Zac watched as Lottie dressed. He had to keep pinching himself that she was here, in his life, in his apartment. After wanting her for so long it didn’t feel real. He’d resigned himself to the fact she hadn’t been interested, when really, she’d been blinded by the aphrodisiac power that was her CEO. He had mixed feelings towards Marcus now. On the one hand, he still had such respect for him professionally, on the other he hated what he’d put his beloved Lottie through. He watched her blonde hair, longer now than it had ever been during her Falcon days, tumble down her back. The same hair he’d wrapped around his hand the night before to hold her in place as they made love. He couldn’t get enough. Having her to himself was everything he’d dreamed of and more.
It hadn’t taken Zac long to track her down. He knew she’d been staying with Riya, the analyst girl from Falcon and seemingly Lottie’s only friend. But he’d thought it best to give her space. It takes time to heal from a broken heart; even longer to mend a broken ego and come to terms with a shattered career. He didn’t blame Lottie for falling for her boss. As much as Zac still respected Marcus, his investor, as precisely that, he thought he’d behaved like a complete idiot. Marcus had taken advantage of Lottie. Of course she was going to be infatuated. Marcus was cool, aloof and handsome, he was on every hot bachelor list going; Lottie never stood a chance. But at the first sign of trouble, Marcus had dropped Lottie like a hot coal and run back to Annabel Gainsborough with his tail between his legs.
It had hit Falcon hard. Marcus’s distraction had been exposed. Zac knew it had made some of the investors nervous; it had rocked confidence in the business at a senior level. Zac hadn’t felt the bump but some of Falcon’s other start-ups had. Jefferson, the sports app, had been denied Series A after months of promises; Fix, the tradesman portal hadn’t been offered a Series B after much talk of long-term vision and goals.
Zac had kept his head down. He had an incredible team, and thanks to Lottie, his business had launched without all the inflated puff of other hopefuls and instead with robust coverage of case studies, client endorsements and handpicked profile pieces about Zac and his team. The Robert Turner interview had been syndicated around the world and Zac was already fighting off international clients before his team had adapted the platform for foreign markets. It was exactly as Lottie had predicted: fast growth, new shores, world domination. The developers couldn’t keep up. The only fly in the ointment for Zac had been that Lottie was no longer around to watch his stratospheric rise. Until he’d decided it had been long enough and he needed to see her.
He’d watched her coming and going from the shop for weeks before he plucked up the courage to make a move. He’d seen her arrive in her tight jeans and trainers, under a sporty hoodie or leather jacket; a different woman to the one he’d fallen so quickly for in her tailored dresses, expensive hosiery and designer haircut. Her style had changed, and Zac preferred her this way; it was natural and authentic. Lottie would often go for a run before work, arriving fresh-faced and sweating, living the brand she now worked for. This was a Lottie that Marcus wouldn’t have gone for, Zac thought with satisfaction. It made her all the more attractive in his eyes and he felt a shiver of triumph; while Marcus had had his fill and spat her out, Zac was playing the long game.
After Zac’s surprise arrival at the shop, Lottie had allowed herself to be persuaded to go out to dinner – but nowhere fancy, she’d insisted. There was a perfectly nice pizza restaurant just around the corner. She was no-one’s charity case and she wasn’t going to be ashamed of who she was, what she was wearing and what she did for a living.
One date led to another and before long, Lottie had grown used to Zac’s attentiveness and persistence, even looking forward to hearing from him, sometimes wondering why several hours had passed and she hadn’t received a call or a text. She found comfort in his company, and she enjoyed having another entrepreneur around to brainstorm ideas with.
She’d held out for six weeks before sleeping with Zac. He was practically bursting at the seams having waited months to get there. For him it was earth-shattering; he couldn’t believe the strength of his feelings and he couldn’t get enough. His mind was consumed, utterly, with thoughts of Lottie and the realisation hit him: he’d fallen for her a long time ago. It surprised him; the fact he didn’t care about her background and who she truly was. His father would have had something to say about it, but Zac didn’t care. Lottie had taught him that upbringing and privilege was irrelevant. Sure, it gave people advantages, but ultimately, drive and ambition were qualities that couldn’t be lumped into a class. Zac had realised it was more important to him to be able to converse and share ideas with an intellectual equal than it was to share peerage and bank balances.
