Letting in Light ✔️ [Completed] [Book two]

Chapter 51

*Warning! Mature content ahead*

We exit the building like naughty school children who are playing truant. I grin up at Ben as he opens the car door for me. I slip effortlessly inside the car, not quite believing what I've just done.

"Holy fuck!" I mutter shakily to myself as Ben strides around to the driver's side.

What have I just done? I've just quit my job! Shit! I've just quit my job! I feel my breath hitch in my throat in sheer panic at what I've actually said. The realisation hits me like a wall.

Ben glances at me in the rear view mirror. "Don't you dare! Just breathe!" He says with authority.

I feel the start of a panic attack begin to rise in my chest like the tide coming into shore. My chest feels too tight to contain my lungs as I struggle for breath. I claw at my throat before forcing myself to lean forward and put my head between my knees. Breathe... just breathe... in and out, I repeat as thankfully the iron grip on my chest loosens slightly.

Once I lean back in the seat I look up to meet Ben's intense stare. "Really?" He says sarcastically. "Over that prick?" He flicks his head back towards the office building.

I shake my head violently before slumping back in the chair. "No, Benjamin!" I seethe at him, using the full name that I know he hates. "Not over him! I've just quit my fucking job, my independence, my only source of income. I'm unemployed." I say flatly.

Without warning I suddenly find this highly amusing. "I'm unemployed!" I exclaim again with a clap of my hands. The bubble of laughter rises up and soon I'm crying through my giggles. "What the hell am I going to do now?"

"Everything is going to work out, you'll see." Ben says as the engine roars to life and he pulls out into the busy central London street.

We pass a wine store on the high street, making an idea spring to mind. "Can you pull over?" I ask quickly. "I just want to pick up a bottle of champagne."

Ben does as I ask with lightening quick flexes into a space on the side of the road. "I'm sure you have some bottles at home." He looks totally perplexed by my request.

"I need a bottle of veuve clicquot." I respond by way of explanation. Ben's confused expression doesn't alter, and I smirk that he has no idea what Daniel did the first time we met. "It's special." I add simply, keeping the memory of Daniel and I both reaching for the same bottle to myself.

We enter the shop and I immediately see a bottle in the fridge at the side of the counter. When I pick it up I glance at the price. Noticing that it is full price instead of the half price deal that both of us wanted causes me to chuckle. I quickly pay with a soft smile on the corner of my lips knowing Daniel will appreciate the gesture. The elderly man behind the kiosk beams back at me as though he is infected by my good mood.

By the time we reach the rented house, I feel much more comfortable with my decision. Perhaps a little time off will do me good, I decide as Ben swings the car onto the driveway. I jump out as soon as it stops moving, clutching the bottle in my grasp. "Thanks, Ben." I shout, turning backwards.

He exits the car. "You've made my day." He laughs while shaking his head in disbelief.

I open the front door, and rush into the hallway. "Daniel?" My voice echoes from the cream marble. When only silence meets my ears I walk into the living room checking he's not in there. Rhys exits the office to face me returning to the enormous hallway. "Hey. Is Daniel in?"

"You're in a good mood, has Ashley promoted you?" Rhys asks me with a doubtful look plastered across his face.

"I quit!" I respond animatedly.