Engament Ring

Unedited, so if you spot mistakes, let me know. I don't really have an A/N tonight. So, yeah... hope you like it. It's from Daniel's POV, by the way.

Sarah xx

~*~*~

"Why are you still here?" Evelyn asked me accusingly, raising an eyebrow at me as she entered my office. Her arms were folded over her chest and she was giving me that matronly look that always made me squirm under her gaze. "You're supposed to be in Amesbury, Daniel. What if your grandmother called, huh? What would I say to her, because if you think I'm going to take your side over that battleaxe, then you are thoroughly mistaken. Now, turn that computer off and get going!"

I was working a half day today. Considering it was Saturday and I had won a major settlement case this week, my boss had decided to reward me with a weekend off, although I insisted on coming in this morning so I could finalise some paperwork. It should have only take a few minutes to do- half an hour maximum- but a visit from Clara Donaldson had completely thrown me off track.

She'd turned up randomly, making the most of the fact that Evelyn was away from her desk at the time. When she waltzed into the office and flirtatiously made herself at home in the chair opposite me, her shirt dangerously unbuttoned more than was appropriate, I knew I'd be in trouble. Evelyn has been trying to monitor just how much time Clara spends in my company and if it goes on for longer than twenty minutes, she'll not so subtly come to the door and drag me away. I couldn't thank Evelyn enough for all the times she's saved me.

At the beginning, Clara's attention was rather flattering. I mean, she's a very pretty girl and she's fiercely intelligent, but her advances have become a little more than I can handle. The way she would smile at me, make suggestive comments, or the way her hand would linger on my forearm in the staff refectory, it was all too much. I wasn't the least bit interested and I was close to snapping and telling her that. In the meantime, Evelyn was my bodyguard, which I'm aware sounds rather pathetic.

When Evelyn had returned from the mail room and saw Clara in my office, her pencil skirt riding high on her thigh, she stormed in and bluntly told Clara to leave. There was no explanation, just a simple 'Get out,' and that was that. I didn't miss the glare Evelyn threw my way s she exited and escorted Clara to the lift. It's the same glare she's levelling on my now.

"Seriously, Daniel," her voice becomes sterner the longer I'm sat at my desk. After another minute passes, Evelyn rounds the desk, pushes my chair out of the way and starts tapping away at the computer. She saves the document I was working on, closes down the applications and selects shut down. When the screen fades to black, Evelyn stands upright, sending a triumphant smile my way. "There, you're done for the weekend. Now, do I have to ask you again to leave?"

"No," I huff, pushing myself up from the chair and grabbing my things. Patting the pocket of my jeans, I make sure that I have my phone and wallet, and the car keys in my hand. "Right, I'm going. See, I'm even walking towards the door."

"Am I supposed to be impressed by that?" Evelyn cuttingly asks, her voice monotone. I roll my eyes at her words but still pull her into a warm hug. When I let her go and start walking the hallway to the lifts, I hear Evelyn's footsteps behind, trying to catch up with my long strides. "Wait a second." I pause and turn, seeing Evelyn practically jogging in her heels. It looked dangerous, considering we have carpets throughout this floor. When she's within five feet of me, Evelyn stops trotting and instead stands still, a smile on her face. "I saw that article on your computer, by the way. The one Sophie Clément from Vogue emailed through to you."

"Snooping again?" My voice was slightly amused, which masked the annoyance perfectly. I hated it when Evelyn went through my things, especially my mail and emails. Talk about invasion of privacy. "What about it?"

Evelyn beamed. "Oh, you know..." She says cryptically. "Girls like Sophie Clément don't come into your life every day. Just keep that in mind."

I nod, turning to press the button to call for the lift. Evelyn stays with me as I wait, the doors pinging open a minute later. I enter the lift and press the ground floor button, waving to Evelyn as the doors move to close, only to be stopped when Evelyn throws out a hand,making the doors open again.

"I've booked your flight to New York for June 2nd," Evelyn mentions. "But I didn't know whether I should have booked you a hotel. When Sophie calls you tonight, ask her whose bed you'll be sleeping in."

She winks at me, spins in her heels and starts bolting back to her cubicle outside my office, leaving me no time to protest her request. Instead, I watch her dumbfounded, mouth ajar, and blinking. I hadn't given any thought to where I would be staying in New York. I just presumed, considering Sophie and I weren't on the best of terms, that I would stay at a hotel. She mentioned before that her family's hotel on 5th Avenue was booked out for guests, so I assumed that's where I would stay.