Lottie and Zac had discussed Marcus, of course. Zac agreed to not mention their relationship to him; neither of them wanted Marcus anywhere near what they had, nor did Zac want to risk pissing off his investor. Not that he thought Marcus would care. Zac had half-admired Marcus’s ability to brush himself down, behave as though Lottie had never existed and get on with the job of publicly wooing his wife-to-be.
“Are you going to let me treat you tonight, baby?”
Lottie pulled a cashmere sweater – a gift from Zac – over her Lejaby gold lace bra and sighed dramatically. “You treat me enough, Zac. I’ll pick something up on my way home, okay?” Zac enjoyed the way she referred to his place as home. She hadn’t officially moved in, but she spent most nights there. “I’m meeting Myles after work, so I’ll be late. Can you hold out until ten?”
Zac rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll get pizza at the office. Tomorrow then. It’s not a question. It’s Friday night, I’m taking you out. Somewhere nice. No arguments.”
“Okay, that would be lovely.” Lottie forced a smile, but she was torn. She was nervous of what people might think – the sort of people who frequented the nice places Zac always took her to. It was a small world and word got around those circles fast. Equally, she found herself wanting that word to get back to Marcus. As much as she tried, daily, constantly, not to think about him, he crept in. She didn’t want the world to know she was onto her next rich CEO, but she wanted Marcus to know she was with Zac. She wanted him to know she’d moved on; with the one man she’d seen Marcus come close to idolising.
Marcus had loved Skilld and the idea behind it; the possibilities it offered had lit a fire in Marcus she’d never witnessed with his other investments. He’d hated the idea that Lottie and Zac had a close working relationship; he’d flown off the handle at the thought of them having a business dinner, for God’s sake. His anger that night had led to him finally giving in to his feelings for Lottie. She shuddered at the memory.
“I’ll book a table at J Sheekey’s. Fish for supper – your favourite,” Zac said, smoothly, basking in the glow of her before she ran out of the door. She was hard to pin down, which made her even more irresistible. Zac still felt as though he didn’t have a grasp on her, despite the fact she practically lived at his apartment and made love to him every night.
Feeling suddenly guilty for thinking about Marcus while standing in Zac’s bedroom absorbing the glow of his affection, Lottie crawled on to the bed. She snuggled up to him and kissed him on the lips.
“Maybe I’ll get dressed up,” she whispered, teasing. “Perhaps I’ll wear the La Perla basque you bought me for Valentine’s Day.” Zac felt electricity run up through his body. “And the grey slip dress you love.” She nuzzled at his face, knowing it would drive him wild.
“Don’t go to work just yet,” he grabbed her wrists.
“I have to, Zac. It’s not like an office where I can blame the traffic. I have a shop to open, staff to let in.”
Zac released her reluctantly and pouted. “You can’t do that to me. You can’t turn me on like that and leave.”
“I’ll make it up to you, I promise,” she stood up and blew him a kiss, guilt flooding her veins.
Lottie hurried along the pavement, already five minutes late. Dinner would be fine, she thought. J Sheekey’s was a respectable place, not too showy. She hated herself for even thinking about word getting back to Marcus. So, what if it did? She meant nothing to him; he’d made that abundantly clear. She’d heard nothing from him since he’d fed her to the lions after their meeting at the Hilton. There’d been no concern for her while the press ate her alive, just a generous final pay check which only served to make her feel like a prostitute. It was a thank you, not only for services rendered but for her continued discretion. He’d abused her feelings for him beyond measure. He’d known all along how she felt about him, and he’d taken advantage of it; he’d abused his position and his power.
She physically shook her head to release all thoughts of him. Why was Marcus still bothering her so much? She had Zac now. Lovely, warm Zac who worshipped the ground she walked on. At first, she’d genuinely wanted it to work, to give Zac a chance, to give herself a chance, to have a shot at some happiness. But it had become clear very quickly that he just didn’t compare to Marcus. No-one would. Every time she and Zac made love, it was Marcus’s face she saw. Every time they talked, it was Marcus whose opinions she sought. She couldn’t seem to shake him. And she knew it was deeply unfair to Zac for her to keep up the charade of being his doting girlfriend when, in fact, her heart was still with Marcus, despite everything he’d done to her.
