I was shaken from my reverie by a series of knocks on my door.

I stood up and shook my legs out before walking quickly to the door.

When I opened it I looked back at the face of someone I least expected to see out here.

“Philip!” I exclaimed.

“Harley, dear, are you alright?” he asked with some concern in reply. Instead of extending his hand in greeting, as I expected he would, he opened his arms.

With a small smile I stepped into his hug.

“What are you doing here?!” I asked, still taken aback by his unexpected presence, as I released him and took a step back. “Isn’t the wedding tomorrow?”

“I suppose it is. But I heard from Katy that you’d simply dropped out of the entourage, and no one knew where you’d gone to. It was very unlike you to do that so I got really worried,” he started to explain.

“Well, come in, come in,” I said, and spun around to lead him to the outdoor sitting area where I’d just been sitting in, lost in self-recrimination. I hastened to brush away my tears as I turned away from him

I sensed he hadn’t followed me inside, though, so I turned around again to look at him, with a questioning look in my face.

“Umm… I was accompanied by someone else, actually. But I’m not sure now if you’ll be fine if he joins us,” Philip said haltingly, and slipped his hands into his trouser pockets.

“Who is it?” I asked. It couldn’t have been anyone else from the firm, could it?

“Um … it’s Matt. Matt Desmond,” he answered and then bit his lip. “If you’re not up to it, it’s fine if you just tell me so. It’s just that he was really worried about you, and he called me to ask if I knew what was going on with you. And when I said that I’d found out from Sheryl … after badgering her unmercifully, I’m ashamed to say … where you were and was intending to drive over immediately, he insisted on coming with me.”

I swallowed drily. Looks like things are about to come to a head. Annie’s little jealousy-driven ploy has really thrown everything into disarray. I’d have to come clean to him now. If he decides to dump me, or dump the firm, so be it. I would take my lumps. Unfortunately, that would mean he’d be losing out, in some respects, as a result of all of this.