chapter 2

Martine barely heard from Sid over the next fortnight. He was always so busy during the day, followed by extensive wining and dining of potential clients in the evening. It left Martine feeling miserable; made worse by the fact that she was constantly hungry trying to slim down a little. However, she still couldn't bring herself to use the gym. It just wasn't her style.

'Hey, Andre,' Martine called as she saw him coming out of his apartment above the garages of Sid's extensive grounds. 'Have you heard from Sid this week?'

'Of course,' Andre nodded, looking a little shifty. 'I spoke to him a few minutes ago in fact. You could probably still catch him on my computer upstairs if you want? We're in the middle of a conference call,' Andre offered gently, starting to walk away.

Martine nodded and headed up the stairs to Andre's place. The musky smell of the hunky guy's room hit her immediately as she looked across the well-ordered room to the table where his laptop was sitting. There was Sid chatting away with several other guys on a conference call which Andre was obviously still logged in to. Martine could see they were in the middle of discussing something important and didn't want to jump straight in front of the camera right away, so she hung back, listening for her opportunity to chime in and surprise him.

'I don't care what you have to do. Break whatever laws you like,' Sid ordered, like some kind of mafia boss. 'The deadline for getting these contracts signed is going to be tight as it is.'

'Tight huh?' chuckled Frank, one of Sid's most sleazy and detestable business clients. 'A bit like that girl's ass? The cute little blonde you picked up last night? She couldn't keep her hands off you!' he chuckled, sending the entire chat room into bemused laughter. Martine's heart pounded out of her chest. Had Sid cheated on her?

'Alright, alright!' smiled Sid, trying to calm them all down, but clearly loving the bravado. 'You make a fair point. She really did have one hot ass though...' he boasted, sending the room into a frenzy of guffaws again. 'And boy, did I enjoy it when I finally got it upstairs!' he mouthed off. 'Not had one like that in a while!'

'You mean since last week?' shot Frank again.

Martine ran from the room, racing down the stairs and bumping straight into Andre's huge chest as she turned the corner. Momentarily dazed, she looked at Andre with a feeling of hatred. 'Did you know about Sid cheating on me?' she shouted. 'Did you know he did it with multiple girls whenever he fancied it?' she continued, almost screaming.

Andre looked at her sadly and then nodded slowly, with genuine pity in his eyes. 'I couldn't tell you...' he began. 'I had to let you find out yourself,' he said, almost apologetically and Martine knew Andre had let her go upstairs to his apartment on purpose. She didn't know whether to be grateful or furious. He reached out a hand as if to comfort her, but Martine stormed off back to the main house and collapsed in a heap on the sofa.

Andre waited a couple of hours before he dared check on Martine, but by the time he did enter the house, Martine was looking much calmer, sat the kitchen counter having mixed and eaten an entire batch of cookie dough. 'Hey, are you okay?' he asked quietly, sitting down next to her on the stools. 'I'm really sorry that I caused this, but I felt like you had to know.'

Martine sighed. The emotion had left her and she felt ready to talk about it. 'I'm fine,' she lied. 'Thank you. I know you were in an awkward position. And you're right, I would rather know,' she nodded, surprising herself at how positive she sounded when it felt like her entire life was crumbling away.

Andre relaxed a little, breathing out in relief. 'Phew! I felt so awful over there.' Martine smiled consolingly. 'Truth is, your Sid is probably the worst person I have ever had the misfortune to meet. I'm only here until my contract ends and then I am out of this place for good. I can't work for guys like Sid.'

Martine looked at him, interested. She had always felt that Andre disliked Sid, but had perhaps wrongly assumed that that dislike also extended to her. She nodded and encouraged Andre to go on.

'There's a reason why Sid has grown his company so much since he took over his dad's business, and it isn't from playing by the rules,' Andre explained, shaking his head in disgust. 'He worked out pretty fast that I wouldn't be his yes man. That's why I've been left here with you whilst he's away.'

Martine couldn't believe that she had misjudged Sid so much. How had she ever fallen in love with such a creep? But, thinking back on things now, a lot started to make sense. Maybe she just hadn't wanted to see it before. 'Well,' Martine began firmly. 'Screw him!' she nodded, standing up tall. 'You haven't told anyone that I overheard their chat before?' she asked Andre, who shook his head straight away. 'Well then, there's no reason he has to know. The two of us are going to have the best few weeks whilst he's away, playing with his credit card. Bleed the lying, cheating asshole for all he's worth!'

Andre smiled; a genuinely happy smile. 'Now that's a plan I can get on-board with!'