Still, I mentally bank the question and vow to ask Sophie later when we're on the phone.

Seeing as I'd worn casual clothes to go into the office this morning- which, for some bizarre reason, made all the women look at me oddly- all I had to do was jump into the car and start driving out of London. First, I'd have to stop and pick up Elias, Nola and Alfie.

Nola, who has an immense fondness for the rescue dog, insists that she and Elias look after him on Saturdays while I am at work. I was a little sceptical at first, considering that Elias' reliance was touch and go, but he's been making an effort to spend more and more time with Nola these past few weeks. He's been finishing work earlier so that he can pick Nola up from school. They've been hanging out most afternoons and Elias had somehow managed to convince Jenna- Nola's mother and his one-time fling- to allow Nola to sleep over last night. Elias had even insisted on taking every other weekend off work so that he could be with his daughter.

Whatever reality check Sophie gave him has worked a treat. Even Jenna's impressed by the massive turn around in his attitude. As much as I want to believe that Elias is making progress and wants to be a better father for Nola, a part of me is worried that this is simply a phase and that he'll get bored eventually. I hope, for Nola's sake, that I'm wrong.

Pulling up at the curbside outside Elias' Notting Hill flat, I spot him and Nola already waiting, a weekend bag packed at Elias' feet while Alfie is stood up on Nola's lap, liking her face. I smile as I pull up the hand break, open the door and jump out. Nola is quick to jump to her feet, rushing down the few steps before throwing her arms around me in a tight hug.

"Hey, Nola," I laugh at her greeting, reaching down to plant a kiss on her forehead. "Ready?"

"She's been ready since eight this morning," Elias informs me as he carries Nola's bag to the boot of the car. Setting it inside, he slams the boot closed and walked to open the rear driver's side door for Nola. She places Alfie in the car first and climbs in after him, with Elias reaching down to buckle Nola's seatbelt securely. "Do you need anything? Water, the iPad, your teddy?"

"I'm fine, Daddy," Nola shakes her head, patting Alfie on his head. Elias smiles and moves to close the door. "Daddy? I need to pee."

Elias laughed, unbuckling Nola's belt and took her back into the house so she could use the little girls' room. Alfie escaped from the car, running after the pair and disappearing back inside the building. I shook my head at what was happening. I think I've officially lost my dog.

The trio returned shortly after, and once everyone was buckled in, I started to navigate my way around London. I hated driving in the city and I avoided it as much as I could because it always managed to put me in a bad mood. I was easily annoyed when it came to driving and the more drivers that cut me up or beeped at me, the angrier I was getting. By the time we were outside London, I could hardly see straight.

"Pull over," Elias instructed, pointing at an exit that led to a motorway services. "No offence, but you're in a foul mood and you're going at least twenty miles over the speed limit. It may have escaped your notice but my daughter is in the car and I'd rather you didn't try to kill her- or us- with your Nurburgring style driving."

I loosened my grip on the steering wheel and put on the indicator, speeding up the exit ramp and heading for the services. Spotting a sign for a Costa coffee shop inside, I park closest to the building,parking the car in one of the designated bays. I kill the engine and open the door, stretching my legs as I get out.

"Nola!" I heard Elias shout, watching him round the car and running after his daughter. He caught up with her just as she and Alfie were about to cross the road, scooping her up into his arms and twisting her away from the road. "Do not run away like that, Nola Anneliese Braddock. Daniel, have you ever heard of a child lock? Come on, let's go get you a Fruit Shoot, Nola."

I sigh and rub a hand down my face, stealing a look at my watch to check the time. A little mental maths later and I figure that it's about eight am in New York. Fishing my phone from my pocket, I go to my contacts list, choose favourites and hit the name at the top of the list.

Sophie.

"What's happened?" I heard her smooth voice through the earpiece of my phone.

"I'm pissed off," I explain as I walk across the lane and into the services. I make my way to Costa and order a massimo Americano before turning my attention back to Sophie. "Drivers these days annoy me. It took us the better part of an hour to get out of the city!"

I heard Sophie's melodic laugh coming all the way from New York. "Major case of road rage?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," I grunt as I pay contactless for my order. Moving to the other end of the counter, I wait for my drink to be made. "Elias also went off on one with me because I didn't put the child lock on the car door and Nola got out and almost ran into the road. I think I need to go back to bed and start today all over again."

