Chapter Six

“I...” Cat started to give a negative answer again, then stopped. It was only a dinner date, not sex, so she said instead. “Only if you never ask me again.”

Eric leaned against the office door frame, looking her straight in the eyes before saying. “Never is a very long time, but alright I’ll agree. Only if you don’t want me to ask you out again.”

Cat laughed at that reply. “Are you always so sure of yourself? And how would you know if I do want you to ask me out again?”

“Trust me Cat, I would know.” Then adding, “Yes, I’m always sure of myself.” He said in a serious tone. 

Cat wrote her address on a piece of paper, then handed it over. She asked, “Seven o’clock.” Cat said one last thing before she left. “Eric, I really don’t want to see my face in the paper tomorrow. If it’s all the same to you, can we go somewhere low key?”

Surprising Eric with her request...

She sat up on the bed when she heard someone trying to push a key into the lock. When it didn’t work, he rattled the door. Then, even from her bedroom, she heard Eric swear when the key didn’t work.

“Cat, open the door, sweetheart.” Eric knocked on the door. Cat didn’t move or make a sound, just waited. Cat knew she wasn’t ready to face him.

“Kitty, come on, open the door.” Cat heard him rattle the door again. She got up from the bed and walked to her bedroom door. Slowly, she opened the door and took one step into the lounge room. From there, she could watch the front door and make sure Eric wasn’t getting in, considering all the noise he was making. Silly really with the work the locksmith had done. Eric wasn’t the type to smash a door in.

“Katherine! stop acting like a child and open this door now!” Eric was getting angrier with every passing second. He couldn’t truly be sure she was here anyway because there was no car in the driveway. Cat again said nothing, silence being the best way to deal with Eric right now. She needed to face him when she was ready and now wasn’t that time.

Cat turned away from the front door and re-entered her bedroom, laying down. She curled into a tight ball and did the one thing she said she wouldn’t do anymore.... cried. The first sob rocked Cat’s body before Eric even turned away from her front door. 

Cat wasn’t sleeping and hadn’t slept since Eric had left. She turned her head enough to see the bedside clock on the nightstand. The green lights showed 3:42am, great! She was still curled into a ball, staring at the wall, clutching his pillow to her chest. Her tears had stopped some time ago, but her cheeks and pillow still held the evidence of her weakness. Had she done the right thing ending things with Eric? She felt so empty.

She had always promised herself that she wouldn’t do this!

She wouldn’t let a man wreak havoc over her life. She knew in her heart she wasn’t her mother. Didn’t she value herself more?

Then why was she questioning her decisions? She had to face facts Eric didn’t love her, it just wasn’t the norm for women to walk away from him. That was the only reason he was so angry. Eric was the master of any relationship, and he was the one normally pulling the strings.

Because if he had truly cared about her, he wouldn’t have hidden her away from the rest of his life. He had never introduced her to any of his friends, and no one at the office, excluding Joanna, knew about them. Not even his mother! No, to be fair, the reason his mother didn’t know was her own choice. 

She had explained to Eric that if their affair was just that; she didn’t want her working relationship with Allison to be affected. Jo had only found out by pure chance. Joanna had left for the day before Cat had entered Eric’s office at his request.

Things had got a little heated, and she had ended up on top of Eric’s desk with him standing between her parted thighs. Eric was running kisses down her neck and unbuttoned her blouse one slow button at a time. 

Cat’s hands had been in Eric’s hair, pulling him to her... when his office door had opened, startling them both. They had jumped apart like rabbits caught in a set of car headlights.

“Oh! Oh my god I’m so sorry... I didn’t mean... that is... shit, sorry.” Joanna just didn’t know what to say. Cat’s face had turned red. Eric had tensed, then frowned at Jo. 

Joanna had just turned and left, leaving them there. Cat had pushed at Eric’s shoulders for him to move away, but he seemed to be frozen. “Eric, move now. I need to go speak to her,” Cat gave a nervous whisper. 

Eric ran his hands through his hair and stepped back, looking from the spot Jo had been standing to look back at Cat. He lifted an eyebrow at her. “What exactly are you going to say? I think it’s pretty obvious what was going on.” Cat jumped off his desk.

Straightened her clothing as she moved to follow Jo. “Cat leave it, Jo isn’t a gossip and she will be embarrassed enough without bringing up what she saw now.” Eric demanded of her before she reached the office door, making her swing around. Eric could see Cat was upset by getting caught out.

“I’ll talk to her tomorrow. I promise and make sure she is ok” he added, knowing Cat was worried about this getting around the office. 

Cat put her face in her hands, taking several deep breaths. Then, suddenly, her shoulders shook. Eric took a step towards her, thinking she was crying. Just as suddenly, laughter filled the room and Cat lifted her head as another burst of laughter left her. “I’m sorry, I know it’s not a laughing matter, but did you see her face? I don’t think she could have been anymore shocked had you been standing there buck naked.” 

Smiling, Eric pulled her into his arms. “Trust you not to react the way I think you will. I thought you were crying.” Eric admitted, shaking his head at her. 

Jo really hadn’t told anyone and, being Eric’s secretary, she had to keep a lot to herself, but normally that related to work information, not that Eric was undressing Cat on his desk. 

After that afternoon getting caught, Eric had made it a point to always close and lock his office door. 

The last thing they needed was Eric’s mother walking in on them. Now that was a scene Cat never wanted to experience. 

The one thing it had done was allow Jo and Cat to have a closer connection that had developed into both women liking and respecting each other. Cat wasn’t like any of Eric’s past women.

Cat and Eric were cautious when it came to eating out, something they rarely did. It horrified Cat that at the thought of them ending up in the papers and her affair with Eric becoming public knowledge. 

She would feel totally different if they had been dating, but that wasn’t what they shared. Even in the beginning, he had warned her on their first date, thinking back to that night......