But, she reminded herself, even if Marcus showed up on her doorstep, like Zac had, she wouldn’t go back. She’d vowed to never put herself through that again. Her heart had been broken and she wasn’t sure it could ever be quite fixed. For her, being with Marcus wasn’t just about lust and longing, it had run far deeper than that. When he dropped her, he’d shattered every illusion she’d had about herself. Suddenly she didn’t feel worthy of anything, let alone love. And she could never forgive him for that. So where did that leave her relationship with Zac? She knew she’d have to end it, but she couldn’t bring herself to hurt him again so soon. She’d wait a while, a few days, weeks. Pluck up the courage, maybe start distancing herself so it would be less of a shock. She arrived at the shop and let herself in, feeling a little lighter already. I will end it, she thought, when the time is right.
That evening, Lottie sat across from Myles in the same coffee shop where they’d met for the first time to discuss MarketMe.
“It’s ready,” he said.
Lottie squealed with delight. “Already? How’s that possible? I thought you said it would be another few weeks!”
Myles basked in the glow of her happiness. “I just put in a few extra hours here and there,” he said, not wanting to reveal he’d been working through the night for almost two weeks.
“Can I see it?”
“Sure. Maybe not here though. You never know who’s listening in,” he added, glancing around.
“Let’s go to my place. I’ll grab some prosecco on the way.” Lottie got to her feet and drank down the rest of her coffee, wincing at the heat as it burned her tongue.
“Thank you, Myles! I can’t believe it,” she said, flinging her arms around him. He ducked out of her grasp, awkwardly, so she wouldn’t see the crimson blush drenching his cheeks and drained the rest of his cappuccino.
“Great. Let’s go.”
Lottie popped open the bottle of prosecco, grabbed the first two glasses she saw and filled them both. She walked back into the living room where Myles had opened his browser and handed him a tumbler. Lottie held her breath as the home page appeared – it was clear and inviting. The logo stood out boldly against a contemporary white background. Buttons displayed clear directions for visitors new and old to easily locate more information about the product and the subscription packages; there were client testimonial pages waiting to be filled with glowing reviews, and account logins and tools for getting started. It looked even more amazing than Lottie had imagined.
“Here,” she said, clinking her glass to Myles’. “To MarketMe!” Lottie felt a tear form in the corner of her eye. She hadn’t felt this emotional for a long time. This was her baby. Proof she was actually worth something. And this was just the beginning. “And to you,” she dipped her glass towards him. “Myles. You’ve made this happen. You took my idea and you’ve made it a reality. You believed in it. I really can’t thank you enough.”
“Exactly, it was your idea.” Myles replied, taking a nervous swig. “I just built the back end. But it’s a great idea and a great site. Have you decided on your next steps?”
Lottie gazed at the website, she couldn’t take her eyes off it.
“I want to offer it to some small businesses, let them try it out for free, in return for a testimonial.”
“That’s a great idea!”
“We can use them for PR, social media and advertising too, eventually. Nothing promotes a brand better than customer endorsements, so that’s where I’ll start. And if they have any problems or if any bugs appear, we can fix them early.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Myles said. He loved listening to Lottie reel off ideas. She was one seriously bright woman who made him feel comparatively stupid and unworthy. He had to keep reminding himself they were a team now. He owned part of the business; he was as invested now as she was.
“Just remember it’s a beta product,” he cautioned. “Once all the testing is complete, we’ll start work on the main product. We will need some investment,” he warned.
“Don’t worry, I know,” she said, rolling her eyes playfully. “I’ll approach some Angels once we have a fix-plan buttoned down. Having the beta tried and tested by real users should help us build a case.” She took a large sip of her prosecco and clicked through the pages, inputting dummy details to test it out herself.
Forty minutes and a full bottle of prosecco later, the system was spitting out marketing plan after marketing plan, each one simply worded and fool-proof. They were individually formatted for different purposes: weekly updates, financial papers, board reports. They looked slick, professional and the content was insightful and inspiring.
“This is going to make life so much easier for small businesses,” she said. “Now, I need to practise what I preach and market the hell out of this system.”