Diamonds Are Not Forever

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

CHAPTER THRITY-THREE
Juliette

Hugo Talls & Co's main store was every jewellers dream. Two long glass cases sat atop white marble slabs that lined either side of the shop floor, creating a walkway down the centre of the room. Each case we passed was more tantalising than the next, filled to the brim with rings, necklaces, bracelets, everything you could think of. I didn't get long to take them all in though, Elliot steered me quickly to the back of the room, side stepping a couple choosing an engagement ring together.
When we got to the sales desk, a young man with sandy blond hair and a warm smile greeted Elliot, his light eyes brightening at the sight of us.
"Mr Truman, a pleasure to see you again." He held out his hand, which Elliot took happily.
"Joshua." Elliot nodded, his voice a little less stiff than usual. "Business seems to be booming."
He released the man's hand and gestured around the bustling store; it was packed despite it being a Thursday afternoon. Goulding Jewellers would be lucky to see 10 customers on a Thursday, but here... there was at least 20 people just in the earrings section alone.
The man behind the counter grinned as he proudly ran his eyes over each corner of the room.
"All thanks to Truman & Sons." He chirped, not a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I was surprised to hear from your assistant so soon, I didn't expect to see you here until the sales review next month."
Elliot's jaw tensed slightly, Joshua didn't seem to notice, but I did.
"I'm not here on business, my visit is personal." He stated.
"Oh." Joshua's breezy demeanor faltered, a hint of shock rippling through his features as he stared through Elliot.
Something told me that Elliot Truman rarely did anything that wasn't business related, ever the megalomaniac businessman, eating, sleeping, and breathing work.
When Joshua recollected his thoughts, he flitted his gaze from Elliot over to me. "You must be the personal," He gave me a hooded smile and extended his handshake to me. "I'm Josh Carter, Head of Sales at Hugo Talls & Co."
He looked too young to be Head of anything, but then again – Elliot was soon to be CEO of a company at 26, so what did I know.
"Juliette St. James, I'm erm...I'm El-Mr Truman's girlfriend." A pink flush crept up my face from my blunder as I released Josh's hand and tucked my hair out of my face.
Josh's face registered with surprise and amusement. "Girlfriend huh? I never thought someone would lock the stone hearted Elliot Truman down, many have tried but tragically failed. But then again, I'm not surprised someone as lovely as you has managed it." He shot me a wink.
I liked Josh, he seemed brave.
He had to be if he had just called the hardheaded force of a man next to me 'stone hearted' to his face.
I struggled to find my words, my blush deepening as I peeked a look up at Elliot through my lashes to gage his reaction. He didn't flinch, just stood there, studying Josh with a small smirk pressed on his lips.
"Do you both work closely together at Truman & Sons?" I eventually asked, dying to get the attention off of me and back onto a more comfortable topic.
Josh chuckled softly and placed both his hands down on the desk, leaning in closer over it so he could fake whisper, his eyes twinkling as he spoke.
"Me and Mr Warmth over here go way back, I know everything about him. I can tell you all the embarrassing stories you could ever want to know. Like when he-"
"If you have quite done flirting Joshua, I have an appointment with Marco that I'd like to be on time for." Elliot's tone was flat as he cut Josh off, but his blue eyes shone with an undercurrent of amused annoyance.
The Elliot I thought I knew would have ripped someone to shreds for being so familiar, he obviously knew Josh well enough to allow his teasing. Either that or Josh was stupid enough to get on Elliot's bad side, and the wrath would come later.
"Next time then." Josh winked at me again, straightening up and pointing to a door behind him. "Marco is in the back. Pleasure to meet you, Juliette."
"You too." I called over my shoulder, Elliot already steering me away from the desk towards the back rooms of the store.
When Josh was out of earshot, I looked up at Elliot with curiosity. "Friend of yours?"
Elliot huffed out a small laugh, moving his hand to the small of my back as he gently pushed me in the direction of a door with a plaque that read 'Marco Agosti's Office'.
"Something like that." He breathed. "Joshua went to the same boarding school as me, we were in Business and Economics class together, I brought him in to be Head of Sales when we merged with HT&C."
I waited for him to say more, desperate for any insight into Elliot's early life that I could squeeze out of him, but when he brought us to a stop and gently tapped on the door with the back of his knuckles – I knew the conversation was over.