Page 50 of Stuck

More than that, it was her intelligence and her sophistication that left me, and very obviously everyone else she talked to, in awe. She knew when to share her impressive knowledge and when to say nothing, content to let people underestimate her if that’s what they chose to do, her beautiful dark eyes laughing at them all the while. It was mesmerising to watch.

I’d never met a woman like her. I knew plenty of intelligent, accomplished, and attractive women, but none who combined all those things with such careful, gently teasing grace. None with the strength to laugh so genuinely in the face of life’s difficulties. None who made me feel the way I felt when I was with her.

Henderson was surprised to see me, but he didn’t complain, because there was always plenty of work to be done. I spent the day blessedly engrossed in the sort of detail that made me love what I did for a living. It didn’t stop me thinking about Elizabeth—at this stage, I wasn’t sure what would—but it was a welcome reprieve from the exhausting necessity of pretending to be unaffected by her presence.

Regrettably, I did have to finalise the presentation Bingley would be giving in Paris on Monday, and that required me to be in the office to speak to the executive team. I pushed our meeting back as late as could reasonably be expected on a Friday afternoon and stayed at my desk long after it was over, translating their reports into slides. Late enough that there was a better chance I wouldn’t run into anyone on my way out.

If I hadn’t been so intent on avoiding any glimpse, any encounter, any thought of Elizabeth, I might not have forgotten the after-work drinks she attended without fail every Friday. I remembered as soon as I walked into the group of people milling about in the reception area, putting on coats and chatting as they assembled to walk to the Wig and Gavel together.

My eyes found Elizabeth instantly, by the front desk, talking to Fiona and Priya. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and she had on a loose pinstriped shirt with smart jeans and trainers—somehow both casual and chic. I hadn’t wanted to see her, but now that I had, I couldn’t fathom the thought of missing her looking like this. It didn’t matter what she wore, be it the most exquisite evening gown or informal office wear, she was always an absolute smoke show.

I’d turned around to go back to my office, where I could wait in safety for her to leave, when a commotion erupted behind me. Elizabeth’s cry of panic had me whipping back around in time to see Fiona topple face-first towards the reception desk, knocking over several pamphlet display racks and the huge vase of flowers that permanently lived there as she went. Elizabeth and Priya both lunged to catch her; the vase shattered, sending water sloshing over the desk. All three women ended up on the ground, Elizabeth’s hands cushioning Fiona’s head from the fall and a rivulet of blood slowly trickling down over Fiona’s cheek.

“Call an ambulance!” someone shouted.

Fiona, already coming to, groggily begged them not to. “I don’t need an ambulance. I just fainted.”

“Everyone out, please. Let’s give Fiona some privacy,” I said, loudly and firmly enough for everyone to hear and comply. They all shuffled towards the lifts, except Elizabeth, Priya, and Mark, from Tech Support, who ran behind the desk to try and salvage the now waterlogged PCs.

“I think you might need an ambulance, Fi,” Priya said gently. “You’re bleeding, honey.”

I had to assume Priya was still in the dark about Fiona’s pregnancy, judging by her confusion when the latter lurched upright, looking herself over with panic-stricken urgency.

“Don’t worry, it’s not you, it’s me,” Elizabeth said quickly, raising both her hands, which she was clasping together, one squeezed tightly around the other. “The vase tried to take me out on the way down. I’m not sure who won.”

I strode to crouch next to her, alarm ringing in my ears. “Let me see.”

“It’s only a nick,” she said with a shake of her head before turning back to Fiona. “Do you want me to call Teddy for you? Get him to come and pick you up?”

“I’ll do it in a minute,” Fiona replied. “I still feel dizzy, and I don’t want him to worry.”

“I’ve got a Lion Bar in my desk drawer,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll get it for you. The sugar will help.”

She jogged away to get it, while Priya helped Fiona off the floor and onto one of the reception sofas. I could have left, but instead, I wandered over to ask Mark what the damage was to the computers. I didn’t even try to convince myself it was anything other than an excuse to hang around until Elizabeth returned. When she did and I saw the blood on her shirt and the bandage—which she must have retrieved from the first aid kit in the kitchen—wrapped around her hand, I was glad I had.

“Is that okay?” I asked her, joining her at the seating area and glancing pointedly at her hand.

Fiona looked at it for the first time. “Oh no, Elizabeth, is it bad? I’m so sorry.”

“It’s nothing,” Elizabeth insisted, handing her friend the chocolate bar.

It wasn’t nothing; she wasn’t using that hand, and she was noticeably pale.

“Let me look.”

She rolled her eyes but turned her back to the others so that only I would see as she unwrapped the bandage, which in itself told me this wouldn’t be pretty. One look was enough to confirm it. There was a deep, jagged gash along the pad of her thumb that welled with blood the moment she took the pressure off it.

“That’s going to need stitches. I’ll have Trent drive us to the hospital. You can call Bingley on the way, get him to meet us there.”

“Oh, no, you don’t have to do that. I’ll take the tube.”

“Like hell you will,” I snapped, not even caring if I sounded rude. She was hurt, bleeding; she couldn’t possibly expect that any of us would allow her to tackle the Friday-night rush hour on the underground by herself.

Except apparently she did, and she tried to make a weak joke of it. “I really can’t let you keep coming to my rescue. It’s wounding my feminist sensibilities.”

“We can debate the impact of Universal Basic Income on gender equality for the entire journey if it makes you feel better, but you’re letting me drive you.”

Elizabeth’s lips quirked into a reluctant smile. “Fine. That’s very kind of you, thank you.”