A burgundy take-out cup with COSTA written in white was pushed towards me, the bitter scent of coffee reaching my nose and making me feel more alert. "Here's your drink, gorgeous," the barista said as she winked at me. I stared at her for a moment- blonde hair, blue eyes, tall and slender- and was instantly reminded of Arabella. "I wrote my number on your cup, if you ever want to call."

I frowned. "I'm married."

With that, I walked away. I heard more laughter coming from somewhere, only realising it was Sophie when she shouted out my name. I brought my phone back my ear. "Why are you laughing?" I demanded.

"Married?" I heard Sophie scoff. In the background, I heard her tapping away on her computer at a leisurely pace, unlike all the other times I've heard her work. The tap-tap noise comes to an end and I hear Sophie walking around her office space. "Who's the unlucky woman?"

I crack a smile. "Who said that she was unlucky?" I challenged. I see Elias and Nola walking towards me, the little girl sipping from a Fruit Shoot bottle while Alfie trailed behind her obediently. "I'll have you know that whomever ends up marrying me will-"

"Instantly regret it," Sophie interrupts, a hint of amusement in her voice. "Anyway, your day can't be all that bad if your getting a random women's number."

I followed Elias, Nola and Alfie back to the car, watching as Elias clicks Nola's belt and puts the child lock on the door so that only someone from the outside can open her door. I do the same on the rear passenger side door before hopping into the front  passenger seat and handing the car keys to Elias.

"I'm not sure, Sophie," I shake my head. The car roars to life and soon enough, Elias is zooming out of the car park. "Elias is now driving. This could be the day I die."

"So bye, bye Miss American Pie," Sophie sings. I have to admit, hearing her sing isn't all that bad; in fact, Sophie has a decent singing voice and I could listen to her all day. "Drove my Chevvy to the levee but the levee was dry, and them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing this'll be the day that I die, this'll be the day that I die."

A silence falls between us. "I'm not singing the next verse, if that's what you're hoping."

"You're such a bore," I hear Sophie say to me. She sighs. "Why are you driving out of London, anyway? Where are you going?"

"We're going to Connie... my grandmother's place," I say, catching myself when I try to call my grandmother by the nickname Sophie has for her. I've never once called her anything other than Grandmother, but hearing Sophie caller her Connie has started to rub off on me. "We're going to spend the weekend there. Samuel's coming too so we can discuss the whole Courtenay Foundation thing with Grandmother."

"Ah, I thought you might want to do that," Sophie mutters. A thud noise comes from her end of the conversation. "I bet you're dying to find out why there's a Board meeting next week."

I nod. "Definitely."

A new song starts to play on the radio and Nola gets excited, demanding from the back seat that Daddy turn the radio up. Elias, being wrapped around Nola's little finger, did as he was told and soon the deafening noise of Meghan Trainor filled the car. While the song continued, I didn't bother trying to talk to Sophie- I doubt I would hear her even if I tried. Instead, I watched from the corner of my eye as Elias bopped his head in time to the music, while Nola sang at the top of her lungs.

"Nah to the ah to the no, no, no. My name is no. My sign is no. My number is no. You need to let it g. You need to let it go. Need to let it go," she yelled. She repeated the chorus again, just as the woman on the radio did, before breaking into a verse. "All my ladies, listen up, if that boy ain't giving up, lick your lips and swing your hips, girl all you gotta say is..."

And so it went for another minute until the song ended and Elias turned the radio presenter down. When the car fell into a silence- with only Nola nattering on and on to Alfie- I spoke into the phone. "You still there, Sophie?"

Silence.

"Did you hang up?" I ask, hopeful that she hadn't disconnected the call. "Sophie?"

"I'm here," she mumbles into the phone. Her voice carried a hint of distraction, almost like I wasn't her main priority. "Sorry, I was just reading over something. Remind me what we were talking about?"

"The meeting next week," I tell her, grimacing at the thought of having to sit opposite Camille Clément for God knows how long next week. I know I'm not her favourite person and no matter how many times Sophie tells me that I have nothing to worry about, I can't help but have this feeling of dread. "Can you give me a clue what it's about? At least then, I'll be a little more prepared when I have to face-off against your mother."

