LITMIR.BIZ

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you to be the first to know.’ He squeezed her hand. ‘You know how much this means to me. It’s what I’ve been working for the last ten plus years. For it to come now, just before we get married, well, it’s beyond my wildest expectations. This is not just my victory, Ruby, you know that. It’s our victory. Everything I do, everything I work for, it’s for us, our future.’

      He handed her a glass of champagne and she raised it briefly to his before downing the whole lot in one go. She loved champagne, loved the way the bubbles tickled her nostrils, loved its restorative effects, but today it went down without even touching the sides. She was already feeling woozy and light-headed, although whether that was from her earlier glasses of wine or the unexpected turn of events she really didn’t know.

      Finn observed her amusedly before quickly topping up her glass to the brim.

      ‘I know. It took me by surprise I can tell you. I was thinking this would come in a couple of years’ time, but Owen reckons I’m ready it for now. He said he wanted to make sure my future stayed firmly with Richardsons. He didn’t want me being poached by another firm.’

      ‘Wow!’ said Ruby, feeling her cheeks stinging with adrenaline. ‘That is just amazing,’ she swooned. Although thinking about it, it wasn’t really that amazing. Not as far as Finn was concerned.

      He’d sailed through grammar school, amassing a collection of A* in all his exams; he’d been captain of both the cricket and rugby teams and played for the county teams too; he was president of the debating society and went on to win a place at Oxford to read law. For the most part, what Finn set his mind to, Finn got. He was one of life’s golden boys. She wouldn’t be surprised if he became an astronaut one day or the Prime Minister or the President of the United States. And she definitely didn’t fancy being wife to any of those people.

      She sighed inwardly at the enormity of the task in front of her. Could tonight be the night his halo was about to lose some of its bling?

      ‘I’ve got news too,’ she blurted out, surprising herself. Her words cut through the atmosphere and hung awkwardly in the air.

      ‘Really? That’s great.’ Finn’s jaw did a small sideward shift action. ‘Let’s have it, then.’

      You see, that was the thing. She never really had news of her own. Well, not the sort of news Finn was used to sharing. The ‘oh, wow, look at me, look what I’ve just done’ kind of news. Her kind of news was of the ‘I went in town and bought this amazing dress, not my usual thing, it was a bit retro, but then I met Laura for lunch and she talked me out of it, said it made me look like someone’s mother so I decided to take it back and I bought this other one. Much more me. Then we went to that new coffee place on High Street and I had a piece of the most amazing carrot cake’ variety. Not really earth-shattering, attention-grabbing type news.

      Although in fairness, Finn always managed to deliver his good fortune with a good helping of magnanimity and humility. It just hadn’t occurred to her before. That she’d never been the one with any discernible good news. Looked as if today wasn’t going to be the exception to that rule either.

      ‘I can’t marry you.’ The words slipped out before she’d really had a chance to decide whether it was a good idea or not.

      Silence. A deafening silence.

      ‘Sorry?’

      She’d said it now. She couldn’t unsay it. Couldn’t pretend that really she meant something else entirely.

      ‘I’m so sorry, Finn, but the thing is I can’t marry you.’

      Finn tilted his head to the side, his skin puckering between his eyebrows, his mouth twitching in anticipation of a smile.

      ‘Hey, where’s this come from? Pre-wedding nerves? It’s understandable.’ He moved across to scoop her into his embrace, but she recoiled from his touch, her body rigid.

      ‘No, don’t do that.’ She pushed him away with her hands. ‘Please. Sit down. It’s not pre-wedding nerves. It’s nothing like that. It’s just, it’s just…you. I mean us. I mean me. I can’t marry you, because, well, I don’t…love you.’

      She said it very quickly and quietly, hoping he’d get the gist but not the detail.

      ‘It’s as simple as that. Sorry.’

      Finn’s face flickered with confusion, his long enviable eyelashes blinking furiously.

      ‘Sorry?’ His lip actually curled up in disgust.

      ‘Yes, I’m sorry. About all this. Sorry for what I’ve just said. But that’s the way it is,’ she said, finding a resolve she hadn’t known she possessed. Such an inadequate word, Ruby thought now, as she heard herself babbling away. It didn’t even come close to expressing the guilt and despair and deep, deep sadness she was feeling. She couldn’t look Finn in the eye. Didn’t want to acknowledge the accusation and disbelief she knew she would find there.

      ‘I don’t understand.’ Finn’s voice was fractured, his expression troubled.

      It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Ruby hadn’t thought beyond telling Finn, hadn’t contemplated having to explain, to justify herself. She’d only thought about breaking the news and then it being over. Hadn’t he read the script? He was meant to go now, but he wasn’t showing any signs of making a move.

      He stood up, his long body unfurling slowly. Thank God. Just go, Finn. Just walk out of the door and don’t look back. His strong broad frame suddenly looked much stronger and broader, his unmistakably masculine presence filling every corner of the room. He did one circuit of the table, his movements precise and calculated, his hands clasped together in front of him as though he were about to deliver his summing-up in an important court case.

      ‘I don’t get it. You don’t love me?’

      He said the words as though he’d never heard them before. Certainly not in that order.

      ‘Help me out here, Ruby.’

      He turned to look at her, a fire flaring in his eyes she didn’t recognise.

      ‘We’re getting married in a couple of months’ time. It’s what we’ve always wanted, isn’t it?’ He shook his head as though he was trying to make sense of it himself. ‘I love you with all my heart.’ He banged on his heart for demonstration purposes, which Ruby thought wasn’t entirely necessary. ‘Everything. I thought you loved me too.’

      With his gaze fixed intently upon hers, all she could do was give a small shake of her head, unable to find any better, more suitable words.

      ‘You don’t love me?’

      She shook her head again, not wanting to give him false hope, just wanting him to get the meaning of her message, which clearly he was struggling to understand. She dropped her gaze to the floor, not wanting to see the reproach in his eyes.

      ‘Jesus, Ruby! How long have you felt like this?’

      Even if she couldn’t see his reproach, she could feel it.

      ‘Oh, great, I see.’ He held up his hand to stop her faltering reply. ‘That’s just fucking marvellous.’

      Ruby could barely look as he ran his hands through his hair, his distress all too clear to see in his features. Her stomach tumbled. Even in his despair, he still managed to look breathtakingly handsome. Not appropriate, not now, she chided herself.

      ‘And you only decide now to tell me. Two months before we’re due to get married. On the day that I’m told I’m being made a partner as well. I have to say your timing’s absolutely fucking brilliant.’

      She flinched. Finn didn’t swear, not in front of her at least. His raw aggression was something she’d never witnessed before. His simmering anger was palpable. She wasn’t certain she liked it. At this moment she longed for her sweet, adoring, charming Finn to make a reappearance, but she had a suspicion he’d left the building for good.

      ‘I’m

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