Chapter 11
Colette lay under the duvet, the flimsy protective cover pulled all the way over her head. She was curled into herself, trying to shut out the world. The sound of the shower running in the bathroom was a distant, almost soothing noise, a contrast to the chaos in her mind. A few minutes later, she heard the water stop and his footsteps moving towards her. She tensed. “Itty, I am sorry… please…” Was he crying? Her heart broke at the sound of his wiserable, dusted words. He sounded as if he was crying, but she didn’t look at him. She didn’t dare.
She wished he would stop calling her ‘Itty.‘ It gave the fake idea of an intimacy between them that they never had. “Please leave me alone,” she mattered from under the duvet and heard his broken sigh. “Itty, please, we need to talk! Please, at least look at me.” She heard him come even closer to the bed and was afraid he would snatch the duvet away and force her to talk. And she wasn’t ready for that. Iris had told him she was stupid, that she didn’t understand anything about business. He had made that her tagline, ‘the stupid Colette.‘ He had shared personal, intimate details about her, about their sex life with his secretary, and she had stood there watching. But after two years of marriage, if he could believe she had taken another man to her bed solely on Iris’s ward. then their marriage had been damned from the beginning.
And she didn’t wish to see his face right now. “Please leave me alone, Matt,” she cried when she felt him sit beside her on the bed. “Leave me alone!““] can’t!” he told her in a thickened voice. “Not when you are in this condition and I am the reason for it-” “Nothing happened! I am fine! I just don’t want to talk about it, please don’t force me…” Something in her voice must have alerted him because he finally relented with a deep sigh. “Okay, I will leave you alone for now, Itty. Go to sleep, if that’s what you want. I will leave you alone according to your wishes, but we do need to talk.” He stopped, and there was a weird kind of silence before he spoke again.
“Things need to change. Last night proved that if nothing else. After you feel better, ask Mrs. Rose to bring in some lunch for you and the rest. We will talk in the evening, okay?” He touched her hair softly, then snatched his hand away and moved off the bed. This time he left her truly alone, just as she had asked. But there was no joy in it for Colette, none at all.
She stayed in bed for a while, listening to the silence in the apartment, broken only by the pitter–patter of Mrs. Rose, the housekeeper, working outside. Around noon, someone knocked on the door. “Mrs. Angelis, Mr. Angelis asked me to see that you had your lunch. What would you like to eat?” the woman asked from outside, and Colette grimaced. “I’m not really hungry, Mrs. Rose. I’ll probably make myself a cold salad later. You don’t need to worry about it.
Go home!”
Mrs. Rose hesitated, sensing something was terribly wrong but knowing better than to push. “Are you sure, ma’am? I can bring you something light, maybe some soup?” Colette shook her head, even though Mrs. Rose couldn’t see her. “I’m sure. Thank you, but I just need some time alone.”
“Alright, Mrs. Angelis. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to call me,” Mrs. Rose said softly before retreating down the hall. Colette listened to her footsteps fade, the silence once again enveloping the apartment.
At 12:15 exactly, Colette heard the door of the apartment close with a finality as the housekeeper left. Matt had already gone to his office, as soon as Colette had let him off the hook. This was what she had been waiting for. She jumped out of bed, her heart pounding with determination. Silence was her only companion as she pulled out her empty suitcases and began packing her things. Not everything, of course. She was hardly going to need the Gucci and Jimmy Choos in her new lifestyle as a working woman. So, she took what seemed practical: her jeans, t–shirts, and a few of her formal silk blouses. She
out. Out of Matt and his very personal secretary’s life forever. closed her case shut with a resolute snap and dragged
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Collette needs to start fresh.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
