spoken to her 'office' and now he was referring to Olivia on first name terms, just dropped in there casually, as if they were old friends. Her radar was beginning to warn her that something was off but she just couldn't seem to put her finger on it.

"It's beautiful," she replied, "So nice to have some festive cheer this year I think we both need it."

"That's what I thought." said Dale, "I've even got you presents but you'll have to wait until Christmas Day for those."

Those? Plural? Dale had bought her something other than the usual perfume? She almost felt like she had walked into an alternate universe and just about stopped herself from pinching her arm to make sure that she was still alive.

"So, what's prompted all of this?" she asked as Dale continued to steer her into the lounge and towards the sofa. "You have to admit this is all seriously out of character."

Dale looked at her almost regretfully. "I know it is and that's why. I've had time to think and things have become clearer over the last couple of days. We need to put some work into this, and I know that I haven't been the easiest person to be around for a while."

Elise looked up at Dale as she sat down on the sofa and registered the sincerity in his eyes but there was also an edge there, something that she couldn't decipher and unbidden a shiver ran down her spine.

Dale was watching her and as she settled herself, he dropped down to join her, running his hand gently across her face where Olivia had slapped her.

"Ouch!" he said, "What the h.e.l.l happened to your face?"

"Oh, it was nothing," she lied, "I tripped over a rug at the hotel and came face to face with the rough carpet; it's more of a burn than anything else." She really was a scarily proficient liar these days.

"Clumsy..." he said as he gently caressed the injury, "but still my beautiful Elise."

Aware that his hand was now starting to drift down her cheek and towards her neck and collarbone, she grasped it in hers and pressed a kiss into his palm.

"Hadn't you better go and check on the food?" she asked, "It smells delicious."

He kept her gaze for a moment, an almost puzzled expression on his face, and then he stood up and headed towards the kitchen. "I hope you're hungry" he shouted back as he departed, "I don't know how much they think two people can eat!"

The food was delicious but far too much as Dale had predicted and Elise was absolutely stuffed by the time she admitted defeat. Dale's good mood had continued throughout the meal and he had drunk only water which really shocked Elise. It was unheard of for Dale to drink water on a Friday night when he had the whole weekend to recover, and the more his behaviour differed from the norm, the more unsettled she began to feel.

So far he had given no indication of knowing anything at all about what had happened at the conference and he had barely mentioned it, other than to ask if it had been successful. Despite her unease at his radical change of behaviour, Elise began to accept that maybe Olivia had kept her mouth shut as she was certain she would have known about it by now if she hadn't.

Once the dishes had been cleared away, Dale suggested that they watch a movie and she was surprised to see that he had hired The Holiday, one of her favourite Christmas movies but a real chick flick something that she would have expected to watch with Cole, not her thriller-loving husband. She was amazed that he even knew the film existed, let alone that it was one of her favourites, and had to give him credit for that at least. It almost felt like he was trying to woo her all over again and Elise wondered if he had finally realised that things between them were well and truly broken.

Whilst it was wonderful and definitely a pleasant change to see this side of her husband, his actions this evening had not changed her mind at all and she knew with absolute certainty that she no longer loved him and, as such, there could be no future for them. No happily-ever-after. Not anymore.

She had already decided to leave their final discussion though until after Christmas and her heart lifted at the prospect of this perhaps being a pleasant one, rather than the usual drunken and abuse-filled day. She may be intending to break his heart at the end of it but given his behaviour over the last five years, she had seriously begun to doubt that he even had a heart left anyway.

As the end credits began to roll, Elise became aware of the fact that somewhere during the course of the movie Dale had linked hands with her and his arm was across her shoulders resting on the back of the sofa. This was so reminiscent of the old days that she inadvertently snuggled into him, breathing in his familiar scent and loving that it wasn't tainted with alcohol for once.

Too much had happened for them ever to go back to the innocence of those early days, but tonight it felt like something magical had happened and they were both being allowed to enjoy their relationship as it had been, for one last time.

When Dale tugged her to her feet and led her up the stairs, it didn't occur to her to argue. She wasn't an idiot and she knew what was going to happen but she also knew that it felt right. Almost like a goodbye. She and Dale had been in love for countless years and even though for her it was over now, she couldn't forget what they had had in the past and maybe they both needed this almost calm release so that they could remember the good, forget the bad and move forward.

