“Can I help you?”
“Yes. I was here not that long ago. I sold you a watch. That was a mistake however and I’m here to see whether I can get it back. I have all the cash, ten thousand pounds.” I handed the man the ticket. He looked it over.
“Ah, the Patek piece,” he said.
“Yes. I have all the money. Can I buy it back?”
The man disappeared briefly and brought back the watch. He smiled, holding it in his hands like it was much heavier than it was.
“This piece is worth far more than ten thousand, love.”
“You gave me ten thousand for it.”
“I’ll need thirty throusand to give it back to you.”
My jaw dropped. “That’s ridiculous. You valued it and you gave me ten thousand.”
The man shrugged. “I can't lose money on this. Either you buy it for thirty, or you leave.”
“This is robbery,” I said.
“Madam!”
“No. This is unacceptable. You tricked me. You stole my watch.”
He raised a hand, looking over my shoulder. I turned and saw a security guard walking towards us.
“You buy the watch for my price or you can leave,” he said again.
I stood, dejected on the pavement. How did he get away with running a business like that? He was the one who valued the watch, how did he… it didn’t matter. I didn’t have thirty thousand pounds. My brains and my guts churned as I walked back into the mall. Niall was standing outside the boutique with two coffees when I came back. I shot him an apologetic smile.
“Hey. Where did you go?” he asked.
“Sorry. I just went to the restroom.” I took one of the coffees from him.
“Didn’t you buy anything?”
“The dress didn’t turn fit the way I liked. I hope I didn’t make you wait too long.”
He said it was fine. We went back to his car. “Straight to the appraiser, then?”
I swallowed, sitting in the passenger seat. “Actually. I called ahead and they aren’t open today.”
“That’s odd. It’s a weekday. They should be.”
“I’m sorry for making you come here.”
“I was coming back to London anyway. It’s no loss.” I exhaled, feeling my chest release. His easy attitude was exactly what I needed, even though I didn’t deserve it, being the dirty, stinking, no-good liar that I was being.
“Look. How about this? Can you drop me off at my friend’s house in Mayfair? I’d feel strange heading straight back to Belshire like this.”
“I offered you my suite. How about you stay, use the spa, have some pampering before you leave?”
“I don’t feel like I can take that offer,” I said.
“It’s no problem, truly,” he said. I shook my head.
“Missy will kill me if she finds out I came to London and didn’t come to see her.”
“If you’re sure.” He started the car, giving up. I leaned back in my seat, telling myself it wasn’t hurt that I heard in his voice. This had been a total failure and a waste of his time. I couldn’t be around him anymore. He was hiding it well, but he was upset, and I didn’t want to make it worse. If he was this upset now, how bad would it be when he found out what I did to his watch? I gave him directions to Missy’s place then texted her.
Hey, are you home? Heading to yours right now.
She replied almost immediately.
Get over here right now.
I kept my eyes forward so I wasn’t looking at Niall. I needed to fix this. I had to bite the bullet and borrow the money that I needed to pay him back. Missy would give me anything I asked for but I still hated asking. If I got the twenty thousand from her, I could get the watch back and everything with Niall would be smoothed over. He wouldn’t know that I sold the watch and that I had lied to him. He could go his way still thinking I was a decent person and I could die of guilt at peace in my county home. I needed this to end. Anymore time together, and I was afraid of what would happen. I could see myself falling for him and that was impossible.
He’d get too close to my secret and I couldn’t let that happen.
19
Niall
I was out of ideas. Officially, I was done. I didn't know what the hell else I could do to get Eddy to trust me. At this point, it was probably useless because I had tried everything. Short of kidnapping her and holding her against her will until she agreed to love me, what else was there?
I paced my hotel room. The television was on and whatever program was playing was blaring loud, but I could barely hear it. It had been about an hour since I had dropped her at her friend's place. She was supposed to be here with me. Being back in this hotel room would have been a lot more bearable if she was here with me. I offered her a place to stay and she said no. I offered her room service, and the spa and she still said no. She might have loved her friend and wanted to spend time with her, that was a possibility. It wasn’t that she thought I was unbearable and didn’t want to spend any time with me unless she absolutely had to.
Was that the case? Was I simply detestable to her? Because at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if the answer was yes. It felt like it and she wasn’t giving me any indication of the opposite.
So,
