I answered my phone to that fucking whore ex-wife Gabby. What the fuck could she possibly want now? We’d said all that was ever going to be said. Couldn’t she get it into her head, it was over.

“What do you want?” I snarled.

“Nick, please, we need to talk” she said and sniffed as if she was crying, but I knew it was probably all part of her act. The woman deserved an Oscar.

“I’ve got nothing to say to you and you know it. Now fuck off and tell it to Joey” I hissed.

“About Joey…oh Nick, I think I made a huge mistake” she said “please, can we just rewind and start afresh?”

“It’s too late for that Gabby, you ended our marriage the day you decided to fuck one of my best friends in our bed” I said, no emotion in my voice at all. I couldn’t have given a shit about her anymore. She was history.

“But things aren’t what I thought they’d be with him” she wailed.

Now I knew what she was getting at. I’d recently heard that Joey’s company had lost a few major contracts and had had to tighten their belts. The money grabbing bitch was having to go without. This wasn’t about love at all, it was about money. The fucking gold digger.

“More like you can’t spend his money like you want to; I know all about it, I know his business is going down the pan at the moment. Gabby, you are so predictable. You’re nothing but a gold digging whore. Now if you don’t mind, I have work to do. Do not call this number again or I’ll be forced to take out a restraining order against you, right?” I said and hung up.

I leaned back in my chair, running my fingers through my hair in exasperation. The woman had some nerve calling me after all she’d put me through. Not only had she been having an affair with one of my best friends, but in the divorce proceedings, she’d wanted to take me for every penny, not happy with just getting the house. Luckily the house and a one off payment had settled it.

That phone call set me up all wrong for the day. Nothing I did seemed to go right and I hardly even noticed when Rowena brought my cup of coffee in. In fact, I was glad she didn’t hover about or I was likely to fire her, the mood I was in.

I needed to get the hell out of this office before I exploded, so I told Rowena to cancel all of my appointments for the morning and stomped out of the office. I didn’t know where I was going, but I needed a distraction.

I wandered aimlessly around and found myself at the park, it was relatively empty at this time of the day, only a couple of joggers, mothers pushing pushchairs and the odd couple holding hands passed me by. This was just what I needed, peace and quiet. I walked around the lake until I came to the ice cream stand, looking at the various ice creams displayed on the menu, I decided on a double chocolate cone, why not, I worked hard on my body, it deserved the odd treat.

“Mmm” I murmured as I tasted the delicious ice cream. It was good. I found a bench and sat down, just focusing on eating my ice cream and nothing else. I closed my eyes and just let the sun wash over me. If only life were as simple as a walk in the park. I knew I didn’t want Gabby back in my life, she’d betrayed me in the worst possible way, for fuck’s sake, I’d lost my best friend over that bitch. She’d destroyed my life, and she still wanted more. No, I was sticking to my word with what I’d told her. She had no place in my life anymore.

Then my thoughts turned back to Rowena. She was everything Gabby wasn’t. Everything I could want in a woman really. She wasn’t like all the others at all, they’d all been after my wallet and only wanted me for what I could give them, but Rowena, she was strong and independent and didn’t take any shit from anyone. I found myself not only lusting after her body these days, but wanting to get to know her more as a person. But I was afraid to let my guard down. I’d been bitten once and wasn’t going to let it happen again. No fucking way.

I eventually went back to the office; Rowena seemed indifferent to me, like I wasn’t even friggin there. Maybe I’d never understand that complex woman, but I hoped that one day, I might drop my guard down enough to try. If she wanted me that is.