sinking into my seat. A strange prickly sensation rose up my neck.
‘Georgia.’ Ben sighed. ‘You promised me there wouldn’t be any more secrets between us.’
I shook my head, my eyes wide open and hands outstretched. ‘I know. There aren’t.’
He rolled his eyes skywards. His jaw was clenched as he spoke. ‘So now you’re lying to my face?’
‘I’m not lying. What’s going on, Ben?’
He stood up and placed his arms behind his head, closing his eyes and trying to calm down. ‘Whilst you were out getting coffee, Kelli took a phone call from Indian Airways asking if you and Shelley would like an upgrade on your upcoming trip.’
My mind was as blank as my face must have been. ‘What trip?’
‘The trip in two weeks to New Delhi,’ he said sharply, unable to keep his cool any longer.
I sat back, stunned. ‘India? There must be some mistake; I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Well that’s what we thought, so Kelli asked them to email me your itinerary and, bingo, you and Shelley are booked on a flight to New Delhi. Apparently the booking was made at one a.m. this morning.’
Oh my holy everything. It was starting to filter back now. Me telling her about the awful reviews of the India tour and Nihal going AWOL and then us … us deciding to go undercover and find him in India. Shit. ‘Oh.’
‘Yep. Do you know how stupid I look as a business partner? Finding out that you’re jetting off when Kelli brings it up? Let alone that you were too busy to go to her gig as you had
far
more important things to do, like book a girly holiday with Shelley.’
‘I don’t remember doing this! It happened late last night; we’d had a few drinks.’ I paused to try and assemble my thoughts. ‘You know the India tour isn’t doing very well –’
Ben cut me off. ‘Yes and we spoke about this. You can’t control everything, Georgia.’
‘I know that. But then I found this blog that had posted the worst review about the trip, like really bad, and I just got caught up in the moment. You know what Shelley’s like …’ I paused. ‘I wanted to do something spontaneous.’
Ben took a deep breath. ‘Georgia, I don’t mind you going on holiday; that isn’t the point. The point is you didn’t think to tell me this before Kelli found out and you didn’t even check that it might be convenient at such short notice. Why didn’t you tell me about this review?’
‘I didn’t want to worry you about it,’ I said quietly.
‘But that’s the thing – I’m your partner; if you worry, I worry.’ Ben’s expression softened slightly.
‘I swear I don’t remember booking this trip. It was a silly spur-of-the-moment idea, but I’ll call up and cancel straight away,’ I said picking up my phone.
He sighed loudly. ‘No.’
‘What?’ I stopped dialling and stared at him.
‘No, don’t cancel it. You deserve a holiday to let your hair down and not get so stressed about the business. You’ve always wanted to go to India plus it will cost nearly as much to cancel. Maybe this is what you need, what we need. To have a little break from the office and each other.’
‘A break f-from us?’ I stuttered. I felt as though someone had pressed an icy palm to the back of my neck.
‘No, you know what I mean. Just a break from here.’ He waved his arms around the room. ‘Go, Georgia. I think actually this might be a good thing, a bloody shock, but a good thing.’ He gave me a weak smile and picked up the phone that had started to ring next to him.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. So much for Shelley’s bright idea at making Ben more interested in me. I had imagined him giving me a look of admiration for being so ballsy and taking control, not being unable to look at me at all as I’d let him down – again.
I opened my emails and typed furiously to check with Shelley that she knew we were actually going to India. We
had
to make this work.
CHAPTER 6
Tremulous (adj.) Exceedingly
‘Georgia.’ Ben sighed. ‘You promised me there wouldn’t be any more secrets between us.’
I shook my head, my eyes wide open and hands outstretched. ‘I know. There aren’t.’
He rolled his eyes skywards. His jaw was clenched as he spoke. ‘So now you’re lying to my face?’
‘I’m not lying. What’s going on, Ben?’
He stood up and placed his arms behind his head, closing his eyes and trying to calm down. ‘Whilst you were out getting coffee, Kelli took a phone call from Indian Airways asking if you and Shelley would like an upgrade on your upcoming trip.’
My mind was as blank as my face must have been. ‘What trip?’
‘The trip in two weeks to New Delhi,’ he said sharply, unable to keep his cool any longer.
I sat back, stunned. ‘India? There must be some mistake; I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Well that’s what we thought, so Kelli asked them to email me your itinerary and, bingo, you and Shelley are booked on a flight to New Delhi. Apparently the booking was made at one a.m. this morning.’
Oh my holy everything. It was starting to filter back now. Me telling her about the awful reviews of the India tour and Nihal going AWOL and then us … us deciding to go undercover and find him in India. Shit. ‘Oh.’
‘Yep. Do you know how stupid I look as a business partner? Finding out that you’re jetting off when Kelli brings it up? Let alone that you were too busy to go to her gig as you had
far
more important things to do, like book a girly holiday with Shelley.’
‘I don’t remember doing this! It happened late last night; we’d had a few drinks.’ I paused to try and assemble my thoughts. ‘You know the India tour isn’t doing very well –’
Ben cut me off. ‘Yes and we spoke about this. You can’t control everything, Georgia.’
‘I know that. But then I found this blog that had posted the worst review about the trip, like really bad, and I just got caught up in the moment. You know what Shelley’s like …’ I paused. ‘I wanted to do something spontaneous.’
Ben took a deep breath. ‘Georgia, I don’t mind you going on holiday; that isn’t the point. The point is you didn’t think to tell me this before Kelli found out and you didn’t even check that it might be convenient at such short notice. Why didn’t you tell me about this review?’
‘I didn’t want to worry you about it,’ I said quietly.
‘But that’s the thing – I’m your partner; if you worry, I worry.’ Ben’s expression softened slightly.
‘I swear I don’t remember booking this trip. It was a silly spur-of-the-moment idea, but I’ll call up and cancel straight away,’ I said picking up my phone.
He sighed loudly. ‘No.’
‘What?’ I stopped dialling and stared at him.
‘No, don’t cancel it. You deserve a holiday to let your hair down and not get so stressed about the business. You’ve always wanted to go to India plus it will cost nearly as much to cancel. Maybe this is what you need, what we need. To have a little break from the office and each other.’
‘A break f-from us?’ I stuttered. I felt as though someone had pressed an icy palm to the back of my neck.
‘No, you know what I mean. Just a break from here.’ He waved his arms around the room. ‘Go, Georgia. I think actually this might be a good thing, a bloody shock, but a good thing.’ He gave me a weak smile and picked up the phone that had started to ring next to him.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. So much for Shelley’s bright idea at making Ben more interested in me. I had imagined him giving me a look of admiration for being so ballsy and taking control, not being unable to look at me at all as I’d let him down – again.
I opened my emails and typed furiously to check with Shelley that she knew we were actually going to India. We
had
to make this work.
CHAPTER 6
Tremulous (adj.) Exceedingly
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