After All - Part Thirty Two

Chapter Thirty Two

It was a long journey the next morning, firstly to Dylan’s apartment, then on to work after a quick shower and change. As was Dylan’s wishes it was after eleven when she finally got to the hotel, and she felt awful for abandoning everyone.

She hadn’t allowed herself to over think what had happened the previous night, but as soon as she stepped into the hotel her whole body started to tingle and she felt a little nauseous at the thought of seeing Dylan now that she’d allowed herself to wonder what it might be like to change things, to think of him as more than her ex husband. She was suddenly nervous at the thought of seeing him, and wanted to run and hide away. Would he be able to tell that she had had a change of heart?

Hermione was at reception, and Mattie was relieved to see her. Strolling up to her she smiled, “haven’t seen you in ages. How are things?”

Hermione smiled, “good. I’ve been in the Lake District for a week.”

                “So you had good weather?” When her friend and colleague nodded, she added, “lucky you. What’s happening today? I’m in late and I feel a bit on the back foot.”

                “Dylan in meeting with a team from a satellite TV company. They’re in the board room. Sarah’s not in until tomorrow...Daniel is awaiting a final meet with the wedding party for Saturday. Everything else is running like clockwork.”

Mattie smiled, “I’m pleased to hear it. I’m going to check my emails and stuff, then I’ll go see what this satellite company have got to say. If anyone wants me I’m in my office.”

Drinking coffee, she didn’t add, but the thought of a drink made her relax a little. She wondered whether she was addicted to caffeine as she sometimes couldn’t seem to function without it.

She had fifty three emails. Some relevant, a couple urgent, but the rest could wait. Penning a rapid reply to the contractors working in the bedrooms, and another to the scaffolding company who were FINALLY pulling their finger out, she then set off in search of Dylan. The news that a satellite TV company was interested in showing the event was a huge coup, and she didn’t want to miss out on being part of the deal.

Outside the boardroom she could hear voices, pausing she straightened her dress, her favourite one, quite vivid streaks of lime green, brown and white. Taking a deep breath she first tapped then threw open the door.  There were four people in the room, Dylan - who just looking at, made her heart beat overtime, a blond woman she recognised from sports TV and two older men.

When Dylan looked up, he gave her a wink, then held out an arm to introduce her, “here she is, gentleman,” he tipped his head at the blonde, “and lady of course,” she giggled as he turned back to her, “this is Mat...” he paused for a moment, he’d never called her Mattie, told her he never would, but he took a little breath then said, “Mattie Davies, she’s the manager here, and this event is her brainchild.”

Her heart was gushing at that gesture, suddenly she knew that it wasn’t a whim, she wanted more of this man, he was trying to be everything she had asked him to be. And that was such a powerful thing.

She shook hands with the planned director for the coverage, a financial manager, and of course the female, Charlotte. Mattie hated that she felt pangs of jealousy seeing the easy way that the other woman interacted with Dylan, she was more than flirting and that hurt. But Mattie was nothing if not professional, so she plastered on a smile.

Dylan stooped to whisper, “I think that went well,” as the meeting came to an end. “Very well. Debrief, my office ten mins?”

Nodding she shook hands with the financial manager, then took the director to see the planned layout for cameras. Until that morning they’d been planning something fairly low key, all of a sudden they were talking forty different camera points and live feeds, live updates. The thought that she’d done the ground work and could relax for the next ten days confident in her preplanning was rapidly deflating; instead she wondered when she’d sleep next.

Max the director was a pleasant man, but he seemed to have very strong ideas of what he wanted, to the final detail. In the end they had to agree that he needed to email her the details so that she could oversee his planned changes. With a hand shake, he headed off to find his colleague, leaving her stood in reception overwhelmed by the morning’s events.

A debrief with Dylan, that wasn’t her ideal choice, not with so much running around in her head, she felt as though a clock was ticking loudly in her head.

