First Love, Last Love

‘All right,’ she agreed, determined to hand in her notice the next day no matter what. Still, only being ‘on trial’, she would only have to give a week’s notice instead of the usual month. She might just manage to get through a week of possibly seeing Alex around every corner in the corridor. ‘Now, tell me, when’s the engagement to be?’

Jane blushed. ‘Saturday. We’re going to have a small dinner party here, just a few friends and relatives.’

‘Not Alex Blair, I hope,’ Lauri shuddered.

‘Until you started dating him I never considered he fitted into either of those categories. But Steve said something about Mr Blair mentioning you and a wedding ring all in one breath.’

‘Only in jest. Besides, he knows I would never consider marrying him.’

‘You would never …’ Jane spluttered with laughter. ‘My God, Lauri, he met his match in you! There’ve been any number of women the last few years who would gladly have become his wife.’

‘Well, for one thing he didn’t ask me.’

‘And if he had?’

‘Well, I—I told him I didn’t want to get married.’

‘You told him …!’

Again Lauri blushed. ‘Well, the subject came up, just in passing, so I told him I had no intention of ever getting married.’

‘And what was his answer to that, just in passing?’ Jane asked dryly.

Lauri’s mouth twisted derisively. ‘He said that once I had grown out of this childish ploy to be different I would be in the marriage market like every other woman he knew.’

‘Cynical!’

‘After working for him all this time I would have thought you would already have known that.’

‘I did, but it’s nice to have your opinion confirmed. And the second thing?’ Jane queried. ‘You did say, for one thing he hadn’t asked you.’

‘Oh—oh yes. Well, the second thing is that we aren’t in love.’

‘Aren’t you?’

‘No!’

‘You are.’

‘I hate him!’

‘For the moment you do,’ Jane agreed gently. ‘Because he’s hurt you in some way. But once the hurt fades the love will return.’

‘Never! I don’t love him.’

‘I know you, Lauri, so much better than you think I do. I fell in love at your age, I was hurt too, and I denied that love until I almost believed it myself. But I don’t think you ever get over your first real love.’

‘I’ll get over Alex Blair,’ Lauri told her vehemently. ‘I’ll make sure of it.’

She did hand her notice in the next day, much to the Personnel Officer’s surprise. No doubt he had thought the Prescott family were here to stay.

Carly called her into her office midway through the morning. ‘Mr Rand has told me you’ve handed in your notice,’ she came straight to the point. ‘I wondered whether it was because of anything I or one of the girls have done. I know they were being a bit bitchy last week about you dating Mr Blair, but the majority of them seem to have forgotten it over the weekend.’

Lauri only wished she could do the same! ‘It has nothing to do with that, really. I just—’

‘Oh dear,’ Carly was looking at something over Lauri’s shoulder. ‘Did you tell Mr Blair you were leaving?’

Lauri frowned. ‘No.’