They made love that night with a tenderness that had been sorely missing in recent times and although Elise didn't enjoy it, she recognised the beauty of it for what it was. For her, it was closure and she knew that in the next few days things would undoubtedly get rough but at least she could leave with one beautiful memory of her marriage to hold on to.

She tried to blank from her mind the fact that she had promised Vaughn that she wouldn't do this and she couldn't believe how the whole time she was with Dale she felt that she was being unfaithful. This was her husband and yet she hadn't once felt unfaithful when she had been sleeping with Vaughn. Even though he was probably having a merry old time with Olivia right now, her heart belonged to him lock, stock and barrel and she really had no idea how she was ever going to get it back.

Chapter Twenty-Nine.

The rest of the weekend was bizarre - it was the only way to describe it. After their strange truce of Friday night, Sat.u.r.day and Sunday had pa.s.sed in a whirl of normality. Household ch.o.r.es had been tackled side by side, shopping had been done and they had talked like they hadn't talked in a long while.

Elise was pleased to realise that Dale had caught up his hours at work and was now trying to stay on the straight and narrow. There were moments when he talked with pa.s.sion and she saw glimpses of the old Dale again, reminding her of the man he used to be and the man that she had first fallen in love with all those years ago.

On Sunday they had visited a car boot sale; really an indoor Christmas fair as it was far too cold and out of season for a proper boot sale. There were the usual items of junk for sale as well as some festive decorations and they found themselves buying odds and ends and bartering with the best of them to save fifty pence here and there. By the time they had finished they both had bags full of things that they really didn't need but they had been swept away by the excitement of it all and had just enjoyed each other's company.

They finished the day off at a pizza restaurant and then they both retired relatively early to bed in preparation for work the next day. They didn't make love again and Elise was relieved for that. That one occasion had felt right but she couldn't have coped with any more than that. Whether or not there was going to be a future for her and Vaughn, it didn't feel right being with anyone else anymore, not even her husband.

The very same husband, who, unbelievably, throughout the whole entire weekend, hadn't touched one single drop of alcohol.

Monday was Christmas Eve, traditionally a quiet day on the roads and at work for which Elise was glad. A lot of offices closed over the Christmas period but Andrews & Andrews had always believed in some staff being available on all working days, so there was a rota of skeleton staff who worked a half day on Christmas Eve.

Elise usually always worked it as she hadn't ever really celebrated Christmas since she had been with the company. Dale was always too busy drinking to do anything anyway and so it had just become another working day to her. In latter years, it had provided a blissful relief from the trauma that was her home life.

Walking into the office, she was surprised to see that it was quite busy. Most staff had obviously elected to work this year. As she hadn't been in at the end of last week, she had no idea whether Stephen or Olivia would be in but she really hoped that good fortune would be smiling on her as far as Olivia was concerned. The bruise on her cheek had largely worn off but was still just visible if you looked hard enough and she had no idea how the two of them were going to conduct anything approaching a working relationship.

She was aware of several pairs of eyes watching her as she walked through the office but no one said anything and she just kept her head down, putting on foot in front of the other.

When she eventually arrived at her desk, she was pleased to see Stephen and even happier that there was currently no sign of Olivia. Stephen jumped up when he saw her and came around his desk to give her a crushing hug, not caring who saw it would seem.

"Hi babe, it's so good to see you. Mmm... you smell good..." He began to snuggle into her neck and she pushed against him good-naturedly.

"Stephen! Put me down!" she wriggled out of his hold and laughed at the manufactured hurt that appeared on his face.

"Hey, can't blame a man for trying besides, it really is good to see you. I've missed you."

He gave her a mock pout before swatting her lightly on her backside and sitting back down at his desk. Elise removed her coat and hung it on the rack, aware that Stephen was watching her the whole time.

"I heard what happened. You OK?" He asked.

She turned to face him. Which bit was he referring to? The conference, her sleeping with Vaughn, the whole fight incident or the slap from Olivia? Hard to tell really and she wasn't sure she was OK with any of them.

"I'm fine." She said, electing not to clarify exactly what he had been referring to, it wouldn't have made any difference to her answer anyway.