Tapping on Dylan’s door she peeped in, then froze. Charlotte the presenter was perched on the edge of his desk, Dylan was sat in a seat in front of them, and both were grinning at each other. Mattie felt as though she had walked in on something. There was a tension between them, instantly palpable. She gave an apologetic smile, rallying her defences.

                “Sorry, you asked me to come over...but I’ll be next door, whenever you want me.”

There was a poignancy to her words that made her sigh. Then she ducked out of the room.

“Sarah, can we chat about things? I need to run a few things past you.” She called out as she passed the open door to her office, Mattie knew it was a defensive move, but she didn’t want to be alone with Dylan, she wasn’t ready, her head was still trying to catch up with all that happened. She hated that she seemed petty and jealous, but that woman was all over him, and she was beautiful, all blonde hair and long legs, and more charisma than she could ever imagine. She knew that Dylan was naive when it came to women chasing him, but there had definitely been at atmosphere in that office, a tension, and she wasn’t ready to watch him start something with a woman. She would be, once she compartmentalised things. They had to work together, hell she was living in his home, she had to be grown up about this, but she needed to give her heart a little space to re erect some protection first.

Sarah was in the room before Mattie had reached her desk, “it’s all kicking off isn’t it. Brilliant. I’m so excited.”

Mattie grinned, “yep, live coverage on a sports channel, that’s more than we could ever ask for. So the demands for the day have literally trebled in an instant. You up for it?”

Sarah beamed, “meeting lots of famous people and maybe making an appearance on TV? How can I not be up for it?”

                “Great!” She opened a huge foolscap pad that had a whole list of things to do on it, “I’ve gone old school pen and paper as I’ve been thinking on the spot.”

Dylan had spotted the look of disappointment on Matilda’s face as she’d looked inside the office. It wasn’t until then that he realised how ‘friendly’ Charlotte was. Matilda always told him he was blind to the flirtations of women, but her look had made him see how it was. Stepping behind his desk, aiming to diffuse the situation he continued to address the issues that the TV anchor came up with, and all while remaining pleasant externally, whilst inside he wanted to push her out of his way and head off after Matilda, tell her she was wrong.

It took time to get the woman out of his office and when he had, he immediately burst into Matilda’s office with a pleading look on his face...only to find her and Sarah at the meeting table pouring over pages of details. Both looked up and smiled.

                “Perfect timing,” Matilda offered coolly, “we are doling out duties, and there are a fair few mounting in your pile.” His eyes followed her gesture to a corner of the table, and has he picked up the papers with his name on, she added, “am I to presume that Miss TV woman is suitably satisfied?”

He flinched at the barb, “it’s not...”

Holding up a hand she silenced him, “Sorry Dylan, we’re against the clock, no time for small talk.” And just like that she turned back to the case in hand.

He wanted to talk to her, needed to. But she was constantly busy, from plumbers to TV directors, she was with someone every time he tried to pin her down, make her talk, or more importantly make her listen. When he finally finished his tasks for the day he sought her out, only to be told she’d just left.

Cursing under his breath, he changed and headed for the gym, he needed to cool off; Matilda was starting to wind him up again, just when he thought they were getting along. The weekend when she’d moved to his had been amazing, they’d got on so well...but somewhere along the way his feelings for her had changed. He wanted her in a way he never had before, so much more than when they were kids. But there was no hint that she felt the same way, and he wasn’t about to throw himself at her, he was scared. Only she had the power to hurt him. Only she had ripped his heart out of his chest and left him a shell of the man he was. He wasn’t open to handing her that power again, not when she was only just tolerating him.

So he gave her some space, some room.

But that had backfired. Every time she walked in the room, every whiff of perfume or the sound of her voice had an instant affect on him...emotionally and physically. She had a power he couldn’t control. And now she was being indifferent, disinterested. The TV girl...her name escaped him, had been flirting. Did the fact that it seemed to upset Matilda mean that she felt the same way? Did she care? As she constantly reminded him, he was so lost when it came from cues from women. He was completely out of his depth, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to put himself on the line.