Sophie scoffs. "Not a chance, mate," she teases. "You're on your own for that. Anyway, Connie will probably tell you what the meeting is going to be about. Oh, that reminds me. Can you let her know that I will e-mail everything over to her and all they'll have to do is confirm everything. Tell Connie that my mother will do all that if need be. At least until my request is granted."

"Granted?" I frown, looking to Elias like he knows what she's going on about. He shrugs his shoulder, telling me that he hasn't got a clue what's happening. "Sophie, can you please stop talking in riddles? I don't understand what you're on about right now."

She hesitates. I can hear her breathing on the other end, but she says nothing for a few minutes. "I don't want to tell you until I know for sure," she eventually speaks, although her voice is quiet and apologetic. "All you need to know is that it's not bad news."

"So, it's good news?" I venture to ask.

"Potentially," I hear the smile in Sophie's voice. "I promise to tell you when it's time. I hate to end this conversation, but I kinda have work to do. We don't all get to have a half day on Saturday. Some of us have to actually work."

I sigh. "Fine, I'll reluctantly let you go."

"Uncle Dan," I hear Nola's voice come from the back seat. I turn to look at her, while Elias peers at his daughter through the rear view mirror. Nola smiles in my direction. "Tell Aunt Sophie that I say hello."

"Nola says 'hello,'" I say to Sophie.

"Tell her I say 'hi' back," Sophie's voice is full of warmth as she speaks. "And tell her that I absolutely loved the photo of her and Alfie that she and Elias sent me last night."

I frown, looking at Elias as he drove. "You sent Sophie a photo of Nola and Alfie?" I accuse him. I've never managed to shrug off the feeling that there's some underlying thing between Elias and Sophie. I know there's nothing going on, but they're too friendly for my liking. "Just how often do you two talk?"

"Sophie and I?" Elias asks, pointing an index finger at himself. "I don't know. A minute or two every day when I ring her up for Nola to speak to her. How often do you two talk?"

"Daniel?" Sophie calls out to me. "Chill out. I only call so I can speak to Nola, not Elias. Right, I have to go. Jasmine is pacing outside my office and she looks like she's about to kill me. Call me tomorrow to tell me how it went with you, Sam and Connie, ok?"

I nod. "Will do. Later, 'gator."

She laughs. "Bye, baboon." Just as I bring my phone from my ear, I hear Sophie once again call out to me. "Daniel!"

"Yeah?" I say in confusion.

"Can you... could you just say 'Soph' for me?" She asks, her voice a mixture of emotions that I can't entirely place.

Needless to say, I comply with her request. "Soph."

Her nickname rolls off my tongue effortlessly, like it's always lived there. The day she asked me to stop calling her that was one of the worst of my life. Not that it was her fault. It was mine and I've been regretting it every day since. Whenever I go to say her name, I have to mentally check myself and make sure that I'm saying her full name and not just the diminutive that I've become accustomed to calling her.

"Thanks," is all Sophie says before the noise of a disconnected replaces the sound of her voice.

I frown at the handset as I bring it down from my ear, staring at it like it's an alien in my grasp. It was the second night in a row that she's asked for me to call her Soph, and I couldn't help but hope that it meant that we were finally getting back to a place where we were both...

Catching feelings for each other.

"Why are you smiling like a twat?" Elias asks, making Nola gasp from the back seat. Cursing under his breath, he peeks around his shoulder to look at Nola. "Sorry, sweetheart. Daddy shouldn't swear in front of you."

Nola huffs. "Daddy shouldn't swear anyway."

I laugh. "She got you there," I tell my friend. Sobering up, I feel that familiar smile start to creep up on my cheeks once more. "I was smiling because I think Sophie and I are finally... almost..."

"Oh," Elias' eyes widen. "Is it time to break out that ugly ring? Because if it is, might I suggest that we turn around and go to Asprey instead? They have nicer engagement rings there than that stupid heirloom of yours."

I say nothing.

"Daddy, what's an engament ring?" Nola innocently enquires, mispronouncing the word 'engagement.'

I smirk, waiting for Elias to explain. "It's what Daniel is going to get Sophie because he's in love with her and wants to spend the rest of his life with her."

I gawk at him. "Really, Elias? That's just-"

"Daddy?" Nola's inquisitive voice interrupts. "Can I get Alfie an engament ring? I love him and want to spend the rest of my life with him."

Yep. I've officially lost my dog.