No worries. I’ve been busy too. Just got back from the conference dinner.
There. That’s a friendly response.
They message back and forth for a while, Anna relaying some of Brad, Rob, and Seth’s stories, until she is forced to accept she needs sleep. Just as she snuggles down, he sends one last message.
I’ll be incommunicado for a couple of days. Perhaps I can show you something of LA when I get back. And if you think a helicopter is a grand gesture, keep an eye out this week.
Sure. That’d be great, she replies.
She’s been all cool and friendly. No one could doubt her nonchalance. If only her heart would get on board with her brain.
Dear John
The hotel restaurant is just as crowded at breakfast as it was the previous day. Once again, Anna looks for the beacon of James’s bright head. This time, though, she routes via the tea and coffee station before she approaches. She yawns widely. She has always been blessed as one of life’s easy sleepers, untroubled by insomnia, vivid dreams, or early hours waking. But last night she was troubled by all three. She would put it down to jet lag if she had not flown to America several times before and had no problem adjusting. She is even tempted to pour herself a dose of coffee, holding her nose and drinking it down as medicine. Then she decides she is not yet that desperate.
James looks up as she places her tea on the table. He beams. She blanches. There is no mistaking how James spent his night. He seems somehow fuller. As if his emotions are trying to escape the bounds of his skin. It is a lot to be confronted with when she is feeling less than fresh.
“No Bella?” she asks. James is so obviously not a dick-and-ditch guy. She has no doubt that not half an hour ago, he was still wrapped around her friend, the two of them probably lying together like spoons. She is surprised not to find them this morning sitting hand in hand, eyeball to eyeball.
“She’s having a lie-in. She’s not feeling too chipper this morning. I’m going to nip to the coffee shop around the corner later. Get her a cappuccino and a cake.”
Anna looks at the adoration in James’s eyes as he says these words. It is not hard to guess James’s love languages. Giftsand acts of service. And she feels a small pang of guilt. A sense of responsibility for having introduced them. She considers for a minute. Then she says, “Bella is easy to love but not so easy to know.”
He flushes. “Is that a warning?”
Anna shakes her head. Bella is her friend and James is her boss. She feels like a piggy in the middle. An incautious word about either could land her in trouble. “It’s more advice to slow down. Everyone needs to see the worst of someone before they commit. Take time to get to know each other before you fall in love.” But even as she says the words, she feels it is already too late.
James is silent for a minute and Anna worries she has overstepped. Then he says, “You don’t believe in love at first sight.” It isn’t a question, but a statement. As if James is judging her.
“I’ve heard of it, of course. Although we only talk about the ones that work out. We don’t catalogue the relationships that start that way but never survive. The hordes of broken hearts or never-meant-to-bes.” The image of Tolly grinning at her flashes into her head. That instant they first met, with the flicker of interest in his eyes and the surge of heat deep inside her before it was gone. If it hadn’t disappeared, that could have been an epic meet cute. She pushes the thought away and focuses on James. The Sexiest Man Alive has no place here.
“There’s nothing bad about Bella.” James frowns. “You’re her friend.”
Anna is not sure where to go from here. The Bella of old was certainly not evil, but she was careless and impulsive and fickle where men were concerned. Anna has seen her break men’s hearts without a care. But youngsters do silly things. Anna would hate to be judged by some of what she did as a teenager.They are older now. They’ve witnessed tragedies and dealt with crises that were unknown to their younger selves.
Anna speaks in generalities. “Everyone has bad points, James. You know this. There are no angels. You are a great boss, but I couldn’tlivewith you.”
James looks affronted, and Anna hastens to add, “I couldn’t live with anyone.” Maybe Eleanor, her older sister, but no one else. Anna stops. She has given a warning of sorts. James will ignore it. The future will play out how it will. She has done her part and her conscience is satisfied. She changes the subject.
“Are you both coming to the company presentation tonight?” she asks. One of the equipment manufacturers is giving a demonstration of their new machine. Her attendance was on the itinerary James had prepared for her.
“Ah!” he says, looking down. “Bella and I haven’t had a chance at a proper date. I was hoping you might go and report back while I take her out somewhere.”
Anna clamps her jaw shut. She nods, not trusting her annoyance to tinge her words if she speaks.
“Great!” James picks up his phone and stands. “Well, as that’s sorted, I’d better go and get Bella her breakfast.”
Then he’s gone. In fact, he seems to disappear off the face of Los Angeles for the next thirty hours. Anna doesn’t see either of them at the conference. She sees Bradley, who gives her a wide berth, although Rob and Seth wave wildly. Seth makes his fingers into a handset and places them beside his head. She laughs and Bradley glowers. She continues to mingle and chat, collecting cards and contact details. In the evening, she goes to the presentation and makes notes. She is impressed, but doesn’t know if she should be.
The following morning, neither Bella nor James is at breakfast. She eats alone, before making her way to the conference. She still has the itinerary James gave her, but sheuses it more as guidance. If she sees something she is interested in, she attends that instead. She focuses on work and shuts out bosses and friends and sexy men. Which is just as well because none of them text. The day is a repeat of the previous one, except at lunch she gets a message from Bella asking her to meet later.
The designated meeting place is the hotel bar. A love story to walnut-effect laminate, it has the lighting of a back alley and the atmosphere of a morgue. Anna glances around the bar area. A man and a woman, dressed in finery, sit at a table, tall glasses of deep ruby wine before them. A group of four men nurse bottles of beer as they argue amicably. There are a couple of single men waiting at tables. But what is missing is a tawny mane of hair nestling against a shock of red.
With a sigh, Anna shifts onto one of the high stools at the bar. The bartender comes over, but she gives a slight shake of her head. “I’m waiting on others,” she says quietly. The barman nods and goes back to unloading glasses. Anna pulls out her phone. There is nothing unread. Nothing from her family and no reply from Serena, her cousin. More pertinent, there is nothing from Bella or James. She resigns herself to waiting and opens her email folder. If there is nothing to be dealt with, she can always spend some time deleting old messages and unsubscribing from lists she never applied to be on.
“Anyone ever tell you, you could be a model.” The words interrupt her focus.
Anna turns. Tall, tanned and soft-looking, the speaker leans against the bar. His blond hair is slightly long and curly, giving him the appearance of a Michelangelo’s David going slightly to seed even though he is still in his prime. What surprises her is his accent. It’s British. But then, this is a hotel with customers from all over the world. She looks at him for a moment, noting the confidence in his relaxed manner. Sheguesses he is not used to having to work for attention. He takes her gaze as invitation and sidles closer. It is a mistake.