                “It’s go go go for the wedding,” Mattie glanced at Sarah, “head off. I can deal with today, and you’ve got enough to deal with planning your own.”

                “It’s for two hundred people, you need me.”

Matilda laughed, “one wedding? Look Dan’s here, plus Martin is loving playing Wedding Planner all of a sudden. We’re a slick team. We can manage this with our eyes closed. It’s the last event before next weekend, if you don’t enjoy today you’ll miss the boat.”

                “Is Dylan going to be here?”

Mattie shrugged, “he’s got some PR meeting in London, then he’s playing golf.” When Sarah rolled her eyes she chuckled, “he was only meant to own the place. Other than your hen weekend, I don’t anticipate him being around regularly. Now go, it’s Saturday morning, you have a day with your fiancé!”

                “Dan?” Mattie called out his name as she entered the large function room. “Is everything ok? You all set to go?”

He appeared from behind a screen that covered one wall behind what was about to become the top table. “Fine. Just got the best man on his way here, wanting to check that we have a projector for his speech. Apparently he wants to project hellish photos of the poor groom as he talks.”

Mattie rolled her eyes, “who needs best friends, hey?”

He giggled, “it’s the done thing. I was mortified when I got married...” as she looked at him expectantly, he shook his head, “oh no, I’m not sharing any of that!”

Groaning, she left the restaurant, but being distracted she didn’t see the man rushing towards her carrying a huge pile of gifts. As boxes threatened to topple, out of the person’s arms, she reached out with both hers to secure things. With a sigh of relief nothing spilt, so she mumbled, “sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. You ok?”

She couldn’t see the face of the man...his height made her realise it was a man, with dark hair, but no more.

                “I’ll open this door for you; I presume these are for the Weston wedding?”

                “Yup!” He grunted, then allowed her to guide him to a table purposely positioned for wedding gifts.

                “I’ll help you with them...” Lifting several of the large boxes onto the table, she was rewarded with the rather flushed face of the man she’d almost knocked over. As she lifted several more parcels, she gasped as he spoke.

                “Matilda Davies? It IS you isn’t it?”

Immediately she looked up at the slightly familiar face and racked her brains, then she recognised the twinkle in his eye, “Will? Will Pursey? Oh My God!”

He deposited the last gift then pulled her into a hug. When they pulled apart he grinned, “it’s been what? Ten years?”

She chuckled, they’d been in High School together, A-level Maths had been the bane of both their lives. The tall gangly teenager she remembered had filled out into a good looking man, still tall, but now his shoulders were broad, his jaw square, and he was a good looking man, “More like twelve! But then it feels like yesterday that our lives were governed by Miss McCarthy!”

He nodded, “four hours of maths a week with someone who learned her teaching skills in a torture camp. You don't forget that in a hurry!”

She grinned, memories of her childhood, or rather awkward adolescence, swimming through her brain. She’d been shy and gawky in the years when she thrived on education; she’d been like that until she met Dylan, that was why she was always amazed that he had spotted her. “Good times Will. Are you part of this wedding?” Looking down she clocked his bare left hand.

                “Best man. An old college buddy and good friend. He’s panicking this morning so I’ve left him in the spa having a massage. You work here?”

She nodded, “I’m the manager. For my sins.”

He smiled, “it’s a lovely hotel, wish we’d brought our golf clubs.”

She grinned, “You’ll just have to come back again.”

Grinning he replied, “oh I will, I definitely will. I’ll see you around later?”

Nodding she accepted another hug, “I’m here all day. Hope you have fun.”

It was an unexpected interaction, but as she headed back to her office Mattie was smiling. Unaware that the whole interaction had been witnessed by her boss, her rather unhappy boss, who for the first time in his life saw his ex wife smiling at another man in the way she used to look at him.