Page 5 of Polo Fever
He stops and stares at me, baffled. ‘You… you haven’t seen it?’
‘Seen what?’
His eyes widen with horror and he opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted by Ren, who barks my name from his office, making both of us jump.
‘Get in here,’ Ren orders, disappearing again.
The blood in my veins goes cold. Ren should be in a good mood after the success of last night. I have to say I was expecting a little more praise from everyone today. Something has definitely happened and now I don’t have time to check my phone to find out what it is before facing Ren. I’m unprepared for whatever tantrum is coming my way, so I’m just going to have to wing it. Grabbing his coffee, I step around my desk and shuffle in to his office.He’s waiting for me, perched on the edge of his desk, a cloud of misery descended over his expression. As I come in, he lifts his eyes to look at me in despair.
‘Shut the door,’ he says through gritted teeth.
I do so before holding out his coffee. He doesn’t take it. I slowly lower my hand.
What the fuck is with everyone?
‘Is everything all right?’ I ask, my brain racing to provide an explanation for this strange atmosphere I’ve walked blindly into today.
Maybe there’s been a bout of food poisoning amongst all the guests this morning that I’m unaware of. Did someone come to the party last night who wasn’t supposed to be there? Maybe there’s a scathing review of the collection.
‘Is everything all right?’ Ren repeats in a hoarse voice, looking at me as though I’ve lost my mind. ‘Is everything all right?Ash, how could you do this to me?’
‘Do what?’
Closing his eyes, he sighs. ‘You haven’t seen it.’
‘No. What haven’t I seen?’ I ask impatiently.
His eyes flashing open, Ren picks up his phone. The page he needs is already up on his screen so he just hands it out to me. Putting his coffee down on the table by the sofa, I step across his office to take his phone from him. It’s a picture from last night that’s been posted on social media. I gasp, my hand flying to cover my mouth in disbelief.
It’s a perfectly clear shot of Chris Courtney kissing me up against the back door in the alleyway behind the venue of last night’s event.
‘Oh my God,’ I whisper, my heart pounding so hard, my ears are ringing and my breath running short and shallow.
This can’t be happening.This can’t be happening.
Numb with shock, I scroll through the comments beginning to spread through social media about it. Reporters are feasting on the scandal of thesordid affair between the married tennis star and junior fashion assistant, promising exclusive details if people click on the links provided. Disapproving comments are appearing thick and fast.
Suddenly feeling like I might throw up, I shove Ren’s phone back into his grasp and clutch at my stomach, stumbling backwards as though someone had physically punched me in the gut and wishing I had something to balance myself on as my knees feel weak. Ren watches on silently as I fumble back across the room to sink down on the sofa.
‘I can explain,’ I say weakly, pushing my hair back from my face as my forehead grows moist with sweat. I don’t know where to begin.
It’s been a whirlwind with Chris. Things have moved quickly but intensely, both of us falling faster and harder than we could have imagined. Contrary to what the headlines are saying, he’s not married. Or, rather, he soon won’t be. He’s getting a divorce, but the problem is, no one knows that yet. He and his almost-ex-wife haven’t wanted it to play out publicly, but they’ve been separated for a while.
He told me everything the first time we went for a drink together; he’d had a meeting with Ren that day in a restaurant in West London and, once Ren had left in the taxi I’d called him, Chris and I were walking in the same direction and got chatting. I’ve never felt so at ease in someone’s company so quickly. He is funny, charming, interesting and captivating. Even though he was separated,I was wary of getting involved with someone in a complicated situation, but it was hard to keep my distance. I couldn’t help falling for him.
We decided it was best to keep things secret because of the delicacy surrounding his divorce proceedings and also the threat the relationship posed to my job. But last night, having spent the entire party acting professionally around each other, our willpower broke and we found a moment to sneak outside the back.
I thought we were alone. But someone saw.
Ren is so incensed, he doesn’t seem to want to hear my explanation.
‘Do you know how long I have worked on this collection?’ he seethes, his knuckles growing white as they grip the edge of his desk. ‘Do you know how much blood and sweat and tears has gone into this?’
‘Ren—’ I begin, but he cuts me off.
‘You have put my entire career at risk!’ he bellows. ‘How could youdo this to me?’
‘It wasn’t… we didn’t…’
