back in the office with the lunch behind
her.
The morning at work dragged, as she knew it would. The clock hands crawled around to lunchtime. Ludwig was waiting for her in the restaurant with two glasses of champagne already ordered and on
the table. He stood up and kissed her, not noticing that she turned her head slightly so his mouth landed more on her cheek than on her lips. He handed her a glass of champagne, lifted his own and
chinked it against hers.
‘I’ve got some pictures of the apartment,’ said Lud, digging in his jacket pocket. He straightened out the sheets of paper and handed them over to Clare. ‘I thought they
might tempt you, even though I promised myself that I wouldn’t pressurize you,’ and he winked.
‘Wow,’ she said, meaning it. Spacious and cream-coloured, big bouncy sofas and an open-plan arrangement with, since it was a corner apartment, two full walls of windows letting in
the light. There was a view of the sun-sparkled Dubai sea in the near distance. The sight of those blue waters nearly had her throwing away her life as she knew it and promising to go with Lud.
Clare loved the sea; she loved the smell of it, the feel of the cold salty water against her skin, the sensation of slipping underneath it and disappearing into another world. Dubai and that sea
could be her home for two years. Everything she loved – space, sun, sea . . . Was she mad turning it down?
‘That’s the apartment right there to the le—’
Then Lud’s phone rang again and his attention shifted away from her.
Oh Lud, it looks gorgeous, it really does and half of me wants to go with you so badly, but the other half knows I can’t. I can’t miss this opportunity to be the angel at the top of
the family tree for once. I can’t be second best any more. To you or anyone.
‘I shall be back home on the day you return from the holiday with your friends,’ he said. ‘Let’s toast that the time until then will fly.’ He drank, she
didn’t. Clare replaced her glass on the table.
‘Lud, I think we should split up.’
His lips paused on the glass.
‘We can’t have a long-distance relationship; we’d just be delaying the inevitable. We wouldn’t survive it.’
‘Other people manage,’ said Ludwig, putting his glass down. He looked calm, but she had totally knocked him off balance, she knew.
‘I’ve been thinking . . . your change of job happening at the same time as my promotion is fate, Lud,’ said Clare, pushing down on those feelings of protest which were trying
to rise within her. ‘You need someone who will support you and give you a family, someone to work for and look after. I’m not that woman.’
‘Are you sure, Clare? Can you put your hand on your heart and say that you are taking this position because
you
want it?’ His words were gentle, almost a whisper, and yet
they plunged into her chest and straight through the centre of her heart.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I can say that. I am sure.’
‘We can make this work,
Liebling
.’
Clare took a deep breath.
‘I don’t want to.’
She watched him gulp hard.
‘I see.’
‘I love you but I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t give my job everything I had. I have to. And, let’s face it, your work is your priority too.’
‘You’re my priority,’ he said firmly.
‘No, I’m not,’ replied Clare. ‘I can’t remember the last time we had a conversation for longer than five minutes without your phone coming between us.’ Lud
opened up his mouth to answer and Clare held up her hand to stop him. ‘You don’t have to apologize or explain, Lud. I know how it is. This is your golden moment and you must take it and
this is my golden moment and I must take it. You can go to Dubai this evening as a free man. And concentrate on your job without the distraction of me.’
‘There is more to my life than work, Clare,’ he said, shock evident in his voice that she could think otherwise.
‘Is there?’ she
her.
The morning at work dragged, as she knew it would. The clock hands crawled around to lunchtime. Ludwig was waiting for her in the restaurant with two glasses of champagne already ordered and on
the table. He stood up and kissed her, not noticing that she turned her head slightly so his mouth landed more on her cheek than on her lips. He handed her a glass of champagne, lifted his own and
chinked it against hers.
‘I’ve got some pictures of the apartment,’ said Lud, digging in his jacket pocket. He straightened out the sheets of paper and handed them over to Clare. ‘I thought they
might tempt you, even though I promised myself that I wouldn’t pressurize you,’ and he winked.
‘Wow,’ she said, meaning it. Spacious and cream-coloured, big bouncy sofas and an open-plan arrangement with, since it was a corner apartment, two full walls of windows letting in
the light. There was a view of the sun-sparkled Dubai sea in the near distance. The sight of those blue waters nearly had her throwing away her life as she knew it and promising to go with Lud.
Clare loved the sea; she loved the smell of it, the feel of the cold salty water against her skin, the sensation of slipping underneath it and disappearing into another world. Dubai and that sea
could be her home for two years. Everything she loved – space, sun, sea . . . Was she mad turning it down?
‘That’s the apartment right there to the le—’
Then Lud’s phone rang again and his attention shifted away from her.
Oh Lud, it looks gorgeous, it really does and half of me wants to go with you so badly, but the other half knows I can’t. I can’t miss this opportunity to be the angel at the top of
the family tree for once. I can’t be second best any more. To you or anyone.
‘I shall be back home on the day you return from the holiday with your friends,’ he said. ‘Let’s toast that the time until then will fly.’ He drank, she
didn’t. Clare replaced her glass on the table.
‘Lud, I think we should split up.’
His lips paused on the glass.
‘We can’t have a long-distance relationship; we’d just be delaying the inevitable. We wouldn’t survive it.’
‘Other people manage,’ said Ludwig, putting his glass down. He looked calm, but she had totally knocked him off balance, she knew.
‘I’ve been thinking . . . your change of job happening at the same time as my promotion is fate, Lud,’ said Clare, pushing down on those feelings of protest which were trying
to rise within her. ‘You need someone who will support you and give you a family, someone to work for and look after. I’m not that woman.’
‘Are you sure, Clare? Can you put your hand on your heart and say that you are taking this position because
you
want it?’ His words were gentle, almost a whisper, and yet
they plunged into her chest and straight through the centre of her heart.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I can say that. I am sure.’
‘We can make this work,
Liebling
.’
Clare took a deep breath.
‘I don’t want to.’
She watched him gulp hard.
‘I see.’
‘I love you but I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t give my job everything I had. I have to. And, let’s face it, your work is your priority too.’
‘You’re my priority,’ he said firmly.
‘No, I’m not,’ replied Clare. ‘I can’t remember the last time we had a conversation for longer than five minutes without your phone coming between us.’ Lud
opened up his mouth to answer and Clare held up her hand to stop him. ‘You don’t have to apologize or explain, Lud. I know how it is. This is your golden moment and you must take it and
this is my golden moment and I must take it. You can go to Dubai this evening as a free man. And concentrate on your job without the distraction of me.’
‘There is more to my life than work, Clare,’ he said, shock evident in his voice that she could think otherwise.
‘Is there?’ she
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