"So, is it just us today?" she asked as she settled at her desk.

"Looks that way. I think Olivia said she had today off and I can't say I'm sorry she was in such a b.i.t.c.h of a mood on Friday once she heard about you and Vaughn at the conference. Christ knows what was eating her." Stephen replied. Elise had a pretty fair idea.

"Thanks for what you did on Friday, Stephen. Cole told me you had been trying to quash some of the rumours. I really appreciate that." Elise smiled at him, surprised to find that she was starting to build a fondness for this man who up until recently had just been an absolute pain in the backside.

"No worries Elise, I like you. You're my desk buddy. I don't want to hear people saying things about you, regardless of whether or not they are true. Besides which, Vaughn and I have known each other forever. He has my back and I have his simple as that." Stephen turned to carry on with his work and Elise surprised herself by reaching over to touch his arm and stop him.

"Thank you, Stephen," she said, "Thank you for caring." Abruptly she felt tears well in her eyes and hastily went to dash them away.

"Babe don't you dare blub on me," he said, "I am a modern man and I cope with most things but blubbing women are so not my scene." He laughed. "You carry on like this and I'll feed you to the office rumour mill myself!"

Elise laughed back, "And for a minute there I almost liked you. I always knew I had poor judgement!"

Stephen punched her lightly on the arm. "You don't have poor judgement, Elise you've made my man Vaughn very happy. That, as far as I am concerned is excellent judgement."

"Ha. I don't know about that," Elise replied, "He wasn't exactly singing from the rooftops when we got back here on Friday after all the rumours had started. We had words and he left without so much as a backward glance. According to Olivia," she spat the other girl's name out with barely concealed venom, "he had asked her to stay behind and wait for him so if anyone's making him happy, I can a.s.sure you it's not me."

Stephen looked at her with an odd expression on his face. "When did you last speak to Vaughn, Elise?"

"Friday, when we got back here after the conference. I left to go home before him but Olivia was still here waiting for him. Why?" Subconsciously she touched her cheek where Olivia had slapped her, the memories momentarily flooding back.

"I think you should open your e-mails Elise." Stephen said, a serious expression crossing his handsome features.

"I don't understand why do I need to open my e-mails?"

"Just do it, Elise," replied Stephen, an almost commanding edge to his tone, "and then we'll talk."

Elise hadn't checked her inbox for several days so wasn't surprised to find it overflowing with all the usual company memos. Quickly she skimmed through those, mentally noting any that seemed to be important enough to warrant further reading. There was one reporting on the conference that they had attended at the end of last week and Elise left that one for later too Christ knows what that would contain and Elise couldn't bear to see Vaughn's name shamed in print. There was also her usual morning welcome from Cole and one from Stephen on Friday which simply said "Missing you babe." When she read that one she glanced across at Stephen and he merely smiled innocently. "Well I was." She rolled her eyes and returned to the rest of her inbox.

Finally she reached the last two and was alarmed to see that one was from Olivia and the final one was from Vaughn. She opted to open the one from Olivia first.

Friday 21st Dec. 18:30 Elise, I am sorry that I slapped you today. That was beneath me.

You are a b.i.t.c.h and always will be. I do not regret anything I said.

You have stolen from me one too many times and you will get your comeuppance. Your time will come.

For now though, Happy Christmas, Olivia.

Elise shivered; the hatred poured from the page and whilst she didn't wish to give it any mileage, she couldn't help but be a little fearful of what the girl meant. She read and re-read the e-mail countless times trying to make sense of the few simple lines. What did the girl mean that she had stolen from her one too many times? And why the h.e.l.l was Olivia threatening her in any case? None of it made any sense and she looked across at Stephen to see him watching her.

"What does any of this mean, Stephen? I don't understand."

Stephen leaned across Elise's desk to read the e-mail and when he had finished, he just shrugged. "I have no idea. She's always had a screw loose if you ask me beautiful but seriously damaged."

"How can you find someone who writes an e-mail like that 'beautiful'?" Elise asked incredulously.

"Hey babe I can't help it if I'm a slave to my baser instincts." And he gestured rudely at his crotch before leaning back across to his own desk.

Elise just shook her head at him in exasperation. "How on earth you have a fiancee is beyond me." She said, looking away and reading the e-mail again.