‘What about you? Don’t you normally get a much earlier one than this?’
‘Yeah. I’m heading off on a business trip first thing tomorrow so I wanted to get some packing done before I left this morning.’
‘Oh,’ I said, feeling an odd tingle of disappointment knowing that Charlie wouldn’t be around at the weekend. ‘Off anywhere exciting?’
‘No, just back to New York again.’
I laughed. ‘How tiresome for you.’
He chuckled back. ‘That came out way more pompous than I was aiming for.’
‘No, not at all.’
Charlie looked doubtful.
‘OK, a little, but I know you didn’t mean it like that.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Will you get to see any sights whilst you are there? Or have you seen everything already as you’ve been so many times?’ I said, playing off his earlier comment.
He caught the meaning and gave me a little turn of his head. ‘No, mostly it’ll be work. I have a bit of shopping to do – Mum and Marcus give me lists each time! There seem to be a few more things on there this time so I’m thinking Amy might be getting in on the action now too.’ He smiled.
‘Do you mind?’
‘No, of course not. Gives me something to do during any downtime.’
Under my lashes, I glanced at the woman opposite Charlie. She was looking at him in a way that told me she had plenty of ideas for ways to keep him occupied during his downtime.
‘Is there anything I can get you?’ Charlie asked.
‘Huh?’ My mind had drifted unbidden, and very unexpectedly, in the same direction as the woman’s opposite.
‘From New York? Can I get you anything?’
I fanned myself. ‘It’s quite warm in here, isn’t it?’
Charlie looked at me. ‘It’s all right. It’s probably just you being a bit nervous.’ He waved his paper at me a couple of times. ‘Better?’
Now I’d pulled my mind away from where it had been drifting, yes, it was definitely cooling down again. I nodded.
Charlie returned to our conversation. ‘So, is there?’
I looked at him blankly.
‘Anything I can get you?’
‘Oh! No, I’m fine. I don’t think there’s anything I need, but thank you.’
‘I don’t think there’s a single item on my list that anyone actually needs. Is there anything you want?’
I smiled. ‘No, honestly. But thank you for asking. And if I think of anything, I’ll let you know.’
‘OK.’
‘Unless of course Tiffany are having a 90-per-cent-off sale. In which case…’ I laughed and he grinned.
‘I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for any sale banners and let you know.’
